Scylla Cruises

Scylla Cruises (a travel brand owned by Scylla AG) is a shipowner that charters its riverboats to major river cruise operators (travel agencies), including Riviera Travel (UK), Tauck Travel( USA),  Thurgau Travel (Switzerland), and Phoenix Reisen (Germany), as well as Scylla's fully owned subsidiary, VIVA Cruises.

Scylla Cruises (scylla.ch/en) is a brand and subsidiary of the Basel, Switzerland-headquartered passenger shipping company SCYLLA AG, which was established in 1973. It enjoys a large number of loyal, repeat customers and continuously expands its fleet.

As a river cruise line, Scylla began operations with MS Scylla (riverboat) on the Rhine River. Curiously, the industry's first vessel deployed on itineraries transiting the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal was a Scylla boat. The same holds for the first ship deployed year-round in Italy, on the Po River.

Currently, Scylla Tours Holding AG is owned by brothers Arno and Robert Reitsma.

SCYLLA AG is managed by two directors: Robbert Verbeek (CFO - Chief Financial Officer) and Andreas Wandinger (CCO - Chief Commercial Officer). The current CEO of Scylla is Arno Reitsma.

In February 2024, Scylla AG signed a strategic partnership with Neste Oyj (Finland-based oil refining and marketing company) and Slurink BV (Holland-based wholesale distributor of petroleum and petroleum products). The deal was for the supply of Neste MY Renewable Diesel for all Scylla-owned riverboats. OK Slurink BV (bunkering services) provides Neste MY Renewable Diesel (HVO/Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) to Scylla's fleet of 40 riverboats. Using Neste MY Renewable Diesel results in a 75-95% reduction in GHG emissions compared to fossil diesel.

As of 2019, Scylla's fleet included 32 fully-owned passenger ships, the latest being Anna Katharina (2019 new-build, chartered to Phoenix Reisen).

The smallest vessel in Scylla's fleet is Swiss Ruby/now VIVA Ruby (88 pax), while the largest are the sisterships Alina and Amelia (220 pax each).

Scylla's fleet's newest riverboats were launched in the period 2022-2027.

In May 2024, Scylla AG announced plans to expand its river fleet by 12 new boats over the next 4 years, with all to be delivered and operational by 2028.

Several existing boats ("Swiss" named) were fully refurbished and eventually "VIVA" named.

Scylla river cruise ship charters

A unique feature of Scylla AG's river cruise ship charters is their absolute flexibility. Other companies can charter a Scylla boat for a period ranging from 1 night to a week, a month, or even for an entire season. The company also provides the English-speaking crew, hotel staff, gourmet cuisine options, and specifically tailored tours and excursions ashore. Individual requirements are also met.

Private ship charters offer customized cruise itineraries (route and ports of call) and all the necessary cruise arrangements, including food and beverage services (as well as port authority coordination - boat registration and berth reservations). Scylla will also organize the charter's shore excursion program to fit its specific needs.

The onboard dining options include cold and hot buffet breakfasts, multi-course dinner menus, lunch and dinner buffets, and the Captain's Gala Dinner event. For chartered cruises, the company provides customized menus according to specific preferences, including vegetarian, Asian cuisine, kosher food, and themed buffets.

Scylla boats can also be chartered as "hotel ships" docked in major European river ports like Basel, Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Hannover. This allows the boat to serve as a location for special events and celebrations, corporate meetings, exhibitions, employee training sessions, annual events, team-building activities, and incentive programs. The boats can also be individually furnished with the customer's own branding.

(Coronavirus crisis) passenger shipping pause 2020-2021

Scylla's primary boat charterer, Riviera Travel UK, suspended fleetwide passenger shipping operations between March 15, 2020, and early July 2021. Tauck Travel canceled all river cruises and tours with departures through August 31, and Thurgau Travel canceled through July 31.

All affected bookings received a full refund in FCC (Future Cruise Credit) or Refund Credit Notes, including for pre-purchased packages and services. Cruise rebooking had to be made before December 31, 2020.

Scylla's current cruise fleet consists of 23 beautiful, spacious, and modern-designed river ships, including the "Suite Ships," all of which sail exclusively on European waterways. All Scylla ships are Swiss-flagged.

At the following links, you can view the list of Scylla-owned riverboats operated under charter by the travel brands VIVA Cruises (Scylla-owned subsidiary), Riviera Travel UK, Tauck Travel USA.

Scylla-owned boats are also chartered by Phoenix Reisen Germany, including Alina, Amelia, Anna Katharina, Annabelle, Annika, Alisa, Aurelia, Amina, Adora, Antonia, Asara, Anesha, Andrea, Arielle, Edelweiss.

Riviera Travel (UK cruise brand/tour operator) exclusively charters the following Scylla-owned ships: Lord Byron (2012), William Shakespeare (2014), Charles Dickens (2015), Jane Austen (2015), Thomas Hardy (2016), Emily Bronte (2017), Oscar Wilde (2017), George Eliot (2019), William Wordsworth (2019), Geoffrey Chaucer (2020), and Lord Tennyson (2021).