Scylla VIVA Cruises

VIVA Cruises and Scylla Cruises are travel brands owned by Scylla AG (shipowner). Scylla charters its riverboats to several major European river cruise operators/travel agencies (links to their charter fleets), including Riviera Travel (UK), Tauck Travel (USA), Thurgau Travel (Switzerland), and Phoenix Reisen (Germany).

SCYLLA AG is a 1973-founded, Basel, Switzerland-headquartered passenger shipping company and shipowner. It enjoys a large number of loyal, repeat customers (ship charterers) and, in recent years, has aggressively expanded its fleet to 40+ vessels.

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.

VIVA Cruises

Scylla's subsidiary and luxury river travel brand "VIVA Cruises" was established in 2018 and inaugurated in 2019.

VIVA Cruises' COO (Chief Operating Officer) is Andrea Kruse.

VIVA's 2024 European river cruise brochure listed a collection of 85 different itineraries and 280+ voyages across its fleet of 8 boats.

In May 2024, Scylla AG announced plans to expand its river fleet by 12 newbuild vessels 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.

In March 2025, VIVA Cruises announced the planned launch of its premium sub-brand, VIVA Boutique. Its official introduction was scheduled for May 10th, 2026, with VIVA Beyond (fka Swiss Emerald) in France. The news marked Scylla's expansion into Europe's luxury river cruise market.

VIVA Cruises' “VIVA Boutique” is a premium sub-brand/product line focused on luxury and boutique-style river cruising above VIVA's standard offering. The new branding represents a strategic move by VIVA Cruises to cater to a discerning clientele seeking a more personalized and luxurious cruise travel experience. With the redesigned and fully refurbished VIVA Beyond, the fleet's first ship presenting the new VIVA Boutique product, the company aims to set a new benchmark in upscale river cruises along the Seine.

Scylla-owned ships and charters

A unique feature of all new Scylla-owned river cruise ships is that they allow flexible charters by different scales of operators. Tour companies (including smaller tour agencies) can charter a Scylla boat for a period ranging from 1 night to a week, a month, or even for an entire season. The shipowner 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" which can be permanently docked in major European river ports like Basel, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Hannover. This allows the boat to serve as a floating facility (incorporating amenities similar to hotel or resort facilities on board) rented 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.

Scylla Ocean (2021-2024) VIVA Cruises Expeditions

On January 15, 2019, it was announced that Scylla AG purchased the ocean liner "MS Bremen" from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, a subsidiary of Hapag-Lloyd AG (a German-Chilean shipping company, one of the world's oldest). The vessel was officially delivered to the new shipowner in May 2021. The sale price of the Bremen ship was not disclosed. As of 2023, Scylla owned approximately 40 riverboats, most of which are chartered to various European cruisetour companies.

In November 2019, Scylla announced the launch of its new ocean cruising brand, "VIVA Cruises Expeditions." The brand began operations in May 2021 with MS SeaVenture (formerly MS Seascape / MS Bremen). VIVA Expeditions operates in Northern Europe, the Arctic (Europe and Canada), and Antarctica. For the 2021-2022 season (starting in November 2021), SeaVenture was chartered to Polar Latitudes for voyages to Antarctica. SeaVenture officially began operations for VIVA Expeditions on May 15, 2021, with a 7-day maiden voyage from Amsterdam to Hamburg (homeport).

In May 2024, Scylla AG sold its only ocean vessel, the Seaventure.