SS Elisabeth

The 2017-built SS Elisabeth cruise ship (fka Crystal Mahler, and Riverside Mahler) in the period 2025-2028 is chartered by Uniworld. The boat was ordered for Crystal River Cruises and constructed by the shipbuilder Lloyd Werft (MV Werften) in Wismar Germany. Mahler's fleetmates are the sisterships Riverside Debussy, Riverside Bach, and Riverside Ravel, as well as Riverside Mozart. These riverboats were advertised by Crystal as ultra-luxury "river yachts".

Since 2022, Crystal's entire river fleet is owned by Seaside Hotels and is under the management of Seaside's subsidiary and travel brand "Riverside Collection Cruises" (aka Riverside Luxury Cruises).

In mid-October 2023, Uniworld announced a 3-year bareboat charter agreement with the shipowner (Seaside Collection GmbH & Co KG) for two vessels. Riverside Bach started Rhine and Moselle cruises for Uniworld in 2024 as "SS Victoria", while Riverside Mahler started Rhine cruises in 2025 as "SS Elisabeth".

Uniworld's designation "SS" stands for "Super Ship".

The riverboat was seasonally operated by Transcend Cruises Inc under charter as "Transcend Advance".

History - construction and ownership

Crystal Cruises Inc (1988-founded/USA-based) was a subsidiary of the Japanese NYK Line/Nippon Yusen Kaisha (one of world's largest container shipping companies). In 2015, NYK Line sold it to Genting Hong Kong (GHK). Following the acquisition, the company was renamed to Crystal Ltd. The company grouped the ultra-luxury brands Crystal Cruises (ocean-going ships), Crystal River Cruises (European riverboats), Crystal Yacht Cruises (superyachts), Crystal Luxury Air (aircraft) and Crystal AirCruises (fly-cruise tours).

In January 2022, GHK filed for bankruptcy and all its assets were put on sale. In June 2022, Crystal Ltd was acquired by A&K Travel Group Ltd (Abercrombie & Kent). In October 2022, GHK Crystal Cruises' liquidator sold Crystal Bach (together with its sisterships) to the Hamburg Germany-based company Seaside Collection GmbH & Co KG. The ship (renamed "Riverside Mozart") is now operated by the UK-based (October 2018-founded) subsidiary company Riverside Collection Ltd.

Seaside Collection's subsidiary/core company Seaside Hotels GmbH is a 1970-founded (as Gerlach Wohnungsbau GmbH) luxury hotel group owned and run by the Gerlach family. The group currently owns and manages premium hotels and resorts in Germany, Spain, the Canary Islands, and the Maldives.

Crystal River Cruises was established/started operations in 2016 when the parent company GHK purchased and fully refurbished the riverboat MS Mozart (renamed "Crystal Mozart" and launched in July 2016). GHK additionally ordered four new riverboats from the German shipbuilder Lloyd Werft for Crystal.

The vessel (ENI number 4812700) is currently Malta-flagged (MMSI 248380000) and registered in Valletta.

Decks and Cabins

The riverboat Riverside Mahler/SS Elisabeth has 55 staterooms (capacity for 114 passengers/max 169 with triple occupancy) and top-luxury suites (ranging from 18-71 m2 / 190-760 ft2).

All staterooms on the new series Riverside Collection ships feature the following industry-first cabin amenities - King beds, walk-in closets, and en-suite marble bathrooms with double sink vanities.

The riverboat has 4 decks, of which 2 are with cabins.

Shipboard dining options - Food and Drinks

Onboard dining options include Waterside Restaurant (dining room), Vintage Room (10-seat wine bar / private dining room/party venue), Palm Court (show lounge), Cove Bar, Bistro (casual cafe/patisserie/coffee bar/Library), top-deck Vista Bar and Vista Grill (alfresco restaurant serving lunch/weather-permitting).

All dining venues are operated with open-seating.

The Bistro (midship on Deck 3) is open throughout the day and also serves late-raisers breakfast and dinner. The casual venue offers homemade pastries and waffles, brand coffee beverages (prepared by professional baristas), gourmet ice cream, milkshakes, wine by the glass. In the evenings, the Bistro transforms into a tapas restaurant also serving destination/itinerary-based local dishes and beverages.

Onboard dining menus include food prepared with freshest, locally sourced ingredients and itinerary-based traditional specialties - fresh seafood and fish (Holland), seasonal fruits and vegetables (Holland, Germany), meat and poultry (Austrian Alps and Bavarian farms), local draught and craft beers, regional wines and cheeses. Specialty coffees and teas served complimentary on the ship are by the Vienna Austria-based company Julius Meinl.

Vista Deck (deck 4) is the boat's Sundeck fitted with a large TV/outdoor screen, sunbathing areas (with padded loungers) and shaded areas with comfortable seating.

Shipboard entertainment options - Fun and Sport

The Mahler ship has 3 lounges and bars, 4 restaurants, 1 panoramic / glass elevator, gym, and spa facilities. Unique features are the glass-domed atrium area and the indoor infinity pool (resistance swimming pool). The ship's show lounge, Palm Court, has a stage for live performances, grand piano performances, singalongs. The lounge features a dance floor for themed dancing parties, glass-dome cover, floor-ceiling window walls, live plants for decoration, comfortable seating, full-service bar. The 24-hour open coffee-tea corner, The Pantry, offers complimentary fruit basket, pastries, cookies, sparkling water. The river yachts also have a Fitness Center and a full-service Spa. One deck is dedicated to all onboard public spaces (including spa, gym, library, glass-domed Palm Court lounge). Each riverboat carries its own fleet of electric bikes, 2-person kayaks and jet skis for complimentary passenger use on individual or guided tours and excursions ashore.

Itineraries

Riverside Cruises' Mahler ship's itinerary program (homeports, destinations, voyages) will be announced soon.

Crystal Mahler itineraries

Crystal Mahler operated Rhine and Danube voyages leaving out of homeports Amsterdam and Budapest. The itineraries were 16 nights in length, northbound and southbound, and themed "Grand Europe".

The all-inclusive Crystal river cruise deals (as cruise price inclusions) offer the following complimentary amenities and services:

• Gratuities for all the ship's staff, including housekeeping, bar, dining, butlers
• All meals (featuring 6-star gourmet cuisine and regional specialties)
• Unlimited soft drinks, premium beverages (including champagne, fine wines, spirits, beers, bottled water)
• 24-hour self-service pantry (specialty coffees, teas, wines, nonalcoholic drinks)
• 24-hour room service
• 24-hour Wi-Fi access, free Wi-Fi and satellite Internet usage (60 min pp per day)
• interactive TV (infotainment system) with movies on demand and music library
• Airport-to-ship group transfers - luxury coaches to transport passengers from the airport to the riverboat on embarkation day.
• Ship-to-airport group transfers (on disembarkation day).
• Onboard daily yoga and fitness classes, daily choice of digital international newspapers
• Onboard entertainment and enrichment programming (destination / itinerary-focused), including lectures, destination expert (on each cruise), local experts and tour guides.
• Self-service guest laundry
• Twice daily housekeeping services (evening turndown service)
• In-cabin dining (hors d'oeuvres)
• Butler service for each cabin
• Two complimentary "Crystal Adventures" shore excursions in every port (curated). Additional excursions are available for purchase.
• Complimentary culinary tours to renowned local establishments

Atlanta eBikes, Nordic walking poles and audio headphones on all "Crystal Adventures" were also provided complimentary on all shore excursions/land tours.

Crystal Mahler riverboat is named after the Austrian composer and conductor Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Crystal Bach (yard number 120) and Crystal Mahler (yard number 123) had a dual keel-laying ceremony held on August 19, 2016, at MV Werften shipyard (Wismar Germany). The first steel plates were flame cut. The special event was attended by Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay (Genting Hong Kong's Executive Chairman), Edie Rodriguez (Crystal Cruises' President, CEO, and Chairman) and Erwin Sellering (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Prime Minister). During the ceremony, "lucky coins" were placed on the keel blocks before the ship's first 2 sections (each one 170 tons) were laid down.

Crystal Mahler belongs to a new (yacht-like) design riverboats. From the same class are the Crystal ships Crystal Bach (same capacity) and the other pair of sisterships Debussy and Ravel. Another member of Crystal's river ship fleet is Crystal Mozart (formerly named MS Mozart).

Crystal River Cruises took delivery of the Crystal Mahler ship on September 20, 2017. The ceremony was held at MV Werften's Wismar shipyard. The 2nd Rhine Class ship was received by Tom Wolber (Crystal's newly appointed President and CEO). The vessel was christened by godmother Lauren Barfield (American volleyball star).

The riverboat's Inaugural Cruise (Maiden Voyage) was scheduled for August 29, 2017. The ship cruises on Rhine and Danube rivers. The 16-night "Grand Europe" (maiden itinerary) included overnights in Budapest, Vienna, Passau, Amsterdam. However, due to a delivery delay, the maiden voyage's itinerary was revised. Instead of Budapest to Amsterdam (September 30), the riverboat operated a roundtrip from Amsterdam, with ports in Switzerland and Germany.

For season 2018, Crystal River Cruises added 4 shorter Danube itineraries on Crystal Mahler as alternatives/segments to the standard 16-day itineraries offered by the ship. The new Crystal Mahler cruises included three 7-day "Danube Serenade" itineraries (between Budapest and Vienna), plus one 11-day "Reflections on the Danube" (April-May). The 16-day "Grand Europe" itinerary (between Amsterdam and Budapest, on Rhine-Main-Danube) is operated during most part of the year. The new short itineraries' departure dates were scheduled for April 10 (hosted by Nancy Brinker), April 17, April 24 ("President Cruise" hosted by Crystal's CEO Edie Rodriguez) and May 1.

The following table shows the ship's 16-day itinerary (Amsterdam to Budapest) as ports of call sequence and port dates. Prices start from around USD 8200 pp.

Note: You can see CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.