SS Victoria

The 2017-built MS Riverside Bach cruise ship (fka Crystal Bach, to be named "SS Victoria" in the period 2024-2027) was ordered for Crystal River Cruises and constructed by the shipbuilder Lloyd Werft (MV Werften) in Wismar Germany. Bach's fleetmates are the sisterships Riverside Debussy, Riverside Mahler, 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".

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 for Crystal four new riverboats from the German shipbuilder Lloyd Werft.

The vessel Riverside Bach (ENI number 4812680) is currently Malta-flagged (MMSI 248308000) and registered in Valletta.

Decks and Cabins

The riverboat Riverside Bach/SS Victoria has 55 staterooms (capacity for 114 passengers/max 169 with triple occupancy) and top-luxury suites (ranging from 20-71 m2 / 220-760 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 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, a 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 the individual or guided tours and excursions ashore.

UNIWORLD Itineraries

For Uniworld, SS Victoria's itinerary program is slated to start in March 2024, offering a range of Rhine and Moselle itineraries based on homeporting in Amsterdam Holland, Basel Switzerland, Frankfurt Germany and Brussels Belgium.

SS Victoria's itineraries scheduled by Uniworld are themed as:

• 7-night/8-day "Holland and Belgium at Tulip Time" (Brussels to Amsterdam) starts with an overnight in Brussels, visits Antwerp (DAY 3), Maastricht (DAY 4), Heusden-Cuijk/Nuenen (DAY 5), Kinderijk-Schoonhoven (DAY 6), and ends with an overnight in Amsterdam.
• 7-night/8-day "Castles Along the Rhine" (Basel to Amsterdam) starts in Basel and visits Breisach (DAY 2), Kehl-Strasbourg (DAY 3), Speyer-Mannheim (DAY 4), Rudesheim-Boppard (DAY 5), Boppard-Koblenz (DAY 6), Cologne (DAY 7) and ends in Amsterdam.
• 9-night/10-day "Magnificent Moselle and Rhine" (roundtrip from Frankfurt) visits Cochem (DAYS 2-3/overnight), Bernkastel (DAY 5), Boppard (DAY 6), Rudesheim (DAY 7), Speyer (DAY 8), and Rastatt/Baden-Baden (DAY 9).
• 7-night/8-day "Belgian Holiday Markets" (roundtrip from Brussels) starts with an overnight in Brussels and visits Ghent (DAY 3), Hasselt (DAY 4), Maastricht (DAY 5), and Antwerp (DAYS 6-7/overnight).

Crystal Bach itineraries

Crystal Bach operated Rhine River voyages leaving out of homeports Amsterdam and Basel. The itineraries were themed "The Classic Rhine", "Tulips, Holland and Belgium Discovery" and "Christmas Markets Along the Rhine".

The all-inclusive Crystal river cruise deals (as cruise price inclusions) offered 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 Bach riverboat is named after the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Crystal Mahler (yard number 123) and Crystal Bach (yard number 120) 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 Bach belongs to a new (yacht-like) design riverboats. From the same class are Crystal Mahler (same capacity) and the other pair of sister-ships Debussy and Ravel. Another member of Crystal's river fleet is Crystal Mozart (formerly MS Mozart).

The riverboat's Inaugural Cruise (Maiden Voyage) was scheduled for June 18, 2017. The 14-night itinerary (on Rhine and Moselle rivers) included as ports of call Amsterdam, Basel, Antwerp,

MV Werften completed its first newbuild project on August 3, 2017, when the shipyard delivered Crystal Bach. The 2nd ship (Mahler) was scheduled for delivery a few weeks later. Crystal's Rhine Class riverboats 3 and 4 (Debussy and Ravel) were constructed at the MV Werften Shipyard in Wismar (starting January 2017 and scheduled for deliveries in 2018).

On August 20, 2017, in Rudesheim (overnight stay) was the boat's christening ceremony led by godmother Anna-Maria Kaufmann - famous German soprano vocalist. As part of the ship's naming ceremony, she performed Johann Sebastian Bach's "Air on the G String" (the second movement in Orchestral Suite No 3 in D major, BWV 1068). Over the naming ceremony presided Edie Rodriguez (Crystal Cruises President and CEO).

Next table shows the ship's Inaugural Cruise itinerary (August 13-28, 2017). The 14-day Amsterdam to Frankfurt cruise prices started at USD 7840 pp (double occupancy rates).

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.