Owners and operators of 11 boutique properties located in Europe and the Maldives, Seaside Collection, is expanding into river cruising with the introduction of Riverside Collection. Beginning Spring 2023, the new line will offer luxury Danube cruises aboard the MS Mozart, widely hailed as the most luxurious ship on the rivers and originally designed and operated by Crystal Cruises.
Built with the goal of offering the most luxurious river cruising experience, MS Mozart will now enjoy a new life as Riverside Collection’s inaugural ship. With this new venture, the Gerlach family combines their decades of luxury hospitality experience and ethos of personalized luxury with the exquisitely designed Mozart for an experience that promises to be truly unique.
“When the opportunity arose to take over the Mozart, we didn’t hesitate,” says Gregor Gerlach, who founded Riverside Collection with his sister, Anouchka. “With only 100 to 150 guests on board the Riverside Mozart, we can address guests more individually and provide a much more bespoke experience than on larger ocean vessels.”
Considered one of the more beloved vessels on the European waterways, the Mozart will allow Riverside to define a new standard for river cruising. Utilizing the family’s experience operating resorts in the Canary Islands, Germany, Valencia, and the Maldives, Riverside Collection will stand out in terms of its food and beverage, service, excursions, and wellness offerings, in addition to its already remarkable ship and cabin design and layout.
Riverside Collection’s service will be defined not only by its crew-to-guest ratio, but by its service culture, which is authentically personal in nature. Nowhere will this be better exemplified than by its butlers, who go above and beyond to assist guests with any and all needs from reservations and excursions to special requests and one-of-a-kind experiences. Every suite on every voyage includes a personal butler.
Throughout its Danube journeys, excursions aboard Riverside will capture those special “money can’t buy moments.” Each excursion is organized and designed by a best-in-class- shoreside team, with the goal of providing guests an open door to a world of exclusive experiences. On shore and on board, wellness experiences will be curated to encourage guests to enjoy the river and surrounding countryside with all their senses. In addition to treatment rooms for tailored massages and facials, Riverside Mozart‘s class-leading wellness center offers Finnish saunas and steam rooms as well as a swimming pool and jacuzzi.
From a culinary perspective, Riverside aims to provide the best cuisine and wine cellar on the water and will place an emphasis on the freshness and quality of all ingredients on board. The ship’s crew of trained sommeliers and bartenders will have access to special regional and global wines as well as some of the best spirits available.
Founded in 1969 by Theo Gerlach, Seaside Collection is a group of boutique properties located in the Canary Islands, Germany, Valencia, and the Maldives, where luxury is celebrated in an unobtrusive, casual style.
Photo Courtesy of Seaside Collection