AmaWaterways to consider Congo River sailings if safety challenges can be overcome

Asked which other rivers the line could expand to, Rudi Schreiner, co-owner and president of AmaWaterways, explained he had tried “most of the world’s rivers”.

Schreiner confirmed the Elbe, Loire and Po rivers were on the line’s radar, but outlined how each one had previously had issues with water levels. 

“There are not too many rivers we can expand on to,” said Schreiner. “We’ve tried most of them. Russia, of course, is out of the picture for a while."

However, Schreiner added there are “some great rivers like the Congo”, but he highlighted passenger safety was a concern.

“I’ve been looking at the Congo for a number of years, but it’s not the safest area,” Schreiner noted. “There’s no infrastructure up river – there are few boats. You sleep in tents there because there are no hotels.”

But he added operators tended to take guests to safari camps away from the Congo River. “It’s a long cruise on the Congo as you can do more there,” he said.

“The small rivers are coming from Cameroon and Central African Republic, which is probably the least safe place in the world. The Congo has a massive amount of water.”

Schreiner and his wife Kristin Karst, AmaWaterways co-owner and executive vice-president, revealed the line’s second double-width ship, launching in 2027, will be called AmaRudi after its co-founder. 

AmaKristina, named after Karst, launched in 2017, while Jimmy’s Restaurant, a nod to the line’s other co-founder Jimmy Murphy, was launched on AmaMagna, leaving only Schreiner without a ship or a venue named after him.

’We’re attracting luxury ocean passengers’

When asked how many more double-width ships AmaWaterways planned to launch, Karst said: “Three or four ships possibly by 2030. The size of the staterooms on AmaMagna attracts luxury ocean passengers. The ocean cruise market is our biggest source market.

“These passengers will sail first on AmaMagna or AmaRudi and then they will go on other ships once they’ve fallen in love with river cruising. Because AmaMagna is sold out for most of 2025, we know we’re on the right track.” 

Karst confirmed double-width vessels would operate solely on the Danube due to their size. “There are other river ships that also carry as many passengers, but they’re half the width.

“AmaMagna and AmaRudi are 196 passengers but double the width of these other river ships. That is what luxury ocean passengers want.”

Schreiner, meanwhile, said the UK market was performing "phenomenally" well. "We’re roughly 5% ahead in occupancy for 2024 compared with this point last year," he added. 

"I think the river cruise market is booming. The climate is a bit of a challenge, though. 500 litres of rain fell the other day in some areas of Austria and, of course, we all saw what happened in Valencia.

"We will see what happens in the future. We’ve never cancelled a single river cruise."