Interior renderings copyright Century Cruises
Living near the port of Amsterdam which received at its peak over 2000 river cruise ship calls yearly, we often see ten or more vessels berthed together.
At first sight they all look alike, but a closer look reveals we are way off here as these river cruisers feature completely different interiors giving them their own identity.
Nowadays, the number of new entrants as well as the impressive number of new ships recently introduced and on order (around 30 ships for the next three years) is spectacular.
One of the new entrants to the European river cruise market has Chinese roots, Century River Cruises. The company was founded in 1992 and has apart from river cruises on the Yangtze River expanded into shipbuilding (the line owns its own yard). During the pandemic, they took the opportunity to electrify their existing fleet to minimize their carbon footprint. In China, Century River Cruises offer a high quality product, they were named “Best Asian river cruise line” from 2021 to 2024 among other travel industry awards.
Noting the incredible growth rate of the European cruise market, they decided to introduce their own ships there. The first one, to be named Century Star, will depart on her maiden trip from Vienna in September 2026. Previously, Century Cruise Lines acted as a booking agency for other lines sailing in Europe for passengers from Asia but when these contracts had ended after the pandemic, they started planning to launch their own ships on the European waterways.
United Waterways AG, (located in Basel, Switzerland) through one of its sub-brands River Advice AG, provides the operational backbone “beneath the surface” for the Century Star handling everything technical, regulatory, and nautical so Century Cruises can focus on sales, marketing, and the guest experience.
We were able to visit Century Star on July 2 (2026) at the Concordia Damen Shipyard in Werkendam, the Netherlands where she was in the last stage of fitting out (see photo-gallery at the bottom of this page). Concordia Damen (since 2001) is situated at the Merwede river, the yard operates as a a family-run business integrated within the Damen Shipyards Group, specialized in maintaining and building inland waterway vessels, serving as one-stop-shop covering the entire process from initial design to final delivery.
Concordia Damen entered the market for river cruise ship construction in 2022 with the delivery of the Arosa Sena for Arosa River Cruises (an extra wide vessel, measuring 17.7 m. width instead of the usual 11.45m). She was followed by the equally impressive Excellence Crown for Swiss owner Excellence River Cruises in 2025. It is a remarkable achievement that a river cruise line from China ready to enter the European market chooses Concordia Damen to build their fist vessels (Century Star will be followed by two sister ships).
The yard works with a “standard” hull they designed, the CDS river cruiser 135. This hull, which is made entirely of recycled steel, is usually constructed in Serbia or Romania and is subsequently towed to Werkendam to be fiited out with technical systems, engines and interiors.
United Waterways (based in Basel, Switzerland,) a company specialised in offering white-labelling services in river and ocean cruising, partnered in the development and building process of Century Star with Concordia Damen to ensure the vessel strictly meets current European safety, environmental, and hybrid-propulsion standards.
As for earlier ships, for the interior design of Century Star Concordia Damen collaborated with Dutch interior architect agency MDesigns, led by founder Marloes Boele. They are particulalry experienced in designing interiors for river cruise vessels, like for example the aforementioned Excellence Crown as well as the Nicko Spirit for Select Voyages/ Nicko River Cruises.
With the exceptional interior design of Century River Cruises’ Century Star, Mdesigns has raised the bar yet again as she will feature classy public spaces and staterooms before unseen on European rivers. Together with their Chinese clients, the theme, or better the main narrative “Rivers Entwined” was defined.
The overall design philosophy behind the ship’s interior is the unique “East meets West” concept. Rather than relying on often seen minimalist luxury often seen on other high-end ships, MDesigns drafted a narrative where the ship’s public venues and accommodations are inspired by the cultural diversity of the geographical regions along the river Danube, merged with traditional Chinese elegance and hospitality elements.
With this design narrative “Rivers Entwined”, MDesigns connected Century Cruises’ Asian heritage with its new European river cruise venture, linking China’s Yangtze River (where it all started for Century Cruises in 1992) with the Danube River and the region it flows through, consisting of ten distinct European nations. Instead of simply placing Chinese art in a European-style ship, the designers merged Eastern and Western themes.
A striking example is the wall mural in the Main lounge where a Chinese drawing has German elements added to it.
The Lobby & Atrium serves as the central hub connecting the Lower, Main, and Upper decks, featuring a grand staircase, a passenger elevator, and a large overhead skylight flooding the interior with natural light. The design here is inspired by Bulgaria’s famous Rose Valley, where in this case, rose motifs are used to bridge Eastern and Western design aesthetics.
The Main Restaurant (Main Deck) which was nominated as one of the concepts finalists at Cruise Ship Interiors (CSI) Awards 2025, takes its theme from the Black Forest (where the Danube originates). It features rich, traditional wood tones lined with delicate gold accents, aimed at evoking the warmth and rustic heritage of the Bavarian beer culture.
The Bar & Lounge (Upper Deck forward): Located at the front of the ship with direct access to an outdoor bow terrace, this space is modelled after the classic grandeur of a Vienna coffee house, combining Baroque architectural influences with elegant marble flooring, gold trim and featuring classic China blue porcelain. In a subtle way, in this beautifully appointed lounge, Austrian classical musical heritage is merged with Chinese artistry.
The Aft Lounge & Coffee Corner (Upper Deck aft) functions as a quieter, more intimate library and daytime retreat, and shows a softer, more tranquil color scheme. Here, design elements are inspired by the warm tones of cherry blossoms and regional wines, while offering impressive views of the ship’s wake.
Century Star has capacity for 174 passengers in 78 staterooms and premium suites. Across all categories, the design relies on a calming color scheme inspired by the natural Danube riverbanks, incorporating brass accents and natural wood panelling.
Onboard Century Star, guests can choose from three cabin grades:
Executive Suites: the highest-tier accommodations, these suites’ richer color scheme is inspired by the “mysterious blues” of Bratislava, Slovakia (referring to the striking azure and pastel-blue hues of the city’s iconic Blue Church and the local blues music scene). Intricate wooden wall panelling and traditional, colorful embroideries complete the picture.
Junior Suites, located on the middle and upper decks, the design patterns of these cabins relate to the rhythm of the colorful traditional Serbian Kolo folk dance, combined with hand-selected, graceful Chinese artworks. Their main feature is the drop-down window mechanism, which connects the in-cabin seating area with the outside when opened.
Finally , the standard Cabins (Lower Deck): The 18 fixed-window cabins on the lowest deck feature a rustic gold color palette and warm wood panelling, intended to evoke the cozy, welcoming feel of a traditional countryside home in the Balkans.
The overall interior atmosphere onboard Century Star reflects an understated, refined style, avoiding flashy luxury in favor of warmth, clean lines and cultural storytelling where East meets West.
On the technical side, the Century Star features several technical innovations the CDS River Cruise 135-design (which has been awarderd the Green Award Gold Standard for river ships) is known for.
Modern, high-efficiency diesel generator sets generate electrical power on demand, runnig constantly at their optimal RPM, minimizing fuel consumption and soot output. An integrated energy storage system including a high-capacity battery pack, works in tandem with the generators. Finally, electric motors drive the ship’s propulsion units, electric azimuth thrusters, giving immediate torque control and significantly lower operational noise and vibration compared to traditional direct diesel drives.
During high-demand maneuvers—such as sailing upstream against strong currents, or executing tight dockings—the propulsion system draws energy from the battery pack alongside the generators.
So called “peak shaving” prevents the ship from needing extra, oversized diesel engines running just to handle brief power surges. When power demands drop during steady cruising, surplus electricity generated by the engines recharges the batteries automatically.
The battery system holds enough capacity to run the vessel entirely on electric power for short distances. This allows 100% emission-free and silent sailing through environmentally sensitive regions (like Austria’s Wachau Valley, stretched along a 36-kilometer section of the Danube River between Melk and Krems).
When tied up in port, the ship plugs into local municipal power grids, using shore power (also called “cold ironing”) allowing the main diesel generators to be shut down completely while maintaining full hotel functions and recharging the main battery pack.
Technical data concerning daily (engine) operations and maintenance warnings are available on screens on the bridge, this award winning user interface which goes by the name of Triton is developed by the yard itself.
There are additional options a shipowner can choose to have implemented like for example solar cells in the outside handrails to continuously feed clean power to for example lighting, HVAC and other onboard electronics.
In all, the new Century Star, is an innovative, technically highly efficient, climate friendly river cruise ship with remarkable stylish interiors. She will without any doubt guarantee a highly successful entry in the European river cruise market for Chinese owner Century Cruises.
