TUI River Cruises announces its godparents for its highest capacity ship, TUI Aria, on the European waters
TUI River Cruises has announced its godparents for its newly refurbished highest capacity ship, TUI Aria. The godparents for the latest ship are TUI agent, Paula Burgess and Mark Sage, Senior Commercial Manager at TUI River Cruises who were both given surprise and delight moments and titles of godparents to TUI Aria due to their contributions to TUI River Cruises since the river cruise line launched five years ago.
With the Christening of TUI Aria around the corner, Paula has been given the godparent title due to her achievement of being a top selling agent, in one of the topping selling stores in the South East region. Paula has shown her dedication to TUI River Cruises since it launched five years ago and TUI Hempstead Valley with 34 years under her belt working at TUI.
Godparent Mark Sage has also been chosen alongside Paula, to be the godparent of the latest European river cruise ship which will set sail down two rivers the Rhine and Moselle from Amsterdam, Basel and Frankfurt for Summer 2026. Mark has been at TUI for 25 years and has worked on TUI River Cruises since its inception.
TUI Aria will be the first TUI River Cruise ship in Europe to include a pool with panoramic views in the multi-use venue, Reflections. The onboard pool will double as a versatile area, serving as a pool during the day. In the evening, the pool floor will rise to close off the water, transforming the space into a secondary dining venue and entertainment area with Italian inspired dishes. The pool has a retractable roof, offering year-round, weatherproof enjoyment – another first for the fleet. The ship will also have modern and spacious interiors with a choice of restaurants, lounges and entertainment spaces.
The 190 passengers will be accommodated across 96 cabins including Superior French Balcony cabins, Superior, Standard and Single cabins, to sail through the European waterways on the river cruise line.
Godparent to TUI Aria, TUI’s Travel Agent, Paula Burgess said: “I still can’t believe I have been chosen to be a godparent for TUI Aria - I feel so proud and honoured. I love sharing with customers who come into the TUI Hempstead Valley store on where they can river cruise from the European waterways of the Rhine and Danube to the Egyptian River Nile. It’s brilliant to see how my hardwork has resulted into an honourable title for TUI River Cruises.”
Like the rest of the European fleet, TUI Aria will be Full Board Plus, as standard with the option for guests to upgrade to all-inclusive and will include a day and night entertainment programme. The three new itineraries include the Moselle & North Rhine itinerary sailing from Frankfurt, and the North Rhine & Moselle Explorer and Dutch Delta Discovery itineraries from Amsterdam sailing with TUI Aria.
TUI River Cruises is part of TUI UK and Ireland and TUI Group. There are currently three adult only ships in the TUI River Cruises European fleet: TUI Isla, TUI Skyla and TUI Maya and TUI River Cruises Egyptian fleet: TUI Al Horeya and TUI Bahareya. There will be two new ships to sail the European Waterways: TUI Aria, which will operate in March 2026 and TUI Elara, which will operate in March 2027. The first-new build ship, TUI Luzia will be sailing exclusively on the River Douro in Summer 2027.