Established as a coach tour provider in 1986, Australian-founded Scenic Group now takes travellers to destinations in over 60 countries via its Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, Emerald Cruises, Mayflower Cruises & Tours, and Evergreen Tours brands. It continues to evolve its luxury travel products to remain competitive with new market entrants and keep pace with ever-changing consumer demands.
“Scenic Group is highly attuned to what today’s luxury traveller values: immersive access, contemporary design, personalised service and sustainable innovation,” says Ken Muskat, president of USA and LATAM at Scenic Group. “Whether through our two Scenic Eclipse discovery yachts, our expanding Emerald Cruises fleet, or the design refreshes across our river vessels, we’re always asking how we can surprise and elevate. What sets us apart is our ability to offer ultra-luxury exploration and boutique cruising across river, ocean and expedition segments while maintaining authenticity and a high-touch guest experience across every journey.”
Expanding Emerald Cruises’ fleet of luxury superyachts is one of Scenic Group’s key priorities for the next few years, with Emerald Kaia set to debut in 2026 followed by Emerald Raiya in 2027 and Emerald Xara in 2028. The 128-guest, all-suite vessels will join Emerald Azzurra and Emerald Sakara, which began operating in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
“We’ve seen extraordinary demand for Emerald Azzurra and Emerald Sakara, with guests embracing the intimate, immersive and effortlessly luxurious boutique yacht cruising style,” says Muskat. “The three new yachts will enable us to scale thoughtfully, offer more warm-weather sailings year-round, and access high-demand destinations from the Mediterranean to the Seychelles and Caribbean. Each of the five superyachts will sail distinctive regional deployments with the hallmarks of the Emerald experience: spacious suites, wellness, cuisine and authentic coastal access.”
All three newbuilds will be similarly designed to the existing superyachts, but will also feature updated spaces to further elevate the guest experience. “The foundational elements of the Emerald yacht experience will remain: all-suite accommodations, open-air living, regionally inspired cuisine and a guest count under 130,” says Muskat. “The new ships will also have larger suites, a 50 per cent larger spa and wellness space, enhanced dining venues, higher ceilings to allow more natural light, and a greater emphasis on indoor-outdoor connectivity.
The 180-guest Emerald Astra will debut on the Rhine, Moselle and Danube rivers in 2026
Emerald Cruises used feedback from guests and crew to inform the design. “From improved service flow in dining areas to more shaded relaxation spaces on deck – every design choice is rooted in real onboard experience,” says Muskat. “Based on feedback from our existing yachts, the marina and Sky Deck experiences are consistently rated among the best spaces onboard, as they provide that exclusive, yacht-club-at-sea feeling guests are looking for. Consequently, these new yachts will offer generous open-air spaces, including an expanded Sky Deck with private cabanas and a Sky Bar, and a reimagined marina with a lounge and water sports access – including the fan-favourite slide! Guests will love the seamless connection to the sea.”
Guest feedback – and a 32 per cent increase in river cruise trade bookings from 2023 to 2024 – has also inspired Emerald Cruises to develop a new generation of river ships. The brand made comprehensive interior upgrades to introduce luxury yacht-inspired elements on all its existing river ships ahead of the 2025 season. To bring a “layered, sustainable and sophisticated look” to the interiors of these river ships, the brand partnered with world-class design firms and artisans, including Missoni, Freifrau and MKM Yachts. “These collaborations are helping us deliver ships that are not only beautiful, but also thoughtfully attuned to the way today’s guests live, relax and explore,” explains Muskat, adding that Scenic Group will also works with these partners for other vessels.
In 2026, Emerald Cruises plans to debut the new 180-guest Emerald Astra on the Rhine, Moselle and Danube rivers. “Emerald Astra marks the beginning of a new era for us in river cruising,” says Muskat. “Our next-generation ships are being built with sleeker hulls, more panoramic windows and enhanced sustainability systems – all to bring guests closer to the destination with less impact. Inside, you’ll see modern, open-concept spaces inspired by our yacht and expedition design, plus more wellness offerings and cultural programming onboard. It’s about making river cruising more fluid, elegant and experiential, without losing the comfort or consistency that advisors and guests love.”
The brand will introduce its first ship purpose-built for the River Seine in France in 2027. Emerald Lumi will feature spacious suites, a light-filled lounge, French-inspired dining concepts and a specialised hull to enable it to sail into open seas and access smaller ports. Itineraries will include overnights in Paris and extended time in Normandy, while the shore excursions and onboard programming will highlight local wine, art, music and storytelling.
“France has long been a top-requested destination, and the Seine is one of Europe’s most iconic waterways,” says Muskat. “We saw an opportunity to bring our Emerald Cruises style – contemporary, comfortable and culturally immersive – to a region rich in history, cuisine and charm. Emerald Lumi is purpose-built to navigate the Seine’s unique dimensions, allowing us to dock in more intimate ports like Honfleur and Rouen – destinations that many other river operators can only access via bus from larger docking points. This will be river cruising with a boutique, French soul. It’s a natural extension of our vision to connect guests to destinations in meaningful and modern ways.”
Collectively, the new yachts and river cruise vessels will help Emerald Cruises to fulfil its “transformative” new deployment strategy. “We want to bring greater year-round access and variety to our guests, while creating more selling opportunities for our partners,” says Muskat. “With our expanded yacht fleet, we can now maintain warm-weather sailing year-round, while the addition of Emerald Lumi and Emerald Astra to the river fleet allows us to expand deeper into France and Central Europe. This also unlocks new charter, group and speciality programming opportunities.”
To further increase variety for guests, Emerald Cruises is increasing the portfolio of speciality sailings and enrichment-led programming it offers. The itineraries enable guests to experience the gastronomy, literature, music or other cultural elements of the destinations they are visiting with the guidance of a dedicated expert. For example, guests on the wine and culinary-focused ‘Danube Explorer’ itinerary were joined by expert sommelier Alejandro Ferris.
“We continue to elevate the onboard experience through immersive, culturally aligned programming and curated guest journeys,” says Muskat. “Together, these experiences underscore our commitment to going beyond the itinerary to offer our guests unique, high-touch moments that align with their passions and inspire deeper connection with the destinations and local communities we visit.”
Discover more insights like this in the Autumn/Winter 2025 issue of Cruise & Ferry Review. Don’t miss out – subscribe for FREE and get the next issue delivered straight to your inbox.