Europe’s fairytale river cruise: Castles, luxury suites and storybook scenery
For two weeks, I felt like a princess. Cinderella at the ball but without the nasty stepmum and stepsisters. From my luxurious suite to my floating carriage (also known as Super Ship Victoria), to my butler and delicious cocktails being prepared for me, I was effortlessly transported to romantic towns and storybook castles.
My Uniworld Cruises carriage took me to five European countries and to several Unesco World Heritage Sites. Every port from Brussels to Basel had something interesting to offer, but the ones that most made me feel like a princess were the German ports.
From Cochem to Rüdesheim to Bernkastel-Kues to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, this area is straight out of the pages of a fairy tale. The Moselle and Rhine rivers wind their way through valleys covered in vineyards and green fields as castles dot the landscape.
A fairytale come true
Reichsburg Castle dominates the fairytale town of Cochem. This was once a toll castle where trading ships stopped to pay tax, and if they didn’t stop, a chain across the Moselle River stopped them from proceeding. The castle was largely ruined by Louis XIV’s troops in 1689 during the Nine Years’ War - one of many they destroyed along the Moselle River.
But the Tower of Reichsburg Castle survived - and when locals could not explain how it escaped the damage, they decided there must have been witchcraft involved, and christened it ‘The Witches’ Tower’, a name which remains to this day.
I toured inside Reichsburg Castle as a Uniworld-included excursion and heard the story of wealthy Berlin businessman, Louis Ravené, who purchased the castle as a gift and summer house for his wife. Ravene spent nearly ten years reconstructing the castle in a Neo-Gothic architectural style. Sadly for Ravene, his wife divorced him and local lore says he died of a broken heart two years after the renovations were finished. Sad as that tale was, I felt like a princess touring the fully-furnished rooms of Reichsburg Castle and posing for photos on the balcony overlooking the Moselle.
We stopped at the gingerbread town of Bernkastel-Kues, a medieval town that looks likes Hansel and Gretel were born here - no wonder it is called the Pearl of the Moselle. The half-timbered houses are gorgeous but they were built that way for reasons of cost rather than beauty. Made with cob (a mixture of clay, straw, sand and water), half-timbered houses were much cheaper to build than stone houses. Germans still use an expression, ‘steinreich’ or in English, ‘stone rich’ - meaning wealthy.
Scenic sailing through the Unesco-protected Upper Middle Rhine Valley felt like sailing through film sets. In this 65 kilometre stretch of the Rhine, there are more than 40 castles. Our cruise director, Piet Abbeloos, narrated stories about the castles we were passing by on either side of us.
Abbeloos’s commentary was broadcast through the onboard Quietvox machines (individual earpieces) so that anyone who wanted to hear the commentary could. He told us stories about the castles and the famous Lorelei Rock, including the legend of the siren and her enchanting song, said to be the cause of the high number of shipwrecks in the area.
A Princess onboard
The SS Victoria team made me feel like a celebrity and could not do enough for me. From multiple offers for a barista-made coffee each morning to continually refilling my glass at lunch and dinner to asking me how my day was, I was made to feel very special.
Staying in a suite, I had never had a more luxurious nor a more spacious stateroom. At 23.5 square metres, my stateroom was substantially bigger than most European hotel rooms I have stayed in. And the lavish bathroom had two vanities. Forget the “can’t swing a cat” cruise ship shower - this one was spacious and luxe with options for rainfall or handheld.
With a butler at my disposal (two, in fact, the beautifully-dressed Valentin and Alexander) and unlimited laundry that was delivered back clean, pressed and on hangers ready to slot into my walk-in-robe, this was two weeks of luxury, of being pampered, of being spoiled.
The food, too, was incredible. Ever-changing buffets for breakfast and lunch and four-course à la carte dinners that would not be out of place in a fine-dining restaurant on land.
The return to the real world
After two weeks of bliss, my cruise and time playing princess did have to end. My luxury floating boutique hotel didn’t turn into a pumpkin but it did have new guests to pamper and I had to get used to cooking, cleaning and doing my own laundry again.
The life of a princess was good while it lasted. I’m counting the weeks until I can role-play royalty again!
This article was published by The Post on November 11th, 2025, and written by Leonie Jarrett.