These days, hotels have mastered the art of hosting corporate groups, with business traveler-focused amenities from flexible meeting spaces to loyalty perks, executive lounge access, 24/7 fitness centers and more. Chartered cruises, however, have some things to tweak before they can truly compete as an option for B2B gatherings, despite offering a one-of-a-kind experience that the industry is arguably in need of—at least according to Matthew Shollar, the founder and chief visionary officer of Transcend Cruises.
Shollar founded Transcend Cruises in 2022 as a company that will exclusively offer luxury river cruises to corporate groups. Its first vessel, however, named Transcend Connect, won’t hit the water until April 2026—with its sister ship, Transcend Evolve, set to make its debut later that same year.
“We are truly disrupting the river cruise industry,” said Kimberly Daley, Transcend Cruises’ chief revenue officer, giving Vendelux the inside scoop on the forthcoming ships’ business model, plus how they fill a gap in the B2B MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) market. “This segment of the market was prime for disrupting,” Daley said, noting that the first problem with river cruises is that “the ships have all remained basically the same, as they all are serving the individual consumer market.”
“They lack public areas large enough to host group events, and most have limited—if any—wellness and fitness facilities,” she added, touting that Transcend Connect and Evolve won’t make the same mistakes.
For starters, each ship will span 135 meters each (for context, about the length of one and a half football fields) and will exclusively sail—at least at first—in Europe’s Rhine River, which begins in the Swiss Alps and flows through Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands before emptying into the North Sea.
In the coming years, Transcend Cruises is looking to extend further into Europe, and has plans to target North America, Asia, South America and Australia with the help of already established, long-term partnerships with luxury cruise operators Nat Geo-Lindblad and Imagine Cruising.
Though each ship’s capacity is enough space for hundreds of passengers, Transcend will only allow between 30 and 120 guests per voyage—“60% fewer guests than retail-focused European river cruise lines and one of the highest crew-to-guest ratios,” Daley noted. It’s one of Transcend’s key features for “delivering a level of service they [guests] would expect from a five-star hotel on land.”
On-board amenities are primed for a luxurious experience as well, and are set to include functional public spaces like a main restaurant, three additional F&B concepts, five dedicated meeting venues, a library and a coffee bar—all on the main deck.
At the stern will be a 2,600-square-foot indoor/outdoor wellness facility—“the largest and most comprehensive of any river cruising vessel,” per Daley—equipped for yoga and other fitness classes, plus a spa with a sauna, steam room and “relaxation room.”
Up on the sun deck, Transcend Connect and Evolve will boast another fitness space, the two-story Forum theater—ideal for “lectures and concerts,” Daley said—and an open-air eatery, just to touch on the highlights.
“As a B2B-focused platform, Transcend Cruises’ ships will also be outfitted with a wide range of proprietary technology that empowers charter clients to amplify their brands for their guests through experiential elements such as cutting-edge digital signage, custom lighting, sound and imagery,” Daley said. There’s also a fully-equipped office on the ship with on-site printing capabilities and ample storage space, Daley assured.
And when programming wraps for the day, guests aboard will retreat to one of 60 identical staterooms—each with its own bedroom and bathroom, with the option to combine two rooms to make an adjoining suite. There are also “cabins for the group’s staff, sleeping up to six, available in addition to the guest staterooms,” Daley said.
Aside from the ships themselves, Transcend has an internal team designed to work closely with an organization’s event planners to “design bespoke programming and help them source whatever they require,” Daley said, noting that the number of stops and destinations are completely customizable along with the food and beverage program, which is “rooted in European culinary and wine excellence.” Transcend can even assist in procuring entertainment, though groups “can bring on their own entertainers and speakers,” Daley said.
“The options are limitless and only bound by the client’s imagination and budget,” according to Daley, who shared that the company has already accommodated an executive retreat that wanted 10 breakouts with integrated learning sessions during a four-day voyage where the ship only travels between Frankfurt and Mainz, Germany.
To get in on the action, Daley recommends planning as early as 18 months out from departure.
“We believe we are at the forefront of a new revolution where business travel looks to the rivers as a normal option for meetings, retreats, incentive programs, launches and events,” Daley concluded.
