- Iconic Australian river ship brand APT has finally revealed its new ships.
- The APT Solara is the first of a revolutionary park, with a restaurant on hydrolics and beautiful interiors.
- Here’s what our reporter thought.
The bosses of APT have just one regret about their new river ship Solara. “We should have built this earlier,” co-owner Lou Tandy and CEO David Cox chorus as one when I ask if there is anything they would change on the vessel.
The ship has just been christened in Rotterdam (Tandy was the godmother), the first guests are about to embark in Amsterdam and we’re having lunch in the Grüner Bar and Dining – a unique eatery at the back of Solara accessed from deck three when the vessel is sailing but which lifts hydraulically up to the sundeck when the river ship is in port.
Never mind the food, which veers from customary starters and main dishes at lunch to sharing plates in the evening, this is an incredible piece of engineering that has never been seen before on the rivers.
The venue has its own galley, seating for up to 28 people and a double-aspect bar. On one side waiters order drinks for diners; on the other, it’s a walk-up bar where passengers on the sundeck can get their favourite tipple (all included in the cost with APT).
And just to add to the wow, the room can be lifted and lowered while passengers are inside.
Cox, who gave Cruise Passenger an interview before the launch, is confident this will be the most popular restaurant on Solara, which unusually does not have a main dining room where everyone can be seated at once.
Instead, there are seven places to eat, including in-cabin service – ‘we call them dining experiences,’ says Jason Shugg, APT’s chief marketing officer – so passengers can chop and change between venues as the mood takes them.
“Guests will love it. It gives them a different experience every night,” predicted Cox.
Options include Bistro Saison and the Owner’s Cellar, an exclusive Chef’s Table venue for 16 people that serves food and matching wines local to the places they are sailing in. All passengers – the ship holds up to 154 – are guaranteed a table; book a suite and you get to go twice.
It’s not just the dining that stands out on Solara. APT brought in Melbourne-based design company Hecker Guthrie to create something different and they have come up trumps. The look is light, bright and uncluttered, with clean lines and nautical themes (some quite subtle) in the public spaces and cabins, such as wood panels, ropes and a modern take on ‘ship’s lanterns’.
“We looked at Europe in a way Europeans don’t,” said co-founder Paul Hecker. “It’s Europe from an Australian perspective, a light, bright, calm sanctuary that guests can return to after a day ashore.”
Tandy and Cox might wish they had built this river ship before, but that was not allowed under a long-running partnership between APT and US-based river cruise line AmaWaterways. That ended last year, freeing APT’s hands and ambitions.
Solara is the first of two new river ships launching this year (the other, Ostara, enters service in July) but Cox is not stopping there. He is already pushing for another two vessels in the next three years. “There will be more,” is all he will commit to right now.
There needs to be. This year is all but sold out – Australians account for 90% of bookings – and 2026 is sold beyond levels APT has ever seen, also to Australians.
Both Solara and Ostara are sailing APT’s two-week Magnificent Europe cruises between Amsterdam and Budapest.
Prices start from $8,995 per person, including drinks, tips, tours and Wi-Fi.
See more here.
