Nymphea barge

MS Nymphea barge is a hotel barge (cruise ship) 1921-built in Holland as cargo barge for drybulk shipping. The vessel is currently owned and operated by European Waterways on Cher River cruises in central France.

Initially, the barge carried hops and barley to a brewery in the north of Holland from Rotterdam. She returned with barrels and bottles of beer, on a single round trip per week. The former owner had 7 kids and lived with his wife in the bow cabin, and at maximum, five of the family at a time.

In 1978, the cargo barge was converted to carry 20 scouts in hammocks. In 1985, she was converted into a luxury hotel barge. Nymphea has travelled to Bordeaux from Holland on most of the French waterways and pioneered on Seille River and Canal du Nivernais. The boat has also been transported to Monte Carlo and Barcelona by sea. When moved in 1990 to Cher River, Nymphea was transported / wheeled on a semi-trailer truck. An interesting fact is that part of "Rick Stein's French Odyssey" (BBC series themed on the French regional cuisine) was filmed on the Nymphea barge - in 2005.

Currently, the ship has 3 double cabins (for up to 6 passengers) plus separate crew quarters housing the crew of 3 - the Captain (Master and Pilot), the Tour Guide and the boat's Chef.

Note: You can see the CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.