Dutch interior specialist Willemsen Interieurbouw will complete the fit-out of nine river cruise ships per year in 2026 and 2027, rising to 10 per year from 2028, as the river newbuild boom continues.
The family-owned company, which dates back to 1938, currently has around 35 newbuild river ships on its books, CEO and owner Toine Willemsen told Cruise Industry News in an interview for the 2027 European River Market Report.
Ten of those are for Celebrity River Cruises, with another 10 Celebrity ships booked at TeamCo Shipyard expected to be added later.
Willemsen has worked on 125 new river ships in its history.
At its facility in Huissen, the company is now developing the interiors of the Celebrity Compass and the Celebrity Seeker. Willemsen said the program has pushed the company into new territory, with weight a central concern.
“You need to try and actually build ‘light,’” he said. “And that is something that is new. It is not something that we have talked about much with many other clients in the past.”
Because river vessels are so sensitive to draft, every kilogram matters. Working with Celebrity’s design team for more than a year, Willemsen has turned to new materials.
“We use lightweight materials such as Metawell aluminum sandwich panels, lightweight sheet material for furniture and smart lightweight constructions,” Willemsen said.
To meet demand, the Huissen production facility expanded to 25,000 square meters last year. The company has also focused its entire capacity on river ship interiors, placing other commercial work, such as offices and hotels, with partner companies.
Prefabricated bathrooms are being built under Willemsen’s supervision at Portisa in the Netherlands, while another partner produces furniture for public areas.
Fitting HVAC, electrical and other systems within the tight tolerances of a river cruise hull, while leaving maximum room for guests, requires millimeter-by-millimeter decisions, Willemsen explained.
“In terms of space in the interiors, we are very critical to make them as large as possible,” he said. “For the installations in the walls and especially above the ceilings, there is very little installation space.”
Willemsen described the company as purely a production business, turning designs from clients such as Celebrity into interiors that can actually be built.
“They can expect us to make what is designed by third parties constructive and of good quality,” he said. “So for instance, for Celebrity, they have a huge design team that is working on the designs for these interiors.”
