River line Uniworld to launch new ship in France

Upscale river line Uniworld will unveil a new ship in 2017 on France's Seine River.

The S.S. Joie de Vivre will carry 128 passengers and feature a special design that allows it to dock in the heart of Paris.

The vessel will offer French-inspired, hand-crafted furniture with rich fabrics, antiques, art, gilded and wrought-iron accents, the company said Tuesday in an announcement.

Among the highlights of the ship will be a lounge called the Salon de Beaux-Arts decorated with a collection of fine art and antiques curated from auction houses and private collections. Another venue, Le Club l’Esprit, will have a cinema and a surrounding pool with a hydraulic floor that can turn into a dance floor.

The Joie de Vivre will measure just 125 meters in length, about 10 meters shorter than is typical for cruise vessels on the river. The shorter profile will allow it to dock in a better location than longer river ships.

Uniworld said the Joie de Vivre will have 10 suites that come with butler service and other enhanced amenities in addition to 54 standard cabins. All of the suites and cabins will have custom-made Savoir of England beds with unique headboards of various designs and marble bathrooms in various color-schemes.

“This will be the most beautiful ship sailing the Seine," Uniworld president Guy Young boasted in a statement accompanying the announcement.

The announcement comes just a month after the unveiling of Uniworld's first vessel in India. For Paste BN Cruise's exclusive deck-by-deck tour of the ship, the Ganges Voyager II, scroll through the carousel below.