If you’ve been waiting for Australia to produce a five-star river cruise to rival the Rhine or the Danube, the wait is over. PS Australian Star, the newest vessel from Murray River Paddlesteamers, has begun sailing the Murray between Echuca and the region’s historic river towns, and if you’re wondering whether it’s worth arranging luxury private jets to get there, the short answer is yes. With only 38 berths aboard and demand already outstripping supply, this is one of those rare Australian experiences where the challenge isn’t affording a place. It’s finding one.
The Murray’s Most Exclusive Booking
PS Australian Star launched in February 2026 as Australia’s first five-star overnight river vessel, and the numbers behind her tell their own story. She’s a 220-tonne hybrid, powered in part by a restored 1907 wood-fired steam engine, and the build ran to $11 million, with the Southern Hemisphere’s largest wood-fired paddlesteamer title attached to her for good measure.
Murray River Paddlesteamers isn’t shy about the comparisons it draws, positioning her alongside grand river vessels on the Rhine, the Danube and the Seine. Whether or not the Murray quite matches those rivers for scale, the ambition is unmistakable, and it seems to be paying off. Close to half of her 2026 and 2027 sailings are already locked in by APT Luxury Travel, and director Craig Burgess points to “a clear demand for a world-class, five-star experience” that Australians have wanted for years. The project also drew $2.25 million from the Victorian Government’s Regional Tourism Investment Fund, a sign of how seriously the state is backing the Murray as a genuine alternative to flying to Europe for this kind of trip.
For anyone advising high-net-worth clients on where to book next, availability rather than budget is the real constraint here.
Life Aboard PS Australian Star
Step past the exclusivity and the vessel earns her five stars on her own merits. She carries just 38 guests across 19 staterooms and suites, made up of 17 queen-bed rooms plus a King Suite and a Queen Suite, every one of them with a private ensuite, air-conditioning and its own direct deck access. Starlink keeps guests connected the whole way down the river, and a passenger lift reaches all three decks, a detail that’s far from standard on a vessel this size.
Onboard, the Hopwood Bar & Lounge and the Randell Dining Room take their names from figures in the Murray’s own paddlesteamer history, and both open onto decks where the working paddlewheel is never far from view. Fares are genuinely all-inclusive, covering meals, daily shore excursions to wineries, heritage towns and farm stations, Wi-Fi and gratuities, so the only real decision is which itinerary suits the trip: a three-night Discovery Cruise, a four-night Explorer Cruise, or the seven-night All the Rivers Run that combines both, all running year-round from Echuca.
There’s a neat coincidence in her numbers too. At a maximum of 38 guests, filling PS Australian Star for a private departure sits close to the size of a full aircraft party, which makes her a natural fit for a corporate incentive trip, a milestone family celebration, or any group that wants the whole ship to itself.
Getting There: Why Luxury Private Jets Make Sense for the Murray
Echuca has no scheduled commercial airline services, though the town does have its own general aviation airport, well used for charter and corporate traffic rather than left as an afterthought. That makes flying in directly a realistic option, rather than relying on the road transfer or the rail connection from Melbourne that most fares are built around.
For one couple, that’s a nice-to-have. For a full ship buyout or a group of any real size, it’s where the trip actually starts. This is where Adagold Aviation comes in. Its private group charter flights and private jet hire services can get a full party into regional Victoria on its own schedule, coordinating the right aircraft, or aircraft, for the size of the group and the flight required. For anyone folding luxe charter flights into a broader Murray River escape, or a travel advisor managing a multi-couple booking on PS Australian Star, arranging the flight through Adagold means one point of contact for the whole journey instead of a string of separate connections through Melbourne.
With thousands of charters behind it across Australia’s regional and remote network, Adagold’s team can put together everything from a single aircraft charter for a couple to a coordinated group flight for a full ship’s complement, quoted against the private jet cost that suits the trip. Given how quickly PS Australian Star’s calendar is filling, it’s worth talking to Adagold’s charter specialists sooner rather than later.
Luxury private jets won’t get you onto the river itself, but for a booking this exclusive, they’re often the smartest way to start. Get in touch with Adagold to arrange the flight before the ship sells out from under you.
