Ask the President: What would you want to ask a river cruise line president?

[ashley@cruisecritic]

Uniworld is launching its first-ever Webinar series on Monday, July 16, and has asked Cruise Critic’s Editor in Chief, Carolyn Spencer Brown, to co-host the hourlong, travel agent-oriented session with its President, Guy Young.

 

While the chat aims to educate and inform travel agents about river cruising, here at Cruise Critic we get to ask any questions we want, not just about Uniworld but also about river cruising in general.

 

What do you want to know about river cruising when it comes to itineraries, ships, ship designs, ports of call, onboard life, cruise fares, etc.? Post your questions here, and Carolyn will endeavor to ask as many as she can.

[jrowland]

With the introduction of newer boats by most of the major river cruise companies, do you see any possibility of boat congestion on the rivers and also tourist congestion at the ports visited by the river cruise ships

[4774Papa]

With the introduction of newer boats by most of the major river cruise companies, do you see any possibility of boat congestion on the rivers and also tourist congestion at the ports visited by the river cruise ships

jrowland, I see you are from Brunswick. We live on SS. Hello.

I don't really have a question for the President except what he sees for the future of river cruising.

[pacmom]

Am also curious about the glut of boats coming out this year and next. Will it start to look at the Nile with boats 5 deep? 15 river cruises and counting--6 with Uniworld. Pat

[Caroldoll]

like the Captain is included in splitting the tips. I thought this was terrible and that the ship line (in this case Viking) should pay the Captain enough so that he doesn't need tips which were meant for the rest of the crew.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Great question. Would like to add, cause I'm seeing congestion, how is the popularity of river cruising causing challenges (five boats docked side by side, lack of buses or guides in smaller ports, etc.). Also wondering if river lines will do what big ship lines had to do some years back, when some islands in the Caribbean got ridiculously over-run (St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Cozumel, Grand Cayman) -- on certain days (Tuesday - Thursday were most likely) because cruise lines were operating cruises starting on Saturday and Sunday. So they started mixing up itineraries a little bit, and featuring alternative days of departure, which would land them in ports on different days....

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

With the introduction of newer boats by most of the major river cruise companies, do you see any possibility of boat congestion on the rivers and also tourist congestion at the ports visited by the river cruise ships

[editor@cruisecritic]

Definitely need to know how tipping works, get more clarity on that, thanks, Caroldoll.

 

Carolyn

 

like the Captain is included in splitting the tips. I thought this was terrible and that the ship line (in this case Viking) should pay the Captain enough so that he doesn't need tips which were meant for the rest of the crew.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Do you mean in terms of ship design, new river itineraries, extended seasons of cruising, trends in onboard entertainment (they pretty much all do the same stuff), creating more independent-minded shore opportunities, more recreationally-oriented tours, and sourcing of cruise ship staff?

 

Those are a handful on my mind. Anybody else want to chime in on this one?

 

Carolyn

 

 

jrowland, I see you are from Brunswick. We live on SS. Hello.

I don't really have a question for the President except what he sees for the future of river cruising.

[editor@cruisecritic]

As river cruise lines expand, will they follow the lead of big ship lines when it comes to market sourcing, and start to introduce an international mix of passengers onto their ships? That really changes the onboard ambience -- if you have 40 Germans, 25 Russians, 12 Japanese and the rest Americans/Canadians/Brits/Aussies, it's a different cruise experience.

 

Right now the market's really segmented with German lines aiming for German speaking travelers, etc.......

 

Carolyn

[pacmom]

Carolyn, have traveled on Ama twice and found the international mix od pax the best of all the lines we've been on. Most don't have a true international mix, just the usual US, UK and AUA and Canada. We have now river cruising for 11 years and find the rivers and towns getting more and more crowded all the time. The only uncrowded river in Europe right now is the Elbe, but give it a year or so and lines will build very shallow draft for that river. Should be an interexting discussion next week. Pat

[pacmom]

Just thought of another topic. Do the lines limit the size and or type of groups on board. Our last trip had a group of 40 extremely boisterious people from one of our largest states. Our first European river cruise had a group of 40, a group fo 16 and 16 other travelers. The standoffish group was the 16--everyone was well traveled and got along well. This last group thought the boat was theirs to command--spoiled some othe evenings. Pat

[seattlesloop]

Why do the European chefs on these river cruises prepare such sub-standard, poor quality cuisine? You would think European chefs would know how to prepare European dishes correctly. Are dishes "tweaked" to accommodate American tastebuds? When in Europe, why not dine as Europeans dine, adding one or two Americanized dishes to the selection?

 

Is there a way to more fully soundproof the dining room?

[MarkBearSF]

Seeing the growth of European river cruising - could a similar product be brought to the US?

 

- Obviously, the PSA (restricting US-flagged ships to transporting passengers between US ports) is a major factor here.

 

- Specifically related to the US registration requirements, the economics for a large ocean cruise seem to disadvantage US-flagged ships (as NCL America's experience demonstrates). However, the pricing and staffing of a river vessel seem very different and European wages and benefits tend to be quite high. Is there a cost differential?

 

- Thus far, river cruising in the US has been more of a paddlewheel steamboat variety, rather than the European type vessel. Is the reason cultural - or is there some other factor like port facilities, river depth, bridge height or lock size that is prohibitive?

[editor@cruisecritic]

Great question, thanks for this one!

 

And interesting insight on AMA....

 

Carolyn

 

Just thought of another topic. Do the lines limit the size and or type of groups on board. Our last trip had a group of 40 extremely boisterious people from one of our largest states. Our first European river cruise had a group of 40, a group fo 16 and 16 other travelers. The standoffish group was the 16--everyone was well traveled and got along well. This last group thought the boat was theirs to command--spoiled some othe evenings. Pat

[editor@cruisecritic]

Great questions MarkBearSF.

 

The now-defunct Cruise West and the ever-present American Cruise Lines were among those U.S.-based river lines who have gone or are still going the more contemporary route. I think the big challenge in the U.S. is that most (not all of course but most) major American port cities were built on oceans, not rivers, and so the itineraries are not as compelling as those in Europe, where cities started (again in most cases) on rivers rather than oceans. Make sense? But I'll ask the question!

 

Carolyn

 

Seeing the growth of European river cruising - could a similar product be brought to the US?

 

- Obviously, the PSA (restricting US-flagged ships to transporting passengers between US ports) is a major factor here.

 

- Specifically related to the US registration requirements, the economics for a large ocean cruise seem to disadvantage US-flagged ships (as NCL America's experience demonstrates). However, the pricing and staffing of a river vessel seem very different and European wages and benefits tend to be quite high. Is there a cost differential?

 

- Thus far, river cruising in the US has been more of a paddlewheel steamboat variety, rather than the European type vessel. Is the reason cultural - or is there some other factor like port facilities, river depth, bridge height or lock size that is prohibitive?

[webfoot]

This has nothing to do with Ask the President, but I did an 'ask the traveler' discussion on Facebook for Avalon last month which was really a nice way to talk with other travelers.

 

Ask the President is a great idea!

[editor@cruisecritic]

Thanks, Pat! You never know.... :)

 

Carolyn

 

 

This has nothing to do with Ask the President, but I did an 'ask the traveler' discussion on Facebook for Avalon last month which was really a nice way to talk with other travelers.

 

Ask the President is a great idea!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I would like to see more longer river cruises B2B

[editor@cruisecritic]

Wondering: What would be an ideal river cruise if you could create your own (both route and length)?

 

Carolyn

 

I would like to see more longer river cruises B2B

[Rivermike]

Seeing the growth of European river cruising - could a similar product be brought to the US?

 

- Obviously, the PSA (restricting US-flagged ships to transporting passengers between US ports) is a major factor here.

 

- Specifically related to the US registration requirements, the economics for a large ocean cruise seem to disadvantage US-flagged ships (as NCL America's experience demonstrates). However, the pricing and staffing of a river vessel seem very different and European wages and benefits tend to be quite high. Is there a cost differential?

 

- Thus far, river cruising in the US has been more of a paddlewheel steamboat variety, rather than the European type vessel. Is the reason cultural - or is there some other factor like port facilities, river depth, bridge height or lock size that is prohibitive?

 

There were a few paddlewheelers until a few years ago. Now we have a ship tjat has been refurbished and a new paddlewheeler being built. There was a riverbarge which had been converted with larger cabins and the restaurant and lounge in a second barge. Sad to say it went under 2-3 years ago. Maybe it will come back?

[newfirsttimer]

Why could we not start Great Lakes cruising? From the tip of Lake Superior, with stops in smaller communities, then over to Chicago, Frankenmuth, Detroit, Sarnia, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Kingston, Gananoque, Montreal, Quebec City. Combine the best of the Gt. Lakes communities.

[SuiteTraveler]

Why do the European chefs on these river cruises prepare such sub-standard, poor quality cuisine? You would think European chefs would know how to prepare European dishes correctly. Are dishes "tweaked" to accommodate American tastebuds? When in Europe, why not dine as Europeans dine, adding one or two Americanized dishes to the selection?

 

Is there a way to more fully soundproof the dining room?

 

My question is related to this. On Uniworld, we did have food that was great and it seemed to be appropriate for where we were cruising (Rhine river) and local wines. So my question for all the Presidents of river cruise lines would be: Can you please make sure and serve lots and lots of food that is specific to the area where you are cruising?

 

To me the major disconnect on European ocean cruises has always been - for example, spend the day in Naples, Italy and then have a hamburger or Indian Curry or Thai food for dinner. Who wants that???

 

What I liked especially on Uniworld is that the chef DID prepare food from the area we were cruising in. I don't want to eat American food in Germany or France or anywhere outside of America. So please, stick to your guns on this and serve almost nothing but food that is typical of the specific area the river ship is cruising! It would be fine to have one American food item per night for those who inexplicably insist on eating American type food in Europe, but really, for most of us, I think we want to have true European foods ONLY when we are in Europe. German food in Germany, French food in France and so forth. Please DO NOT get caught up in the goofy idea that Americans want to eat American food when in Europe. Perhaps for some in the past that has been true, but nowadays, I don't think that is the case anymore. To me a lot of the enjoyment of travel is to have the cuisine of the country you are visiting.

 

I also hope that you allow your chefs to buy local ingredients such as local cheeses and wines and whatever is grown or prepared locally to include in your menus. Yes, this means your menus will change somewhat, however, this level of customization will, IMO, increase consumer satisfaction. Afterall, the best restaurants change their menus for whatever is seasonal and available and don't lose customers over it because what the customers are there for is to have that specific chef's food - not a specific food item. I think it would increase your chef's job satisfaction NOT to have to cook to a corporate menu. I believe those corporate menus have been incredibly detrimental to the ocean cruise ship industry and led to the bizarre situation of having food so poorly matched to the ports. Instead give your chef's a budget to stick to and the freedom to do his/her best and treat their ship's restaurant as though it was a private restaurant. I do think you would be able to hire some of the best chefs in this manner and actually build a following for your chefs in doing this and that is another way you could expand your market... Imagine if your ships were Michelin rated!

[cbb]

A big amen and "I'll second that" to the plea to figure out a way to help the acoustics in the dining rooms. How lovely it is to be underway at dinner, everyone is ready to talk about what they've done that day, wine is free-flowing and one must practically shout to be heard at their table...rather spoils the evening.

 

Added ceiling material, heavier drapes, tapestries on the walls? Help!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Why could we not start Great Lakes cruising? From the tip of Lake Superior, with stops in smaller communities, then over to Chicago, Frankenmuth, Detroit, Sarnia, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Kingston, Gananoque, Montreal, Quebec City. Combine the best of the Gt. Lakes communities.

That sounds like a great idea..

[pacmom]

There is already Great Lakes cruising--just google it.