Rive Cruising

[ASIWISH]

With the popularity of River Cruising in Europe, does anyone see HAL get starting to do this?

[Randyk47]

With the popularity of River Cruising in Europe, does anyone see HAL get starting to do this?

 

Not sure I see HAL going that way but never say never. Interestingly one or two of the river cruise companies are actually going into the cruise ship business.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I agree -- I don't see HAL getting into the River Cruise Industry.

[Drico]

Don't know if HAL would consider river cruises or not, but a while back I looked into taking a river cruise in Europe. After reading some reviews here on CC it looks like you would have a good chance that a part (even a good part) of a river cruise could end up as a bus tour. If water levels are too high the boats cannot go under bridges, and if the water level is too low boats have to stay put. So, they put you on a bus (sometimes w/ air conditioning and sometimes not) and take you to your next destination.

[iancal]

I cannot see HAL doing it.

 

But I can well imagine Carnival Corp or RCI buying an existing company.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I don't think so ..

[cruising cockroach]

Maybe if the Aristons see a river cruise line under financial duress and could scoop it up cheap. But then it won't be HAL but something under the Carnival umbrella.

Edited August 7, 2014 by cruising cockroach

[sail7seas]

I'd be very surprised.

[Cruzin Terri]

If i were to go on another river cruise I would go back to Tauck. In my opinion there is no cruise line that can hold a candle to Tauck's river cruises. maybe Crystal. Certainly not Viking. They treated their passengers horribly during the river flooding last summer.

I would think twice about going on their cruise ships.

 

River Cruising and ocean crising are horses of a different color.

Terri

[Vineyard View]

I will let you know - we are booked on their new ship next year. We were treated extremely well by them on a two week cruise.

[Lizzie68]

If i were to go on another river cruise I would go back to Tauck. In my opinion there is no cruise line that can hold a candle to Tauck's river cruises. maybe Crystal. Certainly not Viking. They treated their passengers horribly during the river flooding last summer.

I would think twice about going on their cruise ships.

 

River Cruising and ocean crising are horses of a different color.

Terri

 

My friend tried to tempt me on a Tauck cruise last year and I couldn't because I had another cruise booked. She raved about it, and her photos had me envious. They were put into a luxurious 5 star hotel when the rivers rose too much for the ship to get under the bridges and treated extremely well. That's who I will book with when I'm ready to river cruise.

[Cruzin Terri]

My friend tried to tempt me on a Tauck cruise last year and I couldn't because I had another cruise booked. She raved about it, and her photos had me envious. They were put into a luxurious 5 star hotel when the rivers rose too much for the ship to get under the bridges and treated extremely well. That's who I will book with when I'm ready to river cruise.

 

Ours was lovely, start to finish. The food was like dining in a five star restaurant every meal.

Every tour was included. No extras sold, except for laundry and drinks. The dinner and musical performance in the palace in Vienna is something I will never forget.

It was magnificent. Unlimited local wine and beer at lunch and dinner.

I would not hesitate to do it again.

Terri

[Drico]

My friend tried to tempt me on a Tauck cruise last year and I couldn't because I had another cruise booked. They were put into a luxurious 5 star hotel when the rivers rose too much for the ship to get under the bridges and treated extremely well.

 

That's what I would NOT like. To me, one of the great things about cruising is you unpack and your cabin is your home for the week. I would not want to re-pack, get off the ship, and then check into a hotel, no matter how nice the hotel may be. But I've hear that is not uncommon and one of the reasons I've decided to stay away from river cruises.

[Hlitner]

With the popularity of River Cruising in Europe, does anyone see HAL get starting to do this?

 

Not a chance. River cruising is an entirely different situation when it comes to logistics, crew, operations, etc. What is more likely is that CCL (the corporate owner of HAL) might consider purchasing an existing river cruise company. This would be a business move consistent with previous CCL decisions.

 

Hank

[InTheWASide]

I cannot see HAL doing it.

 

But I can well imagine Carnival Corp or RCI buying an existing company.

 

I don't even see that to be honest. Yes Carnival Corp is under new leadership these days, but remember back when they offloaded Windstar, Swan Hellenic and others because they wanted to focus on brands with mass appeal and not "niche operations"?

 

Most of the river cruise companies are either very small, affiliated and wholly owned by massive companies that also offer land operations (like how Globus owns Avalon for instance) or the leviathan of the rivers... Viking which uis getting so big they are expanding out into the oceans and attempting to go head to head with upper-premium/luxury lines directly.