The ever increasing popularity of river cruising

[notamermaid]

News going round the industry news pages is the keel-laying ceremony for the next ship of UK company Saga, the "Spirit of the Danube". This is from cruisecritic UK: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/5874/ 

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Big news! German online river cruise operator continues cooperation with AmaWaterways

 

Many of you will remember that AmaWaterways sent only two ships along European rivers last year, it was a unique charter cooperation with the German e-hoi "Hin und weg". According to AmaWaterways (in interviews) it was very successful.

 

They are continuing in Spring and Summer. The new ships AmaSiena and AmaLucia may set sail this year with many German passengers before North-American guests, it is not fully clear to me from the text if both ships will at all sail earlier than the exclusive charters with e-hoi, i.e. the timeline/plans for March and April. For our esteemed host: @Host Jazzbeau I assume this cooperation is the grey area of e-hoi being the operator rather than the travel agent and that my post is fine. Perhaps cruise critic has already spotted the news and can tell us more. In the meantime, here is the full German info on the website: https://www.e-hoi.de/amawaterways/sommer-flusskreuzfahrt/

 

notamermaid

 

[gnome12]

I think that Ama is admitting that the North American market will not be returning to Europe that early.

[Daisi]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

I think that Ama is admitting that the North American market will not be returning to Europe that early.

 

However they are advertising that they are the only North American line to successfully cruise last year.... 😞

 

[pinotlover]

56 minutes ago, Daisi said:

 

However they are advertising that they are the only North American line to successfully cruise last year.... 😞

 

Uniworld has already cancelled all cruises through 4/30. They are awaiting the supposed by 4/1 announcement by national officials in when American tourists can return before making further announcements.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, Daisi said:

 

However they are advertising that they are the only North American line to successfully cruise last year.... 😞

 

True, but not with North Americans obviously. 😀

[notamermaid]

That advertising is somewhat weird and a bit misleading, but correct of course. And sad really.

 

Shortly after my post I saw that AmaWaterways have updated their website and have cancelled all cruises through 31 March.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The cruise that does not run...

 

...is back. Last year Scylla ships were used by the venture "Viva Riverside" as hotels on the river. In February and March, the MS Emily Bronte (Düsseldorf), the MS Oscar Wilde (Düsseldorf) and the MS Robert Burns (Traben-Trarbach) will again be offered on the German market. But we already know that the lock down means there are no hotel stays possible until 7 March (unless you have business to do in the area). And there is a big question mark after the other dates in March.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

A sign of life, hope and Spring for the river cruising season in Europe.

 

Yes, the Neptun Werft in Rostock has been busy again and two new ships for Viking have left the nest. The fledglings have gone through the Kiel Canal, have been readied and made safe for the potentially dangerous journey via the North Sea. They docked in Rendsburg and there is of course very little risk as the ships just wait for the perfect window for good weather and it should be plain sailing all the way. As I write they have already managed much of the journey and are docked in Harlingen near the Frisian Islands. Here is a short report in German with photo of the Gymir in Kiel: https://anbord.de/tag/viking-gymir/

 

A shipspotter on Binnenschifferforum saw the Egdir in Rostock:

https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?103387-Viking-Egdir-KFGS&p=406247

 

They are both longships, i.e. 135m long.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited February 22, 2021 by notamermaid
Wrong word

[notamermaid]

The UK may open up - and the river cruise ships may get full

 

travelweekly reports that bookings among the river cruise lines "are strong" (in their words) with the prospect of the UK coming out of lock down and I dare say among those bookings will be some that would otherwise be for an ocean cruise: https://www.travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/river-cruise-lines-report-strong-bookings-since-pms-roadmap

 

notamermaid

 

[pinotlover]

Just awaiting word out of the EU now, particularly Holland, Germany, Austria, France, and Italy. A lot of we Americans already booked for River cruises for this summer.

 

From one report, it appears the Greece is opening up for cruising regardless of what the EU does.  Catch your cruise ship in Israel, round trip, and sail the Greek Isles.

Edited March 2, 2021 by pinotlover

[Canal archive]

I haven’t heard from our friends on the coast that the cruise ships are moving yet. They are or have been moored all along the coast I think about between Portsmouth and just past Bournemouth. It was quite a site at the start of the first lock down, CA

[pinotlover]

Perhaps some one here can confirm, but it appears that France has just announced they will open its borders to non Schengen countries on Jul 1. Is that what others are reading?

[Host Jazzbeau]

16 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

Perhaps some one here can confirm, but it appears that France has just announced they will open its borders to non Schengen countries on Jul 1. Is that what others are reading?

Oh please make it so!!!

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, pinotlover said:

Perhaps some one here can confirm, but it appears that France has just announced they will open its borders to non Schengen countries on Jul 1. Is that what others are reading?

I can only see a headline from last year about such opening for 1 July 2020 at the moment. This is the latest news as regards travel and France that I could find: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/?s=France

 

notamermaid

[Canal archive]

Like Notamermaid I can only find that reference for last year. This year so far there are more border closures than openings. Fingers crossed the efficiency of the vaccines continues to protect against the virus. CA

[Host Jazzbeau]

Now that we have passed the one-year anniversary of the pandemic, there is going to be lots of confusion where people find old items with apparently future month predictions.  This has already happened on another forum.  Please be careful to check the year in datelines before reposting info.  [Not saying that happened here, just a general warning.]

[pinotlover]

9 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Now that we have passed the one-year anniversary of the pandemic, there is going to be lots of confusion where people find old items with apparently future month predictions.  This has already happened on another forum.  Please be careful to check the year in datelines before reposting info.  [Not saying that happened here, just a general warning.]

I confess! The news organization dated the article today 3 March 2021 with the lead, but later in the article and partially hidden it relates 14 June 2020. The way the article was presented it looked like news for today. I’ve now scrubbed connexcion France as a reliable news source.Sorry, Fake News also exists in Europe.

Edited March 4, 2021 by pinotlover

[Host Jazzbeau]

It was nice while it lasted... [sigh]

[notamermaid]

Looking ahead to 2023 already: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Insights/River-cruise-lines-open-2023-sailings-for-booking?ct=river

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Sustainability has become more and more a focus also in the river cruising industry. AmaWaterways have recently received an award for a ship. Here is an article on what AvalonWaterways is doing: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/avalon-waterways-outlines-two-year-sustainability-pledge

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The last ones of their kind...

 

coming out of Rostock. The Neptun shipyard has just handed over the last two Viking longships in their order book. The Viking Gymir and the Viking Egdir are the last two in the series, but Neptun hope they will work together with Viking on new projects in the future.

 

Here is the German article: https://binnenschifffahrt-online.de/2021/03/schiffstechnik/19566/neptun-liefert-flusskreuzer-aus-ende-einer-serie/

 

Neptun also build river cruise ships for A-ROSA.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Tauck is reacting to the strong demand for river cruises to see the Floriade in 2022: https://www.travelpulse.com/news/tour-operators/tauck-quadruples-floriade-river-cruise-sailings.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Another hull has left the Vahali shipyard in Serbia. BN 630, that is its name in the shipyard record, has been transported by two tugboats and in Germany attached to the side of a barge to the Vahali shipyard in the Netherlands for outfitting. The great people on Binnenschifferforum have tracked it and here are some photos: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?105565-FGKS-Kasko-Nr-630-von-der-Vahali-werft-in-Zasavica&p=417988#post417988

 

The photos posted on 1 April show the vessels approaching Urmitz Bridge over the Rhine - the photographer is standing on the bridge. In the background is the village Engers.

 

The ship has been ordered by Scylla for their fleet, but so far I have not been able to find out who the cooperating partner - the charterer - is.

 

notamermaid

 

[CoolNickname]

On 4/20/2016 at 3:16 AM, notamermaid said:

Hello RDC1,

 

good of you to point that out. The thing with this is that some ports are more prone to these problems than others. Staggering the cruises, i.e. staying four hours and leaving, the next boat comes for - say - six hours can be managed by the harbour master. Bigger problems arise where ships always want to dock at a specific time and / or where they stay overnight, especially the embarkation ports. Of recent concern here have become Amsterdam and Paris. The fact that boats have become larger certainly does not help. 90m used to be a common size, those boats are still around (some of them), 110m used to be the maximum for many years. Viking is supposed to have started this trend according to a report in "Kreuzfahrten-Pool". One needs so much space to manouvre, just like in and out of a parking lot. Another issue there: you cannot just change the embankment to your liking to make anchorage for a 135m boat save. Water level issues aside, these measures are very much regulated and overseen by the regional water boards as they change water flow and environmental impacts need to be considered. Financial concerns are another matter.

 

In Koblenz, for example, the locals where not happy with the noise at night, as boats use their engine at night to keep the electricity generators going. Makeshift electricity boxes and plugs where put in place so that boats would turn off their engines at night and get the electricity from the embankment supply.

 

notamermaid

 

Who wants to stay just four hours in a port, though? I'd rather take the train and stay overnight verses have such short stays in most ports certainly. However convenience is what sells cruises to a lot of people.

 

Thank you also Host Jazzbeau for your insight. I am on my first river cruise later this month. We will be on a lower Mississippi River cruise. We're a bit nervous but also excited, partly because this is our first travel since getting vaccinated and party because we've never done any river cruises. I'd really like to see more river cruising options in the US. There are several lovely rivers that don't have anything more than day cruises out of whatever larger cities there are along them which I think would be excellent for river cruising.

Edited April 13, 2021 by CoolNickname