open days - companies show you their river cruise ships and their offers

[notamermaid]

You may have been on a river cruise ship before and walked through the lobby of another ship or just simple looked at all the others while docking, sailing or on a land trip. Perhaps you know this from ocean cruise ships already. A few river cruise companies give you the chance to look at ships in more detail and open them for a day or two. I know this from the Rhine but this may exist on other rivers and with US river cruise ships. Have a look round websites for such days. I think it is a nice idea, even just to compare it to your ship or past cruise experience.

 

I have posted CroisiEurope on this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2515614-croisieurope-open-day-on-the-ms-symphonie/#comment-64217452

 

 

In Basel, Thurgau Travel is showcasing four ships: https://abouttravel.ch/reisebranche/tage-der-offenen-schiffe-von-thurgau/

Dates are 25 and 26 November and they will also have some info on the Thurgau Gold which will enter service in April 2023. Lesser sailed rivers and canals will also be a focus, mainly Northern Germany. As with CroisiEurope, short presentations (in German) give info about the catalogue and some special offers and themed cruises. While Thurgau Travel only targets the Swiss and German market, CroisiEurope is international of course.

 

If you happen to be in the towns mentioned on those days it could be fun to explore the ships.

 

Should I find any more such days I will post them.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

12 November Saturday is Day of Inland Waterways Shipping (my understanding and translation) in the Netherlands: https://www.dagvandebinnenvaart.nl/

 

Lots of activities including the chance to see river cruise ships. In several towns across the country. Easy to figure out (for me) without speaking the language: bezoek een cruiseship in ...

 

Sorry, have only just seen this advertised on Binnenschifferforum. Unfortunately too short notice for me to hop down to the Netherlands.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Viva Cruises present their ship "Viva One" on an open day in Düsseldorf: https://www.viva-*****/presse

Press release says that there is a weekend special, 25 to 27 November. You can book a cabin on the stationary Viva One for one or two nights. The ship will be literally a floating hotel - no cruising. On 27 November during the open day from 1pm to 6pm interested folk can tour the ship, get booking advice, have coffee and cake, take part in a price draw and meet the team of the headquarters of the company in Düsseldorf.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[steamboats]

The Swiss river cruise company Thurgau Travel AG finally celebrated their "open ship day" after two years. As Thurgau Travel just opened up a German office in Berlin last May to get into the German market, a couple of media people were invited to come to Basel for the "open ship day". More than 3,200 guests were visiting the ships in two days. For 15 CHF each they got a nice lunch plus drinks onboard (limited selection of course). Unfortunately that amount of people made it not easy to get photos of the ships. So most of the photos were taken in the dark - on the first evening after the guests were gone and early in the morning on the second day before the next guests arrived.

 

I start out with the Thurgau Prestige which was buildt as Swiss Jewel (for Tauck) in 2009 and is with Thurgau Travel since 2018. The first entry is a deck by deck photo review of the ship.

 

Tomorrow I´ll show you the cabin I slept in for the night - a 30 sqm Master Suite. The third entry will be two regular cabins - just a quick tour.

 

I will proceed with the MS Edelweiss (but I haven´t worked on those photos yet).

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

All entries are online now covering three ships of Thurgau Travel:

 

Thurgau Prestige

Edelweiss

Antonio Bellucci

 

with the Thurgau Prestige being the most detailed entries as I stayed on this ship for the night.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

Being able to see a river cruise ship on an open day is a rarity. There have been a few occasions this year. Next one coming up is Nicko Cruises who I do not remember doing any. On 26 November you can see the inside of the Nicko Spirit at the HGK Landebrücke in Cologne. Time is from 10am to 5pm. There is coffee and cake and - currywurst in the ship's restaurant. A prize draw will also happen, you guessed it, you can win a river cruise.

 

Info from commercial website, but you can also look this up here in German: https://www.touristik-aktuell.de/nachrichten/kreuzfahrten/news/datum/2023/11/10/nicko-cruises-zeigt-die-spirit-in-koeln/

 

notamermaid