Tag Archives: european river cruise

Transcend Cruises Offering Unique Charter Model on European Rivers

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Transcend Cruises has already sold $20 million of the charter products ahead of its 2024 launch, said Matthew Shollar, CEO and co-founder.

The company is building two highly-customized riverboats for debut in Europe that are solely targeted at the charter market.

With a background in full-ship charters, Shollar said he had identified an opening in the market to essentially customize a ship for full-ship charters for groups, alumni associations, corporate clients and more.

“The physical hardware of the ships (in the market) doesn’t optimize itself (for charters),” he said. “The process for chartering is not optimal, taking retail departures out of inventory, and the software is not that flexible to be customized for the groups.”

The company’s two newbuilds will feature convertible staterooms, meaning 60 rooms or 30 double rooms (or a mix), depending on client specification. That means the ships are also smaller, capacity-wise than most of the European riverboat fleet which holds about 200 guests. There’s also a wellness area which is absent from most riverboats.

“This has opened up spaces for group locations,” he said, noting five spaces on each ship the entire group can meet and 10 additional spaces for breakout groups. Customized lighting and screens can be tailored to the client. In addition are storage areas for materials, an office for the charter client and even a separate reception desk if a group needs one.

“We’re not in the FIT business, we have no retail pricing, and we will never re-market to the guests on board as we have nothing to sell them,” Shollar said. “We are 100 per cent focused on the full-ship charter market.”

The company plans to operate a season similar to the mainstream European riverboat brands, going from March through New Year. If available, clients can select specific dates with a three-night minimum. Itineraries, the onboard product and destination experiences are fully customizable. Clients can also plan their own shore programs without penalty.

“We will have a customization team that will cover all the different elements for a flat fee. No markups,” Shollar said.

Shollar said the booking window for charters is between 12 and 36 months. With a normal shipbuilding cycle of 14 months, it’s possible the company is able to grow organically by selling inventory and then ordering more capacity.

The ships are also expected to be shallower, saving about 10 centimetres on draft, which could come in handy with water level issues. Battery packs will be used for peak shaving and for close-in manoeuvring.

New ships mean new port calls in the U.S.

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Image result for grand majestic paddlewheel steamer

Sure, it may not be growing as aggressively or rapidly as the European river cruise market, but the U.S. river cruise industry continues to see a steady number of new vessels being launched each year, the latest being a passion project of Cincinnati native Capt. Joseph Baer.

And while it’s always exciting to see new vessels coming online, to get the first sneak peeks at interior renderings and to witness the ways in which different companies are interpreting the U.S. river cruise experience onboard, what some of these new vessels symbolize is more than just new hardware; some are promising to take U.S. river passengers on entirely new river routes and new ports.

For instance, the 70-passenger paddlewheeler Grand Majestic, being launched by Baer’s Grand Majestic River Co. this fall, will reportedly be able to sail along some smaller inland waterways due to its shorter height and shallower draft. Baer said that the smaller size of the Grand Majestic means it can clear some bridges and sail in shallower waters that will enable it to cruise to or near Tulsa, Okla.; Omaha, Neb.; Sioux City, Iowa; Charleston, W.Va.; and into the outskirts of Chicago by next year.

American Cruise Lines, too, has said that it plans to look into some new and different waterways in the U.S. as it develops a fleet of five more modern riverboats for the U.S. market. The first two of those are slated to hit the more traditional Mississippi River System and the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest, but the company has previously said that it has its eye on numerous additional waterways, including the Sacramento River, San Joaquin River, Missouri River, Des Moines River, Wabash River, Illinois River, Apalachicola River, Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Mid-Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Erie Canal, Hudson River, Oswego Canal, Potomac River and Alaska’s Inside Passage.

Hopefully the trend will continue. Because while everyone wants to see places like New Orleans, Memphis and Portland, Ore., when it comes to U.S. river cruising, there is clearly still a fair amount of untapped potential in terms of where to go and what to see.

AmaWaterways introduces enhanced hiking, biking excursions

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AmaWaterways is beefing up its biking and hiking tour options for its 2016 Europe river cruises, in response to customer demand.

“Over the past two seasons, we have seen steadily increasing demand from our passengers for more active excursions,” Kristin Karst, executive vice president and co-owner of AmaWaterways, said in a release. “While we have always maintained a commitment to healthy and active travel, we decided to start the New Year by kicking it up a notch.”

The company introduced an array of new tours that will debut in the upcoming season. AmaWaterways has been carrying a fleet of bicycles onboard its vessels for passengers to use for several years now, but for 2016 it is introducing several new escorted bike tours. They include:

  • A tour of the historic waterfront town of Willemstad, the Netherlands;
  • Cycling along the Sava River and through Kalemegdan Park in Belgrade, Serbia;
  • A ride through the Belgian town of Antwerp;
  • Tours of the Wachau Valley along the Danube;
  • A ride through the historic town of Bamberg, Germany;
  • A tour along the Inn River in Passau, Germany

Additionally, in 2016, there will be new hiking tours in 12 port cities. They include:

  • A hike to the castle ruins in Durnstein, Austria, which includes two wine tasting options;
  • A hike up Fourviere Hill in Lyon, France;
  • A Passau Castle hike in Passau, Germany;
  • A hike up Mount Pipet in Vienna, Austria;
  • A hike to Chateau Gaillard in Les Andelys, France;
  • A hike to the Dom Luis Bridge, Old Harbor Quarter and the cathedral in Porto, Portugal

The new guided biking and hiking tours are included in the cruise fare in addition to AmaWaterways’ standard excursions that are often offered at a variety of paces, including gentle, regular and active.

Last year, AmaWaterways developed a partnership with tour operator Backroads to create a series of river cruises that include Backroads-led biking, walking and hiking excursions, which will have their first departures this year. More information about the Backroads Danube river cruise departures can be found on the Backroads website.