Tag Archives: North America

Viking commits to expansion despite coronavirus cruise shutdown

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Viking to debut modern Mississippi vessel in August 2022 ...

Viking is extending its reach on rivers in North America with its first custom-built vessel despite the current shutdown of operations due to coronavirus.

The company is to deploy new ship Viking Mississippi from August 2022 between New Orleans and St Paul.

The 386-passenger ship is being purpose-built for the Mississippi with five decks including a plunge pool.

The move honours a commitment Viking chairman Torstein Hagen made to past passengers to launch a Mississippi venture by early April.

Scheduled ports of call cover seven US states – Louisiana (Baton Rouge, Darrow, New Orleans and St. Francisville); Mississippi (Natchez and Vicksburg); Tennessee (Memphis); Missouri (Hannibal, St. Louis); Iowa (Burlington, Dubuque and Davenport); Wisconsin (La Crosse) and Minnesota (Red Wing, St Paul).

Itineraries will be between eight and 15 days in duration.

Hagen said: “At a time where many of us are at home, looking for inspiration to travel in the future, I am pleased to introduce a new, modern way to explore this great river.

“We invented the concept of modern river cruising when we got our start 23 years ago – first on the rivers of Russia and then in Europe.

“Since then, many people have come to appreciate the unique exploration that comes with river cruising, but currently there are very few options to do so on American rivers.

“Our guests are curious travellers, and they continue to tell us that the Mississippi is the river they most want to sail with us. No other waterway has played such an important role in America’s history, commerce and culture.”

The latest development follows the January unveiling of Viking Adventures with 378-passenger expedition ship, Viking Octantis, launching in January 2022 on voyages to Antarctica and then North America’s Great Lakes.

A second expedition vessel, Viking Polaris, will debut in August 2022, sailing to Antarctica and the Arctic.

Riviera River Cruises taking U.S. bookings solely from advisors

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Riviera River Cruises' George Eliot sails mainly Rhine itineraries.

Riviera River Cruises’ George Eliot sails mainly Rhine itineraries.

U.K.-based Riviera River Cruises will only take North American bookings from travel advisors, effective Jan. 1.

The 13-ship line said it has experienced “rapid growth in sales” from travel advisors. Riviera offers 15 itineraries on 10 rivers and waterways.

If consumers contact the cruise line directly, they will be directed to book with their travel advisor. If they don’t already have an advisor, Riviera will refer them to the advisor nearest the consumer who already has a relationship with Riviera.

“We want Riviera to be the river cruise line advisors think of first, and we believe this makes us the only line that can honestly say it is 100% supportive of the travel agency distribution system,” said Marilyn Conroy, Riviera’s executive vice president of sales and marketing for North America. “This is a relationship we can all benefit from.”

Riviera also announced several other agent-friendly initiatives for the new year. 

Starting Jan. 1, the river cruise line will be able to help advisors with flights and pre- and post-cruise hotel stays throughout Europe. Riviera said it has negotiated favourable airfares from the U.S. to Europe. Advisors will be able to arrange flights, hotels, a river cruise and travel insurance in the same booking process.

Several fam trips are planned for the spring. Advisors who have completed Riviera’s online training course will receive emailed invitations.

Riviera has grown rapidly in recent years, including through dedicated sailings for solo travellers.

RCCL follows up stellar 2017 with an even bigger Wave

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Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., in the first public indication of how the cruise industry’s Wave season is going, said that it is unfolding well, with consumer demand strong, particularly from North America.

“The critical Wave period is upon us and is off to a very good start, with booking trends above the same time last year,” RCCL CFO Jason Liberty said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “Booking volumes exceeded prior year’s levels for the past three months and we are once again turning the year in a record booked position.”

Liberty added, “Last year’s Wave season was incredibly strong, so we are encouraged that bookings are trending even higher this year. As a result, we are booked ahead of last year on both load factor and rate.

“The strength in demand we’ve been seeing for the last couple of months has been particularly evident in North America, with bookings up nicely for sailings on both sides of the Atlantic.”

RCCL’s net income for 2017 was $1.63 billion, up from $1.28 billion in 2016, while revenue advanced to $8.8 billion from $8.5 billion.

For 2018, the initial forecast calls for net income in the range of $1.83 billion to $1.88 billion.