Tag Archives: Portugal

New river cruise line sails in Russia, Ukraine

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By Michelle Baran

Two cruise operators have partnered to create World Quest Cruises, which is offering river cruises in Russia and Ukraine, among other destinations, to travelers in North America.

World Quest Cruises is a joint venture of Huntington, N.Y.-based Imperial River Cruises and Moscow-based Orthodox Cruise Co. Global Voyages Group of Bellevue, Wash., has been tapped to provide North American sales, marketing and call center support.

Imperial and Orthodox have been operating cruises in Russia and Ukraine for more than 20 years, and finally decided to sell their product directly to the North American market.

“The principal advantage is the experience — they’ve been operating ships in Russia for more than 20 years,” said Tom Russell, managing partner at Global Voyages Group. “The second is the value. Their products are typically 20% lower-priced than some of the other products that are available. That’s because there’s no middleman involved. They are the supplier.”

Starting in 2014, World Quest Cruises is offering river cruise itineraries in Russia and Ukraine, Portugal, Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as expedition cruises in Antarctica and the North Pole.

The company will sell into ships that Orthodox owns and operates in Russia and Ukraine, and charter other river cruise vessels.

World Quest’s expedition cruises to Antarctica will be aboard the 114-passenger Sea Explorer. The 128-passenger icebreaker 50 Years of Victory will travel on a 14-day trip from the Russian port of Murmansk to the North Pole.

The North Pole itinerary will run from June 19 through Aug. 8, 2014, with prices starting at $24,995 per person, based on double occupancy.

In 2015, the company will expand its Russian river cruise offering with a 12-day itinerary between Moscow and St. Petersburg aboard the 100-passenger Princess Anabella, a vessel that is being refurbished for the 2015 program.

Prices for this river cruise start at $4,495 per person, plus port taxes and fuel surcharges. World Quest Cruises will have exclusive access to the Princess Anabella in 2015.

New river cruise line sails in Russia, Ukraine

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By Michelle Baran

Two cruise operators have partnered to create World Quest Cruises, which is offering river cruises in Russia and Ukraine, among other destinations, to travelers in North America.

World Quest Cruises is a joint venture of Huntington, N.Y.-based Imperial River Cruises and Moscow-based Orthodox Cruise Co. Global Voyages Group of Bellevue, Wash., has been tapped to provide North American sales, marketing and call center support.

Imperial and Orthodox have been operating cruises in Russia and Ukraine for more than 20 years, and finally decided to sell their product directly to the North American market.

“The principal advantage is the experience — they’ve been operating ships in Russia for more than 20 years,” said Tom Russell, managing partner at Global Voyages Group. “The second is the value. Their products are typically 20% lower-priced than some of the other products that are available. That’s because there’s no middleman involved. They are the supplier.”

Starting in 2014, World Quest Cruises is offering river cruise itineraries in Russia and Ukraine, Portugal, Vietnam and Cambodia, as well as expedition cruises in Antarctica and the North Pole.

The company will sell into ships that Orthodox owns and operates in Russia and Ukraine, and charter other river cruise vessels.

World Quest’s expedition cruises to Antarctica will be aboard the 114-passenger Sea Explorer. The 128-passenger icebreaker 50 Years of Victory will travel on a 14-day trip from the Russian port of Murmansk to the North Pole.

The North Pole itinerary will run from June 19 through Aug. 8, 2014, with prices starting at $24,995 per person, based on double occupancy.

In 2015, the company will expand its Russian river cruise offering with a 12-day itinerary between Moscow and St. Petersburg aboard the 100-passenger Princess Anabella, a vessel that is being refurbished for the 2015 program.

Prices for this river cruise start at $4,495 per person, plus port taxes and fuel surcharges. World Quest Cruises will have exclusive access to the Princess Anabella in 2015.

Will CroisiEurope’s pricing, diversity resonate with U.S. passengers?

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By Michelle Baran

InsightFrench river cruise line CroisiEurope is making a run at an already pretty crowded U.S. market with a simple concept: low-cost river cruises with a multicultural mix of passengers.

“The founder of the company had the philosophy to make this product available for the mass market,” said Michel Grimm, international sales director for CroisiEurope, which after 38 years in business recently unveiled a new website and call center devoted to the U.S. source market.

“Our pricing is very aggressive,” Grimm said, adding that an eight-day CroisiEurope river cruise including meals, open bar and excursions won’t run more than $2,400 per person.

“With these kinds of prices, we come with an offer that is very interesting,” he said.

For anyone who knows the river cruising market, that’s actually quite a deal.MichelleBaran
As a European river cruise operator, CroisiEurope hosts a mix of nationalities onboard, but the company’s executives said that for the right customer, that should be seen as an asset, not a drawback.

“This is not for people who want the safety of being with all other English speakers,” said John McGlade, director of CroisiEurope’s U.S. reservation center. “For people who want the international experience, it’s the perfect marriage.”

CroisiEurope, which is still run by the founder’s children, builds all its vessels in the same shipyard in Belgium. Building, owning and operating all its own vessels is how the company claims it can keep its pricing so competitive, a concept it is bringing to the canal barge market, as well.

CroisiEurope is also building up its own fleet of barge vessels that have a capacity of 24 guests, in contrast with many of the existing canal barges that can often only host six to 12 passengers onboard, rendering them an expensive vacation option.

One other differentiator? Building ships of different sizes that can navigate lesser-sailed inland waterways, including the Guadalquivir and Guadiana rivers in Spain, the Tisza River in Hungary and some of the smaller estuaries off of the Danube and Rhine rivers.

CroisiEurope is based in Strasbourg, France, and has a fleet of 30 ships, including several barges and coastal cruisers, which sail in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Vietnam and Cambodia.