A checklist of ocean and river cruising trends

I think midsummer, pre-election, is a good time to examine a few major trends we're seeing in ocean and river cruising, though I'm going to concentrate on the upper ends of these markets.

The cruise market is growing at about 4% a year, despite some nasty weather, Zika concerns and the growing fear of terrorism. CLIA predicts that more than 24.2 million people will take an ocean cruise this year. The biggest one-year projected gains have been in Asia, which is up 24%, and Australia, up 14%. 

As recently as 2010, China's cruise market was still on the drawing board. Cruises in China tend to be sold as complete packages by middlemen who normally charter an entire ship or large portions of an available sailing.

Carnival Cruise Line will have six ships in China this year, and Princess has a new Chinese market subsidiary. Royal Caribbean has taken the biggest risk, placing the 4,905-guest Quantum of the Seas there, and Norwegian Cruise Line is building a ship specifically for the Chinese market. 

The big question is how appropriate are these "Chinese-designed" cruises for the American traveler? To what extent will Mr. and Mrs. Mainstreet feel truly comfortable on a cruise designed for Chinese tourists? 

In the meantime, I'm betting that luxury adventure cruising is poised to become this year's industry growth leader. A 2013 report from the World Tourism Organization placed the value of the adventure market at more than $265 billion. If this is accurate, it means that expedition cruising has enjoyed a 24-month growth rate of something like 195%, a staggering figure. Get ready for the advent of the adventure yacht boom. Here are some of the key players in this growth:

Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic went public last year and promptly ordered two 100-passenger vessels for U.S. coastal voyages. It also bought Via Australis and will place several of its ships in the Galapagos after major refurbishments. 

Lindblad, which invented nonscientific expeditions to Antarctica 50 years ago, operates six vessels carrying between 28 and 148 passengers. Instead of casinos and lounge acts, its cruises are likely to include top-tier naturalists, undersea experts, historians and expedition leaders, plus a National Geographic photo instructor or photographer to ensure Pinterest-perfect photos. Lindblad has started including organic food sourcing whenever possible. But, alas, there is no bingo. 

Crystal Cruises will be taking delivery of a polar-class, 200-passenger megayacht, the Crystal Endeavor, in August 2018. At 600 feet long and 25,000 gross tons, it will be the world's "largest and most spacious" megayacht, capable of handling travel within polar regions. In its first season, it will follow migrating whales from the Arctic to Antarctica. 

To offer guests the ability to truly explore some of the world's most remote destinations, the Endeavor will carry equipment not previously seen on a luxury adventure vessel. These will include two helicopters to take guests for flyovers, two seven-person submarines for deep-sea dives to view underwater glaciers and coral reefs, an all-terrain vehicle, a fleet of personal watercraft and even a recompression chamber for serious scuba divers. 

Silversea has been credited with leading the growth trajectory of luxury adventure cruising. It began with the Silver Explorer in 2007, and the line is now converting a five-star luxury ship, the 296-guest Silver Cloud, into a polar-class vessel. The goal is to offer guests a chance to explore some of the more extreme destinations on Earth with a one-to-one staff ratio and five restaurants onboard.

In 2017, the line will take delivery of the 596-guest Silver Muse, which is expected to have the industry's best staff-to-guest ratio. In many ways, the line is redefining the way luxury travelers explore remote corners of the globe, with the assurance that a well-stocked wine cellar awaits them when they return to their ship.

Seabourn is approaching five-star adventure cruising with a different emphasis, having designed itineraries that highlight spots in the world high on every adventure traveler's list, including Patagonia, Antarctica and the Amazon. Seabourn is getting two new ships: the Encore later this year and the Ovation in 2018. With these newbuilds, Seabourn has decided to up the passenger count from 450 on its current Odyssey class ships to 604.

Scenic, the upstart Australian luxury tour and cruise company, is launching what it calls "the world's first discovery yacht" in August 2018. It will sail to the Mediterranean, Antarctica and the Arctic, which you would expect of a self-described "six-star" vessel whose smallest suites have a butler and a veranda and measure 345 square feet. Even more spacious will be a two-bedroom penthouse suite, at 1,775 square feet.

While it might sound like the routes through the ice in Antarctica will get rather crowded in the next several years, Scenic is also placing its "most technologically advanced yacht in the world" closer to home, with a series of cruises in the Americas that include two 14-day circumnavigations of Cuba from Miami. 

River cruising on the Mekong River is increasingly seen as a sexy alternative to traditional river cruising.

The Amazon has the world's greatest biodiversity, but the Mekong River is second, with more than 1,300 known species of fish along its 3,050-mile path through Southeast Asia. The Mekong is the next hot destination, and travelers will discover that the vessels deployed on this route are built locally and represent the highest levels of shipbuilding craft, with dark wood floors and original furnishing. AmaWaterways, Abercrombie & Kent and Aqua Expeditions are leaders in this market. 

It has been said that if you want to vacation in style with good food, just figure out where the French are going these days. But Americans have another option. They can sail with the French to all seven continents on the laid-back, luxury French line Ponant. 

The original Le Ponant still sails as a 64-guest cruise ship. But its four sisters, Le Boreal, Le Soleal, L'Austral and Le Lyrial, now form the bulk of the fleet. Ranging from 224 to 264 guests, they feature not only French style but ice-hardened hulls for polar exploration. Each of the vessels has several lounges, a theater, library and a pool. Ponant's ships are heavily utilized by Tauck Tours' escorted sailing itineraries.

In the meantime, river vessels have evolved to embrace luxury. There was a time when a ship sailing any of Europe's major rivers was filled with 120-square-foot cabins, close to the mandated size of a prison cell in many states. But things are changing. 

Since river ships must be less than 443 feet long to fit through locks and there are strict limitations on height because of low bridges, cruise lines have to get creative with cabin design. 

Uniworld has a simple little switch that raises window glass to form an open-air solarium. Scenic Cruises has a "sun lounge," a balcony surrounded by glass that can be easily opened to the river. 

AmaWaterways has one-upped its competitors by designing twin balcony suites consisting of both a French balcony and a true balcony. 

But perhaps the smartest and simplest innovation is that of Avalon's panoramic suites, which constitute a majority of its cabins. Avalon has managed to turn the beds around so they face the window. A glass wall opens so guests get a sense of floating on the river from the comfort of their beds.

Seabourn added Penthouse Spa Suites on the Quest, and they will be added to the line's other ships this year. Just one deck above the ship's spa facilities, each of the suites is a bedroom with a sitting area, and they are decorated to match the spa below. They will feature specially designed, oversize showers, spa bath amenities and a soundtrack of soothing spa-influenced music. 

Crystal is taking a different approach to health and wellness. The Serenity came out of drydock with 70 remodeled cabins that are cleaned using hypoallergenic products. Each cabin is also equipped with special air filters. The hotel industry has flirted with this "cleaned more proactively than our regular rooms" concept and decided to abandon it. It remains to be seen if Crystal will find an audience for environmentally treated cabins.

Making a run at the cost-conscious consumer

Making a run at the cost-conscious consumer

At a time when other river cruise lines are scaling back on growth, French river cruise company CroisiEurope this week announced it will launch seven new river cruise vessels this year and next.

Granted not all seven are full-size European river cruise ships — two are 22-passenger canal barges, and one is launching on the Mekong — but still, seven ships is worth noting, especially for a company many of us here in the U.S. didn’t know much, if anything, about as recently as a couple years ago.

By the time these seven vessels are launched, CroisiEurope will have 46 company-owned vessels in its fleet. In 2014, the company carried some 200,000 cruise passengers (compared to the approximately 250,000 passengers carried by Viking River Cruises), although only about 8,000 to 9,000 of those hailed from the U.S. But CroisiEurope is growing its U.S customer base, and quickly.

So, what's the deal with Croisi? Well, the company saw an opening at the lower end of the river cruise market and it is clearly going after it. For a long time, river cruising has grappled with a reputation of being a bit pricey. Travel agents would lament that while they wanted to sell more river cruises, especially since the very inclusive vacation style generally offers lofty commissions, not all of their clients could afford it.

Therein lies the opportunity for CroisiEurope, which after 40 years of building river cruise ships in Europe, is banking on its home-turf shipbuilding ties and a more pared down version of river cruising to bring lower prices to market. And while CroisiEurope’s older vessels do not compete with the sleek newbuilds being churned out by U.S.-facing river cruise lines such as Viking, AmaWaterways, Avalon, Uniworld and all the rest, the company has upped its ship design game and its newest batch of river cruise ships is focused on chicer interiors and enhanced amenities.

Another line going after this segment with arguably even chicer ships is Emerald Waterways, the lower-priced sister brand to Scenic. And it is having a good deal of success too. Having only launched in 2014, Emerald is on pace to have seven river cruise ships in Europe by 2017 (its fifth vessel, the 182-passenger Emerald Belle, was slated to launch this spring, but has been set back by a fire in the shipyard).

As river cruising piques more travelers’ interests, and the travel style opens up to a wider audience, there is clearly going to be more demand for and thus greater opportunity to provide a more accessible river cruising experience.

Aqua Expeditions to upgrade both Amazon vessels

Luxury river operator Aqua Expeditions has announced that it will be renovating its two Peruvian Amazon vessels, the Aqua Amazon and the Aria Amazon. The upgrades are being overseen by the boats’ original designer, Peruvian architect Jordi Puig.

The vessels’ exteriors will be outfitted with new woodwork, a fresh coat of paint and new awnings. New wood flooring has been installed throughout most common areas. Additionally, all the suites are being redone with new floors, furniture and amenities, and the bathrooms with new floors and tiles. Both vessels feature newly upholstered furniture, new wall coverings and lighting. New skiffs have also been added on each vessel that seat up to 10 passengers.

Aqua Expeditions was founded eight years ago when it launched the 12-suite Aqua Amazon, which was followed by the 16-suite Aria Amazon. In October 2014, Aqua Expeditions launched a third luxury river cruise vessel, the 20-suite Aqua Mekong, on the Mekong River in Southeast Asia.

River cruising across continents -- the same, but different

By Michelle Baran

Whenever anyone would ask me about the similarities between river cruising in Europe and river cruising in other parts of the world, I used to answer one of two ways.

Half the time, I responded with something along the lines of, “No matter where you are in the world, river cruising is basically the same.” The other half, I said something like, “Aside from the fact that it’s a river cruise, that’s where the similarities end. Totally different experience depending on where you are.”

In truth, both are correct. (And I’ve started responding with a combination of the two, for the record. Apologies to those I misled prior to this new policy.)

As the river cruising industry shifts its focus from a busy launch season in Europe this spring, toward a slew of newbuilds coming out in Southeast Asia this fall, the change in destination backdrop begs for some comparisons between river cruising in Europe and elsewhere in the world.

Indeed, Europe has set the standard for river cruising in the world. It’s where the market is most developed, it’s the product that is marketed the heaviest, and it’s usually the destination where people often first learn about and experience river cruising.

It sets the bar, so to speak. And then, passengers get the river cruise line’s brochure and see that they might have a ship that sails the Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia, or that they offer an itinerary on the Peruvian Amazon. That’s when things start getting interesting.

Maybe they find out from some friends they can even river cruise right here at home on the Mississippi or Columbia rivers. Who knew?

The question is, will they like these other river cruises if they liked river cruising in Europe? Well, first off, let’s address what will be the same or similar between European river cruising and its numerous cousins scattered about the globe.

For one, the floating-hotel notion is similar. During the river cruise portion of their itinerary, regardless of the destination, passengers will pack and unpack once and their river cruise ship/floating hotel will carry them from one destination to the next, often to small ports from which they can walk into the nearby town.

Additionally, floating on down the river offers a very similar sensation regardless of whether that river is the Mississippi, the Nile, the Irrawaddy or the Danube. Of course the scenery along the river will vary greatly, but that peaceful, gliding feeling is almost universal.

As for what’s different, the ships themselves, for one. There are vastly different types of river cruise vessels suitable for different rivers. European river cruisers might be surprised to find how large the river cruise ships in the U.S. and China are, or how small those in Southeast Asia and Peru are.

And of course, the destinations themselves are where many of the differences are. The bustling river life in Vietnam and Cambodia is nothing like the more reserved rivers of Europe. Floating past Egyptian desert landscapes is quite different from sailing past quaint American towns.

But despite all the differences, I could totally see how someone could love river cruising across continents. Because really, it’s the same. But different.

AmaWaterways to launch new Mekong vessel

By Michelle Baran

AmaWaterways will introduce a new 124-passenger ship, the AmaDara, on the Mekong River in 2015.

The AmaDara will join its sister ship, the 124-passenger AmaLotus, which Ama introduced in 2011. It will replace the 94-passenger La Marguerite, which Ama introduced on the Mekong in 2009.

The AmaDara is slated to make its inaugural sailing on Aug. 17, 2015, and will sail as part of a 16-day river cruise and land tour through Vietnam and Cambodia.

The vessel will feature French colonial-style décor accented by Mekong design elements within the air-conditioned cabins and public spaces.

The ship’s outside-facing staterooms and suites range between 226 and 452 square feet and feature Ama’s twin balcony concept, which consists of a French balcony adjacent to a step-out balcony.

The vessel will have two restaurants that will serve Western-style cuisine alongside regionally inspired dishes. Onboard entertainment will include folk dances, live musical performances, cultural discussions and themed dinners.

There will be a salon and spa services; a sun deck and swimming pool; a fitness center; and a complimentary in-room infotainment system with internet, music, movies and English-language television programming.

Complimentary wine will be available with lunch and dinner, and complimentary house spirits, local beer, soft drinks and bottled water will be offered all day. Complimentary bottled water will be provided daily in all staterooms.

Pandaw river ship sinks

By Michelle Baran

Pandaw River Expeditions’ Saigon Pandaw sank last week while being towed, a representative of Pandaw confirmed.

The 60-passenger Saigon Pandaw launched in 2012 and was sailing the Mekong River in  and Cambodia. It was being repositioned to Myanmar when it sank.

Pandaw said that the company is still investigating the cause, but that early reports indicate that strong winds were to blame. There were no deaths or injuries, as the vessel was being towed as cargo without any crew onboard.

For the remainder of the season, Pandaw is going to deploy the 10-passenger Kalay Pandaw in Myanmar, a vessel that launched in 2013.

Pandaw has two additional 40-passenger river cruise vessels launching in Myanmar in July, the Kindat Pandaw and the Kalaw Pandaw, on which the company plans to accommodate passengers affected by the loss of the Saigon Pandaw.

“Our reservation and sales team is working to shift all bookings and if necessary to offer alternatives,” the company said.

Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection had previously chartered the Saigon Pandaw as the River Saigon, but the company now exclusively sells the 60-passenger River Orchid for Mekong cruises. The River Orchid launched last January.

Viking's move sparks cross-market conjecture

By Michelle Baran

When Viking River Cruises placed an order last month for two oceangoing ships for a new brand, Viking Ocean Cruises, it stirred a great deal of talk about the river and ocean cruise markets: how they compare and how they compete.

Former cruise executive Bill Smith, now Virtuoso’s vice president of cruise sales and exclusive product, called Viking’s action a bold move.

“I think it’s a good strategy to capitalize on cross-selling their repeat cruisers onto deep-water ships. There was never that bridge before, between the two,” said Smith, a former senior vice president of sales and marketing at Crystal Cruises.

“I’ve always wondered: What if Crystal did this, or Silversea? They have great past-guest loyalty programs. Would those people cross over? It’s interesting to think about.”

The move marks one of the few times in memory that a river cruise operator has made the jump to deep-water cruising, and it has many in the industry wondering if other river cruise lines might follow.

For Rudi Schreiner, president of Ama Waterways, the answer is no. He said Viking’s Hagen has a “love of blue water and ocean cruising.”

“He was at Royal Viking Line [where he served as CEO] for years,” Schreiner said. “I think that’s one of his dreams. From my side, there’s really not much interest there.”

Bruce Nierenberg, a veteran of both the ocean- and river-cruise industries and now CEO of United Caribbean Lines, agreed.

Hagen, he said, is “one of the few that has had his feet in both places historically. Torstein would probably find [the ocean cruise market] very comfortable. ... I can’t see the other river players having that same comfort level.”

Officials from river cruise companies Avalon Waterways and Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection were not available for comment last week.

But other industry insiders said it made sense for both river-cruise and ocean lines to eye each other’s markets for possible entry and look to mergers and acquisitions.

Nierenberg, for example, said, “I wouldn’t be surprised at all if one of the big [ocean cruise lines] decided to buy up one of the successful river ventures.”

He said brands such as Viking or Avalon “would fit very well within any of the empires of Royal Caribbean or Carnival.”

Schreiner, on the other hand, said he wasn’t so sure that river cruising would be a good fit for the deep-water cruise companies. While allowing that crossover marketing opportunities exist, he cautioned that the economies of scale are completely different.

“The ocean cruise lines will stay away from the river cruise product,” he predicted. “The numbers are very different. An ocean cruise line like Royal Caribbean [carries] on one [sailing] as many passengers as we put on one ship in an entire season.

“The logistics are a different environment. For me, it’s a very different business model.”

Nierenberg noted the vast differences in hardware.

“From a technical aspect, running ships around the world is a lot more complicated,” Nierenberg said. “Riverboats are barges with an engine on them that act as hotels. People spend a lot more time on a cruise ship than they do on a riverboat.”

Despite such differences, industry executive Jeff Drew said, “Cruise lines are really looking at river cruises as stiff competition.”

A senior vice president of sales at the Great American Steamboat Co. and a former executive at Oceania Cruises, Seabourn and Cunard Line, Drew said the big cruise lines see the river operators as “taking market share.”

“They’ve done an excellent job, and all the cruise lines are starting to notice,” he said.

As for the timing, Virtuoso’s Smith said that Viking Ocean Cruises’ future competitors, such as Oceania and Seabourn, have added capacity in recent years.

“Does traditional cruising need more 800-passenger ships right now?” Smith asked. “That’s a different subject. But Oceania is very successful, and Seabourn is doing great. We’re seeing demand go up and yields go up. I think maybe the timing is right.”

Nierenberg said his sense was that Viking executives were starting to get “some of the financial results that they like” and consequently had the ability to expand their position in the marketplace.

One of the rare examples of a cruise company that had a hand in both river and ocean markets was Peter Deilmann Cruises, which owned and operated eight river-cruise ships and a 513-passenger oceangoing vessel, the Deutschland.

Peter Deilmann Cruises declared insolvency on its river-cruise business at the end of 2009 and exited the market, but its parent company, Reederei Peter Deilmann, still operates the Deutschland.

Viking orders two luxury ships for new ocean-cruise brand

By Jerry Limone and Michelle Baran

 Shipbuilder STX France said Wednesday that the company has received an order to build two oceangoing cruise ships for a new Viking brand, Viking Ocean Cruises.

There is an option for a third ship, STX indicated.

The 888-passenger luxury ships, to be delivered in spring 2014 and spring 2015, will primarily sail the Mediterranean, STX said. The ships will have 444 cabins and 444 crew members, according to STX.

STX said Viking intends to market the ocean cruises to Viking's river-cruise customers in the U.S., U.K. and Australia.

Based on the success of river cruising, Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen "felt it was right to offer more of a destination-oriented ocean experience," said Richard Marnell, Viking's senior vice president of marketing. “Mr. Hagen feels the ocean vessels built of late have become too large and that they’re losing out on the destination.”

Marnell noted that Viking’s entry into ocean cruising will not affect the planned expansion of its river-cruise business.

“We know that there’s a demand for such a destination-oriented product because our passengers are certainly seeking that out on a smaller-ship experience in river cruise,” said Marnell.

At this time, Marnell said the company is not releasing product and itinerary details, or the price Viking is paying for the ships.

Viking River Cruises operates a fleet of 23 river ships and has eight under construction.

Preview 2012: River Cruise

By Michelle Baran

While new ships will continue to launch on Europe's inland waterways in 2012, the year will see some notable advancements in river cruise markets both nascent and reborn.

From the Mississippi to the Mekong, river cruising isn't just a European phenomenon anymore.

Mississippi resurrection

Two companies next year will be resuscitating the Mississippi River cruising market, which has lain dormant since one of the largest domestic river operators, Majestic America Line, ceased operations at the end of 2008.

Guilford, Conn.-based American Cruise Lines is building a 140-passenger paddlewheeler, the Queen of the Mississippi, slated to enter service in August. And the Memphis-based Great American Steamboat Co. is in the process of renovating the 400-passenger American Queen, which will relaunch in April. (The Delta Queen Steamboat Co. launched the American Queen in June 1995, and the vessel was turned over to the U.S. Maritime Administration in 2008 after Majestic America Line's parent company, Ambassadors International, defaulted on a guaranteed loan.)

Both companies are pulling out all the stops in their effort to breathe new life into the Mississippi River cruise market.

Tim Rubacky, senior vice president of sales, marketing and product development for the Great American Steamboat Co., said the new American Queen will be "significantly upgraded from [when it was owned by Majestic] in terms of food and service. They had cut everything to the bare bones. We are upping the ante on every level."

Indeed, the American Queen's culinary program, spearheaded by executive chef Regina Charboneau, offers four specialty dining venues, including the main J.M. White Dining Room and the Front Porch of America, which will be open 24/7.

"We're bringing the boat back to [its] mid-1990s heyday," Rubacky said, adding that back then, when the ships were owned by the Delta Queen Steamboat Co., they were considered on par with Seabourn and the Queen Elizabeth 2 in terms of food and entertainment. "We're getting away from the nickel-and-dime mentality."

The entertainment options will include nightly dancing to swing, big band and Dixieland jazz music as well as concerts featuring the ship's calliope.

Departures will run from April 13 through Dec. 28 and will range from three to 10 days in length.

American Cruise Lines, which is currently building the Queen of the Mississippi in Salisbury, Md., plans to ramp up the entertainment offerings aboard its ship, as well.

According to the company, the program will feature entertainment "reminiscent of America's legendary steamboating era," including Dixieland bands in the vessel's Paddlewheel Lounge. Passengers will also be invited to play the ship's calliope.

Both ships will sail between Louisiana and Minnesota on the Mississippi and as far East as Pittsburgh on the Ohio River.

The Mekong's maturation

What was once a slow burn on the Mekong River has grown to a roaring blaze, with the planned launchings of a slew of newbuilds in Southeast Asia.

In 2012, Viking River Cruises will charter Pandaw River Cruises' 66-passenger Tonle Pandaw; Avalon Waterways will lease the 32-passenger Avalon Angkor, which will launch in September; and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises is partnering with Pandaw on a three-year charter of the 60-passenger River Saigon, which will launch in January. Moreover, Uniworld has already inked a second deal with Pandaw for an additional ship on the Mekong, the 60-passenger River Orchid, launching in January 2013.

Those ships will join Pandaw's existing three ships on the Mekong River and Ama Waterways' two ships: the 94-passenger La Marguerite and the 124-passenger Amalotus.

Ama does not plan to introduce a new ship in 2012, but the company has said that it is looking into options for more vessels in 2013 and beyond. And Viking has also hinted at plans for a possible 2013 newbuild.

The classic Mekong cruise sails a route from Siem Reap, Cambodia, across Tonle Sap Lake, through the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and on to Vietnam's largest city, Ho Chi Minh City. Many itineraries also include a flight to Hanoi for an overnight cruise through Halong Bay.

Europe: Longships and Panoramas

In 2012, Viking River Cruises will launch an unprecedented six ships in Europe that fall under a new class of vessels the company calls Longships. The six new ships will be the Viking Freya, Viking Idun, Viking Njord, Viking Odin, Viking Embla and Viking Aegir.

The 190-passenger Longships, designed by maritime architects Yran & Storbraaten, will be 443 feet long, with 95 cabins each. They will have several defining elements, not least of which will be their reconfigured layout. By shifting the central corridor over and adding two suites at the aft of the ship, Viking will be able to accommodate balcony space. Consequently, three-quarters of the cabins on the new ships will feature a balcony, French balcony or both.

And instead of having only larger cabins on the upper decks and smaller cabins on the lower deck, there will be a mix of larger and smaller cabins on all the decks because of the off-center corridor.

In addition to new cabin configurations, the Longships will have an indoor/outdoor Aquavit Terrace at the front of the ship, a feature Viking was able to add by squaring off the bow rather than having it come to a point.

The plan is for the new Viking Longships to sail existing itineraries within Europe, with an emphasis on adding capacity to Viking's two most popular programs: the 15-day Grand European Tour, from Amsterdam to Budapest, and the reverse; and the eight-day Romantic Danube, sailing from Budapest to Nuremberg, Germany, and the reverse.

The six newbuilds will bring the Viking-owned fleet to 25 by the end of 2012.

Viking originally estimated that the new ships would cost about $30 million each, about $5 million more than its previous class of ships.

Additionally, in 2012, Avalon Waterways will introduce two sister ships to the Avalon Panorama: the 128-passenger Avalon Visionary and the 164-passenger Avalon Vista. With the Vista and Visionary, Avalon's Europe fleet will total 11 ships in 2012, increasing the company's capacity in Europe by 22%