River cruise news to watch

River cruise news to watch

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Last year was a challenging one for river cruising, so as we round the bend into 2017, it's worth pointing out some buzz-worthy stories on the horizon that could help the industry get its groove back.

When it comes to buzz, we can certainly count on Crystal Cruises, which will unveil two of its first four "river yachts" this summer - the Crystal Bach and Crystal Mahler (the Crystal Ravel and Crystal Debussy will follow in spring 2018). The company promises some pretty over-the-top features on its first set of river new builds, such as multiple, sleek-looking dining venues with open-seating, and all staterooms built above the waterline - something that hasn't been done before on a river cruise ship. The renderings released of the yachts last summer evoked chic and contemporary interiors, and river cruise insiders are surely champing at the bit to see how Crystal delivers on its lofty river cruising promises.

Speaking of buzz, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection is bound to help reignite some much-needed hype for river cruising in France, which took a big hit following the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris. The company remains committed to launching the latest in its Super Ship class of vessels, the 128-passenger S.S. Joie de Vivre, on France's Seine River.

In true Uniworld style, the company didn't hold back with the Joie de Vivre, which will be christened in March. Features include a collection of fine art and antiques acquired from both auction houses and private collections, and a pool area with a hydraulic floor that by night can turn into Le Club l'Esprit, a dance floor or outdoor cinema. Travel Weekly will be there to report on the unveiling of the Joie de Vivre firsthand.

It will also be Adventures by Disney's second year offering river cruises in partnership with AmaWaterways, and we'll be watching to see how that product continues to grow and evolve. Disney has already made some tweaks including raising the minimum age from 4 to 6 and adding an adults-only sailing.

CroisiEurope's ongoing and arguably aggressive expansion will continue in 2017 with four new ships: a 132-passenger vessel on Portugal's Douro River; the 106-passenger Symphonie II on the Rhine; the 135-passegner Douce France II on the Danube; and the 60-passenger Indochine II on the Mekong. The French company is coming on strong and it definitely has our attention.

In fact, Portugal's Douro River has been experiencing growing interest of late, with Emerald Waterways also launching a new ship there this year: the 112-passenger Emerald Radiance (the Scenic-owned company is also launching the 138-guest Emerald Liberte on France's Rhone and Saone rivers this year, hopefully also sparking renewed interest in France).

Closer to home, the American Queen Steamboat Company will be adding the 166-passenger American Duchess on the Mississippi River in June, a former gaming vessel that is being converted into an all-suite paddlewheeler with unique loft suites.

Lastly, we'll have our eyes on developments on exotic rivers. Momentum seems to have quieted a bit on rivers such as Southeast Asia's Mekong and on China's Yangtze, so we'll be watching to see how much and whether river cruise lines invest beyond Europe, including in places such as India where it's rumored that AmaWaterways may be eyeing the possibility of a new ship in 2018.

2016 River cruise Outlook

by industry sector

In 2016, after several years of inexhaustible growth in the river cruise sector, some of the bigger players are taking a bit of a breather (and by breather, we mean not building as many new ships as in past years), while several newcomers and new products take a fresh stab at the market.

Most notable among the river cruise rookies is Crystal Cruises, which this year announced that it would be entering the river-cruise market with a fleet of five luxury yacht-style river vessels. The first of those will be the Crystal Mozart, formerly a Peter Deilmann vessel known as the Mozart, originally built in 1987. Crystal has four newbuild vessels on order for 2017.

Following an extensive renovation, the Crystal Mozart will set sail on July 13, offering passengers their first glimpse of Crystal’s vision of river cruising. That will mean fewer, larger suites after the company transforms the 203-passenger Mozart to a 160-passenger capacity.

The updated Crystal Mozart will feature suites ranging in size from 203 square feet to the 860-square-foot, two-bedroom Crystal Suites, the largest on any river.

Crystal also is designing its itineraries so that much of the sailing takes place during the day, giving guests the opportunity to explore destinations in the evening, with ships docked in port overnight.

It will be interesting to see how this nighttime-focused river cruise experience will resonate with river cruisers. According to Crystal, one big advantage will be fewer crowds in port, something that has become a bit of a challenge in Europe. Crystal has said it also plans to  get passengers off ship as much as possible while docked, with onshore culinary experiences at Michelin-starred restaurants, evening events and entertainment.

Bring the kiddies

While Crystal will be making a run to convert the high-end, ocean-cruise customer to rivers, another new entrant into the river-cruise market, Adventures by Disney, will be attempting to get more families to sail the Danube.
Adventures by Disney announced a partnership with AmaWaterways to develop a series of family-friendly cruises aboard the 158-passenger AmaStella in 2016.

To better accommodate families, the AmaStella will usher in several new hardware concepts for AmaWaterways, including 12 staterooms that can accommodate up to three family members each; six sets of adjoining cabins connected via an internal doorway, accommodating families of up to five; and four suites with convertible sofa beds that can accommodate families of up to four.

While courting families isn’t entirely new for river cruising (companies like Tauck and Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection have been doing it for years), actually designing a ship around the needs of families is new. And Disney will be taking the family-friendly concept a step further, for example, by having eight Adventures by Disney guides on each of its sailings in addition to the existing AmaWaterways crew.

The Adventures by Disney sailings will also feature movies, karaoke and daily biking trips for younger passengers, as well as family-friendly excursions such as a horse show at the Lazar Equestrian Park in Hungary and a private marionette performance and strudel-making demonstration at the Schonbrunn Palace in Austria.

Other river-cruise newbies are looking to introduce demographics into the arena as well, including Canadian tour operator G Adventures, which is hoping to get millennials onboard. G Adventures is introducing river cruises on the Mekong and Ganges rivers and on the canals of France’s Burgundy region in 2016, in addition to its existing Peruvian Amazon cruises. The line’s goal is to make what has traditionally been a higher-end travel product more accessible to younger, less- affluent clients.

Exotic river lust

Uniworld’s much-anticipated Ganges River program in India officially sets sail in January, when the company begins chartering Haimark’s new luxury cruiser, the 56-passenger Ganges Voyager II. Uniworld’s new Ganges program promises to bring luxury amenities and services to India’s most notorious inland water route, which is quickly becoming the next river- cruising hot spot.

Exotic river buffs will be happy to note that next year will also see continued development in Southeast Asia, where Pandaw River Expeditions is launching new and uncharted river routes, the latest being a 2016 sailing that travels the length of the Mekong River all the way from Thailand through Myanmar and Laos and into China, the first time the company will be offering a sailing that goes into China.

Scenic and Emerald Waterways also are adding capacity on the popular Mekong River in Vietnam and Cambodia next year.

Ongoing growth in Europe, U.S.

It wouldn’t be river cruising if there were not a continued influx of ships on next year’s agenda, namely on the always-popular European streams. The world’s largest river-cruise line, Viking River Cruises, will add six newbuilds, for a total of 52 ships in five years. Amawaterways, Avalon Waterways, Tauck and Scenic are each christening two new vessels in Europe next year, and four-star tenderfoot Emerald Waterways is adding a fifth ship in Europe.

French river-cruise line CroisiEurope is celebrating 40 years in business next year as it continues to make more noise in the U.S. market with updated ships meant to meet U.S. standards, and the company will unveil its second European paddlewheeler (a unique concept for sailing shallower waters) on the Elbe River in spring.

Another paddlewheeler, American Cruise Lines’ newest U.S.-based vessel, will launch in early 2016, marking the third Mississippi paddlewheeler that the line has built from the ground up. It joins the American Eagle, which launched in April, and the Queen of the Mississippi, which set sail in 2012.

American Cruise Lines to give U.S. river cruising a new look

American Cruise Lines (ACL) has big plans for the future of U.S. river cruising that go far beyond the handful of paddlewheelers currently plying the Mississippi and Columbia rivers.

The Guilford, Conn.-based river cruise line has unveiled an ambitious strategy to begin building a fleet of modern vessels alongside its existing and forthcoming paddlewheelers. Starting in 2017, the company says, this new fleet will begin sailing inland waterways across the U.S. — many of which haven’t seen overnight passenger cruising in a very long time, if ever.

The list of waterways that ACL is eyeing for development include 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.

In terms of the company’s cruising options, ACL President Charles Robertson said, “There’s more than 15,000 miles of navigable waterways in the United States.”

In April, ACL will launch on the Mississippi its second paddlewheeler built from the ground up, the 150-passenger American Eagle. It will join the company’s 150-passenger paddlewheeler, the Queen of the Mississippi, which launched on the river in 2012, as well as the refurbished Columbia River paddlewheeler Queen of the West and four yacht-style coastal cruisers: the Independence, American Star, American Spirit and American Glory.

Following the launch of a new paddlewheeler on the Columbia and Snake rivers in 2016, Robertson said he expects the pace of construction of new vessels to start ramping up, starting with at least two new vessels in 2017.

Asked whether the modern-style river vessels will look more like the river ships in Europe, Robertson responded that in fact, they will not look like the European models, or like anything else for that matter.

“You won’t look at one of these and say, ‘Oh, that’s like a European boat,’ ” he said.

On the other hand, he added, “You won’t say, ‘Oh, it looks like a Mississippi Victorian riverboat,’ because it won’t look like that either. It will be a new look.”

In Europe, the dimension and size of the vessels is much more constrained by the height of bridges and the size of locks than it is in most of the U.S. So in designing its new fleet, ACL has much more freedom to play with the dimensions of each vessel.

Each will be built to accommodate the specific constraints presented by the waterway it will navigate. For example, he said, the locks and the bridges on the Erie Canal are much smaller and lower than they are on the Mississippi, and the constraints along the western portion of the Erie Canal are different from the eastern part of the Erie Canal.

Some of the vessels will be smaller than ACL’s current vessels, while others will be the same size or larger. As for the overall look and feel, generally speaking, these more modern vessels are being designed to feature more glass to let in more natural light and will feature more open layouts, he said.

On the other hand, ACL doesn’t plan to stop building paddlewheelers, which the company will continue constructing alongside the modern vessels, Robertson said.

“If you look at the Mississippi River, it just sort of screams for a Victorian riverboat with all of the history of the Mississippi River and Mark Twain and so on,” he said. “That’s less true on some other waterways. … The Victorian feel of it becomes less important, and that gives us more freedom to do stuff with glass and more contemporary designs.”

Even so, where the paddlewheeler style fits a particular river, ACL will go with it.

“We spent a lot of time talking to folks, particularly travel agents, about what their customers would like, and we think there’s another portion of the market that would be more attracted to something with a more contemporary feel,” — ACL President Charles Robertson.

Pricing for cruises on the more modern vessels will be in line with pricing for those on the paddlewheelers.

“We spent a lot of time talking to folks, particularly travel agents, about what their customers would like, and we think there’s another portion of the market that would be more attracted to something with a more contemporary feel,” Robertson said.

He added that along with a growing demand in the U.S. river cruise market in general, river passengers in the U.S. are increasingly expecting something more in line with the amenities and services they experience in the evolving, rapidly modernizing hotel and ocean cruise markets, whether than means private balconies, quick and efficient elevators or larger cabins.

Hardware aside, Robertson seems determined to introduce travelers to some of the country’s less well-known scenic waterways and the towns and cultural and historical heritage through which they wind. Many areas of the country, he said, are “gorgeous.”

He acknowledged that ACL is not the only player that senses opportunity along these untapped waterways.

“I don’t expect that we’re going to be the only ones in this business,” he said.

Indeed, in 2013 Viking Cruises teased plans to bring a version of its latest European river vessels, the Viking Longships, to the U.S. in 2015. But by the end of the year, Viking said it was exploring options on the Mississippi for the 2016 season.

As for the other major player on the U.S. rivers, American Queen Steamboat Co. (AQSC), its senior vice president of sales, Bill Diebenow, said that while AQSC has considered looking into other North American waterways, its current focus is “to maximize our two terrific assets on the rivers we currently cruise.”

AQSC owns and operates the 436-passenger American Queen on the Mississippi, and the 223-passenger American Empress on the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest.

ACL continues to add Columbia River capacity

This year marks American Cruise Lines’ fifth season on the Columbia and Snake Rivers with its 120-passenger paddlewheeler, the Queen of the West, which is now sailing more than double the number of cruises it sailed its first season in 2010, according to Timothy Beebe, vice president of American Cruise Lines.

The company is also in the process of building a new 175-passenger riverboat for the Columbia and Snake rivers, an exact launch date for which has yet to be announced.

American Cruise Lines acquired the Queen of the West in 2009, and has since completed several multi-million dollar renovations of the riverboat, according to the company. The Queen of the West operates eight-day cruises between Portland, Ore., and Clarkston, Wash.

In celebration on the Queen of the West’s five-year anniversary with ACL, the vessel’s first departure this year, on March 28, will include a complimentary pre-cruise package, featuring a bonus night onboard the riverboat, a private tour of the Pittock Mansion, a visit to the Portland Saturday Market, and a welcome reception and performance.

American Empress: Rugged scenery takes center stage

By Michelle Baran

STEVENSON, Wash. — For as long as I’ve been covering the river cruise market, I’ve heard quiet rumblings that the Columbia and Snake rivers offer a river cruise experience not to be missed.

The American Queen Steamboat Co.’s (AQSC) relaunch of the 223-passenger American Empress finally allowed me to see for myself whether the claims were true.

You don’t have to get too far outside of Portland, Ore., to understand why AQSC acquired the American Empress (formerly the Empress of the North), refurbished it and put the paddlewheeler back into business in the Pacific Northwest.

The Columbia River Gorge is breathtaking. The soaring Cascade Mountains that rise from riverbanks covered in pine trees and striped by endless waterfalls are a sight to behold.

Combine that with the rugged outdoorsy-ness of the region, and there seems to be less pressure on the paddlewheeler to be anything too fussy or even anything beyond a reasonable means of transport through this wondrous landscape.

But of course, the American Empress is much more than an adequate vessel.

Having learned from the relaunch of the 436-passenger American Queen in 2012, the executive team at AQSC has allowed that this project was far easier and the launch far smoother than that of the American Queen.
And while there were still some last-minute tweaks being made during the pre-christening cruise this week, the good condition of the vessel when AQSC acquired it from the U.S. Maritime Administration (Marad), combined with lessons learned from the American Queen, were evident.

Alternative dining venue the River Grill on the fourth deck received one of the ship’s most intensive makeovers. On this trip, it was still in the process of being transformed from a snack stand into a sophisticated dining experience, saddled up to a U-shaped bar. The quasi-construction area surrounding the venue promised to be finished in time for the christening ceremony.

It was at the River Grill that I had one of my favorite meals onboard: fresh, local, smoked salmon and steamed lobster tail.

The company has invested in technical and cosmetic touch-ups throughout the vessel, including changing the layout and color scheme of the main restaurant, the Astoria Dining Room.

Previously steeped in deep reds with banquettes lining the windows, the tables have been broken up into smaller, more convenient configurations, and the room has been detailed with fabrics in modern, metallic hues.

For art lovers, the American Empress is a treasure trove of interesting pieces evoking different themes throughout the vessel, including local steamboat scenes, Native American images and marine life. All the art was purchased with the vessel; it had been stored safely by Marad while the ship was laid up following the collapse of Majestic America Line in 2008.
There is, of course, great value in refurbishing an older vessel such as the American Empress, which originally launched in 2003. But there are some drawbacks, as well — for example, lackluster bathrooms, a throwback to a time when river cruising was not such a premium product.

But even the older elements of the vessel are unworn, clean and respectable. Many of its vintage attributes, like the Paddlewheeler Lounge at the aft of the vessel, with windows that look right onto the churning paddlewheel, are an important part of the vessel’s allure as a sort of floating museum.

And anyway, even the slightest inclination to get snobby about a dated amenity here or there is quickly muted by the nature and scenery through which the riverboat sails.

The American Empress is a notably smaller vessel than the American Queen, which means fewer public areas and a more intimate experience overall. The itinerary is steeped in history, natural beauty and no shortage of regional wines and cuisines.

The vessel will run seven-day, one-way itineraries between Portland and Spokane, Wash. 

American Cruise Lines adds new Mississippi cruise

By Michelle Baran

American Cruise Lines has added a new Mississippi itinerary for 2014 that runs from New Orleans to St. Louis.

The new, eight-day itinerary sails from New Orleans to St. Louis in one week instead of two, which is what American Cruise Lines previously had on offer. It will take place on the company’s 150-passenger paddlewheeler Queen of the Mississippi, which entered service in August 2012.

The new itinerary includes port calls in the Mississippi cities of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Natchez and Vicksburg, as well as in Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis.

The cruise starts at $4,195 per person, based on double occupancy.

Paddlewheeling in the Pacific Northwest

By Michelle Baran

When you think of paddlewheeling, most likely it’s Mississippi that comes to mind, not the Pacific Northwest. But when the 223-passenger American Empress relaunches on the Columbia and Snake rivers in April, it will bring to at least two the number of paddlewheelers sailing along the scenic western routes, paddlewheelers with a somewhat storied and related history in the region.

For U.S. river cruising enthusiasts, the relaunch of the American Empress, which has been dormant since 2008, is likely an exciting offering. The paddlewheeler is undergoing a complete renovation and interior overhaul so that it can once again sail along the rivers it originally plied when it first launched 10 years ago.

The American West Steamboat Co. introduced the American Empress — then a 235-passenger vessel called the Empress of the North — in Alaska on Aug. 10, 2003, as a reproduction of a 1800s-era paddlewheeler. The vessel’s inaugural 11-day Inside Passage cruise from Seattle to Juneau marked the first overnight sternwheeler cruise in Alaska in more than a century.
In October 2003, the Empress began sailing along the Columbia and Snake rivers out of Portland, Ore., alternating itineraries between Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. In 2006, Ambassadors acquired American West, and the Empress of the North became a part of Ambassadors’ Majestic America Line fleet.

On May 14, 2007, the Empress ran aground en route to Glacier Bay from Juneau. There were no injuries, but the vessel incurred damage to the hull and took on water, causing it to list. After repairs, the vessel returned to service that summer and sailed until the collapse of Majestic America Line in late 2008.

When the Empress relaunches in April, it will join one other paddlewheeler on the Columbia and Snake rivers: the 120-passenger Queen of the West, a fellow Majestic America alum, which American Cruise Lines acquired from Majestic as it was unloading its assets in 2008.

The Queen of the West was originally launched in 1995, also by the American West Steamboat Co., which was founded that same year. Also in 1995, the American Queen launched too, which is now owned by the American Queen Steamboat Co.

So, it would appear, what goes around comes around. Just like a paddlewheel.

By Jerry Limone

American Queen buys riverboat for Pacific Northwest cruises

Partnering in preservation

American Queen Steamboat Co. has formed a partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit based in Washington.

Beginning June 30, the American Queen Steamboat Co. will donate $5 to the National Trust for every booking, in support of the campaign to protect National Treasure sites along the Mississippi River and in the Pacific Northwest.

Through the partnership, American Queen Steamboat Co. and the National Trust for Historic Preservation aim to “help tell the stories about important historical places along the travels of the ship,” said Terry Richey, chief marketing officer for the National Trust.

Passengers will have the opportunity to visit three National Treasures sites on their cruise: the Mississippi Delta Heritage area, Willamette Falls in Oregon and the Manhattan Project in Hanford, Wash.

The American Queen Steamboat Co. has purchased the Empress of the North, a riverboat that last sailed for the defunct Majestic America Line in 2008, from the U.S. Maritime Administration for an undisclosed price.

The 223-passenger paddlewheeler will be renovated and renamed the American Empress. The crew will comprise 80 hotel staff and 17 deck staff, all locally hired in the Pacific Northwest region.

As it did when the riverboat was last in service, the American Empress will sail Pacific Northwest cruises, plying the Columbia and Snake rivers, starting next April.

“We are looking at the region [the American Empress] draws from,” said Ted Sykes, president and COO of American Queen Steamboat Co. “We’ve had a lot of people on the American Queen say, ‘Give us some more geography.’ The repeat customer knows of the luxury on the American Queen, and now they want that luxury somewhere else.”

Cruises will sail between Portland, Ore., and Clarkston, Wash. Ports of call include Astoria, Wash.; Stevenson, Wash.; The Dalles, Ore.; Umatilla, Ore.; and Richland, Wash.

The American Queen Steamboat Co. revived Mississippi River cruising last year with the American Queen, another former Majestic America Line riverboat.

“The American Queen has ushered in a rebirth of U.S. river cruising, welcoming thousands to discover the heartland of the United States and its iconic port cities,” stated Sykes. “Now the American Empress will continue that tradition as an ambassador to the Pacific Northwest, a region equally rich in American and natural history.”

Sykes said the American Empress will be ready to take online bookings by the end of the week.