For many river cruise lines in Europe, November is the time to start refurbishing ships for next season. In many cases, not all their ships, because some are primed for the Christmas season, which begins when holiday lights fill the sky along the great rivers of Europe.
Christmas markets abound in Northern Europe with crafts, food and entertainment. While many markets are unique and make for excellent stops, one of my favourites is in Nuremburg, Germany.
In all these markets, Gluewein from large cauldrons and walking-around food are available stall after stall.
I expect 2014 to bring the biggest expansions ever on European rivers.
Viking will launch 14 new Longships 鈥� that鈥檚 30 in the last three years, Avalon will have three all-suite ships and AmaWaterways will add two new ships to its fleet.
And the list goes on鈥�
Scenic Cruises will introduce the Scenic Gem, built specifically to cruise on the Seine River. Emerald Waterways is a new cruise line, owned by Scenic and less inclusive than its big brother.
At 182 passengers, it would appear Emerald is aiming at Viking with lower prices and more cabins.
Uniworld, a river cruise line that depends on repeat business for its growth, will add the S.S. Catherine, a mate for last year鈥檚 successful S.S. Antoinette. Tauck鈥檚 Inspiration Class ships will welcome ms Savor and ms Inspire.
That makes 25 new ships on the rivers of Europe next year with just these companies.
A couple of passengers I talked to on an Avalon ship who are long-time river cruisers, were surprised at the growth. 鈥淲hen we first started river cruising,鈥� they said, 鈥渋t seemed like only a few ships would pass you on the rivers. Now it seems we see a couple pass by every hour.鈥�
Patrick Clark, the Managing Director of Avalon, says:
鈥淜eep in mind, Phil, that when you add up the passenger count with all of these new ships it鈥檚 similar to one large ocean-going cruise ship. It鈥檚 the percentages that are growing at an unbelievable rate.鈥�
And with that come new routes:
Scenic Cruises specifically built the Gem to operate return cruises from Paris every 11 days all summer. Ports include Honfleur where you can visit the D-Day beaches in Normandy and much more.
France is one of the fastest-growing regions for river cruising as lines continue to add or expand on cruises. Two of Viking's new Longships will go there. AmaWaterways is moving a ship to France鈥檚 Aquitaine region to offer opportunities to visit Bordeaux vineyards and chateaus. This complements Ama鈥檚 Seine and Rhone cruises, with the latter鈥檚 getting the newest ship, S.S. Catherine. Tauck and Uniworld are also adding and expanding their French presence.
This is just a snippet of where river lines are expanding.
In Southeast Asia, the Mekong Delta continues to grow. In Portugal and Spain, it鈥檚 happening on the Douro.
In Myanmar, Viking and AmaWaterways will now be sailing the Irrawady.
For solo cruisers Tauck takes it seriously, with no single supplement in category one on all its European cruises.
More ships, more rivers, more destinations and more choices on board. The battle is on for both large and small river lines to entice new cruisers and ocean passengers who haven't tried river cruising to gravitate to the smaller bodies of water.
It鈥檚 a lot to digest, so my advice is to visit a travel agent who knows what鈥檚 happening on the rivers in 2014.
