Nicole Edenedo
AMSTERDAM -- There were plenty of river cruise ships docked here at the 2024 ASTA River Cruise Expo, which drew a lot of interest from advisor attendees who were curious to see how these vessels stacked up against the rest of each line's fleet.
Chief among them were return of river ships built by former luxury line Crystal Cruises.
Riverside Luxury Cruises, for example, came back for its second year at the expo and debuted its latest ship to sail in Europe, the Riverside Debussy, which was christened by godmother and travel influencer Alle Pierce. The Debussy will sail on the Rhine, Main and Moselle rivers starting March 23.
The ship was likely most advisors' first look at a Riverside ship since the young company, now in its sophomore year of operations, debuted the doublewide Riverside Mozart at last year's conference. Riverside also launched the Riverside Ravel in August, which sails in the south of France on the Rhone and Saone rivers, and now operates three vessels.
All three of those ships were part of Crystal's river fleet, which Riverside acquired last year. Other than a few minor changes, such as the logo and company name on the exterior, the Debussy has gone unchanged and advisors found the same style and level of luxury introduced by Crystal.
The same can be said of the newest ship to join Uniworld Boutique River Cruises' fleet, the S.S. Victoria, which is also a Crystal ship.
The Victoria is formerly the Crystal Bach (Uniworld has both the Bach and the Mahler under charter from Riverside; the Mahler is currently operating for Transcend). Uniworld also kept much of its former features intact, but Uniworld added new towels in the cabins with its own branding, along with the toiletries and cosmetic products, all of which are part of what Uniworld calls its "tiny little touches." Unlike Riverside, which hired most of Crystal Cruises' former staff, Uniworld's Victoria employs its own staff.
Amadeus River Cruises also brought a relatively new ship to the conference: The Amadeus Cara, the first of three in the company's new class of NextGen ships. This class, which also includes the Amadeus Riva and the soon-to-debut Amadeus Nova, all feature environmentally sustainable technology, such as a hybrid, diesel-electric drive and a powerful battery that ensures maximum engine power.
The Cara launched in 2022 and the Riva in 2023, and the Nova will launch in June, in line with the company's "one ship per year" production rate.
The Cara features a different design scheme and color palette than the line's older ships; pops of rust-orange and dusty charcoal make appearances in the plush velvet seating in the lounge and the Cafe Vienna bistro area. The Cara also has fewer cabins, which provides more space for guests in the common areas and their staterooms.
Tauck, the tour operator that also has a nine-ship river cruise fleet, and the U.K.-based Riviera River Cruises, joined for the first time this year, and both drew a lot of curiosity from advisors who had never seen their ships before.
Tauck brought the Joy, a 130-passenger vessel that has 22 suites. The Joy was built in 2016 by shipbuilding company, Scylla, which designs, constructs, outfits and manages hotel operations of Tauck's ships.
Scylla also builds ships for other river cruise lines, including Riviera, and so there are certain similarities in the features or designs, even if the companies are different.
That was the case with the Joy and Riviera's Geoffrey Chaucer, the 176-passenger ship that it brought to the conference.
For instance, the lobbies of the Chaucer and the Joy both feature the same opulent grand staircase atrium, glass-paneled elevator, and dining room design scheme. Both also have bistro dining areas in the back of the ship, which is called Arthur's on the Joy and the Bistro on the Geoffrey Chaucer.
One of the biggest differences between Tauck's Joy and any of the other ships at the Expo, including the Chaucer, are the Joy's loft cabins, which need to be seen in person to get the full effect.
Tauck has eight, two-story loft cabins on the Ruby Deck, one of the lower level decks, that feature a one-and-a-half-story window and a raised seating area for dining located in front of the bed that faces the window. Each is a 225-square-foot, Category 3 cabin, which means they have midrange pricing. Tauck was able to build these loft cabins because the ships are designed to carry a relatively small number of passengers, enabling it to dedicate more space to this unique room design.