Recommend January 2013 - (Page 18)

four cheers for river cruising continued “River cruising is the fastest growing segment of the industry, gaining in popularity because of the up-close and personal experience offered when sailing on the world’s legendary rivers.” Christine Duffy, President, Cruise Lines International Association highlights—Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an and the Terra Cotta Warriors, and cruising the Yangtze. And the company’s two new ships— doing a 14-day program including Hanoi, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong River cruise—are ideal for people looking for a really new adventure.” As Turpin points out, “I have been selling cruises for 35 years, and many of my clients have really almost done it all as far as where you can go on an ocean liner. They truly love the new adventure of being able to explore many countries of Europe, as well as some corners of China and Southeast Asia (as well as other places from Egypt to the U.S. waterways) from the comfort of a river cruise. From excellent food and wine to the assortment of tours at each stop, clients love that the price of the cruise or cruise-tour is very inclusive.” Shirley Linde, editor of the well-known SmallShipsCruises. com website, offers a dozen reasons why river cruises are one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world of cruising. They range from “giving clients the historic experience of getting to know small towns along waterways that once served as avenues to settlement and trade, to worry-free and relaxing travel, waking up each day in a new location without having the hassle of getting there.” And she reminds us also of another advantage of river cruising that may be important to some clients: “Without waves, you don’t get seasick.” And Scully plans to continue to encourage her bevy of ocean-cruising clients to begin to “think river.” She mentions several factors that lead to her enthusiasm over river cruising. She points out that a European river cruise puts clients in the heart of the great cities of Europe, not in different ports that require transfers; the ships not only offer luxury cruise comforts, but their small size provides a congenial place passengers want to be; and, for an all-inclusive, deluxe European experience, you can’t beat the actual value for the U.S. dollar. Cruise Connoisseurs Consider... Christine Duffy, president of CLIA, was on the Danube just last spring. She is looking to the “exciting Asia-Paciﬁc world where I would love to cruise on the Mekong River, for example.” Rudi Schreiner, president of AmaWaterways, favors certain waterways for certain reasons: “The Douro River shares with the Moselle my vote for most scenic. For cultural highs, the Danube has the great cities, and the Mekong shows off Cambodia’s exotic antiquities.” Patrick Clark, managing director of Avalon Waterways, taps “the meandering Moselle River, with its castles, vineyards and charming villages with half-timbered houses. Plus, there is less barge trafﬁc so the pace is easy and less-congested.” And Clark has cruised on the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar; he can’t wait to repeat the experience. a longship fan Anne Scully, president of McCabe World Travel, points out that “25 years ago, river cruising was not for everybody. In fact, it was a very European product booked mostly by Europeans.” She credits Torstein Hagen, president of Viking River Cruises, with “being a visionary in developing what the American market needed: the right boats.” Her most recent cruise outings were two with Viking on the Danube River, one aboard one of the six new 95-cabin Longships that made their debut last year. “To me, Hagen is the Frank Lloyd Wright of river boats. He just uses the same space all river boats have, and with the Longships, made that space better.” Scully notes that the new design “moves the center line to create, for instance, great balconies and hotel-style suites with wraparound verandahs.” Other special features include the Aquavit Terrace at the bow of the ship for indoor/outdoor viewing and dining, as well as environmentally friendly hybrid engines, solar panels and a sun deck herb garden. Viking plans to launch on European waterways 10 more Longships this year, and eight in 2014. 18 january 2013 Archived related articles (available on recommend.com): River Cruising Continues to Make Big Waves (November 2012) contact information AmaWaterways: (800) 626-0126; amawaterways.com or amawaterways.com/agent/Login.aspx American Cruise Lines: americancruiselines.com or americancruiselines.com/ travel-agents Avalon Waterways: (877) 797-8791; avalonwaterways.com or agents.globusfamily.com/login.aspx Cruise Lines International Association: cruising.org Tauck: (800) 468-2825; tauck.com or agent.tauck.com/Pages/default.aspx Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection: (800) 733-7820; uniworld.com or uniworld.com/Agency/User Viking River Cruises: (800) 706-1483; vikingrivercruises.com or vikingrivercruises.com/agents/index.aspx recommend.com http://www.recommend.com http://www.amawaterways.com http://www.amawaterways.com/agent/Login.aspx http://www.americancruiselines.com http://www.americancruiselines.com/ http://www.avalonwaterways.com http://agents.globusfamily.com/login.aspx http://www.cruising.org http://www.tauck.com http://agent.tauck.com/Pages/default.aspx http://www.uniworld.com http://www.uniworld.com/Agency/User http://www.vikingrivercruises.com http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/agents/index.aspx http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend January 2013

Editor's Note
Hotel Desk: The Westlake Village Inn
Tour Talk: Brendan Vacations' Boutique Journeys
Four Cheers for River Crusing
A-ROSA Silva
Delta Air Lines' 2013 Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America Travel Guide
China Remains a Time-Tested Destination
What's Hot in Vegas for 2013
Back to the Gulf
Authentic Morocco in An (Argan) Nutshell
Festive Europe

Recommend January 2013