Recommend June 2017 - 35

onboardreview

Avalon Gets Active
on the Rhine

The Avalon Visionary
sails the Rhine.

Lane Nieset

"Don't worry about spending too much time
on your brush stroke, Van Gogh always
made his movements quick," says Tatyana,
our art instructor for the afternoon. It's our
first full day in Amsterdam after embarking
on Avalon Visionary and we are standing
at easels in Westerdok, the very same
neighborhood where Van Gogh created his
only two paintings during his 8-year stint in
the city. Initially designed to be Amsterdam's
main railway station, Westerdok served as
docklands until about six years ago, when the
neighborhood took a residential turn with
ateliers and apartments taking over a former
dock space.
Our morning was spent in typical
sightseeing fashion, cruising along the 17th
century Canal Belt taking in the city's iconic
sites. But it's the immersive experiences like a
Van Gogh painting class in one of the not-sofrequented neighborhoods that left a lingering
impression of this trip to Amsterdam, one
that I could physically take home in the form
of a sunflower-themed painting.
"Guests have told us 'Please don't take
me to another church, take me where locals
go,'" says Terri Burke, managing director at
Avalon Waterways. "The whole essence of
listening to our guests and creating a vacation
that's built upon what their desires are is the
driving force behind our decision-making,
because in the end, it's not our river cruise,
it's their vacation."
Dubbed Active Discovery, Avalon is
expanding this new concept from the Danube
to a river just as popular-the Rhine-with
two new Active Discovery itineraries (starting

at $3,249 pp) for 2018. In addition to painting
classes on the 8-day journey from Amsterdam
to Frankfurt, travelers can soak up culture
in the form of a hike along the Rheinsteig
trail, passing through vineyards and forests
near Eltville, Germany; or touring the mazelike corridors of the lava city of Mendig,
an extinct volcano and coal mine. For your
clients, it's not only a way to see the rivers
from a different perspective, it also gives
travelers and seasoned river cruisers a reason
to come back and experience the Rhine and
Danube a second or third time around.
"We see that people are looking for choices
and the ability to do what they want on their
vacation, so that brought us to coming up
with Active Discovery, creating itineraries that
include more of the active options, as well
as the deep cultural immersion," explains
Pam Hoffee, Globus Family of Brands' chief
product and operations officer. "People are
looking to do things that are unique and
that really gets them into the heart of the
destination; activities that are off-the-beatenpath and immersive."

All in the Family
Over the past two years, Avalon's passengers
could customize their cruise with pre- and
post-tour options from Monograms, one of
the four other companies that falls under the
umbrella of Globus. Monograms' business
jumped by 44 percent, and Avalon plans on
offering something similar next year with tour
options from Globus. "The overall packaging,
it's something that as a family we're very close
to because we've got the four brands and we

know that you can put these things together
back-to-back," Hoffee explains. "It wasn't
always intuitive for the consumer or the agent,
so we thought let's make this easier, let's take
the work out of it and package it together,
putting in the transfers so guests can easily get
from one vacation to the next."

What's Ahead for 2018
■ Solo Supplements Slashed: As solo travel
continues to increase-with 10 percent of
Avalon's guests falling into this category-the
river cruise line is waiving single supplement
fees for all of its European departures.
■ Rise in Themed Cruises: Due to high
demand, Avalon is adding 45 percent more
special interest cruises next year, including
four beer-themed trips like Danube Dreams for
Beer Enthusiasts; Burgundy & Provence
for Wine Lovers; and the new Tulip Time
Cruise for Garden Enthusiasts-an 8-day
roundtrip voyage from Amsterdam along
the Dutch waterways.
■ Revamped Menu: New culinary director
Joerg Penneke (whose background spans
three decades working at award-winning
restaurants) is completely redesigning the
menus across the fleet with the help of
Austrian-based culinary superstars, the
Wrenkh brothers. Keep an eye out for the
new Avalon Fresh menu items, which weave in
local ingredients from small farms and markets
along the river for a mix of healthy vegetarian
and vegan options. ■
Contact Information
Avalon Waterways: avalonwaterways.com
june 2017 35
http://www.avalonwaterways.com
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