Recommend March 2012 - (Page 54)

EUROPEAN RIVER CRUISING 2012 continued from page 52 That program includes a 7-night cruise in a riverview stateroom on the S.S. Antoinette; the Captain’s welcome gala and farewell dinners; complimentary ﬁne wines, choice of beer and soft drinks during lunch and dinner on board; replenished bottled water in stateroom and 24hour specialty coffee and tea bar. In addition, there are nine excursions, including two “Choice Is Yours” options, fully hosted by English-speaking local guides, state-of-the-art Quietvox portable audio headset system on all shore excursions, use of bicycles and Nordic walking sticks throughout the cruise and local entertainment. There’s also a signature lecture, “The European City from the Middle Ages to the Present”; an exclusive Epicurean Adventurer Program; the Go Active Program, which includes biking, hiking and city tours, as well as all transfers on arrival and departure days. Priced from $2,249 to $3,449. Like the other lines, Uniworld is also adding to its ﬂeet with its second ship coming out on the Mekong in 2013 and still another new ship bound for the Douro in 2013. “It’s called the Queen Isabel and it’s going to replace the Douro Spirit, which we’ve had on charter,” says Young, adding that there’s going to be a lot of new features on this ship with the top deck containing all jr. suites, plus two additional suites. Young says the Portugal program has been doing quite well for them, mainly because, “We’ve been in that market for quite some time so we’ve built up over the years, but this year and last year, sales have been very strong on the Douro. It’s one of these untapped regions and we’re seeing a lot of our past passengers booking it.” At the same time he adds, “It’s not one of those traditional European rivers like the Rhine or Main, but it’s a beautiful region.” The 11 day Portugal, Spain & the Douro River Valley Cruise/Tour package includes a 7-night cruise in a riverview stateroom as well as an additional 3-night stay in Lisbon at the deluxe Tiara Park Atlantic (or similar) with breakfast. On board there are complimentary soft drinks during lunch and complimentary ﬁne wines, choice of beer, and soft drinks during dinner; bottled water in the stateroom; and 24-hour specialty coffee and tea bar. There are also nine excursions fully hosted by English-speaking local guides, local onboard entertainment, a signature lecture, “The Magical Douro River Valley”; and all transfers on arrival and departure days. Prices run from $3,049 to $3,649. viking river cruises Viking River Cruises is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and marking it with a remarkable and a long-awaited event, the March 21st christening in Amsterdam of four of the six new Viking Longships— Viking Njord, Viking Odin, Viking Idun and Viking Freya—marking the ﬁrst time in history that four cruise ships will be christened at once. After departing from Amsterdam, the Viking Longships will sail Viking’s most popular European itineraries including the 15-day Grand European Tour, 8-day Romantic Danube, 8-day Danube Waltz and 10-day Tulips & Windmills. Joining their sister ships, two more Viking Longships—Viking Embla and Viking Aegir—will make their debut in July and August 2012, respectively. And given unprecedented demand, Viking is reviewing its new build program for 2013 and 2014. Also new for 2012 is an enhanced Russian offering from Viking. With the launch of Viking Rurik (formerly Viking Peterhof), this year will mark the completion of bow-to-stern refurbishments of Viking’s owned and operated Russian ﬂeet, which set a new standard as the best river 54 march 2012 cruise ships in Russia and the only ﬂeet entirely Western-managed. To commemorate the transformations and to honor Viking’s heritage, the ships have been renamed—Viking Rurik, Viking Helgi, Viking Ingvar and Viking Truvor. In addition to multiple itinerary updates, new for 2012 is an 8-day program, The Glories of the Hermitage, which features exclusive access and private tours at one of the world’s greatest museums, and the launch of an entirely Russia-focused microsite, thereal russia.com. According to Richard Marnell, senior v.p. of marketing, the response to these events has been signiﬁcant. “From guests on the phone to travel agents in the ﬁeld, we have heard good things all around,” Marnell says. “We can feel the excitement about the launch of our six new Viking Longships, as well as the various ship and itinerary enhancements we are making to our already popular Russia program.” Like everyone else, Viking has seen more than healthy booking trends, much of theirs, however, enhanced by the new ships and itinerary enhancements. “As expected, introducing new ships as a core component of our ﬂeet has been beneﬁcial to our positive booking trends,” Marnell says. “However, we are experiencing similar trends in bookings throughout our breadth of itineraries, from Europe and Russia to the Ukraine, China and Southeast Asia. More than in years past, we have seen an increased number of early bookings for 2012 departures as well as a greater number of sold-out dates throughout the season.” As still another aspect of Viking’s 15th anniversary year, Viking is currently offering special deals including up to 2-for-1 pricing on select river cruise itineraries, as well as promotional offers on roundtrip international air. Dates and pricing as well as ship and itinerary information are available online. Marnell points out, however, that “market demand will dictate whether our 2-for-1 cruise pricing will remain through the season. In addition, air discounts will be offered, but will vary based on a number of factors including itineraries, dates and availability.” Finally, as one of the most market-driven companies in the river cruise industry, Marnell points out that the company adheres to a policy of focusing on travel agents as their primary booking source. “We value all of the travel agent partnerships and will do whatever we can to support them—from top commissions (averaging over $1,300 per booking) and no NCFs to timely payments and a rewarding and easy-to-meet group policy,” Marnell says. “Plus, we have developed a number of selling tools to make their job easier, including a dedicated travel agent portal to the Viking website, co-branded websites, customizable marketing materials and so much more. I encourage agents to connect with their regional DBD to ensure that they get the personal attention they need as well as timely news, special offers, FAMs and other Viking-related information.” n Archived related articles (available on recommend.com): River Cruise Product Expands Even More for 2012 (November 2011) contact information AMAWaterways: (800) 626-0126; amawaterways.com/agents Avalon Waterways: (800) 221-0090; globusfamilypartner.com Tauck River Cruising: (800) 760-0080; agent.tauck.com Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection: (800) 555-8333; uniworld.com Viking River Cruises: (800) 706-1483; vikingrivercruises.com/agents recommend.com http://www.russia.com http://www.recommend.com http://www.amawaterways.com/agents http://www.globusfamilypartner.com http://agent.tauck.com http://www.uniworld.com http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/agents http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend March 2012

Editor's Notes/Agent Speak
Hotel Desk: Vikram Chatwal Hotels
Tour Talk: SITA World Tours
From Zambia to Zimbabwe
Small Ship Cruising in the U.S.
All-Inclusive Resort Guide: The Caribbean & Mexico
Alaska: New Action in an Old World
Sandpearl Resort, Clearwater, Florida
European River Cruising 2012
Pantanal: The Brazilian Serengeti

Recommend March 2012