You’ve probably heard of AMA Waterways, but you might be wondering how they are different than other river cruise companies.  AMA is a family-run company, with their head office is in the US (California). They are celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year, and have some interesting booking incentives as part of that celebration – but more on that in a minute.

All the river cruise companies that we work with in Europe offer a luxury guest experience, so they are LESS differentiated than the ocean cruise lines.  This means you’ll have a fantastic experience regardless of who you travel with, but it does make it confusing if you’re trying to make a decision between river cruise lines.

AMA operates on all the main European waterways, as well as Egypt, Viet Nam/Cambodia, South Africa, and Columbia.  They do a number of themed cruises each year, so they are a good choice if you’d like to do a Wine- or Golf- themed river cruise.  AMA Waterways fares include transfers, a choice of shore excursion in every port, beer/wine with meals, wifi on the ship, and in some cases – FLIGHTS! (more on that below)

When we’ve travelled with AMA Waterways, here’s a few things that stood out for us:

1. The Rooms – there are window rooms available for those looking for the best possible price, but most of the rooms on decks 2 and 3 are combination veranda and French balcony (you get both!).  So the room feels much larger.
2. The Wellness Coordinator – each sailing has a crew member on board that can lead more active shore excursions, as well as offering included fitness, yoga and pilates classes on board the ship  There is also a small gym on board for those who wish to stay active.
3. Bicycles for Borrowing – it’s nice to be able to go for a bike ride right off the ship in your spare time.
4. Happy Hour – Beer and wine is included with your meals, and for the hour or so before they start seating for dinner, there is a happy hour in the main lounge where your drinks are also included.  It’s a small thing, but a nice touch.
5. A Choice of Shore Excursions – in most ports of call, you have a choice between 2, 3 or 4 different included activities.  This works really well if you’re travelling with group of people that may have different interests. 
6. Trip Extensions – There are some interesting pre- and post- cruise land packages, and on many of those, the cruise manager travels with you on the extension. 

Now the moment you’ve been waiting for! 

For a limited time, AMA Waterways is offering free round-trip flights on ALL their European and Mekong itineraries for sailings in 2022.  If you would rather fly on points, or otherwise prefer to do your own air, you can choose a 20% discount off the cruise fare instead of the free flights.

With oil prices on the ascent, the price of flights in the next several months is a big variable with travel, so this is really a great opportunity to travel to Europe this fall (or over the holidays), and have this uncertainty removed. 

Here are a few examples that INCLUDE free flights in the price.

Rhine River between Amsterdam and Basel (or reverse) – 8 days

Visit the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Switzerland.

1. Sept $4199 per person, Oct $3699 pp, Nov $3199 pp, Dec $3499 pp
2. All prices include round-trip economy air.
3. If you go in September, you can visit the Floriade Expo in Holland
4. 4-day trip extension to Zurich and Lucerne and/or 2-nights Amsterdam available.
5. Departures on October 27 and November 3 & 10 are Wine Cruise, hosted by a wine industry expert, and including special tours, as well as wine tastings and pairings. 

Lower Danube between Budapest and Giurgiu (Romania) – 8 days

Visit Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania.

1. September $4199 per person, October $3799 pp, November $3399 pp
2. All prices include round-trip economy air.
3. Trip extensions pre/post cruise available in Vienna, Brasov, Bucharest, and/or Istabul

Douro River in Portugal – Round-trip Porto – 8 days

Visit Entre-os-Rios, Regua, Pinhao, Barca D’alva, Vega de Terron.

1. August $4099 per person, September $4299 pp, October $3799 pp, November $3599 pp
2. All prices include round-trip economy air.
3. Pre/post trip extensions to Lisbon and/or Madrid for 3-nights available.
4. Departures on August 6 & 13, and November 5 are Wine Cruise, hosted by a wine industry expert, and including special tours, as well as wine tastings and pairings. 

France – Round-trip Paris to Normandy – 8 days

Visit Paris, Versailles, Les Andelys, Le Havre, Rouen, Normandy Beaches, Vernon (for Monet’s Gardens), Conflans.

1. Sept $4299 per person, Oct $3799 pp, Nov $3599 pp
2. All prices include round-trip economy air.
3. Pre/post trip extension for 2-nights in Paris available.
4. Departures on October 29 and November 3 are Wine Cruise, hosted by a wine industry expert, and including special tours, as well as wine tastings and pairings. 

Danube on AMA Magna between Vilshofen (Bavaria) and Budapest for 8 nights

What sets Magna apart is that it is twice as wide as the other ships on river, so your cabin will be larger, and there is more space per passenger than other river ships out there. 

Visit Bratislava, Vienna, Krems (for Wachau Valley), Linz, and Passau

1. September $4499 per person, October $3999 pp, November $3499 pp, December $3799 pp
2. All prices include round-trip economy air.
3. Pre/post trip extensions Budapest and Prague available.
4. Departure on November 13th is a Wine Cruise, hosted by a wine industry expert, and including special tours, as well as wine tastings and pairings. 

Mekong River to Viet Nam and Cambodia

Travel between Ho Chi Minh City and Siem Reap for 8 days

1. Departures in October, November or December starting at $3099. 
2. Pre/post trip extensions to Hanoi, Siem Reap, Ho Chi Minh City, and/or Ha Long Bay
3. All prices include round-trip economy air.

All of the above cruises INCLUDE round-trip flights, airport transfers, a choice of shore excursion in every port, beer/wine with meals and a daily happy hour, specialty dining, and wifi on the ship.

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

The best way to learn about travel and tourism related products, is to actually travel and experience the same things our clients will experience (and travel is also the best part of our job!)

The next best source of information and inspiration is Virtuoso Travel Week, the annual conference we attend.  What Paris Fashion Week is to the apparel industry, Virtuoso Travel Week is to the luxury travel business.  In pre-pandemic times, more than 6000 travel advisors from across the planet converge in Las Vegas in August (we always marvel that the show must be very good to get people to the desert at that time of year!). 

So today, we brave the nightmare that recent air travel has become, and land in a place only slightly cooler than the surface of the sun, to participate in this event.  It will give us a chance to renew those relationships we already have with the various cruise lines and land tour companies, and the opportunity to cultivate new ones. 

Here are a few of the new trends we’ve got our eye on, and will be trying to learn more about during this coming week: 

Explora Journeys.  This is brand new cruise line, which welcomes its first guests in May 2023.  It’s exciting to be part of new travel product, and we’re really looking forward to doing more business with them.  Here’s a link with more details to an article we posted a few weeks ago about Explora Journeys:  https://pamperedcruiser.com/your-personal-invitation-to-meet-explora-journeys/

Blue Ribbon Bags.  It’s not a big secret the airline industry is in complete disarray right now, and lost bags are a hot topic.  This product enables you to track your bags, and if your bag goes astray during travel and doesn’t manage to catch up with you within 4 days, then they give you $1000 (without have to file an insurance claim).

West Africa Itineraries.  When it comes to tourism infrastructure, West Africa is the least developed place in the world, and some cruise lines have begun to call in there.  If ever you wanted the comfort of a cruise ship, West Africa has got to be the place. 

Car Services.  You may think the idea of a car service is for the lifestyles of the rich and famous (I certainly did).  In reality, this is actually an affordable option that you may wish to consider as an alternative to a short flight.  For example, Bob and I had to get between Seattle and Vancouver for a cruise a few months ago.  The 25-minute flight for the two of us would have been about $300.  For the same cost, we took a car service that delivered us door to door, and we didn’t have to endure the insult that flying has become (it was also faster when you consider your pre-flight wait time at the airport). 

The Northwest Passage.  In the 18th and 19th centuries, the fabled Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans was the holy grail for explorers as an alternative for sailing around Cape Horn in South America.  Norwegian Roald Amundsen was the first one to successfully make the crossing, but it took him from 1903 to 1906.  Now you can do it in about 3 – 4 weeks.  The unique scenery, as well as the remote communities (they don’t have those in Antarctica) you’ll visit along the journey will not disappoint.  Greenland, Iceland, and remote parts of Northern Canada offer shorter itineraries with the same natural and cultural wonders.

A note about Virtuoso:

The Virtuoso website, it’s a great resource for trip planning.  If you go to www.virtuoso.com and select “Destination”, there are a ton of articles and other resources about hotels, activities, and excursions there. 

Today’s Travel Opportunities

West Africa and Atlantic Islands

1. Round Trip from Dakar (Senegal) for 14 days with prices starting at $6122 per person. 
2. Visit Dakar, Goree Island, Cape Verde Islands, Fogo,
3. Incredible wildlife viewings from salt-water hippos, manatees, turtles, and exotic birds, on nature safaris in the Bissagos UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.  The humpback whales breed off the coast of the Cape Verde Islands in the winter months as well.
4. Fare includes a land safari out of Dakar where you’ll see giraffe, buffalo, monkeys, gazelles, ostriches and rhinos.
5. Departures on November 26, December 8, 2022, and January 1 & 13, 2023

Reykjavik to Kangerlussuaq (Greenland)

1. 10-days departing August 11, 2023 starting at $13,200 per person.
2. Includes all transfers (even from your home to the airport), round-trip air, one-night pre-cruise hotel, all expedition gear, shore excursions daily, open bar. 
3. You will visit 14 ports in Iceland and Greenland over the course of 10-days.
4. This is a great alternative for those who want to see the arctic, but don’t have time to spend a month on board traversing the Northwest passage. 

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Many of you have been enquiring lately about plans for the winter months, so I thought I would throw out a few ideas to scratch that itch.  I suppose planning for winter now makes sense – despite the challenges that travel is presenting to those that want to be out there, after nearly two years of sitting around the house, you’re ready to go!

Mexico and the Caribbean are the top destinations for Americans in the winter months, and we’re more than happy to help you with such plans.  However, many of our clients have “been there, done that”, so I’ll focus on a few other ideas for getaways this winter. 

Making the Best of Winter

Christmas Markets

A popular getaway for our clients in November and December is to visit the European Christmas markets on a river cruise.  It’s a different experience than visiting Europe in the summer months.  Here’s an article we posted about this a few weeks ago: https://pamperedcruiser.com/christmas-in-july/

Northern Lights Cruises

Seeing the Aurora Borealis is a bucket-list experience for many people, and your chances of seeing them increase as the daylight hours in the northern hemisphere decreases.  In other words, you really can’t see these on an Alaskan Cruise.  Instead, you’ll want to travel in the winter.

Hurtigruten offers a “Northern Lights Promise” – if you take one of their designated cruises, they guarantee you’ll see the Northern Lights.  If you don’t see them, they’ll offer you another cruise so you can try again.   Here are some examples:

1. Depart November 27, 2022 – 12 days from $4383 per person
2. Depart from Tromso, Norway, and follow the Norwegian coast southward to visit the North Cape, Arctic Alta, Aurora City, Senja, Reine, and Kalvag, before landing at Harlingen (Netherlands), and finally disembarking in Dover in the UK.
3. Another departure on February 4, 2023 – 15 days from $5453 per person

Antarctica on Viking Octantis:  $9995 per person

We haven’t seen a deal to Antarctica like this in a long, long time.  If you want to visit Antarctica, you’ll want to jump on this offer.  It’s capacity controlled so you’ll want to book as soon as possible while supplies last:

1. Depart November through March (several departures) from $9,995 per INCLUDING round-trip flights from the US.
2. Includes all taxes & fees, transfers, a landing or excursion in each port of call, zodiac and kayak outings, expedition jacket and other equipment needed to go ashore, beer/wine with meals, and wifi on the ship.
3. 13 days: Visit Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, 7-days of landings on Antarctica, scenic sailing in the Drake Passage and Cape Horn.

Escaping Winter to Warmer Climates

French Polynesia and Tahiti

Tahiti is only two hours further by plane than is Hawaii, and it offers a much more exotic experience.  The best way to see this unique Polynesian island is with Paul Gauguin.  You can also extend you trip to include a couple of nights in one of those over-water bungalows.  Here are some examples:

1. Depart December 17th, 2022 (11-nights) – from $5320 per person
2. Visit Tahiti, Society Islands, Aitutaki, Raratonga, Bora Bora (2-nights), Moto Mahana, and Moorea.
3. Includes open bar, gratuities, water sports, airport transfers, and wifi on the ship.
4. Another departure on December 28th, 2022 (10-nights) – from $5420 per person.

Australia & New Zealand

1. Viking ocean cruise departing Dec 22 or 27, 2022 (15 days) – from $6999 per person
2. Visit Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania, Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Rotorua, and Auckland.
3. Fare reflects 270 square foot veranda room, and includes all taxes & fees, transfers, a shore excursion in each port of call, beer/wine with meals, and wifi on the ship.

South America and Chilean Fjords

1. Viking ocean cruise departing December 18, 2022 (18 days) – from $6699 per person.
2. Visit Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Puerto Madryn, Falkland Islands, Scenic Sailing at Cape Horn, Ushuaia, Punta Arenas, Scenic Sailing at Amalia Glacier (Patagonia), Chilean Fjords, Puerto Montt, Santiago.
3. Fare reflects 270 square foot veranda room, and includes all taxes & fees, transfers, a shore excursion in each port of call, beer/wine with meals, and wifi on the ship.
4. another departure on February 24, 2023 from $6999 per person.

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

One of the cruise industry executives commented to us recently how much she appreciated our “media presence”.  This was a sincere compliment, and I tried to accept it graciously, but I was taken off-guard by the term “media presence”.

We are literally a mom & pop shoppe.  There is Bob and me, along with some admin support.  We certainly don’t have a PR department or a media section.

For those of us who grew up in the 60s and70s, the idea of “media” was about large newspapers, periodicals, and broadcast television.  This is no longer true.  In the 21st Century, ‘media’ is about regular blogging, posting on social media, and contributing on YouTube.

We do a reasonable job of trying to connect with our clients and readers once a week by email.  Occasionally we get busy and miss a deadline, but we’re generally pretty consistent. 

For the record, there are lots of media services out there that offer to write our stuff for us and distribute it via multiple media channels. We don’t like that idea very much, so everything we post is written by Bob and me. 

We post regularly on our Facebook page, and if you use Facebook and are not already connected with us, then here’s the link:  https://www.facebook.com/PamperedCruiser

We are certainly not on all the social channels, and we get regular feedback that we need to be more active on Instagram and Twitter so we can attract more Millennials to our business.  We’ll probably work on improving our presence on such channels at some point, but we really like dealing with people in our own demographic:  55 – 75+ year-old people who are curious about the world and want to get out and explore it as much as they can for as long as they can.

The one media channel we have been working especially hard on improving our presence is YouTube.  We personally do many of the trips that we book our clients on, so we try to document these trips with short videos.  We now have over 50 videos posted and will continue to add stuff regularly.

If you’re looking for the flashy, highly produced videos, I would refer to you the individual cruise lines’ websites.  If you want to know what these trips are like from the perspective of normal people (not the models on the professional videos), with video footage taken with an iPhone, then our videos might be of interest.

Here’s a link to our YouTube homepage.  There is a “subscribe” button (top right) there if you want to be notified when we post new videos.  If you click on “Playlists”, you can see the series of videos from various trips we’ve taken.

www.youtube.com/ThePamperedCruiser

So, we’ll continue to blog regularly with original content written by us and document our trips as they occur via YouTube.

I guess we DO have a “media presence”!

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Dennis, one of our clients from Colorado, recently suggested we write an article about how to choose a river cruise line.  Like many of you, Dennis and his partner have done a ton of ocean cruising – mostly on the premium lines (Celebrity, Holland America & Princess), and have recently begun experimenting with small ship ocean cruises and river cruises.

His questions about the different river cruise lines were good ones, and ones we commonly hear from others.

Comparing ocean cruise lines is an easy discussion.  For example, if you’re choosing between Carnival and Holland America, you’ll be very happy on one of those cruise lines and extremely unhappy on the other (depending on your age, and what you want to get out of the trip).

River cruise lines are far less differentiated, so the conversation is less definitive.

All the river cruise lines we work with provide an elevated level of food quality, service, and amenities.  In many regards they are all very similar.  However, there is certainly differentiation amongst them, so here’s a crack at defining what is different about the river cruise lines our clients book most frequently.

Note that all these cruise lines include airport transfers, a shore excursion in each port of call, beer/wine with meals, and wifi on the ship.  Additional inclusions are noted under each.

AMA Waterways

1. A Wellness Coordinator on every sailing, with fitness and yoga classes, as well as more active shore excursions. 
2. Happy Hour where your drinks are included every night for an hour or so before dinner (beer/wine is also included with meals).
3. A choice of included Shore Excursions at each port (including the more active ones noted above).
4. Gym and pool on board the ship.
5. Trip Extensions – All the cruise lines offer trip extensions.  AMA offers some unusual extensions, and the same cruise manager from the ship also travels with you pre/post cruise.
6. Free Flights on 2022 Europe & Mekong departures.  If you want to travel in the next few months, AMA will throw in the air as part of your cruise fare.
7. Skews to slightly younger demographic.

Avalon

1. Rooms – Avalon has a slightly larger room size than competing river cruise lines, and they orient the beds to face out the window.
2. Shorter itineraries – Avalon is the only one of these cruise lines to offer itineraries of less than a week.  This could work well if you want to combine a river cruise with another vacation in Europe.
3. Land tours – Avalon is part of the Globus family of brands, so it’s easy to connect a river cruise to a Globus or Monograms trip.

Tauck

1. Land extensions – Tauck is originally a luxury land-tour operator and have only gotten into the River Cruise business with their own ships in the past few years.  If you’re looking for high-end land tours, Tauck certainly offers this.
2. Inclusions – Tauck has all the standard river cruise inclusions and also includes beverages at ALL times, as well as gratuities for both onboard staff and local guides.
3. Exclusive experiences – Tauck puts their extensive experience on land to good use when planning exclusive shore events for river boat guests.

Uniworld

1. Boutique ships – Uniworld positions itself as a floating boutique hotel, and they do a very good job of it.  Each ship is unique and decorated and adorned to reflect the region in which it sails.  The Tollman family’s personal art collection is on board the ships as well, so each river boat is a bit like a floating museum.
2. Trains – on some voyages, Uniworld allows guests to do pre/post trips by luxury train.  There are some very interesting itinerary options. 
3. Inclusions – Much like Tauck, everything is included in the fare (open bar, all gratuities)
4. There is gym and a spa on board Uniworld ships
5. Incentives – a number of their 2022 itineraries are showing at 50% off right now, which is incredible value for such a high end product.
6. “Other” Rivers – Uniworld operates on all the standard European rivers, and also travels to a few spots others don’t go: The Po River in Northern Italy; the Ganges River in India; and the Amazon headwaters in Peru (with extensions to Machu Picchu).  We have a new video on our YouTube channel about the Po River Cruise – here’s the link:  https://youtu.be/QRIHi6SED6g

Viking

1. Scale – Viking is larger than everyone else combined, and in many cases this gives them a price/cost advantage.
2. Air Program – Viking’s extensive air program makes the value that much more compelling.  The air add-ons give people cost certainty for air travel – a big advantage – especially right now when air travel is such a huge variable.
3. Departure Dates – Viking has about 80 ships in Europe, so on many itineraries, there are more than 20 departures per month.  If your dates are tight, Viking probably has a sailing within a day or two of your preferred departure.

The above river cruise lines account for the majority of the North American market, but there are several other more minor players out there as well.  The biggest mistake people make when assessing a river cruise line is comparing to their ocean cruise experiences – the two have very little in common. 

REMINDER:  If you missed our note last week about the special discount on Oceania Cruises, here’s link to that article:  https://pamperedcruiser.com/the-1-best-time-to-book-an-oceania-cruise/.  Remember we have a very tight window for booking with this incentive, so if you’re thinking about it, we need your instructions fairly quickly.

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley