Peter Deilmann Cruises brought luxury river cruising into the 21st century, and now its successors are carrying the torch into the future, innovating and updating river cruise ships and services to create a modern, high-end travel experience.
European river cruising takes place in what is, at maximum, a 38-by-410-foot vessel, dimensions dictated by the locks and bridges the vessels must past through and under along Europe’s rivers.
But even within that box, the 21st century river cruise experience has evolved.
“If you compare the amenities of the Avalon Artistry [built in 2004] at introduction with the Creativity at her christening [in August],” said Patrick Clark, managing director of Avalon Waterways, “we have added an elevator, rear club lounge, whirlpool on the sundeck, sundeck grill and outside forward viewing area; increased the percentage of floor-to-ceiling windows/French balcony staterooms; enlarged the shower; added flat-screen TVs, additional dining options — the late-riser breakfast, afternoon cake and coffee and an alternative lunch option — and added beer or soft drinks as a choice with wine at dinner.”
With companies like Avalon Waterways and AMA Waterways building new ships with new amenities at a rapid pace, older companies like Uniworld River Cruises and Viking River Cruises have had to work hard to stay relevant in this new, young-ship market.
“With the added competition and rapid growth, the river cruise sector has undergone changes, to the ultimate benefit of the customer,” said Guy Young, president of Uniworld. “What we have seen is a very marked evolution in the service standards onboard the ships. Basic service no longer satisfies the needs of travelers attracted to river cruising.”
Consequently, Young said, the number of onboard staff has increased, and the quality of the staff has improved.
As for the ships themselves, “20 years ago, you did not have a river cruise ship with spacious staterooms, hotel-style beds, comfortable mattresses, luxurious linens and other fine amenities,” Young said. “You also didn’t have all-inclusive wine with dinner, an all-English speaking staff, Internet, TV.”
To keep up with the evolving demands of the marketplace, Uniworld, for one, adopted an aggressive refurbishment schedule.
“All of our ships have been completely refurbished since 2005, and we have a strict capital improvement plan whereby all of our ships undergo a refurbishment every four years,” Young said. “Our two oldest ships are the River Ambassador and the River Baroness, and these are also two of our most successful ships in terms of load factors.”
For instance, Uniworld’s River Ambassador (pictured below) entered service in 1993 and was refurbished in 2006. The River Baroness entered service in 1994 and was refurbished in 2005. Truth be told, the Ambassador’s refurbished interior is not all that different in look and feel from Uniworld’s newest ship, the River Beatrice, which launched in 2007 and was refurbished this year.
Part of the reason is that Uniworld’s parent company TravCorp also owns the Red Carnation Hotel Collection of luxury boutique hotels, which consults on Uniworld’s interiors.
That investment in creating fresh design appeal is not unwarranted in a market where Avalon is on course to introduce two new ships in 2010 and recently announced that it will add three new vessels in 2011.
AMA plans on introducing an additional ship in 2010, one more in 2011, and possibly an additional program on the Mekong River in 2011.
And this year, Tauck World Discovery unveiled its third Tauck-branded river ship, the Swiss Jewel.
“You keep your customers enthralled with new ships,” Ron Santangelo, vice president of business development at AMA, said of the recent emphasis on newbuilds.
Meanwhile, Viking River Cruises, whose 19 ships constitute one of the biggest river fleets in Europe, has a huge amount of inventory to sell compared with even the fast-expanding fleets of its competitors. Uniworld will have 10 company-owned ships when its first Nile vessel launches this fall, and Grand Circle Travel, a direct-to-consumer operator, owns 15 river vessels in Europe and Russia.
It’s no surprise, then, that travel agents say Viking is the go-to river cruise line for competitive pricing, such as ongoing two-for-one river cruise deals. It is, many in the industry have said, what keeps Viking in the running against its younger contemporaries.
Which isn’t to say, Viking isn’t innovating as well. Viking’s Legend, which launched this summer, has only three engines, as opposed to the standard five. The engines are diesel-electric and are linked to a computer that determines how much energy is needed for propelling the ship as well as for all other functions. Viking estimates the technology will help cut fuel costs by 15% to 20%.
As for whether there’s room for further innovation on river cruise ships, “I absolutely believe that will continue,” Santangelo said. “People will continue to come up with some unique ideas and make the product interesting. And any limitations onboard are compensated for by the opportunities ashore.”
Maybe you should change the page subject title The 21st century river cruise: a luxury experience | River Cruise Advisor to something more generic for your webpage you make. I loved the the writing still.
I’ve browsed a few entries from your site and I’d like to say thank you. I like your form and I subscribed to your rss feed. You do update your rss right?
Ralph,
I have a few corrections on my last comment.
On the Danube Bend cruise we had Venison and not Duck. I think we ate Duck too much, either on the boats or in Prague. Sorry about the mixup.
Also, I mispelled the name of the boat: Premicon Queen. This is the correct spelling. They operate out of Cologne, Germany. Karen
My husband and I spent two weeks in October doing Peter Deilmann for the last time: First down the Elbe on the Katarina Von Bora and next on the Mozart down the Danube. Going on a cruise in Germany, France or Eastern Europe in October can be iffy. We always pack for two kinds of weather although this year I could have also used a pair of ear muffs. On the Elbe there was a group of cruisers from California who didn’t bring the right clothes. On the tours they were very very cold. This doesn’t help to make your cruise a memorable experience as it should be. We had sleet and snow flakes a few days while going down the Elbe.
Deilmann’s hotel manager, on the Katarina, went out of his way to entertain us on the cold nights. A couple nights they brought entertainment in and of course the old familiar piano player with his portable band kept people dancing. The food was five star with many German and Slavic specialities served.
On the Mozart our cruise was a little warmer but we still needed coats during the day. The Danube Bend cruise with Anita as our guide was the highlight of the trip. We were gone the whole day with a stop at a restaurant in the countryside where gypsy music and a duck dinner was served with too much food. In Vienna we hired a guide for the evening for us and another couple who split the cost. It was fantastic to spend three hours seeing Vienna at night and going to the top of the hills over Vienna and looking down at the lights and Danube. During the day we went into the Vienna woods and stopped at a wine bar where we drank the local variety of that winery and had a snack.
In Budapest, we forgoed the tours and walked the Streets of Pest. The city is trying very hard to change its image with workers everywhere repairing streets and bridges. It is Eastern Europe and much of the work is done by many many workers doing labor by hand instead of using a lot of machines. By the river, workers were replacing cobblestones and the city was much cleaner then three years ago. All through Hungary where we visited, the cities and towns are becoming revitalized and work is being done as in Budapest.
The Mozart, unfortunately, did not live up to expectations as this was our second trip on this boat. The food was German and Slavic, but it didn’t measure up to the usual fare we found on the Katarina. Perhaps the German government who now owned the ships kept the chef on a tight budget. There was no entertainment brought in as you find on Deilmann’s other boats. The nights were always the same: entertainment to dance to from their boat band which had a tendency to play music twenty years or older and mostly tried to satisrfy their German clientele which was one-half of the boat’s customers.
Us and others were disappointed as tours on both boats were canceled because they did not have at least ten people per tour. We were reimbursed when we got home by the Alexandria VA office just before they closed for good. It is good to be reimbursed, but at the time, when you are looking forward to a tour and they tell you it won’t be taking place, well, it is very disheartening. I would never pay for a tour again ahead of time with the river boat company and go through this again.
We are now looking at Scenic Tours, Tauck Tours and Pemnicon out of Germany. We looked at all three companies boats while they were docked in Vienna and Passau, Germany. The Scenic Sapphire was a beautiful boat with an added benefit of your own balcony. Tauck also uses their boats. Pemnicon’s boat was a year old, but only had balconies on the suites. The Jr Suite was especially nice with lots of room and French balconies. French balconies are pretty standard now on A & B decks on the newer boats. But Pemnicon has English and German spoken as on Deilmann. Pemnicon has bought the Mozart and from what I was told by an officer of that ship, they will be totally refurbishing it –getting it up to 2010 standards. The Mozart was a beautiful ship with staterooms 203 sq ft, but it was finely starting to show its age compared to the newer boats parked nearby.
If anyone has traveled on the Scenic Sapphire or Pemnicon, please leave a reply with your pros and cons.
Karen, Thanks for sharing your wonderful story, tips and advice. I hope others will come forth with their pros and cons.
I agree with you about the flat-panel television. I do enjoy that AMAWATERWAYS runs regional films, such as The Sound of Music in Austria.
Now that Deilmann isn’t running cruises, we are looking at other companies. Yes, it is nice to have an elevator and all the new amenities river boats are providing now for their customers, but that isn’t our first requisite for a great cruise. A good cruise has to have wait staff that after a few days on-board they have a sense of what you want in your coffee, greet you with a sincere smile and always know the right things to say and do. The bar staff knows if they see you again they will ask you do you want …… before pouring. The tour director will always be there with a friendly face answering all your questions no matter what kind of day he/she has had. And last, but the most important of all is the person who keeps your room looking like you just moved into it, although, you have already been there for three days. The little things like hanging up a garment or laying your nightgown on the turned down bed with a treat on the pillow makes the end of a great day even better. It is the great staff on a river boat trip who are always there to help and answer any questions is what makes for a memorable vacation.
Deilmann always had a Doctor on board which only a few other ships provide. It is very comforting for older persons to know they will be taken care of properly no matter what happens. It would be nice if other companies would also do the same for their customers.
Also, a flat screen TV is nice, but if they are only going to have CNN on the screen, why bother? With the tours, food on some boats five times a day, and sitting in the lounge or on the top deck visiting with fellow passengers, well, there isn’t that much time for TV except in the am, when you are getting ready to go down to breakfast, catching the news from home.
We were just with Viking River Cruise in China and we were very impressed with how well coordinated they are, and the service was great! Our next river cruise will be in Europe or the Nile, but not sure which company we will go with. Your article was helpful as I decide which river company to try next.