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Due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, many river cruise lines are seeing their routes affected as the influx of customers is just getting started. Recap of the decisions and possible changes of the major cruise companies.
While the 2022 season of river cruises in Europe has started, motivated by the easing of restrictions linked to Covid-19 and the increasing number of bookings, some companies are expressing their concern about the current situation.
Indeed, the war between Russia and Ukraine could affect both the itineraries of companies in Europe, but also the travel plans of customers.
Cruises lines cancel stopovers in Russia
In support of those affected by Russia’s armed conflict with Ukraine, many cruise lines have ceased operations in Russia.
This is notably the case of Viking River Cruises. The latter announced on March 1 that it had suspended all operations in Russia and also plans to cancel all departures on their river routes in Ukraine and Russia until 2023. The planned stops in Russia will be replaced until 2024.
“As a company that has been helping people explore the world for 25 years, we strongly believe in the power of travel to connect cultures. We remain hopeful for a quick resolution to the current conflict. Our team is actively monitoring the situation and will keep our customers informed, if necessary,” said Viking.
Avalon Waterways, Uniworld and Norwegian Cruise Line have also announced similar decisions regarding their relationship with Russia and their impact on itineraries.
Avalon Waterways has “proactively” canceled all visits to Russia that the cruise line had planned, through 2023. “We have seen a slight slowdown in bookings over the past few weeks (less than 10%), especially for Eastern European vacations,” an Avalon representative reported.
For its part, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises has canceled its Trans-Siberian rail program from Moscow to Vladivostok, Russia, for the year 2022. “We still plan to move forward with our new Cruise & Rail experiences through Hungary, Italy, Romania, Austria, Switzerland and more this year,” reassures Ellen Bettridge, president, and CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises.
Finally, Norwegian Cruise Line has had to make many changes to its river itineraries. On the Russian side, like Tauck, Norwegian Cruise Line has announced the elimination of a stop in St. Petersburg for their next departures. In addition to this decision, Norwegian Cruise Line has decided not to make any stops in the Solovki Islands, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk and Odessa, Ukraine, due to the current situation.
No disruption for AmaWaterways
Some cruise lines, however, did not need to make any changes to their cruise itineraries. This is the case of AmaWaterways, Emerald Cruises and Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours.
For the first time, the company is not sailing in Russia or Ukraine, so it did not have to change the river cruise itineraries or land programs planned for them.
“AmaWaterways’ top priority will always be the safety of our guests and crew,” said Kristin Karst, executive vice president and co-founder of AmaWaterways. “With 20 years of experience providing unparalleled river cruises, our operations team can change itineraries and adjust excursions at any time if needed. Our customers are very eager to travel again and in doing so are able to provide much needed support to the economic recovery of the countries visited, which are struggling to recover after two years of travel restrictions.”
On the booking side, although the company noted a lull in new bookings from late February to mid-March, it reported a very large number of bookings for the period from September to December. The company remains positive about the outlook for 2022 and is pleased with the “incredible” customer demand for European cruises.
With the help of the Port of Amsterdam and other volunteer organizations, the company has made one of its river ships available to Ukrainian refugees arriving in Amsterdam to provide temporary accommodation for them.
No big changes either for Emerald Cruises and Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours
While we announced earlier this year a partnership between Emerald Cruises and Qatar Tourism to offer luxury cruises in this Middle Eastern country, things are not going the same way in Europe. Ann Chamberlin, vice president of sales for sister brands Emerald Cruises and Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, said she is witnessing a lot of bookings for 2022 and 2023, although some of their customers have expressed concerns and asked questions about safety on their trips. The itineraries also do not foresee any changes following the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
On the company side, the latter said that: “Scenic and Emerald Cruises have closely monitored the Russian assault on Ukraine, as the safety of passengers and crew is paramount. The companies have not made any changes to the itineraries at this time. We believe it is important to support the local economies of these destinations that depend on travel. And as long as there is no danger to our guests and crew, we hope to offer these destinations to our guests.”
No major disturbance, therefore, to report from AmaWaterways, Emerald Cruises as well as Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours.
Read also > QATAR TOURISM TO OFFER NEW LUXURY CRUISES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH EMERALD CRUISES
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Due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, many river cruise lines are seeing their routes affected as the influx of customers is just getting started. Recap of the decisions and possible changes of the major cruise companies.
While the 2022 season of river cruises in Europe has started, motivated by the easing of restrictions linked to Covid-19 and the increasing number of bookings, some companies are expressing their concern about the current situation.
Indeed, the war between Russia and Ukraine could affect both the itineraries of companies in Europe, but also the travel plans of customers.
Cruises lines cancel stopovers in Russia
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Due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, many river cruise lines are seeing their routes affected as the influx of customers is just getting started. Recap of the decisions and possible changes of the major cruise companies.
While the 2022 season of river cruises in Europe has started, motivated by the easing of restrictions linked to Covid-19 and the increasing number of bookings, some companies are expressing their concern about the current situation.
Indeed, the war between Russia and Ukraine could affect both the itineraries of companies in Europe, but also the travel plans of customers.
Cruises lines cancel stopovers in Russia
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