A quartet of river cruise lines has announced a gradual return to sailing with the first voyages departing in June.
AmaWaterways, A-Rosa River Cruises, CroisiEurope and Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection will begin sailing on selected ships on European rivers, which will include the debut of Uniworld’s new Super Ship La Venezia.
CroisiEurope is scheduled to be the first to set sail on Portugal’s Douro on June 7th, followed by sailings on other waterways including the Gironde, Seine, Rhine, Rhône, Danube and Po over the following weeks. Canal cruises in France will resume in July.
John Fair, the line’s UK Sales Director, said:
“The entire CroisiEurope team has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this restart and we can’t wait for our guests to once again experience the wonderful service, gastronomy, culture and itineraries for which we are renowned.
“Having successfully operated a number of cruises last year and with the introduction of even stricter health protocols, our guests can be assured warm welcome back onboard and a safe and enjoyable cruise.”
A-Rosa currently plans to resume cruising on Europe’s rivers by mid-June, with itineraries on the Douro, Rhine and Danube, followed by France by the end of the month.
Last year A-Rosa sailed successfully with German guests under a series of strict health and hygiene protocols. Along with all the other lines, UK passengers will be welcomed back onboard when travel restrictions are lifted.
Jörg Eichler, Managing Director of A-Rosa, commented:
“It is really encouraging that tourism in Europe finally looks like it can return soon. We are busy adapting and updating our current protocols in line with the latest regulations in the countries we sail through and will announce them in the coming days. Our successful five months of sailing in 2020 clearly shows that cruising with A-ROSA can be safe and enjoyable.”
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises will unveil one of its newest ships, S.S. La Venezia, when it resumes sailings in Italy on June 20th, followed by cruises in France on June 27th.
Chris Townson, Uniworld’s UK Managing Director, said:
“It’s obviously hugely exciting that we’ll be returning to the water, which also represents the inaugural sailing of our new Super Ship La Venezia in Italy. We’re very hopeful that Italy and France will be on the government’s green list at some point in June, so that we can finally welcome UK travellers back to our ships.”
Portugal will be the first destination featured by AmaWaterways which will resume sailing on July 3rd. Throughout the rest of the month ships will return to the Rhine and Danube as well as some waterways in France, including the Seine and Rhone.
Kristin Karst, the line’s Executive Vice President and Co-Founder, said:
“We are so excited to see the situation in Europe evolving in a positive direction and are very optimistic about the new tourist entry requirements that will be officially announced in the coming days. We are proud to announce a selection of sailings starting the first week of July in Portugal with other restart dates throughout July on select ships on all the European rivers including the most luxurious ship on the Danube River, the AmaMagna on July 21st.
“On a personal note, being born in Germany, I could not be happier about the announcement that Europe will be opened this summer to safely welcome back tourists to assist with the much needed economic and social recovery.”
Author Bio:
Known as the ‘River Cruise Queen’, Jeannine Williamson is an award-winning travel writer, cruise expert and our cruise correspondent, who has clocked up thousands of nautical miles.
Photographs courtesy of AmaWaterways, A-Rosa River Cruises and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises
Be the first to comment