Are The Rivers Getting Too Crowded?

I talked a little bit at the end of January about river cruising, especially in Europe.  We promoted a river cruise on the Rhine for this year in November, and it sold out by August of last year; furthermore, to take advantage of the great rate, it was fully paid, cruise and air by middle December.  

So, I thought I would try another one for next year, 2014.  We’re holding space on a 7-night cruise with a hotel night before the cruise in Berlin, and a hotel night after the cruise in Prague.  It is a Viking River Cruise Line product titled the Elegant Elbe.  It makes some exciting stops in Germany and Eastern Europe, and the great thing about these river cruises is that included with the price is a shore excursion in each port.  Plus, the beer, wine, and cocktails at meal time is included with the price, so that makes it a real bargain!!  We’ve learned from this years experience that booking early will save the traveler a bucket full of money, so my admonition is that if our listeners are interested, NOW would be the time to get a $500 per person deposit down to get a room reserved.  The departure from the United States is on November 8, the return is November 18, 2014.

Were you aware that currently 41 river cruise ships are being built and launched in Europe this year and next?  That’s a staggering number that could cause you to imagine river cruise ships playing bumper boats along a congested Danube or Rhine.  Of course that doesn’t take into consideration those boats currently in operation that might be retired or taken out of service.  River cruise insiders say that the operators of the river cruises are working together to stagger the itineraries and differentiate their land experiences to keep the crowded conditions to a minimum.  In other words, crowding along Europe’s rivers isn’t a problem yet, and river cruise operators seem determined to act pre-emptively so that congestion doesn’t become a problem.

One of the big problems is not the number of ships, but the number of docking facilities or places to park these new vessels when they arrive in a town. G-UNITWORLD.COM  It takes only 14 months to build a ship, but it can take up to four years to build a dock, so some of these small town destinations are a few years behind in being prepared to host the number of folks wanting to visit their historic cities.  You can bet it will get worked out; there’s too much interest and too much at stake economically not to all work together to the satisfaction of the up and coming river cruiser.

Don’t you get left behind.. . give the professional and experienced travel counselors at The Travel Factory a call today to help you manufacture the vacation of your dreams, whether it is a river cruise, an ocean cruise, a trip to an all-inclusive beach resort, or an exciting and vibrant domestic location like Las Vegas or New York.  Call us at 698-1421 or 800-760-4040.  We get really excited about helping you get outta town!!