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Is a small boat cruise safe enough to move into the COVID-19 era?
A growing number of cruise enthusiasts believe so, judging by the increased number of bookings arriving by 2021 from cruise ships specializing in small boats.
Session after consultation this week at Seatrade Cruise Virtual, an online edition of the annual cruise industry meeting, the leaders of small shipping cruise lines said bookings for next year were booming, thanks to new interest in small shipments.
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“They’re huge guys. They are,” Susan Shultz-Gelino, vice president of business relations for American Cruise Lines, a small shipping specialist, said of next year’s bookings at a brand press occasion. is the duration of our shipment. I think other people are going to be smaller, not bigger, at first until (the number of cases is) reduced and a vaccine is safe.
Connecticut-based American Cruise Lines operates 14 small, spacious boats along the U. S. coast. But it’s not the first time And in rivers like the Mississippi and Columbia.
AmaWaterways, one of the leading river cruise lines serving North America, also reported strong bookings for 2021 and markets trips to Europe, Asia and Africa on 25 vessels that bring about 160 passengers or less.
“Larger boat customers are for smaller boats, leading them to sail the river,” said Gary Murphy, senior vice president of sales and co-owner of AmaWaterways, at a press event. “They are being located for the first time. “
Rudi Schreiner, president and co-owner of AmaWaterways, said the company had an all-time record month in June. One of the shipments on the line, a new shipment expected to debut in 2021 on the Nile in Egypt, is already set at 70% for the total year, he said.
Schreiner said AmaWaterways had opened reservations for the 2022 crossings about six months earlier than planned to meet demand.
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“There’s a lot of call (for 2022), and the letter and activities are going great,” he said.
Alberto Aliberti, president of Atlas Ocean Voyages, also reported strong reservations. The new luxury cruise brand, expected to debut in July, will operate ships with 196 passengers.
“The booking trend has been fantastic,” he said. We had to hire several new people in our booking service to manage (the increase). “
Positive booking reports from small shipping cruise operators are consistent with recently published knowledge through Cruise Critic, the online leader for cruise fans. The cruiser critic said interest in luxury and river cruise ships had soared to 30% of their search requests since September. 9% of applications for studies last January.
River and luxury cruise lines operate with boats much smaller than massive market shipping lines.
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“Our readers are showing renewed and expanded interest in smaller ships, especially river and luxury cruises,” Colleen McDaniel, Cruise Critic’s editor-in-chief, told The Points Guy this week. “For many, the charm of sailing with fewer people on well-equipped boats is appealing. “
McDaniel noted that a recent survey of more than 4,600 Cruise Critic readers revealed that 19% of them the duration of the shipment was the number one attention for their next cruise and that they were looking for an e-book on a smaller boat.
Like McDaniel, the leaders of small boat cruise lines have warned that the concept of sailing with fewer people is exciting right now because the COVID-19 remains a problem. They warned that cruise ships feel less exposed to the threat of COVID-19 in an environment with a small number of other people instead of an environment with a lot of other people, but there are also other points at stake.
Murphy of AmaWaterways stated that river cruises on small boats on the line also seem to attract ocean cruisers that are not comfortable being at sea due to the pandemic.
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“We are finding that travelers are afraid of being quarantined in the ocean (and) not allowed to enter the destination,” he said. “With the river cruise, you’re already at the destination itself, so that’s not a problem. “
The leaders of one of the small shipping companies, American Cruise Lines, said they also believe they are making a profit from travelers’ preference to stay closer to harboring the pandemic.
American Cruise Lines offers Americans easily accessible routes in places like New England, Chesapeake Bay, the Mississippi River and the Pacific Northwest.
“I think a lot of other people who have sailed (in) Europe before are now going to do something closer to home,” Shultz-Gelino said.
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Image courtesy of American Cruise Lines
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