Have you seen our new river cruise section?

[nana541]

Maybe you are trying to contact the wrong people.... Would find it hard to believe the CEO would blow you off!

[editor@cruisecritic]

Yeah, you'd be surprised. Some good news: There's a new chief marketing officer at Vantage and she's apparently quite willing to have a chat next week. So check a new thread on the forum about that....

 

Thanks, everybody, for all the great input!

 

Carolyn

 

Maybe you are trying to contact the wrong people.... Would find it hard to believe the CEO would blow you off!

[nana541]

Yeah, you'd be surprised. Some good news: There's a new chief marketing officer at Vantage and she's apparently quite willing to have a chat next week. So check a new thread on the forum about that....

 

Thanks, everybody, for all the great input!

 

Carolyn

 

Funny way to run a business! Wonder if they have heard of Marketing 101 :)

[Hydrokitty]

Funny way to run a business! Wonder if they have heard of Marketing 101 :)

 

Apparently not:D Although I'm willing to listen to what the new Marketing director has to say.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Let me get back to you on that one.... Thanks for the question,

 

Carolyn

 

Nice site. I am having trouble finding any info and or reviews on Amadeus, which people seem to confuse with AMA. Help!

 

Also would really like to know which rivers specifically have trouble with low or high waters affecting cruises. Or maybe the percentage of cruises?

[editor@cruisecritic]

Excellent questions. Now, answers:

 

*The general river forum is busier than we expected...it will grow as interest in river cruising continues to increase appeal. The more you can not only express insights but also answer questions (we are seeing a lot of first timers who need advice!) the better. We appreciate your input more than we can say.

 

*we have lots to do to improve coverage of ports, particularly editorially...expect a whole bunch of new port profiles -- Prague, Dresden, Cologne, Vienna -- come immediately to mind. We are seeing new style of river cruiser who prefers independent exploring over tours....

 

* roll calls will always be less bustling than big ship forums simply because river is a smaller niche. We believe though it will really catch on!

 

Carolyn

 

 

(1) Why do you have 3 separate areas within the Message Boards for river cruising, with so little activity in any of them? [River Cruising; River Cruising--River Cruise Ports, Europe; and Special Interest Cruising--River Cruises]

 

(2) What happened to the plan to divide up the River Cruising Roll Calls by Cruise Line?

[steamboats]

Nice site. I am having trouble finding any info and or reviews on Amadeus, which people seem to confuse with AMA. Help!

 

Also would really like to know which rivers specifically have trouble with low or high waters affecting cruises. Or maybe the percentage of cruises?

 

Jen,

 

All Amadeus ... ships are owned by the Austrain company Lueftner Cruises. Lueftner does full charters (so some ships are running under Viking for the German market) but also operate some themselves with partial or no charter at all. AMA started out with the Amadeus Symphony chartered from Lueftner until they had their own ships built (and then changed their name to AMA). So it´s pretty hard to make up an own section for all Amadeus... ships as you never know exactly which "name" they are running under.

 

The second question can´t be answered in general as I doubt that there are any statistics. It´s all depending on the weather. There are years with big problems (low and high water) and there are years where mostly everything is running smoothely. And even some ships draw more water than others. So ship 1 can still sail while ship 2 hasn´t enough water under the keel to sail. So all you can say is: River cruising is depending on the weather and river conditions. Your itinerary might be changed due to the river conditions - either due to low or high water.

 

steamboats

[squarevanman]

Only just looked at the link and was surprised that Viking is shown as being the largest river cruise line. Should this not be Croisieurope with 26 river ships (plus its croisimer ocean vessel.

[pacmom]

Do think the new section will be a big help to those looking to river cruise for the first time. How can those of us who have sailed on 10 or more on various lines Help? Leaving for China with Viking on Sat. Pat

[shoshona2]

Hi Pat,

 

Want to wish you a great trip! Looking forward to hearing all about your China river boat trip when you return.

 

Sheila

[editor@cruisecritic]

Thank you, Steamboats, for tackling the tough questions as always! Would love to hear what you think we need to improve as we move through the process....

 

Carolyn

 

Jen,

 

All Amadeus ... ships are owned by the Austrain company Lueftner Cruises. Lueftner does full charters (so some ships are running under Viking for the German market) but also operate some themselves with partial or no charter at all. AMA started out with the Amadeus Symphony chartered from Lueftner until they had their own ships built (and then changed their name to AMA). So it´s pretty hard to make up an own section for all Amadeus... ships as you never know exactly which "name" they are running under.

 

The second question can´t be answered in general as I doubt that there are any statistics. It´s all depending on the weather. There are years with big problems (low and high water) and there are years where mostly everything is running smoothely. And even some ships draw more water than others. So ship 1 can still sail while ship 2 hasn´t enough water under the keel to sail. So all you can say is: River cruising is depending on the weather and river conditions. Your itinerary might be changed due to the river conditions - either due to low or high water.

 

steamboats

[JJ2sail]

Jen,

 

All Amadeus ... ships are owned by the Austrain company Lueftner Cruises. Lueftner does full charters (so some ships are running under Viking for the German market) but also operate some themselves with partial or no charter at all. AMA started out with the Amadeus Symphony chartered from Lueftner until they had their own ships built (and then changed their name to AMA). So it´s pretty hard to make up an own section for all Amadeus... ships as you never know exactly which "name" they are running under.

 

The second question can´t be answered in general as I doubt that there are any statistics. It´s all depending on the weather. There are years with big problems (low and high water) and there are years where mostly everything is running smoothely. And even some ships draw more water than others. So ship 1 can still sail while ship 2 hasn´t enough water under the keel to sail. So all you can say is: River cruising is depending on the weather and river conditions. Your itinerary might be changed due to the river conditions - either due to low or high water.

 

steamboats

 

 

Thank you, that makes a lot of sense, and explains alot about ama and amadeus. ;)

[grand isle joe]

Thank you Carolyn.....looks great......took our first river cruise last June and now we are hooked....keep up the great work.....J.F.

[Abbott28]

I have just looked at your new River Cruising Site and can't see APT River Cruises or Scenic listed among the river cruise companies?

 

Cruise Critic's just unveiled its new design for river cruise-related trips (same URL: www.cruisecritic.com/river). We think it's got a better layout, is easier to access content you want, pulls in threads from both forums and community review ratings, and such. There's more we want to do (we're ramping up on coverage of river-only cruise ports, assigning more ship reviews -- especially but not limited to Scenic and Grand Circle Travel, and some of the lesser-known U.S. lines), and creating more opportunities for editorial coverage of rivers and cruise lines.

 

Can you wander over and take a look? And before we get started on phase 2 of the section, please (and I know you won't be shy): Tell us what else we need to do to make editorial on river cruising as useful as it possibly can be for you.

 

Thanks. Any questions, post 'em here and I'll come back and answer them.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

[steamboats]

I have just looked at your new River Cruising Site and can't see APT River Cruises or Scenic listed among the river cruise companies?

 

APT River Cruises is chartering AMAWaterways ships.

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

Thank you, Steamboats, for tackling the tough questions as always! Would love to hear what you think we need to improve as we move through the process....

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn,

 

I like the new site! It´s a great overview for all cruise lines on the market. Add the missing cruise companies which have been mentioned by others.

 

The "Top 10 River Cruises" box on the right side doesn´t make much sense tor me as all listed ships are rated 5 stars ;) (and doesn´t it have to read "Top 10 River Cruise Ships"?).

 

A port section would be nice but I know it´s a lot of work.

 

steamboats

[editor@cruisecritic]

Thank you, Steamboats. I agree, the top section doesn't work, and while I have a bit of credibility in house, your comments will help effect change. Love it!

 

I also agree about the destos. From the editorial end of things, we've been assigning full port profiles on river ports for the first time over the past few months, and moving forward. The challenge is where you find them (northern Europe, western Europe, etc.). That will be dealt with when we overhaul our desto section (a major initiative for 2013 but you may just have to "search" for the time being). Meanwhile, the ports are coming....

 

CSB

 

PS I hope that those of you who opt out of the included tours and make awesome (or horrid) discoveries will let us know? Editor@cruisecritic.com. Don't hold back :)

 

 

Carolyn,

 

I like the new site! It´s a great overview for all cruise lines on the market. Add the missing cruise companies which have been mentioned by others.

 

The "Top 10 River Cruises" box on the right side doesn´t make much sense tor me as all listed ships are rated 5 stars ;) (and doesn´t it have to read "Top 10 River Cruise Ships"?).

 

A port section would be nice but I know it´s a lot of work.

 

steamboats