Nicole Edenedo
A number of itineraries and river cruise options are emerging or returning recently with diversity in mind, an effort to appeal to a wider and often overlooked audience.
AmaWaterways will explore black history in France through its new Soulful Epicurean Experience cruises launching next August. The series is the first for the luxury river cruise line to highlight the history of black culture in France, where a number of prominent African-American artists, performers, authors and musicians found success in the City of Light and called it regions of other of France’s home.
Kristin Karst, executive vice president and co-founder of AmaWaterways, said the idea came about because of interest expressed by guests and travel advisors who wanted to see the river cruise line offer a different kind of cruise experience.
“It’s our customers and our travel partners who are driving us forward,” Karst said while aboard the company’s newest ship, the AmaLucia, during her christening cruise in late July. “There’s a lot of heritage in France. Our travel partners come from ocean cruises, and they’ve discovered the small, intimate ships and would like the cultural experience around it; they want to go back to their heritage.”
Sailing with spirit
The Soulful Epicurean Experience is a seven-night cruise aboard AmaKristina sailing the company’s existing Colors of Provence itinerary, which begins in Lyon on the Rhone and takes guests through the south of France, making stops in Beaujolais, Arles, Avignon and other villages and towns along the river. But before the cruise begins, guests begin their experience with a three-night stay in Paris, which includes a local-guided tour of “Black Paris” and the many sites and attractions once frequented by the likes of Josephine Baker, Miles Davis, James. Baldwin and other prominent black artists.
“We now have so many groups booked on our first Soulful Experience that we will open a second launch in the summer of 2024,” Karst said. “It is important that we are inclusive of all different cultures, faiths, religions; all this diversity makes it very interesting for our team and we love it.”
AmaWaterways is also reviving its series of cruises focused on Latin American and Spanish travelers. The company’s Latin Touch itinerary will launch in October 2023, also on a seven-night Colors of Provence en route cruise aboard AmaKristina.
The cruise will be hosted by a bilingual cruise manager who will provide daily cruise briefings in English, Spanish and Portuguese. There will be daily tours with a Spanish-speaking guide, Spanish menus for all meals and evenings of Latin music to accompany other live entertainment on board.
“We have a lot of Latin American customers who have been on cruises and want to take a river cruise in style,” Karst said, adding that the popularity of previous Latin Touch cruises has prompted the river line to continue with more sailings. . “Our customers know they will be in an environment with other guests from Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and many different countries.”
New blood
And as Ama focuses on diversifying its heritage and cultural offerings, another cruise line is making efforts to become more appealing to younger travelers.
Emerald Cruises, part of the Scenic Group, is hosting a series of familiarization trips for the ASTA Young Professional Society (YPS) in September that will help educate and train new travel advisors in the industry on how to attract their customers younger in river navigation. The idea came after the line received a positive reception from two millennial travel advisors after the inaugural ASTA Global River Cruise Expo in March.
“We were so pleased to hear this that we actively engaged with ASTA’s YPS members to offer them an exclusive celebrity cruise to further educate them on why Emerald Cruises is an adaptation of good for younger, active travelers,” said Ann Chamberlin, Scenic. Group USA’s vice president of sales, who was an ASTA executive before joining Scenic.
The first YPS cruise departs September 4 on Emerald Majestic Rhine’s eight-day itinerary through the German summer route, starting in Frankfurt and ending in Zurich. A second sailing departs on December 3rd on a seven-night cruise to the Rhine-Main Christmas Markets.
Onboard cruise training activities will include professional development classes, workshops on branding strategies to attract luxury customers, training on how to address customer misconceptions about river cruising and other educational sessions to help prepare advisors to young travel how to attract new customers to the river cruise.
“We need more younger travel salespeople in the industry with the talent to sell river cruises to a younger audience,” Chamberlin said. “That’s why ASTA’s YPS members are important to us as we work to help them develop their understanding of river cruising and the Emerald brand.”
