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Crystal Cruises recently announced their plans to build two new river cruise vessels for the European river cruise market. While Crystal has a formidable reputation, and well deserved, in the luxury cruise arena, their challenge may be how to enhance the experience of river cruising for luxury travelers. As we see it, the main competition will be from Tauck River Cruises, that caters to the more upscale market. Tauck has a loyal clientele that expects... Read More →

Crystal Cruises announces an addition to its fleet, the Crystal Esprit, a luxury yacht cruise ship, pampering only 62 guests. Esprit’s maiden voyage will be December 15, 2015. Seven- to 14-day itineraries will include the beautiful Seychelles and the serene Adriatic including Italy, Greece and Croatia. In December 2016, the Crystal Esprit will be moving to Dubai for 9- to 21-day roundtrip cruises. Discerning travelers expect the quiet opulence and unparalleled service Crystal is known... Read More →

The vast majority of Key Traveler clients book their cruises based on the itinerary. What ports will I be visiting? And even more importantly… what is there to do and see in the ports? That’s where shore excursions come in. For the purposes of this article, I’m talking about shore excursions on ocean cruises. Most of the shore excursions on river cruises are included with your booking. In the case of Tauck River Cruises, all... Read More →

Worldwide Cruise Vacation Destinations Will Visit 40 Countries Princess Cruises has debuted its 2016-2107 Exotics program which will take guests to fascinating cruise destinations around the globe. With 58 departures ranging from three to 111 days, these exotic cruise itineraries go on sale May 28. The diverse deployment includes four sailing on 38 unique itineraries throughout six continents, visiting 70 destinations and 40 countries. Guests will be able to book cruises to South America, Southeast... Read More →

Lindblad is extending its 11-year partnership with National Geographic through the end of 2025. Lindblad has an exclusive partnership with National Geographic for all ocean-going, ship-based voyages, which includes all Lindblad-owned vessels carrying the National Geographic name. Lindblad and National Geographic will align marketing efforts to promote the expedition product, and expeditions will continue to feature National Geographic photographers, writers, field researchers and film crews. Lindblad plans to order at least two new expedition ships,... Read More →

Tauck will name its two 2016 Inspiration-class river cruise vessels the Grace and the Joy. The names were selected from a pool of nearly 400 entries submitted by Tauck employees during a company-wide naming contest conducted last fall. Like Tauck’s other Inspiration-class ships, the Grace and Joy will be 443 feet in length and carry 130 passengers. Their launch will bring Tauck’s river fleet to a total of nine vessels. Tauck’s capacity will have expanded... Read More →

River cruise lines are continually trying to outdo each other. Whether it was Avalon Waterways’ Panorama Suites with sliding glass doors or Viking Cruises’ Long Ships’ off-center corridors that allowed for cabins with balconies, the balcony battles were on as river cruise lines raced to figure out how to give passengers both square footage and fresh air. Around the same time, Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection introduced a concept whereby the stateroom window could be... Read More →