NEWS
CLIA ROCK STARS: Clia hosted about 40 cruise agents in Gibraltar for its Destination Showcase, which took place during Clia Cruise Week (September 16-22). Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam and Azamara’s Azamara Quest hosted visits during the event, which also included business sessions, networking and other activities, all with the theme of #DiscoverMore. Delegates visited the Mons Calpe Suite at the Gibraltar Cable Car Top Station; joined evening events at the Rock Hotel and St Michael’s Cave; and had a choice of shore excursions. There was also a ‘meet the sponsors’ event on the Sunborn Hotel five-star floating yacht. The showcase was hosted in partnership with Visit Gibraltar, the marketing arm of the Gibraltar Tourist Board.
Flooding forces river operators to change itineraries in Europe
Ella Sagar
River cruise lines were forced to amend itineraries in Europe this week as operators and agents continued to monitor the impact of flooding caused by Storm Boris. As Travel Weekly went to
press, river lines including Scenic Group and Avalon Waterways confirmed they had made changes to sailings due to adverse weather, which had caused the deaths of 21 people. Agents reported minimal concern
about disruption from clients, but said they were continuing to monitor the situation. Scenic said it was looking to
amend affected itineraries but was “restricted” by high water levels. “Where possible we will
reschedule our fleet of Scenic Space Ships and Emerald Cruises Star Ships to allow us to enact ship swaps,” said a spokesperson, who added:
travelweekly.co.uk
“However, we are restricted with the current rising water levels, specifically around the Upper Danube River areas of Vienna and Budapest.” Avalon Waterways said it
STORY TOP
was contacting customers and agents about amendments, with a number of sailings affected. “Due to this record rainfall in a short period of time, there are some current and upcoming Avalon cruises in the area that are affected with itinerary changes and
cancellations,” said a spokesperson. “We are in the process of
communicating changes, plans, options and refunds with guests – and travel advisors – directly.” Uniworld, A-Rosa, Viva Cruises,
AmaWaterways and others have published travel advisories on their websites about disruption to sailings. Uniworld stated it had to adjust its
programmes on River Duchess, River Princess, Maria Theresa and Beatrice and had teams on board and on shore
“monitoring the situation closely”. A-Rosa said itineraries and ports
of embarkation and disembarkation “may have to be adjusted”. AmaWaterways said the high
water level was affecting docking locations on the Upper Danube River in particular, between Budapest in Hungary and Vilshofen in Germany. It has been forced to adjust
itineraries, use alternative docking facilities and arrange “convenient ship swaps” for planned excursions. A Clia spokesperson said:
“The safety of guests and crew is central to any decisions relating to itineraries. Where any changes are planned, operators are working hard to minimise any disruption and are expressly committed to transparent and open communication with guests.” Phil Nuttall, chief executive
of the Travel Village Group, said the agency would “deal with [the situation] in the best way we can”. “We have got it on our radar and
are keeping in touch with cruise line partners,” he said, adding: “We don’t have any customers ringing about it at the moment.” Nuttall said the industry “is
geared up to deal with these things” having overcome similar challenges in the past, adding: “You will get some impact on the experience if ships are restricted but I hope it will settle down soon.” City-break specialists including
Newmarket Holidays and Regent Holidays said they had not received many calls from concerned customers with bookings to affected destinations, but would continue to monitor the situation. Abta said its Destinations team
had issued two operational bulletins to its members last weekend as Storm Boris wreaked havoc across central and eastern Europe. The storm was reaching Italy as Travel Weekly went to press, with warnings for heavy rain, strong winds and floods issued for much of the country.
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