Operations management
In some ways, river cruise ships were surprisingly well prepared for a respiratory virus. Both lines already had ventilation systems that didn’t circulate air between different areas of the ship and sufficient space for passengers to keep their distance from one another. While guests had to wear masks when they couldn’t properly socially distance, they were able to remove them when sitting down in public areas.
“Looking at passenger feedback, they generally felt that it was a minimal intrusion on their cruise experience,” says Marcus Leskovar, executive vice- president of Amadeus River Cruises. “It still very much felt like a holiday experience; it wasn’t like staying on a floating hospital for a week.” The biggest difference for passengers was the dining experience. The buffet, a mainstay of any cruise holiday, was out – at least in the traditional sense. It’s not quite the same when a waiter has to pick up your cheese and cold cuts for you. In addition, Amadeus passengers were no longer permitted to table hop and get to know different people each night. They were limited to their assigned seats.
According to Rudi Schreiner, co-founder and president of AmaWaterways, his line had been moving away from the buffet anyway. “We’d always had menus. You didn’t have to go to the buffet either for breakfast or lunch; you could also order off the menu, like you would at an elegant restaurant,” he explains.
The pandemic is set to accelerate that shift.
Two Ama ships are currently being remodelled, on which the old buffet arrangements will be replaced
World Cruise Industry Review /
www.worldcruiseindustryreview.com
with what Schreiner calls “action stations”, as well as more al fresco dining. “It may require more staff in the future, but the focus is going to be more on service,” he explains.
The path back to ‘normality’ For Leskovar, the 2020 season has provided a proof of concept. “We were able to keep all our passengers healthy and safe during our cruises,” he says. And while this is clearly a moving target, depending on factors including the emergence of new variants and the evolution of local travel restrictions, he believes the health and safety protocols developed last year will provide a good baseline for Amadeus to work from when cruise travel does fully resume. Sensibly, he won’t be drawn into predictions. “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I knew,” he laughs. But he is certain of three things that need to happen first. “At the moment, everything is locked down; you couldn’t operate a hotdog stand,” he says. “The first step is that restrictions need to be lifted in a way where tourism is possible and where you can cross borders.” Secondly, countries need to reach a certain level of stability, where authorities are not afraid that any spike or mass event will overwhelm the healthcare infrastructure. In other words, a certain percentage of the population need to be vaccinated. “That’s probably going to be achieved at some point this summer,” Leskovar hopes. Finally, there needs to be a clear path for leisure travellers to enter the EU and not immediately have to quarantine. The same goes for when they’re returning home.
Above: Amadeus operates cruises along the Rhine, Seine and Danube.
Opposite page: The Amadeus Queen travels through Passau, Germany.
41
Amadeus River Cruises
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65
