Ocean cruisers to convert?

RIVIERA Travel River Cruises research has found 34% of ocean cruisers are considering a river cruise next year.

Of that number, 79% were more likely to take a river cruise than an ocean cruise next year.

The study identified some of the concerns ocean cruisers may have, including sea days and the number of passengers on board.

It showed that for 84%, fewer fellow passengers was key to their preference to a river cruise, while being docked at a destination every day was an important consideration for more than 50%.

Riviera Travel Executive Vice President Sales and Marketing North America Marilyn Conroy said there was an opportunity to showcase the benefits of river cruising to ocean-only cruisers, whereas in the past there had been little crossover, with ocean accounting for a significantly larger share of the market.

“Our intent is to highlight that river cruising shares many of the aspects of cruise travel they love with additional benefits that address some of the concerns they may have about ocean cruising when ships begin to sail again,” she said.

“They don’t have to look away from cruising altogether - instead, they can look toward rivers as a fantastic alternative.”

The study comes with Riviera having recently launched a range of Christmas season river cruises in Europe for Dec 2021, with a number of solo supplement-free departures available (CW 29 Oct).

A total of 19 Christmas, New Year and Yuletide market cruises have been released, with departures starting from $1,339 per person and highlights including five-day Yuletide Markets sailings in Germany.