It’s been a busy week in Europe for the cruise industry, with a pair of new ship debuts, a new-to-North America river brand and more.
This week the Sky Princess officially joined the Princess Cruises fleet. The new ship, which debuts the line’s new Sky Suites and is the latest to offer its MedallionClass tech-enhanced vacation experience, is now sailing its inaugural voyage, a seven-day Mediterranean & Adriatic itinerary from Athens to Barcelona. The ship will spend its debut season in Europe, operating Mediterranean itineraries, before heading to North America, operating a season of Caribbean cruises out of Fort Lauderdale starting December 1.
In other new ship news, this week Silversea Cruises announced the details for five inaugural itineraries for its newest ship, the Silver Dawn. The Fincantieri-built, 586-guest vessel will depart Civitavecchia (Rome) on September 22, 2021, marking the 10th ship in Silversea’s fleet and spending its inaugural season in the Mediterranean, before repositioning to Fort Lauderdale. The itineraries will include sailings from Rome to Venice; Venice to Athens; Athens to Barcelona; Barcelona to Lisbon; and a 13-night transatlantic crossing from Lisbon to Fort Lauderdale.
In river cruise news, this week Viva Cruises announced plans to expand into the North American market. The company operates a fleet of 10 vessels on the Seine, Rhine, Main, Danube, Vltava, Elbe, Moselle and Rhone rivers, as well as the Black Sea. Joni Rein, most recently the head of Scenic Group USA, will oversee the brand’s North American launch under an agreement reached with Viva to include the development of strategic travel trade partnerships. Rein was also named one of our Most Innovative People in Cruise Travel for 2017.
Finally, this week AmaWaterways announced dates for its 2020 Loyalty Appreciation Cruises, which will offer past guests a selection of itineraries on the Mekong, lower Danube, Rhine, Main and Moselle rivers from May through November of that year.
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