Avalon Waterways Adds Shorter River Sailings for 2020
by Daniel McCarthy /
River cruise line, Avalon Waterways, is rolling out four-, five-, and six-day river cruise itineraries for 2020, giving time-starved guests more opportunities to get in on a sailing.
The journeys, which all take place on Avalon’s two-deck Suite Ships, are:
- “A Taste of the Rhine” – a five-day sailing that starts in Amsterdam and takes guests to Cologne, Boppard, Rudesheim, and the Rhine Gorge. Pricing starts at $1,999.
- “Heart of Germany” – a six-day sailing that was formerly exclusively a Christmas cruise for Avalon. It starts in Mainz, and journeys along the Main River and Main-Danube Canal to Würzburg, Kitzingen-Volkach, Bamberg, and Nuremberg. Pricing starts at $2,099.
- “A Taste of the Danube” – a four-day sailing that Avalon says is popular for its first-time river guests and time-challenged travelers. The journey starts in Vienna and takes guests to Melk, Bratislava, and then Budapest. Pricing starts at $1,099.
Avalon said the new itineraries reflect research from Sojern’s Global Travel Insights survey that showed 80 percent of North American travelers planned trips of seven days or less in 2018. A 2018 study from Project: Time Off also showed that the amount of time Americans took for vacations has declined dramatically in the last 40 years, going from 20.3 days to 17.2 days in 2017.
The announcement of the shorter sailings comes just after the Globus family of brands launched its “Your Way” campaign, which was designed to boost the brand synergy between its river cruise product and its land touring programs. The campaign is aimed at showing how guests can transform their vacations by combining a river sailing on Avalon with touring options from Globus or Monograms.
"With our new Your Way program, we're making it easier for travelers to extend their river cruise vacation with land itineraries that are perfectly suited to their preferences and budget," said Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways.