AmaWaterways Weathers COVID Storm With Ship Upgrades, Renovations

During the annual Seatrade Cruise conference, which is taking place virtually this year, AmaWaterways provided an update on key lessons learned during the pandemic and plans for the future—and for AmaWaterways, the future is bright.

Co-founder of AmaWaterways Rudi Schreiner said during a press conference that the company is in a good financial position and ready to set sail with U.S. passengers the moment travel is allowed once again.

Schreiner noted that, over the years, the company was conservative with its spending and paid off loans and ships in preparation for a scenario when cruising was halted.

“I wanted to be prepared for a season with little to no cruising. I wanted to make sure that we would be safe. We didn’t prepare for the pandemic but we were prepared,” he said. “We are using this time on remodeling our ships.”

Schreiner has been paying close attention to the latest trends and to the necessary changes that new COVID-19 guidelines require to craft new onboard experiences that are not only safe but also of interest to AmaWaterways’ high-end clientele.

“Culinary is the future,” he said. “The whole idea is to go away from the buffet style and serve all meals a la carte. Classy restaurants don’t have a buffet; I get a menu. We want to institute a similar thing in Europe.”

AmaWaterways will be offering more extensive menus than in the past, and the company is currently remodeling some ships to have show kitchens, including the AmaBella and AmaVerde, where guests can order from the chef and have their meal prepared.

“Ship by ship it will be slightly different,” said Schreiner. “The AmaKristina is all a la carte.”

The cruise line has also added new included room service options with meals available to enjoy in the privacy of guests’ staterooms or on the balcony for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

AmaWaterways also discussed the trends the company is seeing in bookings, including increased interest in sailings in France as well as an influx in multigenerational bookings.

“Big ship clients are looking for smaller vessels. Those looking for large suites are turning to AmaMagna,” said Gary Murphy, co-owner of AmaWaterways. “We are cruising within the countries themselves and travelers are cruising in the destination and won’t be stuck quarantining out in the ocean.”

AmaWaterways continues to be committed to groups, which are counted as bookings with just five cabins, and multigenerational trips remain popular.

“We are finding that because families are separated, they want to travel together,” said Murphy.

River cruises overall are proving popular for travelers booking trips in 2021 and 2022. The company experienced a record number of bookings in June of this year and opened up its 2022 bookings six months earlier because of demand. Especially popular are lesser-known sailings, such as Douro River cruises and lower Danube itineraries. Egypt sailings for 2021 are also 60-70 percent sold.

What is fueling this new surge in interest?

There is lots of space to enjoy,” said co-founder Kristin Karst. “We are not sailing in international waters so there is no risk of being quarantined since you are already inside the country.”

Karst also points out that small-group, open-air excursions are also a draw as are the company’s popular hiking and biking options that help guests feel closer to nature.

Currently, AmaWaterways continues to suspend its operations. The only sailings are onboard the AmaKristina, chartered by German tour operator e-Hoi. These sailings, within Germany, have given the company the opportunity to perfect health and safety protocols for that most anticipated moment, when Americans are able to travel to Europe once again.

“We have much more time to work on all of these details while we are not sailing,” said Schreiner. “We are working on all of our other ships. We have never had so much time to upgrade our ships as we do right now.”

A resurgence of COVID-19 has made a restart uncertain, but Schreiner remains optimistic.

“We don’t know when we can restart again,” he said. “Hopefully by March. We are ready to start our cruising and hopefully sooner than later.”