{"id":18165,"date":"2014-07-05T07:38:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-05T07:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/three-more-european-river-boats-for-tauck\/"},"modified":"2014-07-05T07:38:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-05T07:38:00","slug":"three-more-european-river-boats-for-tauck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/2014\/07\/three-more-european-river-boats-for-tauck\/","title":{"rendered":"Three more European river boats for Tauck"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The innovative Loft Staterooms on Tauck\u2019s new Inspiration-class ships
feature a raised platform with views that start just above the water line. (image: Tauck) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

#expeditioncruising <\/span> <\/p>\n

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by Theresa Norton Masek, Travelpulse<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Tauck<\/a>, which introduced two new river ships in Europe<\/a> this year, will add three more vessels by 2016. The company in April will introduce the Esprit, the fifth vessel in the 118-guest Jewel Class, and two more 130-passenger Inspiration Class ships in 2016. <\/p>\n

The new Esprit will operate on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, offering 14-night cruises between Amsterdam and Budapest, and seven- and 12-night voyages between Basel and Amsterdam. <\/p>\n

Tauck\u2019s river cruise expansion plans were disclosed by CEO Dan Mahar during a meeting with the media held onboard the new Savor<\/a>, which was christened June 21 in Bingen, Germany. <\/p>\n

Tauck first chartered a riverboat in 1991 and built the first ship to its own specifications, the Swiss Emerald, in 2006. The Savor is the second in the new Inspiration Class of ships, introduced by the Inspire, which entered service in April. <\/p>\n

The new vessels, built in partnership with Scylla AG, a Basel, Switzerland-based ship builder and operator, will help Tauck meet the fast-growing demand for river cruises. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey sell out very fast,\u201d Mahar said. \u201cWe\u2019re typically 75 to 80 percent sold by December for the following year. We were definitely at that point last year. We\u2019re about 40 percent sold for 2015 already now.\u201d <\/p>\n

And demand is highest for spacious suites. \u201cThe new ships have a whole top deck of suites, and they sell out first,\u201d Mahar said. \u201cIt\u2019s the number-one thing people buy.\u201d <\/p>\n

That presented a challenge, however \u2014 how to push sales of the staterooms on the lowest level, which usually are below the water line and have just a narrow strip of a window near the ceiling. \u201cThe lower deck cabins are the toughest to sell,\u201d Mahar said. \u201cEvery riverboat company will tell you that.\u201d <\/p>\n

Tauck met the challenge on the Inspiration Class by designing the innovative Loft Staterooms<\/a>, which add a high ceiling with a huge window that actually opens. The platform and window are raised above the water line, while the bulk of the cabin and bathroom are below water. Five steps lead up to the platform, which has a table and two chairs and a view from just a foot or two above the water line. The middle part of the huge window opens with a push of a button, as do the window\u2019s drapes and sheer shade. <\/p>\n

The result is an airy 225-square-foot stateroom flooded with natural light. The cabins above on the second level also measure 225 square feet but are configured in an L-shape to accommodate the raised ceilings in the Loft Staterooms below. The section of the upper-level rooms is like a foyer and doesn\u2019t feel like space was taken away to make room for the loft one deck below. <\/p>\n

The design, which premiered on the Inspire, was never done before and was \u201cpushing the envelope,\u201d Mahar said. \u201cIt was harder initially to understand, but now people love being so close to the water.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mahar said he expects the river cruise segment to continue growing. \u201cDemand still exceeds our supply,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

European rivers aren\u2019t in danger of overcapacity yet, he said. \u201cThe market will continue to evolve to accept additional capacity, and towns are building more docking facilities,\u201d Mahar said. \u201cIf you add another 10 riverboats, it\u2019s still not as large as one ship being launched on the ocean side. Market demand will continue to increase.\u201d <\/p>\n

He pointed to the Nile River in Egypt, saying that more than 350 riverboats ply the 100-mile or so section between Aswan and Luxor. \u201cIn Europe there are thousands of miles [of rivers] so I think there\u2019s still quite a bit of opportunity for capacity expansion. That doesn\u2019t mean there won\u2019t be challenges \u2026 but many towns, villages or cities see this as an economic development opportunity.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The innovative Loft Staterooms on Tauck\u2019s new Inspiration-class shipsfeature a raised platform with views that start just above the water line. (image: Tauck) #expeditioncruising by Theresa Norton Masek, Travelpulse Tauck, which introduced two new river ships in Europe this year, will add three more vessels by 2016. The company in April will introduce the Esprit, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tauck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}