Here’s What Trending in River Cruising for 2022

Firmly established as a booming market before COVID-19, river cruising is picking up where it left off. And, for many travel advisors, the demand for river cruises is far outpacing the demand for ocean cruising.

“As an agency and an industry, we are seeing a record number of inquiries and bookings for river cruises for 2022 and 2023,” Dusty Davidson, owner of a Dream Vacations franchise in Dallas, Texas told Travel Market Report.

The demand, advisors agree, is being driven in part by the overall increase in travel comfort but also by the smaller size of river ships.

“Many of our clients feel the smaller ship environment to be more conducive to the higher health and safety standards expected post-COVID,” Davidson said. “They’ve stated they feel should there be another outbreak, it would be more easily contained on a smaller ship with easier access to medical care along the river.”

Other advisors echoed Davidson.

“Clients feel safer traveling with only 100 other passengers as compared to 3000 like an ocean cruise,” said Robyn Jacobs, owner of Orca Travel, an independent agency in the Avoya Travel Network.

Travel Market Report reached out to cruise selling agencies to learn what they’re seeing among their clients when it comes to river cruising for 2022 and beyond.

Here are the top six trends we found.

Europe is HOT
If there’s one thing we’re hearing again and again it’s this: European river cruises are selling. Fast.

“Demand for river cruising for 2022 is over the top,” said Richelle Schuetz, owner of Designing Dreams Travel, an independent agency in the Avoya Travel Network. “I have never been so busy these first six months of the year trying to keep up. People are also booking into 2023.”

Jacobs agreed that demand is “off the charts.”

“For the most part, people still want to go to Europe. The culture, history, and food are a huge draw for most clients and people are just tired of the pandemic and finally want to travel.”

Ann Chamberlin, vice president of sales for the Scenic Group, echoed Jacobs. “The European product also has a much longer history, so that brings with it a sense of confidence and experiential knowledge.”

Europe is so popular right now that availability is becoming a problem, advisors agreed.

“Availability is becoming a big issue as 2022 is very booked up, from so many bookings moved into 2022 and 2021 and new bookings,” Schuetz said. “People are very anxious to travel now with the vaccine rollouts all over the world.”

Davidson agreed. “2022 is looking to be a difficult year to book a river cruise if you haven’t begun planning yet,” he said. “A knowledgeable travel adviser can really be of assistance as finding the right itinerary and availability can be a frustrating experience for consumers right now.

Not all travel advisors we spoke to are seeing the same spike in European river cruise bookings.

“Europe is popular, but there still isn’t a huge demand as there is still uncertainty in terms of international travel in general,” Diana Hechler, president of D Tours Travel, an Ensemble Travel Group member agency, told Travel Market Report.

Pricing Is Up
Increasing demand is driving pricing and several advisors reported seeing higher prices for the remaining space in 2022 and for sailings in 2023.

“Pricing for river cruises across the board is higher for 2022 as demand is HIGH,” said Schuetz.

Amsden and Long both said they’ve also noticed an uptick in pricing, as did Jacobs who said the lines don’t need to discount because people have two years’ worth of travel budget to spend.

Higher Spend

Travel advisors are also reporting a trend towards higher spending among their clients, a trend we identified among luxury cruisers in 2022 and beyond.

“In general, people are booking longer trips and are upgrading their experience either by the category of their room or into a higher category cruise line,” said Hechler.

Davidson agreed. “We are seeing our clients upgrade to higher stateroom categories than they would have normally selected as they have money saved up from not vacationing during the pandemic,” Davidson said. “They are excited to get back out in the world, have money saved up to do it, and are treating themselves to a higher luxury experience.”

Longer Sailings

The main trend Rick Amsden and Lisa Long, both from Luxury Vacations, an independent agency in the Avoya Travel Network, are seeing is a desire to do longer sailings, with some clients opting for back-to-back sailings to maximize their time in Europe.

It’s a trend that’s prompted AMAWaterways to offer a 10% discount on the second sailing to anyone who books back-to-back cruises.

Slight US Uptick

Another destination that’s getting more interest than usual is U.S. rivers. Not off the charts the way Europe is, travel advisors, nevertheless, report they’re getting more inquires than they did pre-COVID.

Both Amsden and Davidson reported an uptick in interest in US river cruising.

“I think it’s being driven by pent-up demand and a feeling that Europe might be a little challenging right now,” Amsden said.

Similarly, Davidson reported his agency has seen increased interest in Canadian river cruises “for clients who aren’t ready to go overseas but are looking for an international experience.”

Asia is Down

Not too many travel advisors we spoke with mentioned Asia, and when they did, it was to note low interest.

“They’re holding back because of the perception that Asia is having more trouble with COVID than Europe,” said Amsden, adding he doesn’t know if that perception is true or not, only that it’s creating reluctance among his clientele to visit the region.

“I haven’t had any interest in Vietnam or China in a long time,” he said. 

Schuetz and Jacobs also said they’ve had no inquiries about Asia.

When asked about their Southeast Asia bookings, Scenic Group’s Chamberlin wouldn’t comment but did note their Europe bookings are doing better. “Europe is stronger as would be expected due to its proximity to the USA vs SE Asia,” she said. Scenic Group operates Mekong River cruises with both Scenic and Emerald Waterways.

However, not all travel advisors are missing out on Asia bookings.

Davidson told Travel Market Report that though there is “a little hesitancy” with Asia people are still booking these itineraries because they know the inventory is limited. In fact, he said Asia itineraries are sold out in many cabin categories already.