Avalon Waterways Looking at September Restart, Unveils Safety Plan for Future River Cruises
by Jessica Montevago /Globus’ Avalon Waterways on Wednesday said it was looking at Sept. 1, 2020 for a return to river cruising and unveiled its safety plan for future river cruises.
The plan, which the line is calling its Avalon Assurance program, features seven major categories and protocols that span across guest experience touch-points.
“We will continue to review and update our Assurance initiatives as we make the pivot back to the world’s waterways. We are looking at Sept. 1, 2020 for that,” Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways, said in a statement.
As part of the plan, Avalon will unveil new embarkation procedures, including mandatory health screenings, touch-free temperature checks, and luggage disinfection, prior to onboarding. It will also add hand sanitizer stations throughout the ship and hourly disinfection (at a minimum) of all public areas.
New technologies such as Electrostatic cleaning systems and UV disinfecting systems will be introduced as well. Guests and crew will be supplied with masks for use, as needed or required.
Avalon will implement more space for social distancing including reducing ship capacity and alternative dining venues. Buffets and self-serve stations will be replaced with crew services.
Some new steps to ship cleaning procedures include deep-cleaning and disinfection of each stateroom during turnover – including soft goods, disinfection of all dining areas between meals, and disinfection of shared items such as bicycles or umbrellas after each use.
The Avalon crew will be required to pass medical screenings and certificates of health, and there will be new social distancing in crew living quarters and ongoing training in PPE use and hygiene.
And air circulation will be another focal point of the plan—the air on Avalon ships is not circulated between staterooms, only within an individual stateroom and mixed with fresh, outside air, the river cruise line said.
In addition, Avalon Waterways is reviewing excursion standards and protocols with partners across the globe.