Cruise Strategies Promotes Riviera in Canada
Cruise Strategies Ltd. has launched a new partnership with David Morris International (DMI) headquartered in Dallas, Texas and Riviera River Cruises, a British company with offices in Fairfield, CT as the cruise company enters the Canadian market for the first time.
Riviera Travel was established in 1984.
“We have introduced more than 100,000 people to river cruising in Europe in the last five years,” said Ben Hitchcock, director of sales and marketing for Riviera Cruises. “With the expertise of the DMI and Cruise Strategies teams we can now focus on bringing our product to North America.”
Riviera selected DMI, exclusively, to represent its cruise division in the North American market and DMI has in turn selected Cruise Strategies as their Canadian partner. To meet the demands of its current market and to expand into North America, Riviera has added two new ships to its fleet this year (MS Robert Burns and MS Douro Splendour) and two more are being launched in 2019 (MS George Eliot and MS William Wordsworth).
“It is always a pleasure to work closely with our long-standing colleagues at DMI and to assist in their marketing efforts here in Canada. I am most impressed with the beautiful ships and the high standards on board the Riviera River Cruises fleet and look forward to showcasing them to our Canadian partners,” said Vanessa Lee, president and CEO of Cruise Strategies Ltd.
Currently, there are 11 luxurious river ships cruising throughout the heart of Europe. Unique eight to 15-day itineraries have been developed for all the major rivers – the Douro, Dutch Waterways, Rhône, Saône, Moselle, Rhine, Main and the Danube.
The fleet of these five-star vessels is primarily Swiss built and operated and has been characterized by the Berlitz Guide to River Cruising as, “some of the finest river cruise ships to grace Europe’s waterways.”
Accommodations range from 161 sq. ft. to 312 sq. ft. Modern, marble bathrooms with Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries, plush bathrobes and slippers are just some of the amenities included in all rooms. Hotel style beds, crisp cotton linens and sumptuous pillows, flat screen televisions, hairdryer, safe, telephone, complimentary Wi-Fi and morning room service are other luxuries that come standard on Riviera.
Riviera Cruises includes guided tours and shore excursions. There are 12 bikes on board which are complimentary to all guests. On-board currency is in Euros and port charges are included in the price. Alcoholic beverages are not included, however, beverage packages are available for pre-purchase that include wine and beer for lunch and dinner and range from US$79 (five-day cruise) to US$159 (eight-day cruise) per person.
A seven-night departure on the MS Emily Bronte in April 2019 starts from US$1,819 per person, commissionable to agents at 15%.” Each voyage also offers a limited number of rooms where there is no single supplement.
