VANCOUVER — At long last, Scenic Group’s Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours and Emerald Cruises are ready to return to Europe’s rivers, starting this month in Portugal.
Following a long hiatus due to the global pandemic, both brands will resume sailing in late July on the Douro River, followed by the Rhine River in August. Also next month, Emerald Cruises will add the Danube while Scenic will resume services on France’s Garonne, Gironde and Dordogne rivers in Bordeaux. As for the iconic Danube river, Scenic will kick off sailings in September.
Scenic Pearl: Rhine Valley
“With Europe opening more widely to international travellers, it’s exciting to see Emerald Cruises and Scenic resuming sailing,” said Lisa McCaskill, VP of Sales and Marketing for Scenic Group Canada. “Consumer confidence is building with the return to the European rivers this summer and we are pleased to be experiencing a boost in 2022 bookings.
“We are hopeful that with the great progress made with vaccination programs, Canadian travel restrictions will be lifted within the next few months and Canadian residents will soon be able to join us on the rivers of Europe.”
Emerald’s first Douro River sailing will depart Porto on July 31, while Rhine River cruises will set sail from Basel on Aug. 9, followed by the Danube on Aug. 30. In late November, the brand will resume Christmas Market sailings on both the Rhine and the Danube rivers. In total, Emerald is expected to operate no fewer than 38 river cruises in Europe between July and December 2021.
Emerald Sky: Rhine Gorge
Scenic’s resumption of service will start on Portugal’s Douro River on July 30, followed by France’s Bordeaux on Aug. 29, the Rhine on Aug. 30 and the Danube on Sept. 27. It will operate six Bordeaux river cruises, eight Rhine River sailings, four Danube departures as well as three Christmas Market cruises in November and December. A multi-river sailing will also take guests from Amsterdam to Budapest along the Rhine and Danube Rivers, with the brand set to operate two departures of the 15-day ‘Jewels of Europe’ river cruise.
Both brands are offering added peace of mind with their Flexible Booking Policy that allows guests to defer their travel plans or cancel up to 60 days prior to departure with no additional booking fees (third party fees may apply). For more details on booking policies and health and safety protocols go to www.emeraldcruises.ca and www.scenic.ca.
Last month, Scenic announced its full 2022/2023 Europe and Mediterranean collection featuring new voyages, land journeys and an early booking bonus of 10% when paying in full 12 months before departure.
Emerald Cruises also recently announced reimagined Special Interest Cruises for 2022. The brand is also counting down the days until the January 2022 debut of the Emerald Azzurra, a 100-guest superyacht that will sail the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Black and Red seas.
