AmaWaterways Readies New Ships

AmaWaterways took delivery of one new ship late last year and is scheduled to receive another this spring – even though none of its cruisers are sailing in Europe.The Calabasas river cruise line has been busy in other ways this winter season, in anticipation of its European cruises starting up again in late March.

Rudi Schreiner, president of AmaWaterways, said the company is waiting to see how COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out and if travel restrictions are lifted for it to resume operations with some or all of its fleet.

“We are continuing to monitor travel restrictions and review the status of each river cruise approximately 45 days before departure to make the decision about whether to sail,” Schreiner said in an email to the Business Journal.

AmaWaterways was founded in 2002 and conducts river cruises in Europe, Southeast Asia, Egypt and Africa aboard 25 ships. That includes the three newest ones – AmaSiena, AmaLucia and AmaDahlia.The hulls of AmaSiena and AmaLucia were built in Romania and then transported by tugboat to the Netherlands for the interior work and technical outfitting, Schreiner said in his email.

“COVID-19 slowed down the construction process of AmaSiena due to reduced occupancy in the shipyards, but since none of the ships could operate as planned, there was no hurry to complete her as scheduled,” Schreiner added.

The AmaSiena was delivered in December and AmaLucia will be ready towards the end of April. The AmaDahlia is being built in Egypt for use on Nile River cruises and will be ready by September when those trips start, Schreiner said.

The company has always followed a conservative growth plan and is not letting coronavirus interrupt the pace to introduce one to two new ships a year, he continued in the email.“We’re confident that when travel returns, river cruising will be one of the first segments to rebound due to its intimate nature, and we will be ready to meet that demand with three new beautifully appointed ships,” Schreiner added.

To prepare for the return of its guests, the company will follow up on a successful summer season when it handled more than 1,500 passengers on a series of private German charters.

Schreiner said that AmaWaterways was the only U.S. river cruise company to have sailed in Europe in the summer.

“We had zero COVID incidents on board, and those invaluable four months were the best way we could prepare for the 2021 season,” Schreiner said. “We are fortunate to be able to take that real-world experience and use it to continue to safeguard our guests and crew this year.”