European river cruises are a sedate alternative to life on the ocean superliners

The cruising boom isn't just about giant floating resorts partying across oceans. There's a more sedate style of cruise that's quietly sailing on a crest of the wave, too. And the rivers and canals of Europe are the perfect spot to experience it.

This year there are more operators, trips and boats to choose from. Here's our pick of the most interesting new developments for 2010 (prices include full-board and return travel from the UK).




New operators

US-based AMA Waterways launched its first dedicated UK brochures this year featuring 20 cruises on the Rhone, Douro, Volga, Danube, Main, Rhine and Mosel. AMA has also teamed up with York-based Great Rail Journeys to offer five holidays that include first- class rail travel from St Pancras. For example, a 16-day railcruise starts with the sleeper train to Warsaw and overnight express to Moscow. From there you board a 12-night cruise to St Petersburg. It costs from £2,975.

Another US-based cruise company, Avalon, also launches its UK operation this year, offering a very modern fleet of cruisers. A five-day cruise on the Danube from Budapest to Vienna costs from £759.



New vessels

This year's new river-cruise ships borrow some of the style and glamour from their ocean-going cousins.

The River Beatrice has a two-storey lobby, marble floors and mahogany panelled walls decorated with prints of works by Picasso, Matisse and Chagall. Contact Elegant River Cruises for more information.

And Avalon is launching two ships this year, including the Felicity in Amsterdam in March. Expect them both to be contemporary and spacious with all-outside cabins. Avalon staterooms are among the largest on European rivers - 172sq ft for standard rooms and 258sq ft for suites.



New destinations

Most operators are adding new cruises to their programmes as demand for river cruising grows.

Some involve different versions of the classic European river journeys. Collette, for example, introduces a 15-day trip from Amsterdam to Budapest taking in five countries, four rivers and two World Heritage Sites costing from £2,969.

And Grand UK now features a new eight-day Danube cruise from £859. One of Saga's new 2010 river cruises includes an excursion to Colditz Castle. The nine-night trip on the MS Koenigstein costs from £1,499. VFB has a new four-night cruise around Venice's lagoon, mooring less than 15 minutes' walk from St Mark's Square, from £499.

And one of Scenic Tours' new routes for 2010 sails through the heart of Western Europe from Amsterdam to Basle for £2,195.

Others are adding less well-known itineraries. ACE Cruises' latest offering is a trip from Avignon to Aigues Mortes in Provence aboard a small boat with just eight cabins. It costs £2,690 including rail transport.

Elegant River Cruises has a new 15-day 'Grand France' itinerary taking travellers the length of France from Monet's garden at Giverny to the lavender fields of Provence, with city tours of Paris, Rouen, Lyon and Avignon from £3,095 with flights.



New ideas

Freedom Treks launch a holiday this year using an unusual mix of river cruising and cycling on Italy's River Po between Padua and Venice.
Stay on a converted Dutch barge at night, waking up to a new part of the river each morning. By day you can take cycling excursions through the countryside. The seven-night trip costs from £659.

Glenton Holidays' 2010 brochure includes 'Romance of the Rhine Valley' - where you sleep in a hotel but enjoy daytime river cruises. Seven days cost from £459.

And DFDS Seaways has a five-night holiday combining two nights on board its ferry from Newcastle with three nights on a river cruiser visiting the tulip fields of Holland. Prices start from £459.

P&O Cruises January Sail

If you've been thinking about booking a holiday with P&O Cruises, January is the perfect month to do so.

For one month only you can choose from a selection of holidays, all with exclusive January Sail savings and on board spending money. With P&O January Sail, save up to £1,000* per couple plus up to £100 per couple on-board spending money**. Plus benefit from up to an extra 7.5% saving when booking online before 31 January 2010.

How was 2009 for Cruising?

2009 was the busiest year in cruising history. A 2009 Cruise Industry Review.



The cruise industry must be doing better than most people expected. Carnival Cruise Lines just ordered a brand new ship, a third sister ship in the Carnival Dream class, and Royal Caribbean just announced that the financing for Allure of the Seas, the sister ship to Oasis, is already 80% in place with another loan guarantee (up to 95% of $1.13 billion) from Finnvera, the Finnish export credit agency.

In the latest Carnival Corp earnings statement CEO Micky Arison said "We weathered the most challenging economic environment in the company's history exceptionally well. In 2009, Carnival was the most profitable leisure travel company, which is testament to the strength and quality of our global portfolio."

2009 brought us several brand new ships of significant size and evolution in design; starting with Seabourn Spirit, the first of the next generation of luxury cruise ships carrying as many as 450 passengers without changing the spacious cabins and personalized service. Celebrity Equinox arrived last summer, the sister ship to the Solstice-class from Celebrity. In November Carnival launched their largest ship ever, Carnival Dream. Just two weeks later we saw Oasis of the Seas arrive from Royal Caribbean.

January 20th, 2010, Silversea Cruises, arguably the most luxurious cruise line in the world - the line for people who want the best at any price - will introduce their brand new 450-passenger ship, Silver Spirit, in Fort Lauderdale. The ship has six different restaurants onboard plus full room service where your butler will bring your entire dining room meal to your suite, if you wish, set up a table with linens and serve it to you course by course.

There will be a spa on Silver Spirit where you can actually get Botox and other surgical enhancements and recover in privacy. They also offer unique eastern medicine treatments such as acupuncture and bamboo massage. The ship's first cruise after her inaugural is a 91-day circumnavigation of South America, and is already nearly sold out.

Reports come in to Holidays Online that certain kinds of cruises are still doing remarkably well. River cruises in Europe, for example, are more popular with Americans than ever before due to a realignment of focus towards the American audience. They now offer a larger variety of shore excursions, which they are making longer than before instead of rushing back to the ship for lunch every day, a practice the Europeans expect but Americans view as an annoyance. Since these riverboats now sail with almost 90% passengers from the United States, there is no longer any reason to take up valuable time translating lectures or having different shore tours for different languages. In addition, the new riverboats are beautiful, with actual balconies for fresh air in every stateroom and even free Internet access available via Wi-Fi throughout the boat.



In fact, computer use onboard ships is finally emerging as a real priority. Carnival Dream has a "FunHub" where cruisers can log in for free at several stations onboard and leave messages for other passengers. Brad Ball from Silversea Cruises tells me more people are coming on cruises and continuing to do their work; almost as if they never left land. As long as they have their computer and Blackberry they are essentially just as connected at sea as they are in the office. Cruising has become the preferred vacation for people who need to work while they play. Although Internet access isn't free on any cruises other than riverboats yet, I personally see this as a very big future draw and I predict that the first cruise line to offer unlimited Internet access for a reasonable fee will find that to be a highly attractive option to draw new business.

One thing that has proven itself is that veteran cruisers will still pay a premium to go on the newest and nicest ships; just for a chance to see something different with all of the latest enhancements.

Meanwhile, the cruise lines also continue to upgrade their older ships by re-decorating them and adding more amenities such as Wi-Fi, new restaurants, new rooms for onboard enrichment such as computer classes and additional places to eat more varieties of food. Holland America has spent more than 500 million dollars now to upgrade their entire fleet by continuing the "Signature of Excellence" campaign started in 2004. Carnival upgraded all of their Fantasy class ships over the last four years to include new water parks for kids, serenity areas for adults, more varieties of food onboard, better Internet access and nicer pool areas with hot tubs and cabanas.

Even the luxury cruise lines are enhancing their older vessels. Regent Seven Seas, Seabourn and Crystal have all announced significant upgrades to their older ships during the last year, making them all highly attractive and utile vessels.

In the long run, while the economy has slowed down consumer spending, it doesn't mean the cruise industry has gone into any kind of suspended mode by any means. Unlike previous economic downturns or interruptions in travel, such as 9/11, this recession has not had the effect of putting any cruise lines out of business or even in the position where they have had to cut back on their plans to continue to grow and improve their fleets.

The only exception was the decision of NCL not to go forward with building two of the F3-class of new vessels, the first of which will debut in June 2010 with Norwegian Epic. So they are only building one instead of two; if the economy gets better and Norwegian Epic is as well received as we predict it will be they can always change their minds again. After all, no one expected Carnival to order a brand new ship just two weeks ago, and yet they did.

It is surprising, in fact, how little effect this recession has had on the continuing plans of the cruise lines. Cruise fares are down so cruising has never been more affordable, and with all of the continuing upgrades we have seen throughout the cruise industry you can truly say that cruising is a strong industry with a proven track record of financial stability. If you believe Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corp, cruising is arguably the strongest leisure travel industry in the world right now.