Shearings launches biggest river cruise brochure to date

Shearings Holidays has launched its 2020 river cruise brochure – its largest to date, featuring 62 itineraries across 32 ships and introducing new partner line, Amadeus Cruises.

Shearings’ partnership with Amadeus underlines its focus on premium river cruise. Four five-star ships are featured – Amadeus Silver II, Amadeus Star, Amadeus Silver III and Amadeus Imperial – offering four eight-day itineraries: a ‘Classic Cities of the Danube’ cruise, a ‘Danube Rhapsody’ cruise, a ‘Spring Gardens Extravaganza’ and a ‘Classic Rhine to Switzerland’ cruise.  

Jane Atkins, managing director at Shearings Holidays, said: “Partnering with Amadeus Cruises means agents now have a five-star option to promote to customers who want a luxury offering. We pride ourselves in offering a full range of river cruises and for 2020 we now have everything from entry-level three-star cruise options, right up to five star. When this is coupled with our transport choices, be it coach, rail or air, our 2020 portfolio really is our most comprehensive and flexible ever.”

Shearings has also doubled its capacity with A-ROSA River Cruises, offering a total of 22 itineraries on board six ships. Various departures are available on board the A-ROSA ALVA, the newest ship to join the A-ROSA fleet on the Douro.

Nine itineraries are featured in the brochure with long-standing Shearings partner, CroisiEurope. They give more focus to themed and special event-based cruises, such as the seven-day ‘In the Footsteps of the Impressionists’ cruise aboard the MS Seine Princess.

Two ships will once again be chartered for the entire 2020 season, featuring many familiar itineraries plus some additional new ones for customers who want the same ship, but a new experience. New ‘Anniversary Waltz’ cruises are featured on both MV Virginia and MV Esmeralda, specifically created to target the special occasion market. Each includes a bottle of sparkling wine in the cabin with celebration glasses, plus a drinks reception on the final evening. There is also a wedding anniversary gala dinner celebration on the final evening.

For the first time, the river cruise brochure features a 14-page worldwide rivers section, showcasing Shearings’ range of worldwide tours. Options include trips with a cruise element on the Amazon, Nile, Yangtze, Li, Mekong or Kinabatangan.  

Early-booking launch prices and a discount of up to £100 per couple are available until June 14. For agents, there is the opportunity to earn a £25 Love2Shop voucher for every 2020 river cruise booking made before June 30, 2019. Agents should check the agent toolkit for relevant resources.

Shearings has also created its first ocean cruise mini brochure, which agents will receive with the river cruise brochure. Building on the success of the operator’s first year of partnership with Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), the brochure features 15 cruises including a selection of itineraries with CMV and two worldwide cruises with Hurtigruten and Holland America Line.

“We wanted to provide agents with something tangible that they could use to promote our ocean cruise programme, as until now it has only been online,” Atkins said. “We are currently looking at the possibility of creating a full ocean cruise brochure in the autumn with a wider selection of carefully selected cruise partners, offering more itineraries around the world for 2020 and 2021.”