A lot of people know not to make a reservation at a hotel when it’s brand new. There are just too many things that can go wrong. Construction might not be done on certain amenities, so you may be stuck without a restaurant, gym or spa at the hotel. Or workers have just finished certain aspects of the project, so the hallway might smell like rug glue, or your room might smell like paint. Staff might still be learning their roles, so the guest experience may be affected. And basics such as the HVAC systems, computer, etc. might still not be 100% tested, as well.
The same goes for a cruise line.
Being on a cruise ship’s inaugural cruise might sound exciting. But there’s just as much chance of something going wrong as there is in that brand-new hotel. You would hope that travel agents, whose entire job is to recommend cruises to their clients, would know better. And a cruise line would hopefully know better than to book its inaugural cruise with a bunch of travel agents. But 200+/- travel agents and AmaWaterways apparently didn’t heed that advice.
AmaWaterways is a river cruise company based in California. Known for spacious vessels, wellness amenities and fine dining, they currently operate 29 ships that typically offer cruises in Europe, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, South America, and Egypt.
A risky audience for a first sailing
AmaWaterways just christened its newest ship, the AmaSofia. The ship was on its inaugural voyage on the Rhine River, filled with U.S. travel agents who were in town for the ASTA River Cruise Expo. The cruise had been offered to them for free.
The cruise’s itinerary started in Amsterdam and was scheduled to make stops in Cologne, Rudesheim, Ludwigshafen and Strasbourg, before ending in Basel.
What went wrong
Unfortunately, on March 18th, just as the ship was approaching the Rhine Gorge and Rudesheim, at around 4 am, the portside engine lost power. Not long afterward, the starboard engine lost power.
With two of the ship’s three engines inoperable, the ship anchored for a few hours just west of Urmitz-Bahnhof, Germany, until the crippled ship could be towed by a cargo vessel to Koblenz.
To their credit, AmaWaterways reportedly handled the unfortunate situation like pros and kept the guests informed throughout.
“We have people onboard who are working around the clock, doing the best they can at the moment to remove the malfunctions,” Captain Profirel Mosa said in an update to passengers. “We also invited the technical department from outside, so that they will come here and resolve the issue as soon as possible, so we will be able to continue to sail.”
They were also able to arrange for excursions in Koblenz, so passengers wouldn’t have to just sit and wait for the ship to be repaired.
Unfortunately, the fix wasn’t as simple as everyone hoped, so the passengers – again, all travel agents – had to disembark early. AmaWaterways gave them the option to stay or have the charges for their flights home paid for by the cruise company. Each passenger was also promised a free cruise in the future.
Why this could have been a PR disaster – and why it wasn’t
Of course, an event such as this could have been a PR nightmare.
Fortunately for AmaWaterways, travel agents are well aware that “things happen.” They’re also good at thinking on their feet and making sudden travel changes – they do it for their clients all the time. The fact that they were all on the cruise for free was also helpful (it’s harder to complain about the service when they didn’t pay for it). Plus, the cruise line wisely paid for their flights home, AND gave each of them the promise of a free cruise in the future.
All of that added up to a few, if any, complaints.
The rest of the story
In the end, what could have been a rough introduction for a brand-new ship didn’t seem to have much lasting impact.
Once repairs were completed, AmaSofia officially launched its first full sailing on March 29—and by all accounts, it’s been smooth sailing since.
Still, it’s a reminder that even in the travel industry, sometimes the people watching most closely are the ones you least expect to impress.
H/T: CruiseCritic, CruiseMapper
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2 comments
In my youthful travel agent days someone mentioned that Carnival cruise line was the laughingstock of the industry for years. When I asked why I learned that they grounded their ship on the inaugural cruise.
These things happen. AMA seems to have handled things considerably better than most cruise lines do when they screw up these days.
re: Carnival – THEY DID?!?!?!?!?!?! OMG!