River cruise executives on Monday criticized the blanket and
vague nature of the State Department advisory against cruising because of the
spread of coronavirus.
“This is just hysteria,” said Marilyn Conroy, executive vice
president of sales and marketing for Riviera River Cruises in North America. “I
am just so angry with the State Department and the news media.”
River lines already were reporting a drop in bookings and
rise in postponed trips as they prepare to the open the European river season
in two weeks.
“This definitely didn’t help,” said Marcus Leskovar,
executive vice president of Amadeus River Cruises.
“Yet Disneyland is still open,” he said, “with all those
kids that don’t wash their hands. And they drag their grandparents there.”
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection CEO Ellen
Bettridge noted that while river lines are not included in CLIA’s mandated
member responses to the virus, they are following and even going above those
screening and cleaning protocols.
Conroy, a veteran of the ocean cruise industry, said she has
been talking to colleagues in the ocean ship business who hope to see the advisory
lifted or revised, “provided that we all increase our cleaning methods.”
Bettridge said she was “bummed out that river is being
lumped into this. It is a very different experience.”
She said her team is working to get the message out about
how different river ships are from ocean liners.
“We want people to remember that our ships are small,” she
said. “They are easier to contain, clean and manage. They are also never going
to be far away from land.”
And as Leskovar noted, when you are on a river, you are
already in a country, so you don’t have to worry about being denied permission
to dock in a new port of entry.