Focus on Family, the Environment and Wellness were just three of the important topics we discussed at our 2nd Annual Global Summit that took place on AmaKristina as she sailed from Basel to Amsterdam the first week in January. The Summit brought together our sales and operations teams, a group of experienced cruise managers as well as important partners and suppliers for a lively exchange of ideas and decisions on specific action items to ensure we continue to deliver the best river cruise product to meet and surpass our guests’ needs.
We visited our lovely European operations office in Basel, celebrated the fantastic results of our top Business Development Managers (special congrats to Kathie DeVincenzo), evaluated different rivers to explore, looked into new pre and post-cruise land programs and accessed alternative ports of call and excursions on existing itineraries.
We had an overview of new technology to assist in training our travel partners and were excited to see the test results from our new myAmaCruise app which provides our guests with useful information during the cruise and ability to instantly share photos and special moments with friends and family back home.
Our efforts to support environmental protection continue. We withdrew plastic straws fleetwide this year and are evaluating options to reduce the use of plastic bottles onboard our ships.
We were fortunate to have Selina, our resident Sports Scientist, onboard with us. She led morning exercise classes (the Champagne Yoga class got a very good turnout!) and quick stretching breaks throughout our busy conference days. She also shared her excitement about her team of 20 Wellness Hosts that will be on almost all our ships in Europe this year.
All Summit participants agreed that AmaLuxury is about choice and personalizing our guests’ experiences. I am very proud of our commitment to providing even healthier menu choices, excursions at different paces and active classes to introduce our guests to new ways of maintaining good health throughout the year. The training of new cruise managers and all our onboard crews remains a top priority in delivering the warm AmaFamily welcome that we have become known for.
Last but not least, we were able to visit the AmaMagna in Rotterdam. It was truly a wonderful experience seeing Rudi’s dream start to take form! Even though the final touches were missing, the AmaMagna is an incredible ship. There is nothing like it on any of the rivers. Everyone was most impressed with overall spaciousness with the sports platform and the Al Fresco restaurant really wowing us all.
Overall, it was a very successful Summit. We all left feeling energized and inspired! To our loyal guests and valued travel partners, rest assured your AmaWaterways Family is ready to work with passion and enthusiasm to make 2019 the best year yet!