Shearings Holidays has launched its 2019 river cruise brochure, featuring rivers, ships, brands and transport options.

52 itineraries are now on sale on board 20 ships, sailing on some of Europe’s most popular rivers and waterways with air, coach and rail options all available. For 2019, the operator has doubled its capacity with A-ROSA, secured a full charter on the Douro with CroisiEurope, plus three full season chartered ships will return with various new itineraries.

Following a successful first year of partnership with A-ROSA river cruises, Shearings Holidays will offer twice as much capacity with A-ROSA in 2019 on a greater selection of cruises. A total of 16 itineraries are now offered, seven of which are new to the programme, on board six ships including MS Silva, which the operator is featuring for the first time. Bookable with coach, air or rail and FREE Home Connect service where available, prices for an A-ROSA package lead in at £753pp for a five-day Paris & Versailles itinerary.

Jane Atkins, managing director at Shearings Holidays comments: “The first year of our partnership with A-ROSA has been a great success, with our customers clearly liking the more flexible approach they offer. We’ve grown our choice for 2019 significantly and following excellent feedback from our customers, we will continue to include excursions and a Shearings Holidays cruise manager on board to assist customers.”

CroisiEurope will be featured again in 2019 with 11 ships (four of which are new to the programme for 2019 including the premium MS Amalia Rodriguez which will launch next year) on 10 European rivers and waterways. Furthermore, Shearings Holidays will for the first time offer a full charter departure on the River Douro in June 2019, on board MS Infante Don Henrique. Prices for the ‘Portugal, Spain & the Douro Valley’ eight-day cruise are from £1444pp. A large selection of other non-charter Douro departures, on various ships, are also available throughout the summer.

Atkins adds: “This river is extremely popular and always in high demand as sailings are limited to manage river conservation. Demand outweighs supply of available departures, so we are delighted to be able to offer agents additional capacity to sell to their with our full ship charter, plus a wide range of other non-charter dates throughout the summer.”

 Three ships will once again be chartered for the entire 2019 season, featuring many familiar itineraries plus some additional new ones for customers who want the same ship, but a new journey to experience.

• MV Virginia – exclusively chartered in the UK Market by Shearings Holidays for over 25 years. 12 itineraries in total are available including three new ones. Prices from £558pp for a new Christmas Markets on the Rhine and Moselle cruise by coach.
• MS Serenade – this will be its fourth year of operation with Shearings Holidays sailing the Danube to the Black Sea. Seven itineraries are featured including a new ‘Danube Panorama’ cruise from £1304pp by coach.
• MV Esmeralda – a firm favourite with Shearings Holidays customers, offering a selection of summer cruises on the Danube. Prices from £934pp for a ‘Great Cities of the Danube’ cruise by coach.

The operator has also made some changes to the layout of the brochure to make the key messages even clearer for agents. A dedicated spread on the operators unrivalled choice of river cruise products has been added, providing agents with a quick reference page to show which cruise line is best for which type of customer and the key selling points. In addition, the ‘Extend Your Stay’ section has been moved to the front of the brochure to enhance the message that it is possible for customers to tailor their cruise with pre and post stays and combining cruises.

Early booking launch prices will be held until 17 June so agents have a really good reason to promote this programme immediately. In addition, agents have the opportunity to earn a £20 Love2 Shop vouchers for every 2019 river cruise booking they make before 30 June 2018. They will also be entered into a prize draw to win a two-night break at a Country Living Hotel.