Chartering four ships for exclusively-branded sailings and two more for less frequent cruises, Barcelona-based Crucemundo aims to provide a truly international product.
The ships are multilingual, with crew able to chat with passengers in English, French, Spanish, German and Russian, said Sales Manager Julia Nazarkova in the 2020 European River Cruise Market Report by Cruise Industry News.
“Our internal statistics show that language structure onboard very much depends on the product and on the season,” Nazarkova said. “For example, May and September have always been popular among French customers, while July and August are really popular with the Spanish and Italian markets. French people prefer the Danube and the Volga, while customers from the United States choose the Rhine and Holland and Belgium tours.”
Crucemundo started in 2009 as a family-and-friends business.
The company has grown while maintaining a “warm and tender attitude to its guests, colleagues, and partners,” she said.
The line primarily sails the Rhine, the Danube, and the Volga but is adding the Moselle and the Main in 2020.
Sailing at five-stars in 2020, the 110-passenger, 1995-built Crucevita (formerly Da Vinci) will navigate on the Rhine and the Moselle. She was refurbished in 2019.
Sailing at four stars, the 2000-built, 154-passenger Crucebelle will sail the Rhine, the Danube, and the Main; sister-ship Crucestar will sail the Danube and Danube Delta at the Black Sea; and the 1986-built Crucelake, refurbished in 2018, will sail the Volga. The 129-meter long ship has a maximum capacity of 240 passengers.
“They are our core projects, we have them exclusively chartered for four years with an option to prolong the charter contract further. That is why we strictly supervise the range of services provided on these ships,” she said.
Crucemundo also charters the five-star Apolon in 2020 for Adriatic Sea cruises, and occasionally other suitable ships for Nile cruises.
“Basically nautical staff and restaurant staff are provided by the ship owner, but we always put our own cruise director and his assistants on all cruises,” Nazarkova said.
About the 2020 European Cruise River Market Report
The new European Cruise Market Report provides a comprehensive look at the river cruise business with capacity metrics by river and brand, company profiles and much more. 100+ pages of insights. Learn more.
