River cruise 2013 Mini-guide

River Cruise

Convention 2013

Cologne 17-18 November 2013

Willkommen in Köln Cologne has been chosen to host this year’s River Cruise Convention with travel agents able to take advantage of more ship visits than ever before. The Convention, which is expected to attract around 300 delegates, will take place on Sunday 17 and Monday 18 November.

In a first, agents will take to the water for the conference and trade fair which is taking place on board MS RheinEnergie, a floating conference centre with state-of-the-art technology. On the second day, ship visits will be offered by six river companies - Amadeus by Lüftner Cruises, Riviera Travel, Shearings, CroisiEurope, The River Cruise Line and Uniworld.

CLIA UK & Ireland Director, Andy Harmer, said: ‘With a record number of passengers taking a river holiday, we are seeing more travel agents than ever before becoming interested in selling river cruises. There is no other event in the world that offers agents the opportunity to see firsthand so many different styles of river ship and to hear from key speakers on the latest industry developments.’

He continued: ‘We are delighted to be holding this year’s Convention in Cologne, one of the most popular river ports in Europe, and taking to the water for our conference and trade fair. This event is the perfect occasion for agents to become immersed in river cruising and for them to take advantage of the real opportunities to grow their cruise sales.’

Provisional Programme Saturday 16 November 2013 (optional first day) A brief afternoon programme will be created for delegates who wish to see something of Cologne with us. This is likely to be a guided walking tour, and will depart from the Marriott Hotel at a time to be confirmed.

Cologne Marriott Hotel Johannisstrasse 76-80, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia 50668 Germany Full joining details for those opting in will be confirmed closer to the time.

Sunday 17 November 2013 - 9.30am Registration Conference & Networking Day Morning Trade Fair onboard KD Lines RheinEnergie

Lunch Afternoon Conference sessions onboard KD Lines RheinEnergie All delegates will be allocated to one of three ships, where they will enjoy a gala dinner and overnight accommodation, on a shared basis.

All allocations will be made on a same-sex basis, unless a room share has been requested.

Gala Dinner & Overnight Accommodation is being provided on three vessels:

Amadeus by Luftner Cruises Amadeus Princess

Riviera Travel Lord Byron

CroisiEurope Gerard Schmitter

Monday 18 November 2013 Ship Visit Day The ships in port will be open for viewing and product updates. You will have a guided tour and short presentation from each of the ships. Approximately 30 minutes will be spent onboard each ship.

Please see overleaf for the ships in attenance.

The day will finish at approximately 3.30pm.

Ship Visits ms Gerard Schmitter

mps Rotterdam

Amadeus Princess

ms Lord Byron

ms Serenity

River Duchess

Accommodation Arriving Early?

Arriving in Cologne on Saturday 16th November allows you to join us for an optional Cologne Excursion in the afternoon. Accommodation on this evening is at your own expense and we have an agreed rate at the Marriott in Cologne.

Located centrally, the Marriott is 139 EUR per room on a bed and breakfast rate, with this rate only available for bookings until Tuesday 15th October.

To Book the Marriott Koln, please click here.

Please note your booking with the Marriott is direct with them and CLIA are unable to make any amends or refunds for this booking.

Accommodation on Sunday 17th November Please note accommodation on Sunday 17th November will be included as part of your registration and will be onboard one of our river cruise ships. Cabins are allocated on a same-sex twin share basis, unless a cabin share has been requested.

Getting to Cologne The nearest airport is

Cologne Bonn Airport There are direct flight connections to: London Heathrow (Germanwings) London Gatwick (Easyjet) London Stansted (Germanwings, Easyjet) Manchester (Germanwings) Edinburgh (Germanwings) Dublin (IE) (Germanwings) Direct Flights can be found with:

Once at the airport, it couldn’t be easier.

Train S-Bahn S13 inter-urban trains leave from Köln Bonn Airport (Köln/Bonn Flughafen) every 30 minutes. The average journey to Cologne Central Station “Köln Hauptbahnhof” (Köln Hbf) takes 15 minutes. For timetable information, please visit www.bahn.com Taxi A taxi to the centre of Köln (17 km) should take approximately 15 minutes, and cost 27 EUR.

Getting to Cologne

cont.

If your local airport does not serve Cologne Bonn Airport, it is very simple also to fly to either

Dusseldorf Airport - www.dus.com or Frankfurt Airport - www.frankfurt-airport.com Both of which being Hub airports, should provide greater flight options.

Train Connections

Train services between Frankfurt Airport and Cologne Hbf on the ICE train takes approximately 1 hour, and costs approximately 60 EUR. On certain airlines (such as Lufthansa) the train connection on to Cologne can be purchased as part of your air ticket.

Train services between Dusseldorf Airport and Cologne Hbf takes approximately 40 minutes and costs approximately 20 EUR.

By Train Cologne is reachable in about 5 hours from London St Pancras - taking the Eurostar to Paris or Brussels, and changing onto a local high speed train service.

For details or to book please visit www.bahn.com, or visit our Travel Partners Great Rail Journeys, who will be more than happy to assist with your booking.

River Cruise

Convention 2013

Cologne 17-18 November 2013 Tickets are ÂŁ50 + VAT Book Online www.cruiseexperts.org For more Information Call 0207 436 2449