Tour operator Trafalgar will launch river cruises next year with two itineraries on the Rhine and Danube. The operator will charter ships from sister brand Uniworld Boutique River Cruises but will begin building its own ships in 2028. Damien O'Connor, who has long worked in the ocean cruise industry, will lead the charge as vice president. He spoke with river cruise editor Brinley Hineman about bringing his extensive experience in ocean cruising to the rivers and how the newcomer will set itself apart from its competition.
Damien O'Connor
Q: What inspired you to leave ocean cruising behind for the rivers?
A: I'm a customer of Trafalgar, and I've taken many land tours with them. They just do things really, really differently. They have such a connection with local storytelling and local people and local culture. When I first started talking to Trafalgar about this role, it just made perfect sense that they would take these 5 million customers that they've wonderfully handled in all aspects of land tour and extend that to river cruises. I have been courted by some of the major players in river cruise over the years and had never gone into it. But when I heard the vision here and knowing the brand really, really well, it just made perfect sense for me. If I was going to get into river cruising, this was going to be the company that I was going to do it with.
Q: What niche do you hope to fill?
A: We are looking for a multigenerational clientele. Unlike many other river cruises, we are welcoming families onboard. That's part of the target. We really want them to have experiences that are meaningful to every generation: grandparents, parents and children. Through onboard entertainment, we will be going above and beyond. We want to do stuff that's really important to families and to parents.
Q: How will you differ from Uniworld?
A: We're a totally different brand. Uniworld is a luxury brand and very successful. I think the differentiation is our ability to satisfy and to really excite all generations of family. I think we'll have a more casual approach to dining, more focus on onboard entertainment. I think it's really important that we offer a package of services and a very bespoke product for individual guests that ensures that they can do as much or as little as they want. We have many, many experiences that we can offer ashore on all of our deployments. We also have what we're calling our experience manager, who is basically going to be an experienced concierge. So they will be involved daily with the guests -- precruise and also during the cruise -- to suggest backstreet bars and restaurants and experiences that are not advertised. I think this is something that not many cruise lines have.
Q: How will the concierge work?
A: That person will be super knowledgeable about every single destination and the people that we're bringing into it. I'm not by any means trying to say that you're going to have a personal concierge with you. But you know, going into the best hotel in any of these cities in the world, and that concierge that has all that insider information into those personalized services? That's definitely what we are looking to do on our ships.
Q: What's in store with the newbuilds?
A: We definitely will have delivery of our first custom-built Trafalgar river cruises vessel out of a shipyard in Amsterdam in mid-2028. ... We want to maximize the space. We have a really great opportunity in terms of design, functionality and layout of the guest cabins; we're really working hard to ensure the best use for the guests. We are looking at having guests help us design our vessels.