How river cruise lines are tackling the 2024 Paris Olympics

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are just over six months away, and the Games are expected to draw scores of travelers from all over the world during their 16-day stint in the City of Light. 

Paris officials have been working throughout the year getting the city Olympics-ready: Key infrastructure projects are under construction to accommodate the competitions and viewing areas, thousands of bike networks and parking lots are being added and a huge clean-up of the Seine River has been underway for both official competition and public use.

The Seine will be of particular interest, as the waterway will not only host the two-day marathon swimming event but also the Olympics’ opening ceremony.

Since both Paris and the Seine are a focal point for many river cruises, it makes sense that river cruises on the Seine during the Games might be a selling point — perhaps clients could have front-row seats to the opening ceremony from the comfort of their staterooms, as well as easy access to Paris.

But tempting as it may sound to immediately book a Paris-based ship between July 26 and Aug. 11, it’s important to know how river cruises on the Seine will be impacted.

The short answer, for now: River cruise lines aren’t sure just how their operations will be affected, and whether they’ll be able to sail on the Seine or dock in Paris during the event.

“We just don’t have a lot of information yet,” said Marcus Leskovar, executive vice president of Amadeus River Cruises.

Amadeus River Cruises, along with other river cruise lines, said that French officials have yet to communicate important details about docking positions and other logistics so that suppliers can prepare operations accordingly.

As a result, river cruise lines are somewhat split on how they’re offering and marketing cruises leading up to and during the Olympics. And some are choosing not to offer cruises on the Seine during that time period at all. 

Amadeus River Cruises

Amadeus River Cruises is planning to operate cruises on the Seine River during the Olympics as it normally would, but it said that demand has softened for cruises during this period so far.

Leskovar said sky-high hotel rates and airfare and the potential for overcrowding is likely why the line has seen softer bookings.

“We see a little bit of caution on the Seine itineraries because a lot of operators are trying to steer clear of the Olympics, because we don’t have lot of information yet and the airfare is already expensive,” Leskovar said. “So we see a little bit of a downturn and hesitancy on that product.”

AmaWaterways

As of right now, AmaWaterways doesn’t plan to operate cruises on the Seine or extensions in Paris during the 2024 Olympics.

“We have canceled about three weeks of cruising and touring in Paris during the Olympics, because nobody really knows what’s happening,” said Rudi Schreiner, president and co-founder of AmaWaterways. “Normally, we have hotel extensions in Paris, but the hotel prices are out of control. So we just simply said we will postpone.”

Schreiner said AmaWaterways’ could change its position on operations only if Paris officials are able to get them more concrete information by January or February at the latest, but the line said that might be an unlikely scenario.

Avalon Waterways

Avalon Waterways will operate river cruises on the Seine River as best as it can during the Paris Olympics but is disclosing to its travelers that operations and itineraries could change depending on what officials say about logistics.

“When we started marketing those dates, we put on the disclaimer that said we don’t really know what’s going to happen, what’s going to be accessible in Paris during the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games,” said Pamela Hoffee, president of Avalon Waterways. “We still don’t know the answers; we typically dock right in the center of Paris, within walking distance to the Eiffel Tower, but we don’t know if we’ll have that docking position.

Still, even if the line has to dock its ships at the next nearest port outside of Paris, which would be Conflans, Hoffee said the line is still committed to providing its guests a unique experience in Paris during the Olympics.

Hoffee also pointed to a huge selling point: The line is offering $599 roundtrip airfare deals for that time.

Tauck

Tauck is taking a simple approach to river cruises on the Seine during the Olympics: It just won’t be offering any.
Tauck president Jennifer Tombaugh said the company learned its lesson back in 1984, during the Games in Los Angeles.

“It was an unmitigated disaster,” Tombaugh said. “Hotels are incredibly expensive. Venues that guests want to visit are often closed or inaccessible. And traffic is terrible.”

Uniworld

Similar to Amadeus and Avalon, Uniworld is planning to operate river cruises on the Seine during the Olympics, but the line isn’t actively promoting those itineraries.

The line said it is working with city officials to best understand how the Games will impact sailings and logistics.

That being said, the line acknowledged that being in Paris on a river cruise during the Olympics is a unique way to experience the city and look into extending trips further into other local towns and villages.

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