Nicole Edenedo
Sports and river cruising might not be the exact combination that comes to mind when thinking of a vacation.
But for a certain number of travelers -- it is.
And many river cruises are taking a step beyond offering active itineraries and are finding ones that venture into more athletic territory.
Pickleball and river cruising
Pickleball, for example, has not only started to take over America as one of the fastest growing sports in the country, but it's also making inroads within the river cruise industry.
Two river cruise lines, Amadeus River Cruises and AmaWaterways, appear to be among the first lines to bring pickleball onboard their cruises.
AmaWaterways installed a full-size pickleball court on the sundeck of the AmaMagna earlier this year that's complete with a perimeter net to keep the ball from going out of play.
Amadeus River Cruises also installed a pickleball court on the sun deck of Amadeus Silver III this year and will launch its first pickleball itineraries this spring. The itineraries will take guests to local pickleball clubs and courts along the Danube River in Hungary, Slovakia and Austria to play alongside locals and professionals.
"It's quite interesting how much interest there is and how many active pickleballers there are," said Marcus Leskovar, executive vice president of Amadeus. "We see that there's a lot of groups that are interested in it, and that's why we created these short experiences, because we found that people really want to play and they want to play actively.
A golf vacation along Europe's rivers
Golf-themed cruises, or cruises that incorporate golf in some way, have long been offered on several river cruise lines.
Uniworld, Viking, Scenic Luxury Cruises, Emerald Cruises, Amadeus River Cruises and AmaWaterways have either itineraries, excursions or onboard amenities that cater to golfers.
Uniworld offers guests the chance to play golf in France's Normandy region as part of its eight-day Paris & Normandy itinerary, while Scenic offers guests golf excursions through its Scenic Freechoice program.
AmaWaterways' Exclusive Concierge Golf Program is a curated, seven-night itinerary that takes guests to five of Europe's most prestigious golf courses and includes transportation, tee time organization, club cleaning and more.
The program is only available on the AmaMagna, which sails on the Danube, and featured courses include Albatross Golf Club in Prague; Quellness Golf Resort in Bad Griesbach, Germany; Ramsau, Austria; Penati Country Club in Senica, Slovakia; and Pannonia Country Club in Budapest.
Amadeus also offers several golf itineraries on the Rhine, Seine, Saone and Rhone rivers when it has at least 20 participants on a voyage. Golf courses featured on its itineraries include Golf de la Brasse near Lyon and Geneva; Le Golf National near Paris; and Fontana Golf Club just outside of Vienna.
Viking and Emerald Cruises also offer guests the chance to work on their putting skills via the putting greens on their sundecks.
Fitness, wellness and other active cruises
Beyond pickleball and golf, there is still a healthy appetite among travelers for cruise programs and ships that offer a variety of fitness and wellness activities.
Avalon Waterways has a wide range of cruise itineraries that center around more physically active excursions through its Active & Discovery program. Guests can take kayaking trips on the Rhone River in the south of France or test their endurance on guided hikes and bike tours that visit a number of historic sights, neighborhoods and parks.
Emerald Cruises is also known for a robust roster of active shore excursions, in addition to onboard activities like yoga, Pilates and aqua aerobics. Guests can learn how to canoe in Pinhao along Portugal's Douro River, hike the hilly city landscape of Budapest's Buda Hill district or take a four-hour, 23-mile bike ride between Melk and Durnstein in northern Austria along the Danube River.
AmaWaterways also offers a variety of wellness and fitness-focused activities, especially onboard its ships. In addition to yoga, guests can find tai chi classes, group workout sessions, and spin classes.
Amadeus' Leskovar said that fitness and wellness has been an evolving part of the river cruise experience.
Amadeus River Cruises even experimented with offering CrossFit cruises because there had been so much demand for it from travelers at the time.
Leskovar said the CrossFit concept was the same as pickleball and golf: "we did half-day excursions to CrossFit studios, worked out there and came back to the ship." He added that the move to bring CrossFit to the rivers came as a result of working with influencers.
But Leskovar said that while Amadeus had the right idea to bring a popular fitness trend to the rivers, the company may have been a little too ahead of the game.
"I think that we were a little bit before our times, because we tried to market it through influencers, we talked about it through social media, but the return on investment was minimal," he said. "We all knew eventually it would take off, but we couldn't get a proof of concept. But just after the pandemic, we now see some of these younger agents that really know social media and marketing, and they can produce [these trips] quite well. So it's interesting to see that."