River Cruise Newsletter

Below is a copy of our current river cruise newsletter. To subscribe to our weekly newsletter, absolutely free of charge, please click here. To email this newsletter to friends or family, click here. Please note that the FastDeals are subject to availability and sell out quickly.

Dear Vacations To Go Customer,

Vacations To Go is celebrating its 40th anniversary this month. Read on for a bit of the company's history, or scroll down for this week's top 10 river cruises.

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Forty years ago this week, we strung a hand-painted "Grand Opening" banner above the door in a small shopping center in Houston and Vacations To Go was born.

My business partner (Bob Carney) and I opened our two-room travel agency on a Sunday because the travel editor of the Houston Chronicle, Mary Lu Abbott, ran a story about us that day. With my meager life savings on the line, I wanted to be in the office just in case the phone rang, and it did.

We were a new breed of travel agency with a unique mission: to convince cruise lines, airlines, tour operators and hotels that they should deeply discount the price of unsold cabins, seats and rooms near departure date, that making anything on the inventory was better than making nothing.

If we could do that, we would have a viable business and open up the world to people who could not have afforded international travel otherwise.

I set out to convince major travel companies to give us deals they did not offer to other travel agencies. This was not made easier by the fact that we had no customers.

Finding customers, on the other hand, was not aided by the fact that we had no deals.

Eventually, a dozen airlines, cruise lines and tour operators agreed to test our concept. Riding what turned into a huge wave of publicity due to our record-low prices, we were off and running on that day in May 1984.

In 1986, we took the company public, and in 1987, we launched our publishing division with the first of our three magazines, Vacations, which was later joined by Travel 50 & Beyond and Where to Retire. I coaxed Mary Lu away from the Houston Chronicle and she became the founding editor of Where to Retire, where she called the shots until her own retirement in 2012.

We grew out of that shopping center space and opened an airline-style reservation center, and added travel and retirement books to our list of publications. After several years as a public company, we bought out the outside shareholders and took the company private.

In 1999, we launched our cruise website and within a few years, we launched sites for river cruises, guided tours, air & hotel packages, safaris and more.

We bought our own office building, translated our cruise site into Spanish and Portuguese and French, launched group cruise and hosted singles departments and the industry's first department dedicated solely to cruise passengers with special needs.

Somewhere along the way, we became the world's largest seller of cruises and river cruises.

So many people have contributed to the growth and success of Vacations To Go that it would be impossible to name them all. Three who stand out are Emerson Hankamer, our CEO; Troy Bringle, our President; and Dane Fish, our CFO.

Today, we represent every significant cruise line, river cruise company, tour operator and hotel chain in the world. True to our roots, we are still the very best at finding last-minute discounts for our customers. Our 90-Day Ticker is the standard by which all last-minute cruise lists are measured.

Every week, we sell hundreds of cruise cabins at the last minute, at rates that other travel agencies never even hear about. And we offer deep early bird discounts and shipboard credits for people who prefer to make plans in advance.

When I look back at what has been accomplished in the last 40 years, I am most proud of the group we have built here, the more than 1,000 men and women of Vacations To Go. They are the kind of people you want to go to work with every day, dedicated to being the best and providing the best service and advice in the travel industry.

I am grateful to be on the same team.

In our four decades, the travel industry has survived more epidemics, hurricanes, wars and recessions than I can remember. The instant, global dissemination of bad news sometimes makes it seem like the world is a dangerous place, but I don't believe there are any new threats in the world, just new strains of old threats.

International travel today is safer than it has ever been, and there are more amazing trips to more fascinating places than ever before.

And Vacations To Go? We are bigger and better than ever.

What new adventures await travelers in the next 40 years? I can hardly wait to find out!

You can be sure that Vacations To Go will be here to bring you the very best the world has to offer -- at a discount, of course.

Sincerely,

Alan Fox
Executive Chairman
Vacations To Go

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In case you missed any of our recent river cruise newsletters, I've provided links below for the last 10 topics we've covered. Click any link to read more.

Highlights of the Danube -- Learn about the best places to visit on the Danube River.

American Cruise Lines, Hurtigruten Expeditions & More -- Get a few ideas that may help you plan your next vacation.

AmaWaterways -- Receive special access to deals and browse a wide selection of sailings.

Brand-New Itineraries -- Check out new river cruises debuting this year.

Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours -- Browse this company's all-inclusive offerings.

10 Best-Selling River Itineraries -- See some of our most popular river cruises in Europe and the U.S.

Avalon Waterways -- Take advantage of flexible excursion options to customize your experience.

Germany River Cruises -- Discover top sights along the Rhine, Main, Mosel and other waterways.

Emerald Cruises -- Enjoy unique amenities and exceptional value.

Unique Ship Features -- Take a look at special ship amenities like onboard herb gardens and innovative designs for private balconies.

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Here are this week's Top 10 River Cruises. All prices are per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability.

1) Danube Dreams, 8 days with Avalon Waterways. Travels between Budapest and Vilshofen. Save 50%. Starting at $1,800. Departures from May 28, 2024 through November 11, 2024.

2) Brilliant Bordeaux, 8 days with Uniworld Boutique River Cruises. Begins and ends in Bordeaux. Save up to 50%. Starting at $1,960. Departures from July 14, 2024 through October 26, 2025.

3) Danube Waltz, 8 days with Viking. Travels between Budapest and Munich. Save with special cruise rates, plus get free or reduced airfare. Starting at $1,999. Departures from May 28, 2024 through November 17, 2026.

4) Eastern Danube River Cruise, 9 days with Gate 1 Travel. Travels between Giurgiu and Budapest. Save $800 per couple. Starting at $2,199. Departures from September 25, 2025 through October 30, 2025.

5) Colors of Provence, 8 days with AmaWaterways. Travels between Arles and Lyon. Save 50%. Starting at $2,250. Departures from July 18, 2024 through August 15, 2024.

6) Jewels of the Rhine, 8 days Emerald Cruises. Travels between Zurich and Amsterdam. Save up to 68%. Starting at $2,320. Departures from June 1, 2024 through November 1, 2025.

7) Rhine Cruise to Switzerland, 8 days with Riviera River Cruises. Travels between Cologne and Basel. Save $650 per couple. Starting at $2,399. Departures from May 31, 2024 through October 24, 2025.

8) Highlights of Normandy & the Seine, 8 days with Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours. Begins and ends in Paris. Save up to 72%. Starting at $2,892. Departures from August 4, 2024 through October 22, 2025.

9) Lower Mississippi River Cruise, 9 days with American Cruise Lines. Travels between Memphis and New Orleans. Fly for free, plus save up to $1,000 per couple off the cruise price. Starting at $3,720. Departures from August 16, 2024 through November 29, 2024.

10) Rhine Connoisseur, 11 days with Tauck. Travels between Brussels and Montreux. Starting at $6,790. Departures from June 2, 2024 through October 5, 2025.

Customers in the US and Canada can call us toll-free at 800-510-4002. For a list of our other toll-free numbers worldwide, click here.

Please e-mail me your comments, suggestions and questions at alanfox@rivercruise.com and I will respond the same day.

Sincerely,

Alan Fox
Executive Chairman
Vacations To Go