The brand's first yacht
The Emerald Azzurra was delivered on 8 February 2022 by a Ha Long yard, in
Vietnam, and put to sea on 11 March 2022 from Aqaba, in Jordan. She was
christened in Venice on 28 May the same year. One hundred and ten metres,
sixteen metres in beam, seven decks of which six carry travellers, under the
Bahamas flag.
One hundred travellers, 50 cabins and suites. Here is the most concrete
difference from the same brand's river ships: forty-four cabins out of fifty
have a real step-out balcony, furnished with two chairs and a table. You walk
onto it. The six cabins on deck three have only a window.
A ship that has changed seas often
Red Sea in 2022, Persian Gulf from January 2023, Caribbean from November
2023, Mediterranean and Aegean in 2026. The 2024-2025 Seychelles season was
postponed because of the situation in the Red Sea, and the yacht was redeployed
to the Caribbean.
Her maiden voyage had itself been put back twice, from July 2021 to March
2022. That mobility is a commercial asset and a planning constraint: on a yacht
this size, a programme can move from one ocean to another in a season.
Our inventory counts one hundred and eighty-three departures, twenty-six in
2026 and sixty-nine in 2027, plus dates through to 2029.
The other ships in the fleet
The Emerald Sakara is her twin. The Emerald Kaia is larger and more recent. The Emerald Xara enters service
in Asia in 2028. The Emerald Harmony holds the Mekong.
An owned fleet, not a chartered one
The Australian group behind this brand does not rent its ships: it owns
them. Since 2020 it also owns a shipbuilder in Croatia, and it calls its own
the Vietnamese yard its yachts come from. The river hulls come from Dutch
yards, one of the most recent from Romania.
The difference shows the day a third-party shipowner takes a hull back for
its own brand, which does happen elsewhere in European river cruising. Here the
question does not arise in the same way.
The inclusions, and what not to transpose
The fare covers gratuities to the crew, the guides and the drivers, standard
drinks at meals, at least one excursion per touring day and internet access. On
the river ships, electric bicycles are available.
What it does not cover here: the international flight. Note that the same
brand's British offer does cover it, transfers included. It is the most common
confusion about this line, and it costs dearly when discovered at payment.
Reduced mobility: read this before booking
Able companion required. Folding wheelchair only. Mobility scooter judged
unsuitable. The line itself warns that cabin and bathroom doors may not be wide
enough for a standard wheelchair.
No number of adapted cabins is published for the river fleet, and on the
yachts the absence of an adapted cabin is established by two independent
sources. Add mooring abreast, common in Europe: the passenger on the outer ship
crosses the neighbouring vessel by narrow gangways and stairs.
The Quebec frame
This brand's contract is signed by an Australian company. No Quebec licence
is established for it. It is the agency that brings the protection: a licence
from the Office de la protection du consommateur, a trust account separate from
the firm's own funds, and the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents.
Those three follow a booking made here, and only that one.