Europe's River Cruise Season Off to a Splashy Start with Uniworld Christening

Europe's River Cruise Season Off to a Splashy Start with Uniworld Christening

Europe's river cruise season got off to a more glittery launch than usual this weekend in Amsterdam when Uniworld christened the S.S. Antoinette, its first-ever newbuild. The 146-passenger vessel, built at Holland's Shipyard De Hoop, is the most innovative ship sailing on Europe's rivers today.

River Antoinette is the first of three Uniworld vessels to debut in 2011; ships in Russia and Portugal will be introduced later this spring by the Los Angeles-based company.

Suitably held two days before the official start of spring, Saturday's ceremony was unusually intimate in scope and much more personal than recent big-ship christenings like Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas and Disney Dream.

That's a direct result of the company being family owned and operated. About 100 attendees -- family friends, journalists, travel agency owners -- were on hand to hear the 26-piece Amsterdam Brass, whose tunes seemed to focus on a rotation of "Moon River," the "Love Boat" theme and a haunting song from the "Titanic" soundtrack.

Of course, there were the traditional accoutrements of a ship christening, including speeches from cruise line executives, tourism officials and the Amsterdam harbormaster. The traditional dedication, complete with the smashing of a Champagne bottle against the hull (in this case, it required two tries), was the highlight.

Uniworld, one of the world's fastest growing cruise companies, is owned by the far-reaching Travel Corporation, whose holdings include a variety of brands ranging from Trafalgar Tours to the super-luxe Red Carnation Hotels. Three generations of family members (under patriarch Stanley Tollman) are intimately involved in many if not all of its ventures.