What if you could experience Europe’s Christmas markets and tulip season before the crowds arrive? In this episode of Luxury Cruising, host Dr. Krystal Sodaitis welcomes travel advisor Melissa to explain soft-opening river cruises, their benefits, the best times to travel, and how to choose the right cruise for a more relaxed European experience.
Have you ever wondered whether you can experience Europe’s famous Christmas markets or tulip season before the crowds arrive?
Host Dr. Krystal Sodaitis welcomes Melissa to explain soft-opening river cruises, what travelers can expect, and how these early-season sailings offer a different way to explore Europe’s seasonal attractions. Melissa shares her experiences sailing with AmaWaterways and visiting destinations during the early stages of seasonal openings. From Christmas markets with fewer vendors to behind-the-scenes tulip experiences, she explains the advantages and limitations of traveling before peak season. The conversation also explores luxury river cruise options, multi-generational travel, and choosing the right itinerary.
Discover how soft-opening cruises work, when to book seasonal European sailings, who benefits most, and how a knowledgeable travel advisor can help match your preferences with the right river cruise.
Episode Highlights:
About the Guest:
Melissa is a travel advisor with a strong focus on European river cruising. Through her experiences with multiple river cruise brands, including AmaWaterways, she helps travelers explore seasonal experiences such as Christmas markets and tulip season. She emphasizes understanding each client’s preferences to match them with the right cruise, itinerary, and excursions.
Email; Melissa@ccta.co
Phone: 602-558-0154.
About the Host:
Dr. Krystal Sodaitis is a pediatrician, executive, and life coach for neurodiverse physicians—and the passionate host behind Luxury Cruising. She brings expert insight and honest excitement to every interview, helping curious travelers elevate their adventures at sea.
📍 Website: luxurycruising.net
📧 Email: luxurycruisingpodcast@gmail.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/krystalsodaitis
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[00:00:00] Welcome back to Luxury Cruising. I'm your host, Crystal Soraitis, and we've got something really great this week. Melissa is here, and Melissa has had a really special experience in that she has been to a soft opening. And when she first started talking about that, I had never heard that term before.
and so I just found that really curious, and so I asked her to be on the podcast because I wanted her to share with you all, you know, what soft openings are, how you can potentially sail during a soft opening. what's the benefit of doing a soft opening? I mean, I've got a couple that I think of, but we'll let Melissa also share.
and yeah, and what ship she was on, of course. We always wanna hear about the ship. So Melissa, with that, please tell the audience anything else you would like them to know about you. Yeah. So I am Melissa, as you said, and, I have had the opportunity to go back to back with,ASTA, which is the American Society of Travel Advisors, [00:01:00] to their expo river cruise for, the European river cruises.
So because of that, they bring in three-- Gosh, I don't even know how many brands, but there are all of the brands, all the river cruises that come in, and there's anywhere between 12 and 14. So it is just a really neat opportunity to be able to experience all of them at one time, and then do pre, post, and sail.
So, but that is in a nutshell about myself. But yes- Awesome ... I do love the soft openings. You are right. So tell us, what is a soft opening? Yeah. So I can give an example for Christmas. the Christmas markets are obviously huge, right? So a lot of people go in the December timeframe, but they tend to open up a little bit earlier.
It doesn't mean that all of them are open, it just means that there's a soft opening. So when you are sailing, you might go to a typical excursion, but then maybe in [00:02:00] one port you'll be able to go to a Christmas market because they are slowly starting to open. So it's not as busy just because it's not peak season.
last year we went, the first week of December and it was snowing. It was absolutely beautiful. But that was the first real opening of the Christmas markets, so it was starting to become extremely busy. But the year before and then this year, we're going next month, and it's just going to be about a week before, so that we'll hit a couple different Christmas markets, the ones that open earlier, and then we'll also be able to do usual excursions.
So the soft opening is just an intro. Some vendors are setting up, but not as many as usual. How do you know when the soft opening happens? Yeah. So a lot of times it's just because I do focus a lot of Europe and river cruises. [00:03:00] So because of that, I do go over frequently, and we do, the soft opening so that we can experience it.
and then we just kind of narrowed it down, usually at the end of November for the Christmas. But it does say, for example, on AmaWaterway, it does show, right, based on the name of the actual tour. And then as it's getting closer to Christmas, 'cause those vendors are there and they don't necessarily have to show up on the 24th or the 25th.
They're gonna be with their families. So we know during that timeframe, chances of vendors being at the Christmas markets, probably slim to none. But at least maybe if they do stop, they can experience a little bit of it. It won't be open, but they'll at least be able to experience some.
So we usually put the clients
at the end of November.
I think I went December 2nd or 4th of last year. And like I said, everything was just opening up. it was beautiful. It was snowing and [00:04:00] absolutely gorgeous. Yeah. So I always think of the opening of the Christmas markets as being like Thanksgiving week. So would that be considered a soft opening, or is a soft opening even before that?
Yeah. So it is pretty much a soft opening right around that timeframe. it's actually we're doing the 18th through the 25th of November. There's only going to be a couple that are going to be open. So it is combined, that one is gonna be combined with a wine cruise and a Christmas market cruise. And the reason why is because it's a soft opening.
You're not going to go to every port where every single excursion is going to be catered towards the Christmas markets. It's going to have the wine. It's going to have the Christmas markets. And then that way, you can go tour whichever one you would like. And usually that week, real soft opening.
The following week, a few more open up, and then by December 2nd, right around there, everything [00:05:00] is pretty much open. Vendors have arrived Awesome. So, You know how I'm thinking about they give all the cruises these little, like, names, right? Like Christmas on the Danube, or I can't even remember what some of them are.
So in the name, does it say soft Christmas market opening, or do you just look at the
excursions? How can you pick it out
yeah, so it doesn't necessarily say soft opening, but taste of Christmas markets or taste of something along those lines. So it just is a key for just a little bit, but not immersive.
So it's just a little bit of keywords that most of the, river cruise lines, they use so that you can see that, it's slowly starting to open up. And even after Christmas, or not after Christmas, but right up until Christmas as well. And you had mentioned also that you had done Ama for the soft opening of the tulips.
Yes. What's that? Oh my gosh, that was really a neat experience. It was [00:06:00] another time that it was with ASTA. And so we had the start of the River Expo up in Amsterdam, and it just happened to be right when tulip season was just starting and everything was opening up. So we were able to go and get kind of a sneak peek behind the scenes tour of everything.
Absolutely fascinating. If you ever have the opportunity to go during tulip season, it is absolutely... even if you don't love flowers, don't say that. But if, even if you don't love flowers, it really is just a neat time to be able to go and experience it. So it was what would be considered a soft opening.
It was actually the week before they were supposed to be open, but because we were all there, they did have kind of a sneak peek behind the scenes, a soft opening for, for the advisors to go visit. So are there regular cruises that go- Mm-hmm ... during like soft opening of tulips for like anybody? Can anybody go- Oh, [00:07:00] absolutely
take a river cruise during soft opening? Oh, yeah, absolutely. So you can do any of the soft openings. Now, what we did for ASTA was a little bit different just because we have to be able to speak to everything. So in order for us to speak to tulips or Christmas or the Rhine, whatever it might be, we have to be able to go and have that exposure and experience.
But yes, absolutely. When that season opens, oh my gosh, anybody can book and go and experience, we did a canal, tour, and then we went out to, the tulips. it's just a really neat opportunity and then you can sail down to Basel, Switzerland, which is a beautiful place.
Yeah, Absolutely. What's the benefit of booking a soft open as opposed to, like, shoulder season? tell us the difference.
So really it's one and the same. So, [00:08:00] river cruises June, July, August are extremely busy. a lot of individuals are traveling over to Europe. It's a very busy season during the summer months. So May is a great time. April, obviously, for tulips in the late, March, it's absolutely stunning.
So the shoulder months really are the May, the September, the October timeframe, that's kind of the shoulder season. But the soft openings are actually the openings to more, customized, so, I think Christmas river cruises, and then think tulips. So it's a soft opening for those as opposed to there's not really a shoulder timeframe for those.
the shoulder timeframe is cruises all year long as opposed to soft opening for an experience. could you say that the soft opening is sometimes, like, at the very end of shoulder [00:09:00] season as shoulder season is transitioning into a particular season like the tulips or the Christmas markets?
Yeah, and sometimes, so April is a great time. I think it was last year was March, it was noticeably a little chilly. Beautiful, but there's European cold, and it's cold. So that was great, but, because of that, we were entering the soft opening for the tulips, and right after the tulips, because a lot of individuals do go for that season.
So then after that is more or less the shoulder season. Now you're entering the May timeframe, and it's a little bit more, I'm not gonna say slow, 'cause I don't wanna say that by any means, but June, July, and August is just so packed with guests and clients. and then you're going over to September, which is large in Germany for the Oktoberfest, even though it's October.
it actually goes in September. So then you have a lot of clients that want to be able to stop somewhere along the way to go experience [00:10:00] Oktoberfest. So, and then you're exiting that, and then you have kind of a little bit of a shoulder season, and you enter into a soft opening for Christmas market, and then obviously the Christmas market.
Because It's only about a month long, if that. Yeah. So because of that, it's high peak season Actually, you know, I recently, did a podcast, it's probably a couple weeks, two or three weeks before this one, where I talked about, fall foliage or leaf-peeping cruises. Oh. And actually, the leaf-peeping cruises in Europe is some of the most expensive time to sail.
Yeah. Because it is such a condensed... So we think that, late September, October is kind of like a shoulder season. It's a really expensive shoulder season because it's- ... because you are, Europe experiences the change of seasons the same way- Oh, yeah ... that the Northeast does, ... and they're just, ah, I'm sure it would [00:11:00] be absolutely gorgeous sailing.
Yes, and I've sailed all different times of the year. Oh, and each time is just beautiful, but you have all of the different seasons. You have all of the different events, everything. So it just seems like every single month, no matter where you are, there's something to celebrate and something different, which I absolutely love.
Yeah. So. If someone was really interested in taking advantage of one of these soft openings- Yeah ... is that a term that any travel advisor knows, or should they seek someone, like, who specializes in either cruising or river cruising? It is beneficial to make sure that, the agent has experienced it. and I say that just because there's a lot that goes into the details.
And knowing that even though it's, let's just say the Rhine or the [00:12:00] Danube, let's just go with the Rhine, it might be one port that's just a little bit different, but a whole different name. So it's important to know and ask those qualifying questions. what do you want to see?
where do you want to go? so it is important to have those conversations. I would say somebody that specializes in it. and the only reason I say that is because there's so many moving pieces when it comes to river cruising. I call it a soft opening, just because that truly is what it is.
It's starting to roll out no matter what it might be. and so that's usually what I say. And then there's programs that go on at different times, the golf program, the wine tours. If you love art, there's just so much you can see on all of the different river cruises. I use soft opening. for me, it's a little bit easier of a term so that when somebody says that, I know that they wanna go just before it's opening and before it's extremely busy, [00:13:00] with the caveat that not all of the vendors might be open specifically for
river cruising during Christmas time
Oh, I got it. So is this a Melissa term or is this a well-known industry term? it is a well-known term. If somebody says soft opening, they should know exactly what that means. I use it, but I'm sure everybody uses this, the word soft opening. Okay, good. Okay.
We were talking earlier, you did the tulips on Ama- ... and also recently did, another cruise on Ama. Tell us the the Ama ships that you were on So I was on AmaViola, which was on the Danube. So we started in Budapest, and that was a beautiful start of a trip. Absolutely stunning. and then we went to Vienna and Salzburg, which is part of the reason I wanted to go back for the Christmas market, 'cause I thought Salzburg during Christmastime, stunning.
but that was what I started with, [00:14:00] was AmaViola, in Budapest. And so then ended up in Passau and, went on over and flew on home. and then the next one was also, my second one was on the Danube as well, and then that one was during, Christmastime, just because I wanted to experience all of the Christmas markets, but especially Salzburg.
So yeah, but that was on a different cruise ship. Got it. So what was it about... and then you did Ama For the soft opening of the tulips, correct? Yep. Yeah. Yeah. you know, I try to put clients with the river cruise. I don't try to tell people what's best for them. A qualification, qualifying questions, everything along those lines really help navigate the right cruise for the right client.
a lot of my clients, do go on Ama, so for that reason I like to sail on Ama as frequently as possible just [00:15:00] so that I can keep up to date with absolutely everything. but I love it. Ama, love. How could you not enjoy that? And it is really a family. And, I'll tell you one is that we were actually in Vienna and the Ama cruise that we were on months earlier was actually about a mile behind us, and we had messaged the crew over there and said, "We're on such and such cruise.
We're gonna be in Vienna. Where are you going to be?" And they said, "We're gonna be in Vienna at the same time." So we went back about a mile and saw them and said hello, and it was just like seeing family all over again. So real good crew. That is awesome. what stands out for you in terms of Ama?
Because you, you said you've been on, you know, several different cruise lines, several different ships. Yeah. What stands out for you on Ama that [00:16:00] when you hear a, a certain thing from a client you're like, "Oh, you've gotta go on Ama. this is the cruise line for you." Y- yeah, absolutely. So a lot of them, they...
A, a lot of clients, if they say they want the premium but maybe not luxury, high-end luxury. So it's the premium, so then that kind of narrows the scope. And then they say, "Well, we have a multi-gen family, so we want different activities." And I go, "Okay, let's narrow it down even more. Is it important to have a bicycle?
Is it important to be able to hike? Is it important to have a bus tour? Okay. that really narrows us down," because Ama does offer all of those options, three different levels of activities, which is an absolutely perfect candidate for multi-gen families that are, on river cruises. So it really takes it down to this is a great fit.
If you don't feel that, let's revisit. [00:17:00] But usually it's, a good fit especially for multi-gen that do want the, multiple levels of excursions and so forth. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. just stepping back to the soft opening, is there anyone- Yeah ... that the soft opening might not be a good fit for?
if somebody wants to go, let's take, Christmas markets for example. People have in their mind the picture perfect quintessential markets. It's not going to be completely open. So if you want something that's going to be open and vibrant and active and, just the epitome of Christmas markets, it may not be an ideal time.
because you're not going to be able to experience everything. If you want it a little bit slower, a slow opening, maybe 50% of the vendors showing up only because it hasn't opened completely, then that's a perfect candidate. But if they want the [00:18:00] full experience, then I would probably put them in, into December.
Yeah. Good to know. let me take a step back from, soft openings and ask you some general questions that, I ask everyone on the podcast. Yeah, sure. And the first question is, how do you define luxury? So my definition is really based off of my client's definition. If they come in and they say,
For river cruises specifically, "We want a suite. We want a butler." there are certain river cruises that every cabin comes with a butler. I loved it. I sure appreciated it, and so I can speak to that. there are some that are completely all-inclusive, and by that I mean beverages. So some offer it at lunch and dinner.
Others offer it whenever you feel like having something other than the cocktail hour and so forth. [00:19:00] So it really comes down to the client's definition, and then fitting them with the correct cruise. But really, all of them have the luxury of having suites. It doesn't mean the entire cruise ship has suites.
although there are some, that's all that they offer, and that's when I pivot and I take my clients over to truly a luxury brand. So for the soft opening, which luxury brands do you recommend? so there's a couple. I went on Riverside Luxury Cruise. That was beautiful. and it's all suites. It... butler for every single suite, so that was gorgeous.
Taoc is a very nice one as well. they do take care of their clients beautifully. I love those two very much, so I would probably lean towards those. But again, there's a couple others [00:20:00] that would hit my radar, and if clients wanted something a little bit different, then I would navigate that way.
Yeah, I'll leave it at that. Awesome. Do you have a dream cruise? Oh, I would love to do probably the Grand all the way from Budapest, all the way to Amsterdam just on one sailing. That would be absolutely amazing to be able to have that time, to be able to work from the river cruise and be able to just sit back and enjoy it.
I've done the Christmas market going back again, so obviously I love that one. But oh my gosh, to be able to go from Budapest to Amsterdam or vice versa, that would be absolutely a dream. That sounds amazing. I know. I love it So we know that you've got a soft opening Christmas market cruise coming up.
Yeah. any other cruises, river cruise or otherwise, in the works? Yep. I'll [00:21:00] be going back. I'll be doing, a different river cruise, Riviera. I have that one on my radar for, springtime of next year. And then I just, heard about another one, so I'll probably be doing another river cruise in possibly June.
There's a June and an August sailing, so I'm not quite sure which one I'll make, but I'm hoping to get back over there in
June. So those are the two so
far. Awesome. anytime you would like to come back on the podcast and tell us about those experiences, we would- Yeah ... absolutely love to have you.
If someone is interested in, connecting with you to book a sh- ... shoulder season or soft opening or on-season
cruise, how can they do that ?
they can email me at Melissa, M-E-L-I-S-S-A, @ccta.co, or they can call me, [00:22:00] 602-558-0154. And we'll definitely put those in the show notes. Melissa, thank you so much for coming- Uh-huh
and telling us about soft openings. I really
appreciate it. And to all the
listeners, thank you for being here again this week. And until next time, I wish you safe and luxurious cruising.