From barges to gulets, small ships a big hit in the Covid era: Travel Weekly

One of the most positive travel trends to emerge from Covid-19 has been the “RV effect.” But traveler responses to the pandemic are also creating a silver lining beyond recreational vehicle road trips and private villas to include yachts, river barges, schooners, even a renovated minesweeper.

As travelers seek close-to-home and private options to travel in the pandemic, Amtrak Vacations said it has seen a dramatic rise in new-to-rail-vacation customers.

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Luxury tour operators and yacht rental companies said they are seeing growing demand from first-time customers and ocean cruisers for the variety of small-boat products that enable families or groups of friends to travel in their own bubble.

Private yacht charter company the Moorings, which has a fleet of 1,000 yachts in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and exotic locales like French Polynesia and the Indian Ocean, said…