What actually happens at our office when the bike and boat season ends? While winter sets in outside, behind the scenes the bike workshop, product management, and logistics departments are running at full speed. Bikes are serviced, routes are revised, materials are sorted—and at the same time, winter and holiday trips on the MS SE-MANON are just around the corner. A glance at our everyday winter routine shows that the next season is starting right now.
When the last guests return home from their bike and boat trips and the ships move into their winter quarters, it seems as if calm has returned to our office. But the opposite is true.
Work continues in the office - just in a different way. Since the summer, our sales team has been processing bookings for winter trips and the coming season, answering inquiries, and confirming new trips. At the same time, preparations are underway for the major travel fairs, where we will present our program and talk to partners and guests. And while our winter and festive trips with the MS SE-MANON are still coming up during Advent, we are already looking far ahead to next year.
With the end of the season, our focus shifts: we plan dates, prepare for trade fairs, and put everything together for the coming year. So winter is anything but quiet, because this is when we get the next season on track.
While the ships have long since been laid up for the winter, the real peak season is just beginning for our bike workshop in Bremerhaven. From October to March, it's a hive of activity here, as all the bikes that were on the road during the season gradually come back “home.”
Almost 1,000 bikes – e-bikes and classic touring bikes – are then stored in our large hall. Each one is carefully checked by Sascha and Paddy. The two of them know every model, every screw, and even the little quirks of the bikes, which are simply part and parcel of traveling thousands of kilometers over dykes, bridges, and river promenades.
The winter task is clear: every bike gets its inspection. Brakes, lights, chains, gears – everything is checked, readjusted or replaced if necessary. Worn pedal rubbers are replaced, broken parts repaired, bikes cleaned and visually reconditioned.
And, of course, there are always things that make Sascha and Paddy smile. Once, a particularly enthusiastic guest marked his bike with a sticker of his soccer club – so stubbornly that it took the two of them “almost half a day” to remove it.
Bike after bike is checked until the entire fleet is ready to go on tour again in the spring. This is usually invisible to guests – but it is precisely this careful winter work that ensures that everything runs smoothly next year and that the bikes roll reliably along the most beautiful paths.
While the bikes are being spruced up in the workshop, product management is busy preparing the content for the coming season. Even though the catalog for 2026 has long been published, that doesn't mean things are quiet here—quite the contrary.
Now begins the phase in which the team collects and evaluates feedback from the past season. The tour guides come to visit, talk about new construction sites, changed routes, or particularly beautiful sections of the route that they have discovered. All of this feedback is incorporated into the detailed planning for the next season.
On this basis, route books, GPS data, and the content of the GUIBO app are revised, supplemented, or completely rebuilt. At the same time, the map material for the bike and boat trips is created, which guests will later receive on board.
And while the 2026 season is still in the fine-tuning stage, product management is already thinking one step ahead: What could 2027 look like? Will there be new ships, new regions, routes with potential, or completely new travel ideas? Winter is the time when such considerations take shape – often long before they appear in the catalog.
In this way, product management ensures that our guests will continue to travel the most beautiful routes in the future – well informed, well prepared, and with ever-new inspiration for their next trip.
While other departments are already deep into their follow-up work, everything runs parallel in logistics: reviewing the past season, preparing for the next year—and a lot of organization in between.
A large part of the winter work consists of planning the tour guides for the 2026 season. Who will accompany which ship? Which dates are suitable? And where might new team members be needed who will have to be trained?
At the same time, the material from the 2025 season is being reviewed: What came back from the ships? What needs to be renewed, repaired, or completely replaced? The warehouse is a hive of activity, as everything is sorted, checked, and prepared in time for the start of the season.
And in addition to all this, another important phase begins in winter: travel fair season. From brochure stands and banners to giveaways, the logistics department collects, packs, and organizes everything our sales representatives need for the upcoming travel trade fairs throughout Germany. Anything that is missing is reordered, anything that is broken is replaced, and anything new is immediately added to the schedule.
This creates a finely tuned interplay behind the scenes – so that at the start of the season, not only are the ships and bikes ready, but also the people, materials, and trade fair appearances are perfectly prepared.
Even though the bike and boat season is on hold and the winter- and festive trips are just around the corner, everything is still in motion behind the scenes. Our bike workshop, product management, and logistics teams are working hand in hand to optimize routes, get equipment ready, and prepare for the coming season. Much of this work normally remains invisible, but it is precisely these winter months that ensure that everything can run smoothly in the spring.
And we are far from finished:
In the next part, we will take a look at the departments that work particularly closely with our guests in winter. From bookings and communication to travel fairs and public relations, things continue to be just as exciting there.
Part 2 follows!
Don't miss your chance to receive an early booking discount of €50 per person! Only valid until February 28, 2026 for all bookings for the 2026 season.
