Jump to content

Cruise cancelled mechanical problemWe want


amd1234
 Share

Recommended Posts

We just received a call from TA that our cruise Aug 22-Sept 4 Amsterdam to Basel was cancelled due to mechanical problem... Uniworld River Queen.. we are trying to decide what to do! Negotiating details flights, travel insurance, compensation. We were offered an alternative itinerary different ship with two dates in August. (No) The date for same ship and itinerary will be departing Sept16... A bit disappointing we are bummed,! We booked our flights through Uniworld and I upgraded to Delta comfort months ago only a number of these seats.. lots to think about.. Travel insurance would that be difficult to change? Any recommendations how to deal with this?

Edited by amd1234
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi A,

 

Your insurance should cover you for any losses you incur if you can't get a full refund on your air tickets, ec.

 

>Travel insurance would that be difficult to change?

 

Have you called your insurer?

 

Ira

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So did Uniworld give you any alternatives. There are at least 100 people plus how do they arrange new bookings on ships that are probably filled? We are waiting to hear from TA but tentatively booked for Sept 16 but after I said ok,I noticed the itinerary was in reverse. Not thrilled about flying into Basel because there is no direct flight from Boston. Flying into Amsterdam direct is so much easier to start the cruise..Not sure how Uniworld will handle flight arrangements! I had picked my flights with great connection on the return. Delta comfort .. This will be a problem...keep me posted. I have all summer clothes ready to pack I guess I reshuffle my pile😀

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not thrilled about flying into Basel because there is no direct flight from Boston. Flying into Amsterdam direct is so much easier to start the cruise..

 

Last minute changes are always a challenge. Twice in the past DL cancelled our flights about 2 weeks prior to travel to Europe. Not only did they cancel them, they suspended service to those airports completely and did not offer us anything but a refund. I had to really scramble to find flights and both times we paid a lot more. These things happen and are not pleasant to deal with.

 

Personally, we prefer to get the connection out of the way on the way over, rather than on the return, if the flight options are there. Basel is such an easy airport and that would be the least of my concerns if it is the itinerary I want.

 

September is a great month for Europe as the crowds are less and the weather is generally very pleasant. Hope it all works out for you.

 

I would personally look at another line on the dates that you prefer/have now and perhaps get a refund from Uniworld on the cruise and keep the flights, if you are that happy with them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are booked on the same cruise. Not great news to wake up to! Won't be able to contact TA or Uniworld for another couple of hours (we're on the East coast). What are the alternative itineraries Uniworld is offering? We've been looking forward to this trip for months. Glad we purchased trip insurance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Babcia7.. also waiting to talk to my TA she didn't get back to me last night. We had to make a quick decision yesterday I am sure they were scrambling to get cabins for clients. We were offered a few dates on Uniworld ships with itinerary Amsterdam to Budapest one trip leaving in a few days..we have cruised this itinerary and not interested.. We are tentatively booked for same ship and the itinerary is in reverse. Sept 16...We had booked our air through Uniworld and I upgraded to Delta comfort .. I picked my flights with great connections. Uniworld is compensating us but I wasn't interested in a $400.00 on board credit(how could we spend this?..) We negotiated a cash credit on my cc card also the compensation will be on my CC.. Put away all my summer clothes and prepare for a warmer wardrobe. I am so disappointed but I know things happen hopefully they will have flights for us! This is the first time we have booked flights with Uniworld so hopefully this was a good thing!:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So sorry this happened to you! How disappointing.

 

We always book our own air and this has happened to us once. The 2013 flooding on the Danube caused our cruise to be cancelled with only a few days' notice. We took the full refund from the cruise line, and kept our flights, and went to Germany anyway on our own. It was a great two week trip, and we made it up as we went along. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because we saw more than we would have seen on the river cruise, had we taken it.

 

But if you're not comfortable traveling on your own in Europe, I can see this being a non-option. Hope that you get a suitable replacement cruise which fits your wants/needs. Good luck to all of you.

 

PS - you can spend OBC on Uniworld. There are optional excursions, and you can also buy wine from their collection. We bought a few bottles last time and brought them home. A nice way to use OBC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JP thx. Didn't think to us OBC for wine:D.. we could never do Europe on our own . It would have been an option in our younger days! I love river cruising because everything is planned unpack once and just keep kck back and enjoy.. We always did pre and post but it got to be too much for husband.. Anxious to hear from TA today she and Uniworld are on West Coast... I will post when I hear something...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Babcia7.. also waiting to talk to my TA she didn't get back to me last night. We had to make a quick decision yesterday I am sure they were scrambling to get cabins for clients. We were offered a few dates on Uniworld ships with itinerary Amsterdam to Budapest one trip leaving in a few days..we have cruised this itinerary and not interested.. We are tentatively booked for same ship and the itinerary is in reverse. Sept 16...We had booked our air through Uniworld and I upgraded to Delta comfort .. I picked my flights with great connections. Uniworld is compensating us but I wasn't interested in a $400.00 on board credit(how could we spend this?..) We negotiated a cash credit on my cc card also the compensation will be on my CC.. Put away all my summer clothes and prepare for a warmer wardrobe. I am so disappointed but I know things happen hopefully they will have flights for us! This is the first time we have booked flights with Uniworld so hopefully this was a good thing!:)

Did you enjoy your cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest? We are looking into that option, since we'd have a difficult time getting away in the fall. (We're farmers and will be busy with harvesting in mid-September). Waiting to hear back from our TA about our options. Scrambling to make lemonade out of lemons!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our first cruise was the Danube we flew to Parage ended in Budapest... It was on AMA wonderful itinerary I would cruise this itinerary no problem.. My husband wants to do the Rhine and we are hoping it works out for us....I really am disappointed that we have to wait until mid September .. Good Luck.. can't imagine trying to rebook all these people with flights etc...we booked this cruise last July...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our first cruise was the Danube we flew to Parage ended in Budapest... It was on AMA wonderful itinerary I would cruise this itinerary no problem.. My husband wants to do the Rhine and we are hoping it works out for us....I really am disappointed that we have to wait until mid September .. Good Luck.. can't imagine trying to rebook all these people with flights etc...we booked this cruise last July...

 

Later Sept. timing could be a blessing in disguise. We much prefer cooler weather, especially for the walking tours. While the port towns will still be very crowded it's always more tolerable when it isn't hot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JP thx. Didn't think to us OBC for wine:D.. we could never do Europe on our own . It would have been an option in our younger days! I love river cruising because everything is planned unpack once and just keep kck back and enjoy.. We always did pre and post but it got to be too much for husband.. Anxious to hear from TA today she and Uniworld are on West Coast... I will post when I hear something...

 

We have used our OBC on Uniworld for massages and their small gift shop/windows. Back in June my wife got 2 nice pieces of jewelry with our OBC

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still waiting for Uniworld to get back to my TA.. We are waiting for flight information.. i was adamant that we needed the flights that I had booked with Delta Comfort..probably none available....I checked myself and Air France Boston to Basel had a one hour connection ...at CDG Paris...Or 3hr layover in Amsterdam:D:D one hr?.too close

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Still waiting for Uniworld to get back to my TA.. We are waiting for flight information.. i was adamant that we needed the flights that I had booked with Delta Comfort..probably none available....I checked myself and Air France Boston to Basel had a one hour connection ...at CDG Paris...Or 3hr layover in Amsterdam:D:D one hr?.too close

 

One hour at CDG is two hours too few. Don't do it. That airport is a cluster of epic proportions - on it's best day.

 

Amsterdam would be my choice.

 

 

For the OBC, you can use toward excursions (we found the optionals on Uniworld privey), massages, and on ships, there is an extra charge dining venue ($95 pp on the JDV).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thx.. you are right .. we would take Amsterdam... we were originally booked with Delta comfort and Air France has no availability for premium economy... Flights originally booked through Uniworld. We need the extra room due to issues with my husband. I am sure Uniworld won't book us to a higher class...:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So sorry to hear that your cruise was cancelled; I know how much you were looking forward to it! Have you looked at flying Boston to Zurich instead of Basel? Swiss Air and United both have direct flights Boston to Zurich and the train ride from Zurich to Basel is only an hour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are still waiting for our TA to find out other possibilities for Uniworld tours during the period this ship was to sail.

 

We did proactively call Uniworld's offices on the night we heard of the cancellation. It rang through to Australian office where they couldn't do anything for us other than look at other possibilities and availability. We would have to wait until the LA office opened in the morning to do any changes. By that time we would be at work. And as we are both still working changing to the September 16 sailing is not an option.

 

European Jewels was a possibility but it had only staterooms 4/5 left and we booked stateroom 1 and also had already done this tour in 2014. We did our flights on our own because we had a family memorial (we need to be at this) prior to going in London, UK and made time for a 5 night stay in Switzerland after.

 

We also looked at Viking cruises during the time period, but am inclined to stay with Uniworld because you usually end up paying though the nose for a last minute booking. And also I'm not sure how long it would take for Uniworld to return the monies we paid so I can use to pay for another companies tour.

 

So, hopefully our TA today can confirm other options today. Apparently there is a Uniworld person specifically entailed (according to TA) to deal with the displaced passengers. Also, waiting for the official letter from Uniworld (via the TA) on the cancellation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I could put on my running shoes leaving hubby in the dust! Thx Kathy for the suggestion of Zurich. We booked with Uniworld for our flights and I just spoke with my TA and we wait for Uniworld to give us our options and negotiate.. I am sure they will try and give us the less expensive option. I don't want 3 and 4 hr..layovers! When I booked last July the price was great with good connections. I chose the flights...Hopefully we will have this resolved soon...we have the original cabin booking ..Sept 16-28.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...