Low Waters on the Elbe

Trying to find out more information on what VRCs is doing regarding cruising on the Elbe. I hear the water is so low that the are using buses...

If anyone has any information...please post so I and others may know!

Thank you!

Here's the latest from Viking. We're scheduled on the Fontane later in the month, so are wondering what will happen.

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/about-my-cruise/current-sailings.html

Does anyone know why Viking is canceling the two older ship cruises but busing the two newer ships. Seems like it would have been better for us to have booked the older ones.

Probably because the newer ships are more comfortable and spacious than the older ships, the old ships are OK if the Cruise is cruising but are a bit like a prison if you are let out to go on bus tours for many hours a day and see the same bit of river/ sand bank if you are stuck in Ober Wurst am Elbe

We are to be on the Fontane September 10 sailing. I would think by now VRC knows they are going to cancel our sailing...so why don't they just let us know and give our money back?

I can see Alerts through the link provide by Jeff (see above) but I can not even access my trip via VRC webpage...wierd!

They do not want you to cancel because of the potential poor sailing conditions, they want to keep you hanging on until it is too late for you to cancel and then keep you and your money incarcerated on a series of static boats.

I do not think that the conditions will change unless there are huge rain storms over central Europe, however this would lead to flooding and rivers not suitable for sailing.

Booking Viking Schumann Prague/Berlin 4th Sept. Viking told me that a decision until a week before.

Regarding some sailing and some not this is the answer I got:

This is the email they sent me:

"As you have seen on the Viking website the Viking Beyla is currently running an amended itinerary. The feedback from our US guests suggests that would prefer to travel on the itinerary with these types of changes. The Viking Beyla is predominately sold by the US office.

However, our UK sailings on the Viking Fontane and Schumann the feedback we receive is that guests would rather have the cruise cancelled if there was any changes to the itinerary due to low water.

Next week management will be reviewing the situation regarding the Elbe, and the outcome will be reiterate to guests as soon as a decision is made."

Derek

Malarkey!!!! U.S. Citizens like expensive bus tours? Of course we do!

They do not want you to cancel because of the potential poor sailing conditions, they want to keep you hanging on until it is too late for you to cancel and then keep you and your money incarcerated on a series of static boats.

I do not think that the conditions will change unless there are huge rain storms over central Europe, however this would lead to flooding and rivers not suitable for sailing.

Good luck! Last year the Elbe had a similar problems with low water levels and I know from family who were on the older ship Fontane that they were bussed most of the week, the ship only moved once for a few hours during the entire trip. It was pretty much a bus trip.

Viking notified them 24 hours prior to departure which meant they were not able to take advance their cancellation insurance. The river levels had been very low several weeks and most of the previous trips were impacted.

Many other cruise lines have opted not to use the Elbe because it is a shallow river.

Check out this video with comparisons between July 2013 and the floods and July 2015 with the drought. The 2015 images give you a very good impression of the situation

Your video is very revealing! And who thinks a cruise is actually going to sail under those conditions?? The real sad thing is that the majority of the passengers don't have a clue !

Here's another video from an Tamil News station. Elbe was at 51cm when this video was taken.

I used your link several times now, thank you. When were to sail? Did they cancel your sailing or have not heard anything from them yet?

I still can not access my trip via VRC website. I sent them an email and they said they are experiencing a large volume of email so if I don't hear back in 10 days to write again. We sail on September 10.

Thanks for your help!

Hello GentlemanCruiser,

Thank you for your post...Question, when you say your family was notified only 24 hours prior to the "sailing", VRC did not give them the option to go or cancel with a full refund, since it was going to be a BUS tour not a River cruise??? If this is true I am very disappointed in a company that manages things this way. Very poor customer service I must say!

We sail on the Fontane September 10. I saw that they did cancel a few of the Fontane's sailings already but you would think they know that they are going to continue so why not cancel and refund the customer's funds to promote better relations then to hold on to their money and give them bus tours instead of a river cruise.

Again thank you for your information!

Another reason I'm saying NEVER! (Well to Viking anyway)

Wow :(

Again...really...people would rather do a BUS tour then a River cruise...I can believe this!?! They just don't want to loose the money. Instead they are going to loose customers! LIKE ME! I've done the Bus tour thing! That is why I booked a RIVER cruise!

UGH!

I must agree with you JVilleGal....NEVER again!

Hello GentlemanCruiser' date='

Thank you for your post...Question, when you say your family was notified only 24 hours prior to the "sailing", VRC did not give them the option to go or cancel with a full refund, since it was going to be a BUS tour not a River cruise??? If this is true I am very disappointed in a company that manages things this way. Very poor customer service I must say!

We sail on the Fontane September 10. I saw that they did cancel a few of the Fontane's sailings already but you would think they know that they are going to continue so why not cancel and refund the customer's funds to promote better relations then to hold on to their money and give them bus tours instead of a river cruise.

Again thank you for your information![/quote']

 

My family is in the UK. They were told their trip would be 'altered' and would be meeting this ship further upstream from the original point of Melnik. Never any mention of cancellation, nor were they given option to do so. They only found out about the daily bus trips once on board.

I'm not able to comment about refunds because I believe they had to sign a NDA.

I love the last link you provided...didn't understand a word she said but I didn't need to! It reminds me of the ALL the lakes and rivers in my state of California...Thanks for sharing!

Oh and this is the response I got from VRC when I sent their customer relations department an email asking them when we will get notice of our for sure cancelation. Thought I might share...

Hello,

This is acknowledgement that we are in receipt of your email.

We are experiencing a large influx of emails and phone calls; therefore, we kindly ask for your patience while we try to work with each of you.

If you do not hear from us within ten business days, please call us at 1-877-668-4546, extension 4525, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., PDT.

Kind regards,

Customer Relations I Viking Cruises I (t) 877.668.4546, ext. 4525 I (f) 818.594.8463 I customerrelations@vikingcruises.comI vikingcruises.com

Hello GentlemanCruiser' date='

Thank you for your post...Question, when you say your family was notified only 24 hours prior to the "sailing", VRC did not give them the option to go or cancel with a full refund, since it was going to be a BUS tour not a River cruise??? If this is true I am very disappointed in a company that manages things this way. Very poor customer service I must say!

We sail on the Fontane September 10. I saw that they did cancel a few of the Fontane's sailings already but you would think they know that they are going to continue so why not cancel and refund the customer's funds to promote better relations then to hold on to their money and give them bus tours instead of a river cruise.

Again thank you for your information![/quote']

 

 

You might want to go read your cruise contract, because I'm pretty sure it mentions replacing boats with buses, changing ports and other fairly disappointing occurrences that are possible.

 

I never really considered river levels to be an issue (I've only done ocean cruising to this point), but I read all of the fine print when I started looking at river cruising.

 

If it's in small print, it's important and they hope you don't see it.

We sail on the Fontane September 10.

Viking can be criticized for many things, but lacking the crystal ball to predict river levels nearly 4 weeks in the future isn't one of them.

All it takes is a week of decent rain and river levels will look very different.

Right now nobody has a clue what the river level will be by the time your cruise departs and there is a perfectly good chance that it is going to be unaffected so cancelling it now would be very premature.

I understand your frustration as the uncertainty must be stressful, but it is a part of river cruising these days unfortunately.

We received a telephone call the day before departure telling us that the cruise would start at Decin and not Melnik but every thing else would be as per the program. At the meeting at the hotel we were still reassured that the program would be completed as detailed.

It was a bus tour with very small bedrooms, ie cabins.

VRK did everything they could to hide the facts that the trip would not be as promised so that we did not have a suspicion that we were going to be ripped off.

I could have driven from home in the UK and visited Prague, Dresden and all the other places for the same amount of money and made my own decisions.

Fortunately I have recording of the telephone call telling me that the trip would be going as planned apart from the the first day. It may be used as evidence.....

Viking can be criticized for many things, but lacking the crystal ball to predict river levels nearly 4 weeks in the future isn't one of them.

 

All it takes is a week of decent rain and river levels will look very different.

 

Right now nobody has a clue what the river level will be by the time your cruise departs and there is a perfectly good chance that it is going to be unaffected so cancelling it now would be very premature.

 

I understand your frustration as the uncertainty must be stressful, but it is a part of river cruising these days unfortunately.

I understand your point about the weather and having a crystal ball but at least be upfront with your 'guests' and allow them to make informed decisions.

Something doesn't pass the smell test.

I loved the Viking Elbe cruise, but May may be a better time to book because of spring rains. By August, the long, hot summer may have taken its toll on the water levels.

I loved the Viking Elbe cruise, but May may be a better time to book because of spring rains. By August, the long, hot summer may have taken its toll on the water levels.

No one can say when the Elbe will either carry low or high water. The last four high water with serious flooding have been Jnauary, March, May/June and August.

I understand your point about the weather and having a crystal ball but at least be upfront with your 'guests' and allow them to make informed decisions.

 

Something doesn't pass the smell test.

When you are inside a week from departure I completely agree, either the water is there or it isn't and they should give people the option to cancel.

When you are 4-5 weeks away there really isn't much to be said other than 'the cruise is still going ahead' until it gets close enough to decide if that really is the case.