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New to River Cruising - have questions re booking own excursions


WeRockChalkKU
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We are on a fully chartered Emerald Waterways cruise Budapest to Nuremburg and shores excursions are not included. The travel company just sent us a list of what they offer and said we have 2 days to decide which ones we want or wait and see if they have seats left but at a higher price if we wait. Then in another paragraph they say:

"What about insurance?

Your optional tours are an addition to your base travel package and are more than likely not insured. In the event of an emergency port cancellation, act of god, illness, or tour cancellation any tours will be non-refundable. Because of this it is very important you contact your Travel Insurance Provider about insuring any optional tour purchase. IMPORTANT - you must take action to insure ANY purchase not insured by your current policy. If you do not then your new purchase IS NOT covered.'

 

To me this means that there will be no refunds for any tours if a port is missed, if a bus driver is ill, or they decide to not take a tour and cancel it. So, I can see that if a tour only sells 25% of it's seats, the agency will cancel the tour and pocket our money. No refunds EVER.

So, my question is: how easy is it to find a tour after you get to a port? Budapest, Brastilava, Vienna, Melk-Durstein, Passau - Linz, Regensburg. Does anyone have recommendations of things that shouldn't be missed and things that can easily be skipped?

 

Thanks for any tips, info and advice.

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No you are not quite right. It's only if you are a no show yourself that you won't get refunds. If the boat missed a port, the bus is a no show.... If the company causes you to miss a tour that THEY arranged and caused you to miss you WILL get a refund. No one is going to pocket your money unless you buy a tour and decide you just can't do it!

 

Yes absolutely get travel insurance to cover every dime of NON REFUNDABLE expenses!

Enjoy your cruise :)

 

(Been there done that and yes DH did forfeit a tour in Vienna [emoji53] he was too sick to go)

Edited by JVilleGal
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No you are not quite right. It's only if you are a no show yourself that you won't get refunds. If the boat missed a port, the bus is a no show.... If the company causes you to miss a tour that THEY arranged and caused you to miss you WILL get a refund. No one is going to pocket your money unless you buy a tour and decide you just can't do it!

 

Yes absolutely get travel insurance to cover every dime of NON REFUNDABLE expenses!

Enjoy your cruise :)

 

(Been there done that and yes DH did forfeit a tour in Vienna [emoji53] he was too sick to go)

 

I was too, Jville, but I had a different experience than you did. I had to drop out of a tour in Luxor that involved a pre-paid ticket to the light show, but because I had a note from the Doctor who said I could absolutely not go, I was able to get a full refund of the tour through my trip insurance. I did and usually do, purchase trip insurance from Vantage when I book my trip and I never heard of having to purchase additional insurance to cover optional excursions, although Vantage includes most shore excursions and the ones that cost extra can be cancelled without penalty 24 hours in advance.

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I was too, Jville, but I had a different experience than you did. I had to drop out of a tour in Luxor that involved a pre-paid ticket to the light show, but because I had a note from the Doctor who said I could absolutely not go, I was able to get a full refund of the tour through my trip insurance. I did and usually do, purchase trip insurance from Vantage when I book my trip and I never heard of having to purchase additional insurance to cover optional excursions, although Vantage includes most shore excursions and the ones that cost extra can be cancelled without penalty 24 hours in advance.

 

I actually can get a refund also thru my travel insurance. Cruiseline gave me a letter to submit regarding my husbands illness and inability to leave out cabin. However for $125 I am not willing to spends a ton of time and an additional trip to the doctors and then deal with about 15 pages of paperwork from our TI provider. My time is worth money too.

 

Bottom line, the OP won't kiss her investment if she prepay a tours to the people organizing her trip and the boat misses the ports. And getting tours when you leave the boat given all the unusual docking places is not likely.

 

I can only report on our experience of 2 weeks ago A to B, we sailed all the way thru with no boat swaps or bussing. Our experience may be different than yours!

Edited by JVilleGal
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I actually can get a refund also thru my travel insurance. Cruiseline gave me a letter to submit regarding my husbands illness and inability to leave out cabin. However for $125 I am not willing to spends a ton of time and an additional trip to the doctors and then deal with about 15 pages of paperwork from our TI provider. My time is worth money too.

 

And getting tours when you leave the boat given all the unusual docking places is not likely.

 

That's terrible! All I did was forward the dr's note (your letter from the cruiseline should work) and fill out one form. I had my refund in less than 30 days...come to think of it, I think the refund came from Vantage, not TI.

 

Totally agree....I have never seen a private guide pull up to a river cruiser unless they were pre-arranged and paid for. And to wait for TM or concierge to call a taxi and arrange a pick-up on the same day could leave you with very little time to tour.

Edited by Hydrokitty
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That's terrible! All I did was forward the dr's note (your letter from the cruiseline should work) and fill out one form. I had my refund in less than 30 days...come to think of it, I think the refund came from Vantage, not TI.

 

Totally agree....I have never seen a private guide pull up to a river cruiser unless they were pre-arranged and paid for. And to wait for TM or concierge to call a taxi and arrange a pick-up on the same day could leave you with very little time to tour.

 

I purchased Travel Insurance from an outside provider as our trip needed to cover a much longer time frame than just the cruise. Airfare, pre&post trip, private tours etc. The cruise TI could not have met our needs. For that small amount I am just too tire (and sick) to deal with it :(

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One note from the OP's post - it is a "fully chartered" cruise. This may mean that they are dealing with a 2nd party - not Emerald Waterways. I don't know if this could impact the ability of getting refunds, but IMHO, the company is spelling out in advance that there will be limited refunds through them. If I were the OP, I would make sure that I have travel insurance that covers every penny of the trip cost, including any and all optionals. If the amount of TI purchased does not cover all costs, they can deny the entire claim.

 

He should check with his TA to get more details.

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Here's the travel agencies reply to my concerns that they could cancel an excursion for no reason at all" (I placed XXXXX in where they put their name).

 

 

"I understand what you are saying, however, we pay the vendors for your excursions upfront and they are nonrefundable to us. So the same thinking applies for us. We cannot get back the money from the vendors. Things happen that are not XXXXXXXX fault as well. If you do not want to book through XXXXXXXXX, you have the option to wait and book them on the ship so you can make sure the tour is operating. Most all cruise lines, river ships and tours that use outside vendors for their tours, have this same policy. The only way to guarantee a refund is if you insure with trip insurance."

 

So, it doesn't appear folks think I'll be able to book something on my own when we get to a port?

 

Thanks for al the replies.

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I purchased Travel Insurance from an outside provider as our trip needed to cover a much longer time frame than just the cruise. Airfare, pre&post trip, private tours etc. The cruise TI could not have met our needs. For that small amount I am just too tire (and sick) to deal with it :(

 

Are you still sick? That's a long time to have a cold, Kath!

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Here's the travel agencies reply to my concerns that they could cancel an excursion for no reason at all" (I placed XXXXX in where they put their name).

 

 

"I understand what you are saying, however, we pay the vendors for your excursions upfront and they are nonrefundable to us. So the same thinking applies for us. We cannot get back the money from the vendors. Things happen that are not XXXXXXXX fault as well. If you do not want to book through XXXXXXXXX, you have the option to wait and book them on the ship so you can make sure the tour is operating. Most all cruise lines, river ships and tours that use outside vendors for their tours, have this same policy. The only way to guarantee a refund is if you insure with trip insurance."

 

So, it doesn't appear folks think I'll be able to book something on my own when we get to a port?

 

Thanks for al the replies.

 

I wouldn't bank on it....but you CAN book tours on line before you go for things you really want to see and do....check out individual ports on CC for information and don't pay guide until you take the trip. Other option for you is to wait to sign up for optionals until you're on board. Of course you run the risk of a tour being filled, but IME this has never happened unless there were tickets involved, like a concert, ballet, etc. and even then I purchased tickets for the Moscow ballet the day I booked the trip because if I couldn't do that it would have been devastating to me...guess what? they were still selling tickets to the ballet the day of the performance! This last trip(last month) I had no interest in one of the optionals until that morning when I realized all my friends were going and we weren't within walking distance of the port city so I spoke to the TM and was able to book the tour at Noon for a trip that was leaving at 2!!

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so, the travel company is NOT refunding and I agree that it would probably be a hassle to try to get my travel insurance to refund any money for missed tours - especially if it's just because the travel company hasn't filled a bus and they don't want to eat the loss from empty seats - instead they cancel it because their disclaimer says they can and then they can pocket all the money us passengers paid to them.

This travel agency has had bad reviews before but I thought that they surely couldn't pull anything shady on a cruise but looks like they can.

 

Has anyone been able to set up a tour while in a port on the Danube? Having ocean cruised, we know it's very common but don't know if the same thing is possible on the river.

 

Thanks -

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so, the travel company is NOT refunding and I agree that it would probably be a hassle to try to get my travel insurance to refund any money for missed tours - especially if it's just because the travel company hasn't filled a bus and they don't want to eat the loss from empty seats - instead they cancel it because their disclaimer says they can and then they can pocket all the money us passengers paid to them.

This travel agency has had bad reviews before but I thought that they surely couldn't pull anything shady on a cruise but looks like they can.

 

Has anyone been able to set up a tour while in a port on the Danube? Having ocean cruised, we know it's very common but don't know if the same thing is possible on the river.

 

Thanks -

 

I think our posts crossed! It's not like ocean cruises where vendors are lined up at every port offering to take you places for less money than the cruise line charges. In 8 river cruises I have NEVER seen a tour vendor waiting for us as we docked. However, if you go to the cc ports forum you can probably book tours BEFORE you leave home. Just make sure you get everything in writing. It sounds like you're dealing with a slightly shady TA...can you still get out of the trip?

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Has anyone been able to set up a tour while in a port on the Danube? Having ocean cruised, we know it's very common but don't know if the same thing is possible on the river.

 

Thanks -

 

We too set up our own excursions on ocean cruises, but I have to say - after our first river cruise this summer - that this is a totally different experience.

 

First, you don't even know where you will be docked in many cities and even if it is along a single quay close to downtown it might be a mile long without anywhere for local guides to set up. Secondly the river cruise companies - especially in the high season - seem to have a monopoly on guides. On our cruise, one of our scheduled guides was hospitalized 2 hours before she was due to meet us. It took our cruise director 14 calls to find another available.

 

As others have recommended, you might have better luck pre-arranging private tours using internet recommendations (start on this forum and cruise critic's Europe Port of Call forum and with trip advisor), especially in large cities. I know a couple who did that in Budapest and Vienna but many of our stops (Budapest to Amsterdam) were relatively small cities and towns.

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Are you still sick? That's a long time to have a cold, Kath!

 

 

Pneumonia [emoji53] but drugs are good! This is just the pits. DH sick too, I think the final straw was trying on the day we left the ship in Budapest (in the rain) to just soldier on and pretend the raid was not happening. Things kinda went downhill from there. :)

Edited by JVilleGal
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We too set up our own excursions on ocean cruises, but I have to say - after our first river cruise this summer - that this is a totally different experience.

 

First, you don't even know where you will be docked in many cities and even if it is along a single quay close to downtown it might be a mile long without anywhere for local guides to set up. Secondly the river cruise companies - especially in the high season - seem to have a monopoly on guides. On our cruise, one of our scheduled guides was hospitalized 2 hours before she was due to meet us. It took our cruise director 14 calls to find another available.

 

As others have recommended, you might have better luck pre-arranging private tours using internet recommendations (start on this forum and cruise critic's Europe Port of Call forum and with trip advisor), especially in large cities. I know a couple who did that in Budapest and Vienna but many of our stops (Budapest to Amsterdam) were relatively small cities and towns.

 

Thanks, besides not knowing where we dock, the agency hasn't given us our port times (despite asking many times). The agency is more than a bit SHADY as someone pointed out. So, I guess we'll just make the best of it all and maybe pay the higher price for each excursion we want since we aren't taking advantage of their "pre cruise discount" for excursions. I just hope others on this cruise understand that the company will not be giving refunds. It's just sad that we thought we were buying a great trip and now we find out that the agency is tricky and slippery, relying on fine print to make sure they make as much profit as possible.

 

Thanks for all the help with this.

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Thanks, besides not knowing where we dock, the agency hasn't given us our port times (despite asking many times). The agency is more than a bit SHADY as someone pointed out. So, I guess we'll just make the best of it all and maybe pay the higher price for each excursion we want since we aren't taking advantage of their "pre cruise discount" for excursions. I just hope others on this cruise understand that the company will not be giving refunds. It's just sad that we thought we were buying a great trip and now we find out that the agency is tricky and slippery, relying on fine print to make sure they make as much profit as possible.

 

Thanks for all the help with this.

 

I hope it all works out well for you!

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Thanks, besides not knowing where we dock, the agency hasn't given us our port times (despite asking many times). The agency is more than a bit SHADY as someone pointed out. So, I guess we'll just make the best of it all and maybe pay the higher price for each excursion we want since we aren't taking advantage of their "pre cruise discount" for excursions. I just hope others on this cruise understand that the company will not be giving refunds. It's just sad that we thought we were buying a great trip and now we find out that the agency is tricky and slippery, relying on fine print to make sure they make as much profit as possible.

 

 

 

Thanks for all the help with this.

 

 

Unfortunately the nature of river cruising is that port times are AlWAYS a moving target. Depending on river conditions, appointment to transit locks and what the Captain is able to pull off, ours pulled miracles off.

 

So the Cruiseline & Captain have a plan that your agency has Zero control of. Maybe they can advise you (if the Cruiseline can provide info) of what they hope are the times in port.

 

This is life on the river!

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So the Cruiseline & Captain have a plan that your agency has Zero control of. Maybe they can advise you (if the Cruiseline can provide info) of what they hope are the times in port.

 

This is life on the river!

 

So true....and the person who decides where and when you dock on a river cruise is the port master, not the Captain.

 

Take care of yourself. Pneumonia is a serious illness. :(

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So true....and the person who decides where and when you dock on a river cruise is the port master, not the Captain.

 

Take care of yourself. Pneumonia is a serious illness. :(

 

Yes it's no conspiracy the Dock Master puts boats in places based on the port needs and which boats needs to leave first or debark or embark passengers. In times of Low Water & High Water especially the Captains only have so much control. We did have about 4 occasions where the Captain of our Avalon boat and a Viking boat did some swapping locations to assist guests coming and going. These River Boat Captains all know each other and the crews of all the ships try to assist each other's passengers. (Ps rafting is also not a conspiracy also the result of Port Master directions).

 

This is life on the River! Too bad the Capt, CD and Crew don't run the Customer service departments of these companies ;)

 

Thanks Hydrokitty, every day is a bit better, the drugs are the Big Guns and seem to be doing the job 😷

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Thanks, besides not knowing where we dock, the agency hasn't given us our port times (despite asking many times). The agency is more than a bit SHADY as someone pointed out. So, I guess we'll just make the best of it all and maybe pay the higher price for each excursion we want since we aren't taking advantage of their "pre cruise discount" for excursions. I just hope others on this cruise understand that the company will not be giving refunds. It's just sad that we thought we were buying a great trip and now we find out that the agency is tricky and slippery, relying on fine print to make sure they make as much profit as possible.

 

Thanks for all the help with this.

 

We must be on the same charter cruise. We are not booking any of those tours but will try to do it on our own. Still don't have travel documents for Oct 16 sailing and leaving a few days early. Not happy.

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If this is a charter of an Emerald Waterways river cruise ship it may help o look at an Emerald Brochure because I doubt that the cruise would differ much in the places it docks. Just a thought. CA

 

I wouldn't assume that. On AMA the APT cruises sometimes have different itineraries [e.g. Lyon to Rhone APT stays longer in Lyon and cuts something else]. And it seems obvious from this thread that the onboard service and amenities are likely to be determined by the charter company, not Emerald. So it's going to be hard for OP to get good detailed info in advance of this cruise.

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