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mps lady anne and mps amsterdam


exbodcon

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  • 11 months later...
Hi, Has anyone travelled on the mps lady anne or mps amsterdam operated by the River Cruiseline ?

 

Be very aware of this company and in particular the Lady Anne. We were booked to cruise the Rhine to Switzerland in May but when we arrived at the ship in Andernach we were told that the Rhine water levels were too low and basically virtually all the itinarary was cancelled and substituted with a very short cruise (drift with the current more like and tied up 22 hours a day) in middle Germanys boring rebuilt concrete towns. The worst holiday we have had in 40 years and not a sign of any reimbursement for the vast amount of fuel (think of the extra profit they had)the Lady Anne and River Cruise Line saved by not going anywhere.The company said this was a rare occurence but the cruise passengers prior to us and after both had the same problem and the boat is obviously unfit for purpose. Looks like we will have to initiate litigation to get a proper (ie any) response from the company.

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  • 1 month later...
Hi, Has anyone travelled on the mps lady anne or mps amsterdam operated by the River Cruiseline ?

 

my advice is dont go near this company [The River Cruise Line]or the lady anne, we had a dreadful holiday the food was awfull,our intinary changed and we went to rotterdam it really was the cruise from hell. Whwn you complain to the River Cruise Line they totally ignore you nothing not even polit enough to confirm that they received your letter dreadfull company

 

we went end of June 2011 and once again they had problems with sickness and tummy bugs in fact i would say 75% of passengers went "down" with this bug

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Be very aware of this company and in particular the Lady Anne. We were booked to cruise the Rhine to Switzerland in May but when we arrived at the ship in Andernach we were told that the Rhine water levels were too low and basically virtually all the itinarary was cancelled and substituted with a very short cruise (drift with the current more like and tied up 22 hours a day) in middle Germanys boring rebuilt concrete towns. The worst holiday we have had in 40 years and not a sign of any reimbursement for the vast amount of fuel (think of the extra profit they had)the Lady Anne and River Cruise Line saved by not going anywhere.The company said this was a rare occurence but the cruise passengers prior to us and after both had the same problem and the boat is obviously unfit for purpose. Looks like we will have to initiate litigation to get a proper (ie any) response from the company.

 

did you have to take river cruise line to court? looks like we may have to do the same. went with them on the lady anne in jue 2011 dreadfull food ,changed itinary went to rotterdam! sickness and tummy bug on board for 5 days with 75% of passengers ill .H ave written to co twice no response at all

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  • 1 month later...
Has anyone had to take the river cruise line to court yet????

 

Yes - they instructed specialist solicitors - no meaningful negotiation.

 

Hearing - Taunton County Court 4 November 2011 at 2.00p m ITA 00926 - they trade as Diamond Shortbreak Holidays Ltd. Public Hearing.

 

And still they bombard me with advertising material by post and email despite instrctions direct and to their solicitors to stop it.

 

Tullius

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  • 4 weeks later...
Yes - they instructed specialist solicitors - no meaningful negotiation.

 

Hearing - Taunton County Court 4 November 2011 at 2.00p m ITA 00926 - they trade as Diamond Shortbreak Holidays Ltd. Public Hearing.

 

And still they bombard me with advertising material by post and email despite instrctions direct and to their solicitors to stop it.

 

Tullius

 

Any news?

 

The in-laws are booked on the Amerstam for a Rhine Christmas cruise, and they've suggested we go to. But after reading this thread I'm minded not to! Also, as we are non smokers, what's the smoking policy on the boat?

 

Richard

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They just sent Counsel to the hearing. Having been ordered to serve papers 2 weeks in advance of the hearing they served them on the actual day of the hearing. Judge nor pleased. They said they weren't going to call witnesses just rely on written statements and legal submissions. Judge not pleased. In fact Judge so displeased with their conduct she adjourned it to a date after 10 January 2012 ordering them to produce additional statements and the English witness in person (small claims very rarely adjourned). I was given my costs for the day.

 

My claim was worth just over £2000. they must by now have spent twice that defending it which they can't get back. They will have more costs to come for the adjourned hearing.

 

They allow smoking on the outside deck and inside the 'shelter' on the outside deck.

Best

Tullius Cicero

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Thanks Tullius,

Weird thing. Although they had cabins available, we couldn't book as we are in the West Midlands. Even though we'd make our own way to Dover. We can only book it from Hull, where it starts a day earlier and costs more!

Southbound coach is full for excursions was the excuse.

 

Now looking at Shearings river cruise on MV Esmeralda, of which there are no reviews or mentions on this forum!

 

Richard

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  • 2 months later...

We didn't book a Rhine Cruise AWAY FROM SWITZERLAND - SECOND UPDATE

 

Awarded £1442.00 compensation by Taunton County Court after trial

 

Tempted by River Cruise Line's brochure to travel the romantic Rhine gorge, the rolling hills of Alsace, Germany's Black Forest and Europe's mightiest water falls in Switzerland we booked the Cruise the Rhine to Switzerland package. What we got on 20 May 2011 was a cruise away from Switzerland with the following itinerary:

Day 2 Andernach – Rüdesheim;

Day 3 Rüdesheim - Boppard;

Day 4 Boppard - Koblenz;

Day 5 Koblenz - Andernach;

Day 6 Andernach - Bonn;

Day 7 Bonn – Cologne;

Day 8 Cologne - Dusseldorf;

Day 9 Dusseldorf – Cologne;

Day 10 Cologne - Dover via Calais

 

Of course River Cruise Line knew that they could not get to Switzerland with their ship the Lady Anne. The previous cruise had turned round and gone up the Mosel. They didn't trouble to tell us though and when we were turned round at Rüdesheim the Mosel was closed for lock repairs.

 

A waste of time and money and River Cruise Line customer service is as good as the cruise. They just ignore you.

 

12 November 2011 - Update on this Cruise

 

River Cruise Line whose company name is Diamond Shortbreak Holidays Ltd wouldn’t give us a refund or compensation or indeed answer our letters, so having some acquaintance with the law I issued a Small Claim in the County Court.

 

They instructed specialist solicitors – there was no meaningful negotiation except for a ‘nuisance’ offer in the course of mediation.

 

Public Hearing - Taunton County Court 4 November 2011 at 2.00p m ITA 00926 - they trade as Diamond Shortbreak Holidays Ltd.

 

And still they bombard me with advertising material by post and email despite instructions direct and to their solicitors to stop it.

 

They just sent Counsel to the hearing. Having been ordered to serve papers 2 weeks in advance of the hearing they served them on the actual day of the hearing. Judge not pleased. They said they weren't going to call witnesses just rely on written statements and legal submissions. Judge not pleased. In fact Judge so displeased with their conduct she adjourned it to 1 February 2012 at 12.30 ordering them to produce additional statements and the English witness in person (small claims very rarely adjourned). I was given my costs for the day.

 

My claim was worth just over £2000. they must by now have spent twice that defending it which they can't get back. They will have more costs to come for the adjourned hearing.

 

1 February 2012 - 2nd Update on this Cruise

 

Of course they ignored the Court Orders, didn’t produce the English witness or the Captain. Once again produced papers to the Court on the very day of the trial. Once again just sent Counsel. Judge not pleased. He found the diversion of the cruise “entirely foreseeable – D should have known that there was a problem when the earlier cruise was cancelled. … C should have been advised at a much earlier stage. Force Majeure did not apply. D had not shown due care. The diversion was foreseeable and D was liable. £1400 plus interest and fixed costs was the correct compensation”

 

 

Hinkley Pointers

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After being ignored by RCL for weeks I went through my credit card co to claim under section 75 of the Sale of goods act. Credit card co refunded me as my claim was valid [cruise didnt go where we had booked to go,food was disgusting and there was nuro virus on board]. Last week I get a threatening letter from RCL saying I owed them the £1980 for an unpaid cruise and if I didnt pay within 30 days they would issue a summons against me! Something REALLY needs to be done about this dreadful company and the awful cruises they offer, They need to be shut down.

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Amazed and shocked to hear of experiences with this company.

Have sailed on the 'Amsterdam' and the 'Lady Anne' (Four Rivers Cruise) in the last couple of years and admit that food and cabins are basic but overall good value.

Both cruises stuck to the itinerary. I understand that water levels can affect the itinerary on any river and you should have been advised of this.

No problems with Norovirus on our trips.

We also booked with River Cruise Line last year to Russia (Russian Waterways Cruise - Moscow to St. Petersburg) although not operated by them and had a great time.

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  • 2 months later...

Steer well clear of this company. I wish I had read some of the comments here before taking a holiday with them these last 5 days!

We were on the mps Amsterdam. The cabins on the lower deck are minute (with the beds down we had a floor space of only 1 sq. yard) and a health and safety hazard because of the very steep staircase with narrow treads. Many of the passengers are elderly and found the stairs difficult. In the event of a fire the odds of escaping must be very low.

The food was a disgrace and the Tour Manager very aggressive. The vessel is not fit for purpose, built in 1948.

We have since learned that the company has a reputation for finding ways of making a surcharge on bookings. Be aware also of late changes to your itinerary......over 4 days our total actual sailing time on board was 3 hours from 05.30hrs to 08.30hrs.

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Thanks for your kind offer.......I am weighing up my options at the moment but if I need any help I will contact you. I do have a legal assistance policy but I feel that wider publicity of the problems is more important at the moment in order to save other holidaymakers being sucked into the trap.

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I had legal cover under house ins and they were happy to take my case on but my credit card co paid up so no need to go through ins co. I couldnt agree more to your point to gain wider publicity about this dreadful company and the holidays they offer, I have tried to do so but to no avail do you have any ideas? id be right behind you

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I also contacted watchdog last year but got no response,and ABTA didnt want to know!!! I was lucky as I said as I got a refund from my credit card co under section 75 but RCL then wanted to take me to court as they say I havent paid for our holiday. I am still in touch with others on our cruise and they are also starting legal action,do you want to contact them? Apart from money there must be a way of highlighting this Company and bringing them to the publics eye but I dont know a way of doing it

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If enough of us contact as 'Watchdog' as individuals they will be interested......although it may take a little while. My case may be slightly different from the others you refer to and therefore I need to progress court action on my own with the help of legal assistance. Suggest you update this site on the result of their claim, if successful.

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We were on this vessel quite recently. On the first day we were taken to a grubby 'clog and cheese' outlet instead of the wonderful City of Amsterdam where we had a planned series of museum visits. At 6.00pm we were taken to the mps Amsterdam and were immediately shocked at the state of our cabin on the lower deck. We then had to endure the evening meal on the ship! Apart from the poor quality of the food we were seated 6 to a table for 4, like many others.

We also felt that in the event of a fire it would be impossible to evacuate the lower deck.

Our visit to the Floriade was spoilt by the Cruise Director.....he had been there a number of times and claimed to be 'bored by the experience'. As a result our coach was one of the last in and first out which meant we didn't have time to see everything that we wanted to see. When I raised this with him he became very offensive. He also boasted that he only forwarded the holiday questionnaires to the company if they were positive and destroyed any others with complaints.

In our cabin a previous passengers had left a note in the safe deposit box 'the holiday from hell'.

I will be taking the same route with the company as you ie county court action and writing to Watchdog at http://www.bbb.co.uk/watchdog/gotastory

I hope others will follow.

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