hernstro

We are sailing HAL's Zaandam 1/19/24 from San Diego, full canal transit, ending in Miami 2/3/24. We have not been notified of any changes to our canal transit. If anyone has information on this cruise, please reply. We will be following this topic closely. Thanks!   Dave & Marilyn, Northeast Ohio

On 5/17/2020 at 8:42 AM, notamermaid said:

Good to hear from you again. Sorry about your cancelled cruise. How did rescheduling go? Or are there no plans yet?

 

notamermaid

 

Appreciate your asking. We chose to not reschedule, and ironically just today received our refund from Scenic cruise line. The virus cases here in Northeast Ohio are quite high. Unfortunately, the U.S. is far behind in its recovery. We are scheduled for a 21 day ocean cruise for this October, which has not yet been canceled. I doubt we will be taking that trip either. Once things are more stable, we certainly intend to start traveling again. Thanks for your posts, and have a delightful summer!

Thank you, Notamermaid, for sharing this interesting information. It is great news that Austria and Germany are in better shape regarding the virus. Our hopes to all that everyone stays safe and their situation continues to improve. Economically, travel is so important to beautiful Europe. We long to visit again someday.

Scenic revised their cancellation policy, received an email at 11:07 am:

"Cancellations until 30 April 2020
The Scenic Group (Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, Emerald Cruises, Evergreen Cruises & Tours) has made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend all river cruises operations for guests embarking from now until to 30 April 2020. We have updated our cancellation policy to allow guests more time to make decisions about upcoming travel with Scenic and Emerald Cruises.

We want to assure you that your travel plans will be protected, and are providing the following options;

If you hold a river cruise reservation during this period, you can either:

• Receive a 125% Future Travel Credit for the full value of the trip to be used for a river or ocean cruise within the next 24 months based on their date of cancellation,
• Receive a full refund of the value of your Scenic booking

The situation in South East Asia has also escalated significantly in recent days, with several Governments restricting access to ports and points of disembarkation along the Mekong River. It is no longer possible for Scenic to continue cruise operations in this region and therefore, we have cancelled the remaining river cruises for this season up to mid-May and the same above offer applies.

Our cancellation policy for guests with bookings departing from 1 May to 31 May              2020

For any guest departing from 1 May to 31 May 2020, Scenic will waive all of our cancellation fees with the value of the bookings applied as a future travel credit. We are allowing guests to change or transfer their booking up to 14 days prior to departure for river and ocean cruise bookings, and up to 30 days prior to travel for land tours.

For current river cruise, ocean cruise and land journey 2020 bookings departing 1 May to 31 May 2020, the future travel credit is valid for travel up to 31 December 2021."

Hope this helps those with Danube trips.  I will also share this on the Scenic Roll Call, if it isn't already there.

14 minutes ago, banditoo said:

 Pretty risky time to be traveling abroad for many reasons. 

Based on info kindly provided here, watching media, researching sites, and weighing all the facts, DH and I now concur that rescheduling is our best option. As much as we wanted to be supportive of the travel industry during this hard time, conditions have eliminated that choice. Banditoo, thanks for your concern.

Really appreciate your contributions. This information is extremely telling, and it will benefit many who have hard decisions that need to be made about their upcoming trips.

Thank you, Notamermaid, for your helpful insight. It is good to hear from someone in Europe who can provide a glimpse as to what precautions are being made.

We are scheduled to arrive in Prague on April 5, then board Scenic Crystal on 4/8 in Nuremberg, disembarking in Budapest. While we are sure Scenic would do everything in their power to make this a worthwhile experience,  many things would be beyond their control.

Any information from others in Prague, Germany, Austria or Hungary would be appreciated. Our window to cancel or reschedule closes on 3/21.

Thanks for the replies. I will certainly be watching this topic as spring comes.  The information provided here is appreciated by many.

In Sept. 2018 on the Rhine, we missed one port due to low water. Our ship was lucky, as many others had major itinerary disruptions. We'll keep our fingers crossed that our April cruise will go without a hitch!

Hi all,

So I'm seeing posts about "shallow sections."  My concern will be the opposite, too high water levels.

We are on Scenic Crystal April 8th - 15 from Nuremberg to Budapest.

So what bridges or areas may pose a problem for us in April 2020?

Thanks for everyone's input.

Hello fellow Danube cruisers,

The information on this site is extremely helpful and I am grateful to those that contribute.

We booked Scenic aboard the Crystal going from Nuremberg to Budapest 4/9 - 4/15/2020. Pre-cruise 3 days in Prague. Hoping water levels aren't too high in April, so will be watching this topic closely as time draws closer. We were aware spring is a bit of a gamble, but there's no predicting this crazy weather!

We were lucky in September 2018, aboard Scenic Jewel on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel. We only missed one port due to LOW water. Many other travelers were impacted to a greater extent.

We were on the Scenic Jewel. Our cabin was mid-ship on the middle deck, and we did not have any problems.  However, passengers on the middle and upper decks in aft cabins complained of noise, vibration and engine fumes during the night. Keep in mind, when the ship is in a lock, it is somewhat surrounded by high walls. That seemed to be when their concerns were most frequent.

We took Scenic's Romantic Rhine and Moselle Sept. 10-24th. We had to skip the port of Rudesheim, as we were behind schedule by 5 hours due to low water in the gorge.  Since returning, our TA has emailed Scenic twice inquiring about compensation for this missed port as well as a couple of other hiccups. Thus far, no response from Scenic. Very disappointing. If we do hear back from Scenic, I'll post something here.

However, we thoroughly enjoyed the Scenic Jewel and felt the staff provided excellent service. Based on the current situation, we also feel very fortunate that our 14 day itinerary was mostly left intact. My heart goes out to those who have had major disruptions. 

Notamermaid and fellow travelers,

We have just returned from Scenic 14 day Romantic Rhine/Moselle itinerary. Aboard Jewel, we left Amsterdam on 9/10, and disembarked in Basel on 9/24. We had one deviation from our itinerary. We briefly docked in Andernach, tied up to the Ruby for a few hours, but was given clearance to transit the Rhine Gorge later that day. The Captain told us that is the lowest water level he had sailed in, at one point having only 40 CM of water below us! Due to being behind schedule, we had to skip Rudesheim. Overall, it was a wonderful cruise and the Scenic staff was warm and helpful. I will be posting a trip review with specifics of our excursions, as it seems that info may be useful to others still in the planning stages. Best wishes to those with upcoming trips!

Aboard Scenic Jewel. Yes, it was quite busy in that relief port, Andernach. Too bad we had to go downstream that far. Caused us to become 5 hours behind our itinerary, thus our stop in Rudesheim was scrapped. No mecanical musical museum or cable car ride. The gorge was beautiful, and we are thankful our tour didn't become a bus tour. On to Mannheim!

Aboard Scenic Jewel. We made it through Rhine Gorge. Due to our delay caused by low water levels, our itinerary is 5 hours behind. Thus we did not stop in Rudesheim and no excursion to Mechanical Music museum, or cable car ride. Ship is moving upstream to Mannheim.

Jewel left Andernach as there is a small window of opportunity to get through the gorge later today. We are now approaching Koblentz.

Now tying up to Scenic Ruby and I think we are in Andernach.

Woke up this morning sailing wrong direction on the Rhine. We are downstream from Koblentz, instead of going through gorge toward Rudesheim. No formal announcement yet. Will keep you informed.

Aboard the Scenic Jewel, which was supposed to cruise Rhine Gorge and dock in Rudeshem. We woke up this morning sailing wrong direction on Rhine! No formal info yet. Will keep all informed when they make an announcement.

Natamermaid, Yes we did Xanten and enjoyed it. Today based on recommendation of CC members, took the excursion to Trier. Amazing! Lovely Moselle Valley! Jewel left Bernkastel 45 minutes early in hopes of a getting to Rhine asap due to the dropping levels. Keeping our fingers crossed, but won't know till morning if Jewel will be permitted to sail the gorge.

We are on the Scenic Jewel. We left Bernkastle 45 minutes early as the cruise director indicated we were trying yo get back to the Rhine as early as possible due to low water levels.

Tidalmist, We are currently aboard the Jewel on the Moselle River. Our first river cruise, and we are impressed. Many passengers onboard have cruised with Scenic 3-4 times previously, so I guess that is a testament to their experiences. Low water levels and bad weather have happened before, but cruisers woulnd't be returning if they had been mistreated.

We are aboard Scenic Jewel, and halfway through our 14 day itinerary. Left Amsterdam on 9/10 and spent lots of time in the Netherlands. We are now approaching Koblenz. There have been no changes to our planned ports. Plenty of ship traffic going north/south. Shoreline confirms low water levels, but so far, smooth sailing. Scenic is treating us well, with good service and food. For those with upcoming cruises, we hope all goes nicely for you!

Candf, thanks again for your diligence in relaying your journey.

Candf, thanks for keeping us informed of Scenic Jewel's progress. I hope your were able to navigate the Rhine Gorge today, and look forward to any future posts.

We will be boarding the Jewel on 9/10 in Amsterdam.