Jcat2010

Hi All.   

it seems while our Viking Rhine trip is cancelled by Viking, the issues with Viking are not completed.   If this is better addressed on a different site, please let me know..

As some may know, Viking is offering 125% credit voucher, and there is a vague reference to a refund.   I just learned there is a time limit on choosing the refund.   Did everyone but me realize this ?   

Our original letter discussed the voucher, and referenced a refund possibility.  No deadline discussed, but apparently there was a link, which needed to be clicked, which went to a big button "for voucher click".    You had to read all the way to the bottom of the second letter to see the "if you want a refund, call by date X".    

Now, I'm being told it's too late to getm a refund.   Even though Viking's own terms and conditions indicate that if Viking cancels a cruise they owe you a refund.

Just curious if we're the only ones in "this boat".

J

Hello Everyone:   Been watching and waiting, but it now seems that Viking has cancelled us out for June.  Having been in the later months when levels are low, we're working to reschedule for next year.  Questions are, May or June, early or late ?    I realize, especially now, that no prediction is absolute, but historically, I'm sure there is a preference.

Thoughts.

Post trip report.  Viking Danube Nuremberg to Budapest - Dec 9-16.   Sailed all the way through.   Traffic control in Hungary required us to leave Vienna a bit early, in order to arrive in Budapest on time.   Viking personnel stated that this was the first time since June that the Atla had sailed end-to-end.    They also expressed concern that this season might be a harbinger of future seasons, for both the Rhine and upper Danube.

Well. With the Jarl currently in Vienna, viking has finally come to the conclusion that we all saw days ago - the atla will be taking its place in Nuremberg on the 9th. 

They did note, subject to their usual caveats, they should be sailing uninterrupted from Nuremberg to Budapest.

Rappersmom

No surprise you haven't heard from viking. You'll have to call their customer service if you want info 8775230579.  Even that won't tell you much.   We're scheduled on the jarl, in Nuremberg, on the 9th.  Given that it is almost to Vienna, unless it can fly, it won't be back in Nuremberg by Sunday.  Yet viking says "no new info".  Based on where the atla is now, my guess is you'll get some late notice about a different ship 

Yes. I agree the viking outreach is just their way of saying, let's keep this out of the public domain.   

I've made several contacts, and each could be summarized by " now that we have your money, you don't have much choice; we'll make whatever changes we want, and you'll live with it, because that's wheat the contract says".   From what I've learned, they prefer to handle any complaints " behind the curtain of a non disclosure agreement".   They apparently still don't get customer service, and really don't understand managing customer expectations.   Having worked within similar business cultures, I'm not expecting any overnight change in their behavior. 

On a brighter note the viking egil  has sailed from Nuremberg through to Krems an donnau.  Maybe lggva can provide update ?

The viking egil is the first viking heavy that has sailed from Nuremberg to Passau in several months. Changes are in the wind.  Theoretically, Nuremberg to somewhere past Bratislava should be possible to sail.  Practically, its a matter of ship positioning and local conditions.  Watching jarl and egil, we'll see.

The three viking "hotel" ships in Budapest have yet to move.  

It will certainly be an "adventure"

Viking continues to keep their information and plans closely guarded, and shares little.  Partly due to their "silo" structure.   Ops are run from Basel, CH.  Notoriously information stingy. The travel bureaus are stuck talking with frustrated customers, and they don't have all the info.   Add to that, the front line customer service folks are their to sell more tickets, you have to go up several levels to get any meaningful info. 

But, they already have our money, and because of their beautiful commercials and mailers, more keeps flowing in... Not likely to change anytime soon 

GMT. Lif and Var may have repositioned, empty, to be downstream of Passau ; or as an empty test of depths for the Jarl and Egil, which are moving down from Nuremberg.   We'll see. 

Budapest still appears  stationary.

The Han only draws 1.6 m, some cruise ships draw 2 m.   The river is up a few cm in that area.   It is a game of cm.

Lggva.   Assume you are on the Viking Jarl on Dec 2.  Keep us posted, we're following you on the 9th. 

 Jarl is currently in Straubing , between Regensburg and Passau.  That's as far down river as it got.  It will likely head back to Nuremberg today (the Dec 1, Egil is already on its way back to Nuremberg).  Unfortunately, no viking ship has moved east of straubing .  so you'll be bussing it to Passau.    looks like somewhere around Linz, you'll meet up with another viking ship after your bus tour(atla and three more are moving between Vienna and Linz). 

I've not seen much viking traffic between Vienna and Budapest.   There are currently three viking "hotel" ships that have been stationary in Budapest for the last few weeks. 

Well, we finally received the official communication from Viking - apparently not the last.  We've been told that sailing between Regensberg and Passau will most likely not be possible.

  This is better than their previous - no worries, everything is fine. 

No mention of any further disruption.   When I questioned this, I was told, there will probably be another email later that will define how many more disruptions there will be.   Viking seems to be in denial that there are issues between Vienna and Budapest, or at least they're waiting to spring that on us later.   

10 days till the real fun begins.

GMT. Also note that the Viking Var, and Lif, have been stationary for some time.  The Egil has joined them (coming down from Nuremberg/Regensburg. If the Egil stays at Straining, and is joined by the Jarl, then I would assume that their cruise has ended- as others have noted, 4 days cruising.  Then on to the busses.   If they move east, that's maybe a good sign; but as you say, they could be moving empty.

2 hours ago, jtennant2 said:

On November 25, 2018 we got off the Viking Jarl, Atla, and Bragi on a 7 day Romantic Danube cruise. The first 4 nights were on the Jarl, 2 nights on the Atla, and 1 night on the Bragi. Many passengers never unpacked their suitcases. We were bused 75 minutes to Passau and the same on the return. There wasn't any town to walk to where we were parked on the Danube, near Straubing. We should have cruised the Wachau Valley and seen the Gottweig Abbey during the day but we arrived at the Abbey at 6:00 pm after a total of 5 hours on the bus. And at the same time some passengers were on the ship cruising the Valley at dusk and later. No possibility of doing both. The next day we were bused to our next port Vienna. We arrived in Vienna at 1:30, ate lunch and got on a bus tour. The following day were the optional excursions. However, many lost an excursion because of all the time we spent on buses and excursions needed to be condensed. After 2 nights on the Atla, we were bused 3.5 hours to Budapest. The water levels in Budapest are the lowest ever. Some Viking ships are stranded here and serve as a 1 night hotel for the other Viking ships that can't cruise between Vienna and Budapest. We have no control over mother nature but I wish Viking would have alerted us in advance of the strong possibility of more daytime hours on busses than daytime hours of cruising on the Danube. Our expectations would have changed and we would have known what to expect. This was our first river cruise and sadly, our last.

 

 

Jtennant2 -  I've also heard that the meals were "cut" or buffet only, on the hotel ships?  Can you confirm?

 

 

 

 

So,  here's the question for those of us in the US.  Who knows of a skilled lawyer?   Yes, this is weather, but not sudden, or unforeseen.   The question is should Viking, and other companies, who do this everyday, have been able to foresee that there would be interruptions?   If the people on this board can see it coming?    The conditions have existed for months, and there is no magical unicorn that will fly over the river and raise the river levels suddenly.  Spring, maybe.

We all purchased a "cruise", on a " vessel". It's not a cruise when the vessel is stopped for days.  A bus is not a vessel.

Just my opinion

that's actually not awful    about an hour  better than viking  - vienna to budapest at 4 hrs.

for those interested in the "official" forecast for the Danube, by Hungarian National Watermarking Service:

http://www.hydroinfo.hu/Html/hidelo/hidelo_graf_duna.html

it is only a forecast, and we all know how accurate those can be.    There are also, on same site, charts of the entire Danube - showing changes plus or minus from day before.  

two weeks to our embarkation date for Viking River Cruise, Romantic Danube.  On fact is clear, at least for the US arm of Viking.  Their marketing efforts far outstrip their customer service and support.  Between TV commercials and emails, I hear from Viking marketing at least 3 times a week.   In the last year since we booked the trip, we've maybe heard from viking about three times total.   When contacting viking regarding the danube river levels, the initial "handler" says "everything is fine, no changes", it usually takes at least three levels of transfer before you can get to someone who will at least confirm what's obvious from this board - that the river levels will have some impact on the cruise.  No definition of what that impact might be.  in fact, just received the "confirmed itinerary", shows no changes.   I've been told to expect a further communication "sometime" before we board the plane.

Perhaps Viking could learn that more information is better than less, in terms of customer satisfaction.  I really feel for those who have "trusted" Viking to keep them informed, as they will likely have no back-up plan.

Hi cruise critic Chris

Could you please provide info from your colleague, scheduled on Viking Egil from Nuremberg, I believe DEC 8?  Was this romantic Danube cruise, or other itinerary?  I was just told by viking they had not, and were not, cancelling anything.

LGGVA:   we're on the cruise after yours.   What did Viking's email state regarding your cruise?  How many busses, how many ship swaps, any specifics would help, as we're likely to see something similar.   Viking won't tell us much at this time, so I'm planning on calling them again next week.

RDC1.  What you say is correct.

However, it has a lot to do with marketing and disclosure.  I've never seen a cruise advertisement that mentions the possibility of bus touring.   When asked directly, Viking downplays the risk - like it will never happen.   Unfortunately, this excellent forum is often discovered after people have committed.  Until both sides of the market know the true risks, the market won't change.

Paid my money, taking my chances, learning my lessons, will be smarter next time.   All I ask is a fair adjustment for disruptions and promises broken.     

Trvlcrazy

The water levels are changing, even as I write this, but there are a few "constants" along the route you mention. In fact, you'll be a day ahead of us, so keep in touch.   Nuremberg to Regensburg has not been an issue so far.   Past Regensburg, to Passau has been hit or miss.  Few ships have sailed through.  After Passau it is again it or miss until around Melk/Ybbs.  From there, sailing through to Vienna has been consistently good.    From Vienna to Budapest has been very eratic.  Week to week it changes.   The issue seems to be not will you sail all the way through (not a high probability as of now), but how many swaps/bus trips, and for how long (Vienna to Budapest is 4 hrs by bus; Regensburg to Passau only a bit over an hour) 

Is it only me having too high expectations ?   We signed up for a river cruise.  We expect to spend time cruising on the rivers, not riding a bus across Europe.   Viking commercials, even the ad at the top of this page, show boats cruising on rivers, not busses driving around Europe.    A short ship swap is one event, totally missing significant parts of the itinerary, like Wachau and Danube Bend and nightime cruise through Budapest, is a totally different thing.  I realize that river levels are a natural phenomenon, but clearly this is no surprise.  It has been happening for months, and yet, at least Viking, has not been very open about the impacts.  They refuse to provide details regarding recent cruise "adjustments", this board is a more accurate source than the cruise line. Seems their strategy is to get you on the boat, then tell you you're screwed.  What happened to the 100% satisfaction guarantee?

K9 pal,   did Viking offer any adjustment for the second swap?   Since bussing to Budapest misses a large part of the promised cruise itinerary ?

These are all consistent with viking ship traffic.  They appear to be staging ships for swaps at critical points. Regensburg/Passau appears to be the current sticking point. If I were on viking ship with a Regensburg/Passau swap, I'd ask that they take me from Regensburg to Munich, and return me downstream of Passau  to the swapped ship.  

Just me 

here's my observations, re viking ship movements along the Danube between Nuremberg and Budapest.  Since Viking won't provide specifics, I'm following the ships on trackers.   Ship movement seems normal between Nuremberg and Regensburg. From Regensburg, there is movement east to near Straubing.  East of Straubing, is a void. No movement around Passau. Until Linz / Melk, then movement around Krems and the Wachau Valley, but another void between Krems and Vienna.  Lots of anchored ships in Vienna. Then another gap east of Vienna.  Some small repositioning in Hungary, but mostly just a few stationary ships. Viking Idun has been stopped in Budapest all week.  (Bussing from Vienna to Budapest?).