Crystal Low-Water-Level Schedule Changes/Cancellations

We were on the August 30 - Sept 6 cruise that had the itinerary changed. When we were leaving the ship in Amsterdam, my husband met one of the new passengers coming onboard who told him that their cruise was going all the way to Basel. So I think you will be OK! We still had a fabulous time on our cruise and got to see more of The Netherlands than I had expected. The ship is beautiful and the service and food are top notch.

Thank you for the update - much appreciated. If you could post along your journey that would be wonderful.

I am currently on board Crystal Mozart for the Sep 10- 20 sailing. We have been told they are able to sail the posted itinerary. I will gladly update as we go along. I too was wondering the status prior to leaving.

Yes I will be happy to update. Last night “meet the officers” get together the Captain said when we get to Linz there will be “decisions made”. I take that to mean that the water level could be an issue going forward. He wouldn’t elaborate. I’m hoping it doesn’t end in a bus tour.

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to hearing about the decision at Linz

Yes I will be happy to update. Last night “meet the officers” get together the Captain said when we get to Linz there will be “decisions made”. I take that to mean that the water level could be an issue going forward. He wouldn’t elaborate. I’m hoping it doesn’t end in a bus tour.

Update on Crystal Mozart - currently in Linz. Forecast is showing rain tomorrow for the Austrian Danube region. The Captain would like to make the decision tomorrow evening whether conditions will allow us to proceed to Budapest. We will be sailing to Passau this evening. So....we wait & continue to pray for rain.

Once again thank you for the update. We will doing the rain dance here as well and hopefully if we all keep dancing the rain will come and make a difference, I hope despite the uncertainty you are enjoying life o. The Mozart.

Update on Crystal Mozart - currently in Linz. Forecast is showing rain tomorrow for the Austrian Danube region. The Captain would like to make the decision tomorrow evening whether conditions will allow us to proceed to Budapest. We will be sailing to Passau this evening. So....we wait & continue to pray for rain.

Thank you everyone for all the useful info!!! I’m on Mahler in October. Any updates on Mahler?

I’m on the Mahler, leaving Amsterdam on Oct 3. Spoke to TA yesterday, who stated Crystal will be sending out letters describing options . Unless the itinerary remains what we signed up for, we might cancel or reschedule

I’m on the Mahler, leaving Amsterdam on Oct 3. Spoke to TA yesterday, who stated Crystal will be sending out letters describing options . Unless the itinerary remains what we signed up for, we might cancel or reschedule

Thank you for your response. I’m on the 10/19 Budapest to Amsterdam and are relying on all of you for info. If your trip on 10/3 gets altered... there will be no way the ship will be in Budapest on 10/19. We will need to begin making travel adjustments at that time. We have privately arranged hotel and guides in Budapest plus our flights. Thanks again for the update.

Bigrhode, I’m so sorry to hear of your cruise plans being changed. I hope Viking gives us as much advance notice if there is a change of itinerary & compensated as well as Crystal has done even though I feel they could do better especially if one does not want to take another river cruise. $500 is not enough all things considered. I hope you have a great time regardless. We are supposed to start our cruise in Trier with Viking on September 24.

We sail on the 20th on Rhine Getaway Viking Vidar. We haven't had any communication so far about water levels or changes. I'm hoping this is a good sign. I'll post update if we hear anything.

Steve

sclewis1@gmail.com

We are on the October 14th cruise on the Bach. Frankfurt to Amsterdam. Anyone else on this cruise? What's wrong with the bathroom

layout on the Bach? Would love to know. I did order a travel clothesline with suction cups to use in the shower.

Thank you for your response. I’m on the 10/19 Budapest to Amsterdam and are relying on all of you for info. If your trip on 10/3 gets altered... there will be no way the ship will be in Budapest on 10/19. We will need to begin making travel adjustments at that time. We have privately arranged hotel and guides in Budapest plus our flights. Thanks again for the update.

We, also, have private arrangements in both Amsterdam and Budapest and will have to cancel if the ship doesn't go to Budapest; we chose this river cruise for the itinerary. I will keep you updated!

We are on pins and needles....

We, also, have private arrangements in both Amsterdam and Budapest and will have to cancel if the ship doesn't go to Budapest; we chose this river cruise for the itinerary. I will keep you updated!

We are on pins and needles....

Just keep in mind that Crystal only have 4 long ships of identical size (Mozart is extra wide so it won't fit in a number of locks) so they don't have the luxury or extra ships to do ship swaps like Viking and other river boat companies are doing currently. Their only option is to either continue the journey by bus or turn the one way cruise into a round trip or simply cancel. We were on the Crystal Bach in June doing the Rhine and our voyage was interrupted by a damaged lock on the French side causing huge backup in river traffic and we ended up not being able to complete our sailing to disembark in Frankfurt but Crystal Bach did manage to still provide most excursions and made arrangements to take all passengers to the Frankfurt airport. In August, we were on the Viking doing a Grand European voyage from Amsterdam to Budapest, Our original ship never made it to Amsterdam to pick us up due to low river level but Viking had another identical ship in Amsterdam already waiting for us to board. A week later we had to swap ship because of the low water condition. About 2 or 3 days before arriving Budapest we were told ship couldn't sail there due to low water level and Viking transferred us to Budapest by bus to stay at the Ritz Carlton and Hilton. Viking was still able to offer the bulk of the excursions despite this difficulty. Since this river level condition is extremely fluid, we hope the river level will rise high enough to ensure smooth sailing for all of you with upcoming trips. Our August sailing was the first time passengers including us were actually praying for heavy rain.

Update on Sept 10 - 20 Mozart sailing. Good news/bad news. We will sail tomorrow to Bratislava & do scheduled Shore excursions. Bad news is we will not sail to Budapest. Several choices - Plan A - go by bus to Budapest & stay one night in hotel & bus back to Vienna OR Plan B - skip Budapest, cruise back to Vienna & have an extra night on ship in Vienna. The water level is not looking good for the next 6/8 days at this time. The rain in Linz today didn’t help the area going into/out of Budapest. We will have final revised shore excursions & travel plans tomorrow at 2:30. There are 120 ships in the same situation on the river right now. It is a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines. You just can’t fight Mother Nature. Hope that the cruise on Sept 20 doesn’t have to deal with this but it is what it is & we have to go with the flow.

How disappointing but as you say it is what it is. I am sure the situation will not change for our cruise. I have been looking at the long range forecast and it appears the temperatures are still unusually high and there is no rain in the forecast.

Thanks for advising what options were given - if we get the same, we will opt for a return trip to Vienna as we really do not like buses. It just means a trip to Budapest at a future date.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip - which option will you take? If you choose the bus to Budapest can you post about the experience?

My husband and I really appreciate all the updates you have provided.

Update on Sept 10 - 20 Mozart sailing. Good news/bad news. We will sail tomorrow to Bratislava & do scheduled Shore excursions. Bad news is we will not sail to Budapest. Several choices - Plan A - go by bus to Budapest & stay one night in hotel & bus back to Vienna OR Plan B - skip Budapest, cruise back to Vienna & have an extra night on ship in Vienna. The water level is not looking good for the next 6/8 days at this time. The rain in Linz today didn’t help the area going into/out of Budapest. We will have final revised shore excursions & travel plans tomorrow at 2:30. There are 120 ships in the same situation on the river right now. It is a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines. You just can’t fight Mother Nature. Hope that the cruise on Sept 20 doesn’t have to deal with this but it is what it is & we have to go with the flow.

Just keep in mind that Crystal only have 4 long ships of identical size (Mozart is extra wide so it won't fit in a number of locks) so they don't have the luxury or extra ships to do ship swaps like Viking and other river boat companies are doing currently.

It only takes 2 ships on a river to be able to do a ship swap – if you plan the itineraries with this in mind [e.g. one ship leaves Amsterdam, the other leaves Budapest, they cross in the middle or swap passengers on either side of the choke point]. That's why river cruise lines with many fewer ships than Viking have been successfully doing ship swaps as needed this year. Hopefully Crystal will take this year's experience into account as they plan future itineraries. I remember a few years ago when Viking was caught unprepared and did lots of bus tours – they have obviously gotten their act together since and are getting a lot of praise this year. Crystal, take note!

It only takes 2 ships on a river to be able to do a ship swap – if you plan the itineraries with this in mind [e.g. one ship leaves Amsterdam, the other leaves Budapest, they cross in the middle or swap passengers on either side of the choke point]. That's why river cruise lines with many fewer ships than Viking have been successfully doing ship swaps as needed this year. Hopefully Crystal will take this year's experience into account as they plan future itineraries. I remember a few years ago when Viking was caught unprepared and did lots of bus tours – they have obviously gotten their act together since and are getting a lot of praise this year. Crystal, take note!

The 2 ships only work if the low point is right in the middle. If not, you need ships leaving at staggered times for the swap to work. For Viking they have so many ships at different dates that they have ships arriving at choke points all the time.

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Update on Sept 10 - 20 Mozart sailing. Good news/bad news. We will sail tomorrow to Bratislava & do scheduled Shore excursions. Bad news is we will not sail to Budapest. Several choices - Plan A - go by bus to Budapest & stay one night in hotel & bus back to Vienna OR Plan B - skip Budapest, cruise back to Vienna & have an extra night on ship in Vienna. The water level is not looking good for the next 6/8 days at this time. The rain in Linz today didn’t help the area going into/out of Budapest. We will have final revised shore excursions & travel plans tomorrow at 2:30. There are 120 ships in the same situation on the river right now. It is a logistical nightmare for the cruise lines. You just can’t fight Mother Nature. Hope that the cruise on Sept 20 doesn’t have to deal with this but it is what it is & we have to go with the flow.

Just keep in mind the bus ride from Vienna to Budapest or vice versa is 3.5 hours one way depending on traffic and with a short pit stop half way. Your Plan A involves 7 hours on the bus which is too much. Plan B maybe the better alternative--less tiring for the passengers. The bottom line is there's really no good solution to resolving this low water situation.

Just keep in mind the bus ride from Vienna to Budapest or vice versa is 3.5 hours one way depending on traffic and with a short pit stop half way. Your Plan A involves 7 hours on the bus which is too much. Plan B maybe the better alternative--less tiring for the passengers. The bottom line is there's really no good solution to resolving this low water situation.

Yes, they provided full disclosure. That is why Plan A is the least desirable to us. I would prefer to spend my time on the ship sailing back to Vienna. No packing involved. We will get final plan at 2:30 today.

How disappointing but as you say it is what it is. I am sure the situation will not change for our cruise. I have been looking at the long range forecast and it appears the temperatures are still unusually high and there is no rain in the forecast.

 

Thanks for advising what options were given - if we get the same, we will opt for a return trip to Vienna as we really do not like buses. It just means a trip to Budapest at a future date.

 

I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip - which option will you take? If you choose the bus to Budapest can you post about the experience?

 

My husband and I really appreciate all the updates you have provided.

You are very welcome. We are leaning towards staying on the ship & going back to Vienna. Less hassle, more relaxing & no extra packing involved. 7 hours on a bus does not thrill us either. We are flying out of Budapest & will be spending a night there at the end of the trip anyway. We already have train tickets from Vienna to Budapest. We will plan a trip to Budapest at a later date as well.

You are very welcome. We are leaning towards staying on the ship & going back to Vienna. Less hassle, more relaxing & no extra packing involved. 7 hours on a bus does not thrill us either. We are flying out of Budapest & will be spending a night there at the end of the trip anyway. We already have train tickets from Vienna to Budapest. We will plan a trip to Budapest at a later date as well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the cruise overall and that the short time you’ll spend in Budapest will be fun. Taking a train there is a much better option then a bus!

We are new to cruising - how do we locate where the boat is docked in Vienna?

Your updates have been wonderful. Thank you and safe flight home from Budapest.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the cruise overall and that the short time you’ll spend in Budapest will be fun. Taking a train there is a much better option then a bus!

 

We are new to cruising - how do we locate where the boat is docked in Vienna?

 

Your updates have been wonderful. Thank you and safe flight home from Budapest.

Have your TA contact your river cruise line, otherwise you will have a hard time finding it. We boarded MS Savor (Tauck) this afternoon in Vienna and there have to be at least 30 to 40 boats tied up along the river pier!!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the cruise overall and that the short time you’ll spend in Budapest will be fun. Taking a train there is a much better option then a bus!

 

We are new to cruising - how do we locate where the boat is docked in Vienna?

 

Your updates have been wonderful. Thank you and safe flight home from Budapest.

Taxi driver will know where pier is & it was a breeze. They took us directly to the Crystal dock. Check in was quick & efficient.

We have enjoyed the cruise & the scenery is beautiful. It’s been a lot of fun & Crystal is top notch! They are handling the situation with professionalism in spite of the difficulties. It is disappointing for the passengers & difficult for the employees. We have decided to proceed to Budapest via bus. We voted & since it is my husband’s birthday trip we are going to see Budapest!!!! Bus travel to Budapest is a problem many people would love to have. We are indeed fortunate. Still not sure if we will be bused from Bratislava or Vienna. Water level in Bratislava may be challenging. To be continued...

Taxi driver will know where pier is & it was a breeze. They took us directly to the Crystal dock. Check in was quick & efficient.

We have enjoyed the cruise & the scenery is beautiful. It’s been a lot of fun & Crystal is top notch! They are handling the situation with professionalism in spite of the difficulties. It is disappointing for the passengers & difficult for the employees. We have decided to proceed to Budapest via bus. We voted & since it is my husband’s birthday trip we are going to see Budapest!!!! Bus travel to Budapest is a problem many people would love to have. We are indeed fortunate. Still not sure if we will be bused from Bratislava or Vienna. Water level in Bratislava may be challenging. To be continued...

Appreciate the updates...keep 'em coming! Enjoy your trip

Taxi driver will know where pier is & it was a breeze. They took us directly to the Crystal dock. Check in was quick & efficient.

We have enjoyed the cruise & the scenery is beautiful. It’s been a lot of fun & Crystal is top notch! They are handling the situation with professionalism in spite of the difficulties. It is disappointing for the passengers & difficult for the employees. We have decided to proceed to Budapest via bus. We voted & since it is my husband’s birthday trip we are going to see Budapest!!!! Bus travel to Budapest is a problem many people would love to have. We are indeed fortunate. Still not sure if we will be bused from Bratislava or Vienna. Water level in Bratislava may be challenging. To be continued...

Looking forward to updates - they’re wonderful - thank you so much and happy birthday to your husband.