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Low Waters on the Elbe

RZW'sYaYA

By RZW'sYaYA,
in River Cruising

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RZW'sYaYA

RZW'sYaYA

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I understand your point about the weather and having a crystal ball but at least be upfront with your 'guests' and allow them to make informed decisions.

 

Something doesn't pass the smell test.

 

I agree with you GentlemanCruiser...yes...no one has a crystal ball regarding the weather. But they do have a weather forecast and it is not going to rain enough to fill the river enough to float the ships through out the cruise. They should allow the passengers to make an informed decision based on what VRC know at the time and then give the passengers the opportunity to change or cancel the trip without penalties'. Many of us have traveled before and we booked a river cruise not a bus tour. :mad:

 

I have been watch the Alerts on VRC and they are canceling the cruises with a window of less the week. That is wrong. The weather shows no sign of significant rain in the next 30 days so why o why wait until 7 days out???

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RZW'sYaYA

RZW'sYaYA

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DGHand,

 

Have you heard anything regarding your sailing??? I have been checking the link provided by Jeff in Torrance (see above) but I can not access our own trip via VRC. Can you???

 

Thanks for any info you can provide...

 

YaYa

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Jeff in Torrance

Jeff in Torrance

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looks like our trip is a "go," with significant modifications. I just received the following email:

 

Thank you for choosing Viking Cruises for your upcoming European voyage.

 

This message is to let you know that the Elbe River is currently experiencing unusually low water levels. Viking’s nautical department, a team of professionals that continually monitors all the rivers we sail on, anticipate that levels will increase somewhat this week due to recent rainfall. However, parts of the river are likely to remain unnavigable, and as a consequence it will be necessary to make some changes to your itinerary.

 

At this point it is unlikely that your ship, Viking Fontane, will be able to reach its regular embarkation port of Melnik in time for your departure. Following the start of your journey in Prague, you will therefore instead be transferred to Meissen in Germany on Day 2 for embarkation on identical sister ship Viking Schumann.

 

Further details are not available at this point as conditions are still changing. We expect all included excursions to take place, although some may be operated by motorcoach from your ship. If and when water levels rise further, Viking will do everything possible to restore your itinerary as it was originally planned.

 

 

We are confident that you will still enjoy your trip with us very much, but wanted to make you aware of the necessary alterations as soon as we ourselves learned. As an additional gesture of goodwill, we are extending a Future Cruise Voucher valued at $1,000 per person. Future Cruise Vouchers will be emailed to you separately; please allow two weeks for delivery.

 

 

Should you need to contact the ship on arrival, please call Viking Schumann at +49 174 346 34 53.

 

If you have any questions, please call Customer Relations at customerrelations@vikingcruises.com or 1-877-668-4546, extension 4525, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., PDT.

 

We look forward to welcoming you to Prague and wish you a wonderful journey.

 

Sincerely,

 

Stephanie K. Maldonado

Senior Manager, Customer Relations

Viking Cruises

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notamermaid Excellent Advice! Rare

notamermaid

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Hello,

 

according to the German national authorities (water and shipping) the river level on the Elbe is still very low and falling in parts. There is no rain forecast in the region for tomorrow and the day after. Temperatures are due to rise to 27 degrees and possibly even higher the day after that.

 

notamermaid

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RZW'sYaYA

RZW'sYaYA

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Jeff from Torrance,

Thank you for the information! I wish you much luck on your trip! I truly hope you can experience a RIVER cruise and NOT a floating in place hotel and bus tour.

My husband and I are not impressed with the VRC token “gesture of goodwill”. Goodwill would be to allow the customer to either cancel the trip (WITHOUT penalties) or move the funds to another. We have been on (too) many bus tours and don’t want to another, this was the main reason we thought we would try a river cruise…but we are afraid it’s going to turn out to be another bus tour! UGH!

If you could post to your travel experiences for us who are following you on this adventure. I know my husband and I would be grateful as well I am sure others.

We were so looking forward to the river cruise experience…now not so much…and I am afraid all of this has turned is off to the experience and may never try another. So, again please let us know how it goes for you.

We will be sailing (?) on the Fontane September 11 but arriving in Prague on the 8th.

Again…Thank you!

YaYa

From Northern California

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RZW'sYaYA

RZW'sYaYA

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Hi NotAMermaid,

Thank you for the update on the water levels...It doesn't look good...We here in California are suffering major drought...5 years running now. We tend to forget other countries may be experiencing the same thing.

Again thank you,

YaYa from California

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Viking Cruises

Viking Cruises

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Dear RZW’sYaYa,

 

We appreciate your concern about the low water levels currently impacting Elbe River cruises. While September 11th is still a few weeks away and too early to determine if and how your sailing will be affected, we would encourage you to contact us at tellus@vikingcruises.com so that we may answer any questions you may have about current river conditions.

 

Best regards,

Viking Cruises

 

Jeff from Torrance' date='

Thank you for the information! I wish you much luck on your trip! I truly hope you can experience a RIVER cruise and NOT a floating in place hotel and bus tour.

My husband and I are not impressed with the VRC token “gesture of goodwill”. Goodwill would be to allow the customer to either cancel the trip (WITHOUT penalties) or move the funds to another. We have been on (too) many bus tours and don’t want to another, this was the main reason we thought we would try a river cruise…but we are afraid it’s going to turn out to be another bus tour! UGH!

If you could post to your travel experiences for us who are following you on this adventure. I know my husband and I would be grateful as well I am sure others.

We were so looking forward to the river cruise experience…now not so much…and I am afraid all of this has turned is off to the experience and may never try another. So, again please let us know how it goes for you.

We will be sailing (?) on the Fontane September 11 but arriving in Prague on the 8th.

Again…Thank you!

YaYa

From Northern California[/quote']

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steamboats Great Review Rare

steamboats

Posted
Posted

You can check the Dresden river gauge here. It´s updated every 15 min. It´s gone up a little to 79 cm this morning. You can also see the impact of the rainfall last week.

 

Today it´s rainy but there´s another heat wave coming in by tomorrow.

 

steamboats

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JVilleGal

JVilleGal

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LOL...isn't that the truth...O well...I'm not saying anything that isn't true! Plus' date=' I have contact them...I got the same line as the one posted...very frustrating![/quote']

 

Deceptive! The reason I will say NEVER, as in never will I cruise with Viking :(

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RZW'sYaYA

RZW'sYaYA

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SteamBoats,

Thank you for keeping us up to date on the weather! It seems one day I'm packing for a heat wave the next for rain...Please keep up the post! I won't close and zip up my luggage until the morning of the 7th!

YaYa

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