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Low Waters on the Elbe

RZW'sYaYA

By RZW'sYaYA,
in River Cruising

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CPT Trips

CPT Trips

Posted
Posted

. . . And they are on opposite sides of the Continental Divide.

 

Just read a few very recent reviews of GCT's Elbe "cruise." They were surprisingly good. An extra night in Berlin, three nights on the ship in Wittenburg and three nights hotel stay in Dresden. One reported, ironically, rain on the day in Swiss Saxony. Not enough to help the river level.

 

Five weeks for the long distance rain dance. :rolleyes:

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BobNAnne

BobNAnne

Posted
Posted

I just talked to Andrew at GCT. We're going in about 3 weeks (Oct. 17th) from Berlin to Dresden. He says if they are not sailing, but bussing, they will call us 10 days before the trip. They are allowing people to transfer to another cruise, right now, with $350 credit. Not sure if that's per person or per couple. And any day you aren't cruising, you get another $150 in compensation.

Going in our direction, they would bus us from our hotel in Berlin to Wittenberg where we spend 4 nights. (Not sure if we spend an extra night in Berlin or not). He says we wouldn't miss anything (Woerlitz, etc.) on our itinerary with bus trips less than an hour each.

Then we get bussed to Dresden where we'll spend 3 nights (I think he said).

We wanted more time in Dresden anyway so this may be a good thing.

Then they take off for Litomerice and Prague.

Anyone else going on our trip?

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journey47

journey47

Posted
Posted

I sent an email to GCT, they gave me itinerary for trip if not cruising. They didn't mention any $ compensation. Would the $150 for each day not cruising be a future credit or returned? We are booked on November 8 tour from Prague to Berlin. (Going in two days early to Prague). They said we would be 4 nights in hotel in Dresden, with local lunches and dinners, and 3 nights onboard in Wittenberg with no cruising. Would be bused to sites. Would love feedback on how your trip goes.

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BobNAnne

BobNAnne

Posted
Posted

Hi Journey47,

OK, will do. I've seen other forums where GCT'ers seemed to be OK with the bussing but I'll let you know. Some of the Viking people were not too happy at all.

 

CPT, Not sure about the meals. I know in Berlin we have a dinner in the hotel the first night then on our own for 2 nights. I'm sure any meals that we would have gotten on the ship will now be covered in the hotels.

 

Back to the rain dance.

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CPT Trips

CPT Trips

Posted
Posted
I sent an email to GCT, they gave me itinerary for trip if not cruising. They didn't mention any $ compensation. Would the $150 for each day not cruising be a future credit or returned? We are booked on November 8 tour from Prague to Berlin. (Going in two days early to Prague). They said we would be 4 nights in hotel in Dresden, with local lunches and dinners, and 3 nights onboard in Wittenberg with no cruising. Would be bused to sites. Would love feedback on how your trip goes.

 

Would you be willing to send me a copy of that email? r983b at AOL dot com . . . "Elbe Noncruise" as subject would help if it hits my spam file. Thanks

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CPT Trips

CPT Trips

Posted
Posted
Hi Journey47,

OK, will do. I've seen other forums where GCT'ers seemed to be OK with the bussing but I'll let you know. Some of the Viking people were not too happy at all.

 

CPT, Not sure about the meals. I know in Berlin we have a dinner in the hotel the first night then on our own for 2 nights. I'm sure any meals that we would have gotten on the ship will now be covered in the hotels.

 

Back to the rain dance.

 

I hope that they deliver the "promised" number of meals. In some respects I think I'd prefer a reasonable meal allowance over group meals in a hotel. But I'm dancing and praying for the cruise with meals on board!

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JVilleGal

JVilleGal

Posted
Posted
Just got notice that the Viking Elbe River cruise on Oct. 8th has been modified. They've offered a $1,000 voucher for future travel. They plan to do a ship-swap during the cruise. Hoping it'll be a pretty seamless experience! They even included links to a review from someone who experienced this.

 

Just so you know, they will swap ships but neither of those ships will move! You know this????

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editor@cruisecritic

editor@cruisecritic

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi, literally just back from our Elbe River cruise on Viking Beyla and Astrild. Fabulous experience. We did not cruise -- did a ship swap, no big deal, well handled. Essentially, we arrived onboard (Dresden) Viking Beyla on Sunday night. On Wednesday morning we put luggage outside the door, hopped on a bus, spent the whole day sightseeing (Meissen was the star attraction), got to the ship before dinner, and our luggage was in our cabin, same cabin number, different view!

 

Crew and staff, particularly our program director, were superb, ports were fascinating. Bojan, our PD, made the swap with us so there was continuity. It still felt like you were on a cruise even if it didn't move (and we did get a chance to do a three hour packet cruise out of Dresden so there was time on the water).

 

Happy to answer questions and have posted an album on Cruise Critic's Facebook page -- so check that out. Focuses primarily on the ports but may add one more bit tomorrow about the ship experience. Link:

 

Loved the baby Longships. Would I have rather sailed the entire itinerary? Sure, of course, absolutely yes. Would I go back? Sure, of course, and yes, absolutely -- really a fantastic trip.

 

In general, most passengers seemed to have a good time. I didn't think the buses were as much a deal as I expected. It reminded me of a Douro cruise (there's little on the Douro that's walkable from your riverboat). And also the region itself isn't that massive so the distances generally weren't too far. The longest ride, if I recall, was the trip from Meissen to Wittenberg, about 2.5 hours. Just about everyone napped.

 

Carolyn

 

Just got notice that the Viking Elbe River cruise on Oct. 8th has been modified. They've offered a $1,000 voucher for future travel. They plan to do a ship-swap during the cruise. Hoping it'll be a pretty seamless experience! They even included links to a review from someone who experienced this.
Edited by editor@cruisecritic
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xpcdoojk "Live from...." Rare

xpcdoojk

Posted
Posted
Hi, literally just back from our Elbe River cruise on Viking Beyla and Astrild. Fabulous experience. We did not cruise -- did a ship swap, no big deal, well handled. Essentially, we arrived onboard (Dresden) Viking Beyla on Sunday night. On Wednesday morning we put luggage outside the door, hopped on a bus, spent the whole day sightseeing (Meissen was the star attraction), got to the ship before dinner, and our luggage was in our cabin, same cabin number, different view!

 

Crew and staff, particularly our program director, were superb, ports were fascinating. Bojan, our PD, made the swap with us so there was continuity. It still felt like you were on a cruise even if it didn't move (and we did get a chance to do a three hour packet cruise out of Dresden so there was time on the water).

 

Happy to answer questions and have posted an album on Cruise Critic's Facebook page -- so check that out. Focuses primarily on the ports but may add one more bit tomorrow about the ship experience. Link:

 

Loved the baby Longships. Would I have rather sailed the entire itinerary? Sure, of course, absolutely yes. Would I go back? Sure, of course, and yes, absolutely -- really a fantastic trip.

 

In general, most passengers seemed to have a good time. I didn't think the buses were as much a deal as I expected. It reminded me of a Douro cruise (there's little on the Douro that's walkable from your riverboat). And also the region itself isn't that massive so the distances generally weren't too far. The longest ride, if I recall, was the trip from Meissen to Wittenberg, about 2.5 hours. Just about everyone napped.

 

Carolyn

Welcome home. Glad it worked out. There is no doubt if you go and roll with the punches it is better than going and getting PO'd everytime something unexpected happens.

 

jc

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DrivesLikeMario

DrivesLikeMario

Posted
Posted
Just so you know, they will swap ships but neither of those ships will move! You know this????

 

Viking included a spelled-out version of the itinerary, so yes, it's all there - every step of the way.

 

Hi, literally just back from our Elbe River cruise on Viking Beyla and Astrild. Fabulous experience. We did not cruise -- did a ship swap, no big deal, well handled. Essentially, we arrived onboard (Dresden) Viking Beyla on Sunday night. On Wednesday morning we put luggage outside the door, hopped on a bus, spent the whole day sightseeing (Meissen was the star attraction), got to the ship before dinner, and our luggage was in our cabin, same cabin number, different view!

 

Crew and staff, particularly our program director, were superb, ports were fascinating. Bojan, our PD, made the swap with us so there was continuity. It still felt like you were on a cruise even if it didn't move (and we did get a chance to do a three hour packet cruise out of Dresden so there was time on the water).

 

Happy to answer questions and have posted an album on Cruise Critic's Facebook page -- so check that out. Focuses primarily on the ports but may add one more bit tomorrow about the ship experience. Link:

 

Loved the baby Longships. Would I have rather sailed the entire itinerary? Sure, of course, absolutely yes. Would I go back? Sure, of course, and yes, absolutely -- really a fantastic trip.

 

In general, most passengers seemed to have a good time. I didn't think the buses were as much a deal as I expected. It reminded me of a Douro cruise (there's little on the Douro that's walkable from your riverboat). And also the region itself isn't that massive so the distances generally weren't too far. The longest ride, if I recall, was the trip from Meissen to Wittenberg, about 2.5 hours. Just about everyone napped.

 

Carolyn

 

That's SO good to hear. I'll pass that on to my friends, thanks. :)

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journey47

journey47

Posted
Posted
Hi Journey,

Maybe the $350 compensation is if you are a frequent cruiser?

Are you thinking of bailing?

We are pretty much locked in with our own air and hotel rooms for pre and post trip.

Bob[

 

No, we are not bailing. Looking forward to trip, either way. 2 days early in Prague and visit cousin in Dresden, and plan a short train trip from Berlin to Mecklenburg region. Let us know how your trip goes. P.S. I grew up in southern California. GCT has been great in answering my emails.

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BobNAnne

BobNAnne

Posted
Posted

No, we are not bailing. Looking forward to trip, either way. 2 days early in Prague and visit cousin in Dresden, and plan a short train trip from Berlin to Mecklenburg region. Let us know how your trip goes. P.S. I grew up in southern California. GCT has been great in answering my emails.

 

That's good to hear (not bailing). You're going to love Prague; we've been there twice. You can walk everywhere and most of it looks like it's unchanged since the middle ages. Everything from architecture to castles to knights to history to views. Just don't go to the Jewish section on Saturday; it's pretty much closed down.

 

Where in So. Calif?

 

uRj45dueS

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journey47

journey47

Posted
Posted

Love the picture of the twin spires. What building is this?

Looking forward to seeing the churches.

I grew up in Lakewood. Have family in Downey. Worked in LA, lived in S. Pasadena, and Garden Grove. Loved the beach and the mountains. Neither here in Kansas. But love it here also, the space and land.

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  • 3 weeks later...
CPT Trips

CPT Trips

Posted
Posted
Rumor has it that it has rained for several days along the Elbe and the that cruise ships are on the move again. We are scheduled to board the boat in two weeks . . . Hope t it keeps raining enough.

 

Sadly, not accurate. We received a call from GCT that cruise portion of our tour is "diverted" tofour nights on the ship berthed in Wittenburg and three nights in a hotel in Dresden. Daily excursions to promised cities.

 

Satisfactory compensation offered if we take the trip. Several other options were offered, one was cancel and full refund.

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RKF

RKF

Posted
Posted

Very happy to report that the Elegant Elbe trip on the Viking Belya was able to do its entire planned trip on the river - Oct. 18 - 15. It was the first time they were able to do that in 3 months. A truly wonderful experience - more on that later.

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