Gate 1 Cruise on Luftner’s Amadeus Silver – Substituted Bus Tour

[samcevoy]

We booked a 14-night cruise through Gate 1 from Amsterdam to Budapest on Luftner’s Amadeus Silver. Just before we left for Europe, we were told that because of low water, we would receive a 5-day substitute bus tour and then join the ship in Passau for a 9-day cruise on the Danube. Our cruise review was posted a week or two ago.

 

When told about the substitute bus tour, we were offered the opportunity to cancel and get a refund of the cruise fare, but neither Luftner nor Gate 1 would refund the $2000+ airfare that was purchased as part of the package. This was the first unhappy surprise.

 

Luftner did not provide Gate 1 or us information about the hotels until the day after the go/no-go decision had to be made. Thus, we were forced to make the important go/no-go decision without knowing the qualities or locations of the hotels that Luftner was substituting for the cruise ship. This, in my opinion, was unfair unless the hotel ratings and locations were truly equivalent – and they were not!!!

 

Luftner claims at least twice on its website that the Amadeus Silver is a 5-star hotel. That is a major reason why we booked this cruise.

 

As it turned out, not one of the substituted hotels was or is rated 5 stars. For instance, the Amsterdam hotel was the Courtyard Atlas Arena, for which the star ratings range from 3.0 stars (Trabber Hotels) to 3.5 stars (hotels.com and Venere.com) to 4.0 (Trip Advisor and Expedia).

 

This hotel’s location is terrible and way out in the suburbs and far from Central Amsterdam. The nearest train station is 10 metro stops away from Central Station. Walking to the station, buying a ticket, waiting for the next train (Sunday headways) and riding to the City Center took approximately 1 hour each way. This was a terrible way to spend our free day in Amsterdam. This hotel was a terrible substitute for the cruise ship and its normal Amsterdam dock/pier.

 

The Hotel Kongress in Bamberg is widely rated to be 3.0 and 3.5 stars, and well below 5 stars. We disliked this hotel because of extreme heat and discomfort in both the room and in the hotel hallways. The hotel staff admitted that that these conditions were ongoing problems.

 

In summary, none of the substituted hotels is rated 5 stars as is the ship. Two hotels are rated “a solid” 4 stars, and two of the hotels are rated significantly lower than that.

 

Luftner substituted lower quality hotels and did not tell us the hotel names or locations until after the go/no-go decision had to be made. This was very unfair.

 

The substituted meals for the five days were all below cruise-ship standards. All five dinners were served buffet style and not the fine sit-down dining experienced on cruise ships.

 

There were a number of other downgrades we received while on the bus tour when compared to what we would have received on the ship.

 

Low water is an Act of God and/or something that cruise lines cannot prevent. But was the downgrading of our vacation necessary, or was the downgrading something that Luftner could have avoided?

 

During the cruise, we met a few Viking River Cruises (VRC) tour guides and cruise passengers. Those booked all the way from Amsterdam to Budapest (in either direction) were being accommodated by ship all the way. They were being bussed around the low water in a single day while touring interesting places in between. While they had to pack and unpack once, they were receiving all of their nights on the water and on two equivalent ships, and no nights in a hotel.

 

Since returning home, I contacted VRC and they confirmed what I was told. VRC protected their passengers using what they call “ship swap,” and busing the passengers around the low-water area. VRC said that their cruise schedules are set up to minimize passenger impacts because of low-water conditions, and that is what they did in this case.

 

It is obvious to me that VRC planned and intended to take as best care of the VRC clients as possible, and that Luftner was not prepared for the low-water conditions, and that Luftner did not take prudent steps to minimize impacts on its clients!!!

 

In summary, I believe that Luftner treated us very unfairly and poorly. Gate 1 told me that they petitioned Luftner to provide some amends for these and other issues that we experienced and reported, but that Luftner refused to provide any adjustment. Apparently, Gate 1 has no leverage or clout with Luftner!? In any case, Gate 1 blamed Luftner for all the problems we reported.

 

(Gate 1 did provide a pro rata refund of the cabin upgrade (French balcony) we paid because it was something not received during the 5 land days.)

 

Steve McEvoy

West Chester, PA

samcevoy@aol.com

[Coral]

IMO - the star rating for European hotels is less than what we expect in the US. For example, a 4 Star hotel in US is probably a 2.5 or 3 star rating in Europe.

 

My guess is that the cruise line had to make last minute reservations and probably had very little choice in what hotels were available.

 

Viking was able to swap ships easier than most cruise lines as they have many more ships sailing the rivers compared to most lines. They can easily do this with out repositioning ships. Most other lines are not able to do that.

 

With that being said, I agree that they should have given you the hotel info and I hope that you are able to get some money back from your trip.

Edited October 31, 2015 by Coral

[Floridiana]

Sounds terrible! Now my questions is: You booked with Gate 1, wasn't Gate 1 responsible for the bus/hotel part of the trip?

[JVilleGal]

I agree, Gate 1 should have taken over the Bus trip portion.

[samcevoy]

Hello Coral:

 

Luftner refused to give anything back. I am looking into how I can file an EU complaint about the involuntary downgrade - booking a 5-star ship and getting 3- to 4-star hotels.

 

The EU has favorable common-carrier requlations about compensation being due in the case of involuntary downgrades.

 

Gate 1 gave back the prorated cabin upgrade we paid because all cabins got the same hotel rooms - no French balconies.

 

Steve McEvoy

[samcevoy]

Sounds terrible! Now my questions is: You booked with Gate 1, wasn't Gate 1 responsible for the bus/hotel part of the trip?

Floridiana:

 

No, it was a 14-day cruise, and Luftner substituted the land tour for the ship - not Gate 1.

 

However, Gate 1 decided to keep their full profit even though their passengers were treated very poorly - and there is much more to the story that I did not write up.

 

Steve McEvoy

[Coral]

Sounds terrible! Now my questions is: You booked with Gate 1, wasn't Gate 1 responsible for the bus/hotel part of the trip?

 

I agree, Gate 1 should have taken over the Bus trip portion.

 

I think Gate 1 acts as a booking agent for other companies in some places. It sounds like in this situation, Gate 1 wasn't even present as they were booked into Luftner’s Amadeus Silver. Gate 1 simply acted as a travel agent for some of the passengers on Luftner's ships.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Coral

[samcevoy]

I agree, Gate 1 should have taken over the Bus trip portion.

JVilleGal:

 

I do not think that was possible. Gate 1 booked the cruise for its clients and passed the money minus commissions to Luftner.

 

It was the Luftner boat that got stuck.

 

In my opinion, it was Luftner's job to make us whole, and Gate 1 should have made them do so.

 

Steve

[Coral]

Hello Coral:

 

Luftner refused to give anything back. I am looking into how I can file an EU complaint about the involuntary downgrade - booking a 5-star ship and getting 3- to 4-star hotels.

 

The EU has favorable common-carrier requlations about compensation being due in the case of involuntary downgrades.

 

Gate 1 gave back the prorated cabin upgrade we paid because all cabins got the same hotel rooms - no French balconies.

 

Steve McEvoy

 

I am not sure if this would work but I wonder if you can contest the cost of the trip through your credit card? Though my guess is that there is fine print in a contract saying that substitutions can be made. I am guessing with the fine print, you don't have much help there.

 

You can also try something like this: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/fixer or an equivalent with another station....

[samcevoy]

I think Gate 1 acts as a booking agent for other companies in some places. It sounds like in this situation, Gate 1 wasn't even present as they were booked into Luftner’s Amadeus Silver. Gate 1 simply acted as a travel agent for some of the passengers on Luftner's ships.

Coral:

 

We posted our last messages at the same time.

 

I agree with you.

 

Thanks.

 

Steve

[JVilleGal]

They blocked cabins and sold those as their own tour complete with seperate tours.

[Coral]

They blocked cabins and sold those as their own tour complete with seperate tours.

 

Call me ignorant - how do you know it is separate tours from Amadeus Silver?

 

On my river cruise, there were people who booked with a different company who held cabins on our sailing. They had all of the same included tours. The only difference was some of our optional tours were included in their price.

[JVilleGal]

I have seen it both ways...on trips I have taken with A & K

[Host Jazzbeau]

On our recent AMA Rhone cruise there were two such groups. The Road Scholar people had their own tours. The Saga people were mixed in with us. [We were able to get enough flavor of the Road Scholar "added value" to know that these tours are not for us -- very academic!]

Edited November 3, 2015 by Host Jazzbeau

[samcevoy]

Call me ignorant - how do you know it is separate tours from Amadeus Silver?

 

On my river cruise, there were people who booked with a different company who held cabins on our sailing. They had all of the same included tours. The only difference was some of our optional tours were included in their price.

This was true for us. Gate 1 had some tours included that were optional for others.

 

Steve

[Mark_T]

Luftner refused to give anything back. I am looking into how I can file an EU complaint about the involuntary downgrade - booking a 5-star ship and getting 3- to 4-star hotels.

 

The EU has favorable common-carrier requlations about compensation being due in the case of involuntary downgrades.

 

There are quite a lot of useful EU regulations in regard to consumer protection, but I don't think you are going about it the right way with the constant comparison of star ratings as there is no common standard that you can apply between a cruise ship and a hotel.

 

The 'involuntary downgrade' you mention sounds as though you are thinking about EU 261, but that only applies to airlines, not cruise companies.

 

You need to read your contract carefully to determine who you should be taking action against.

 

Gate 1 may have acted solely as a booking agent in this matter and all liability is with Luftner, but there are some very specific aspects of the arrangement and how it was disclosed to you that will determine that so I would seriously get some professional advice before going too much further with your complaint so you don't waste time going after the wrong entity.

 

Many other points in this that will have considerable impact on your ability to pursue this complaint and again, best discussed with a legal professional sooner rather than later...

[samcevoy]

There are quite a lot of useful EU regulations in regard to consumer protection, but I don't think you are going about it the right way with the constant comparison of star ratings as there is no common standard that you can apply between a cruise ship and a hotel.

 

The 'involuntary downgrade' you mention sounds as though you are thinking about EU 261, but that only applies to airlines, not cruise companies.

 

You need to read your contract carefully to determine who you should be taking action against.

 

Gate 1 may have acted solely as a booking agent in this matter and all liability is with Luftner, but there are some very specific aspects of the arrangement and how it was disclosed to you that will determine that so I would seriously get some professional advice before going too much further with your complaint so you don't waste time going after the wrong entity.

 

Many other points in this that will have considerable impact on your ability to pursue this complaint and again, best discussed with a legal professional sooner rather than later...

Thanks Mark T.

[samcevoy]

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

Luftner ignored my valid complaints. I will not use Luftner or an Amadeus ship again.

 

Over and out.

 

Steve McEvoy

[RDC1]

Thanks for everyone's input.

 

Luftner ignored my valid complaints. I will not use Luftner or an Amadeus ship again.

 

Over and out.

 

Steve McEvoy

 

Once they knew that it would not be the full river cruise and they offered to refund your cruise fare, then that pretty much satisfied any consumer protection laws out there. They provided an opportunity to cancel with refund prior to cruise, you declined to cancel. Pretty much end of story. If you had been a resident of the UK and had purchased under their PTR you might have been able to make a claim for some costs beyond the offered refund, but the purchase was not made under UK PTR.