When May River Cruise Lines Resume Service? [final edition]

[notamermaid]

Not looking good for river cruising in April in Europe. As mentioned elsewhere, the lock down in Germany forbids such activities until 18 April. In Austria river cruises are forbidden until 11 April.

 

notamermaid

 

[CaroleLee]

AMA per the CC article is resuming in June- however is this for everyone or only for Europeans?

Per the US Dept of State website (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/covid-19-information.html) the majority of EU nations will NOT allow US citizen to enter. So...it's still a waiting game.

[TFree]

For those following start up dates, we had a May 17, 2021 Uniworld Delightful Danube and Prague cruise.  We cancelled it a few weeks ago and took a future cruise credit.  Up until a few days ago, our May 17 cruise was the third scheduled sailing of that itinerary.  (I think the prior dates were May 5 and May 12.)  Those two sailings have now disappeared from the schedule, so it would appear that Uniworld has cancelled some more cruises in the first half of May.  On the other hand, their Portugal cruises are still, apparently, going to start on May 2.  

 

Tom & Judy

[elklemi]

Gate 1 has cancelled all international trips thru July 31, 2021.  We have a Danube river cruise scheduled August 14, 2021 and they say it is hoping to go but I really doubt it will be a go.  Had to cancel this last year and maybe 3rd time will be the charm.

[jklc123]

We were notified Friday that our Pearl Seas “Great Lakes and Georgian Bay” May 30 sailing has been “suspended.” I was offered a voucher for the full amount paid that could be used through 2022 with Pearl Seas or their sister line American Cruise Line.  We opted for the return of our money and to rebook today, paying just the deposit to not tie up a large sum of money for so many months. I suspected that when I made the final payment in  February that Canada wouldn’t be ready for us by May, but waiting for  Pearl Seas to cancel on us, we wouldn’t have to pay the $900 cancellation fee. We were hoping to cruise in Europe in 2022 but now feel like waiting another year to see how things are going by then. We do have American Cruise Line’s Hudson Bay cruise booked for this October (postponed from last October.) That should be safe!

[zitsky]

I just had an email from CC about a Uniworld river cruise in Portugal.  With dates through the summer and into the fall.  Do they really think Portugal will be open for international travelers?  (Rhetorical question)  I ask because I'm on an ocean cruise to Spain and Portugal in November and it would be great if we can cruise again.  Right now it doesn't look likely that we will be able to go.

[kayakcove]

I just saw AMA Waterways notice of sailing cancelations through June 30, 2021.  But with the exception of Portugal being through June 15, 2021.  Wonder if that relates to only having one country to deal with.

[Bookishcruiser]

Booked in August for Eastern Europe. My TA thinks it’s likely to go. COVID numbers are down slightly in Europe. I’m sooooo hopeful. Not sure I really believe. Let’s all just think happy thoughts. 

[jmlh]

We are booked for Eastern Europe in late September.  Glad to hear there is a ray of hope!

[Lance88]

We are booked on a Uniworld Douro river cruise on June 6, 2021. Uniworld has not yet cancelled and is claiming they are restarting cruises in Portugal in mid May. They are refusing to provide any time frame on a final decision on whether it will go forward. Any thoughts on how realistic the timeframe is. I am not eager to book airfare and then have Uniworld cancel at the last minute. Our cruise was already rebooked once. 

[Loreto]

1 hour ago, Lance88 said:

We are booked on a Uniworld Douro river cruise on June 6, 2021. Uniworld has not yet cancelled and is claiming they are restarting cruises in Portugal in mid May. They are refusing to provide any time frame on a final decision on whether it will go forward. Any thoughts on how realistic the timeframe is. I am not eager to book airfare and then have Uniworld cancel at the last minute. Our cruise was already rebooked once. 

I managed to scrape together enough airline miles with Delta to pay for our flights for our Sept. 22 Avalon cruise.  I don't want another airline voucher!  Avalon did postpone our final payment to the beginning of August, so we will surely have some idea if cruising will resume.

[NMTraveller]

On 4/15/2021 at 2:24 PM, kayakcove said:

I just saw AMA Waterways notice of sailing cancelations through June 30, 2021.  But with the exception of Portugal being through June 15, 2021.  Wonder if that relates to only having one country to deal with.

We have an August AMA sailing.  We are considering rebooking to another year.  I would much prefer to see ships sailing before final payment.

[librarylady19]

With the recent news that the EU will be opening up to vaccinated Americans, hopefully more river cruises will happen later this summer.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/25/world/europe/american-travel-to-europe.html

[Lois R]

1 hour ago, librarylady19 said:

With the recent news that the EU will be opening up to vaccinated Americans, hopefully more river cruises will happen later this summer.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/25/world/europe/american-travel-to-europe.html

Sandy....how are you?😃 I am coming to Chi Town at the end of June with 3 friends! Would love to meet up. Do you have my email?

[notamermaid]

According to the German website, A-ROSA have cancelled their river cruises up to 9 May.

 

notamermaid

 

[bluestocking7]

Today (April 29, 2021) Tauck cancelled all its European cruises and tours through July 15.  We had a family Danube cruises scheduled July 3, but could see the writing on the wall, so postponed to 2022 a couple of weeks ago.  

 

My TA said the Tauck rep told her that it was going to take them "three months" to reach out to everyone they were cancelling.  Hopefully the rep was joking, but perhaps that's a heads up NOT to wait for them to call you.  

[worldtraveller99]

We postponed to 2022 months ago. I really hope we have some normal travel happening then.

[sharkster77]

7 hours ago, worldtraveller99 said:

We postponed to 2022 months ago. I really hope we have some normal travel happening then.

We feel exactly the same way.  My logical brain keeps telling me 2022 will be OK to travel, but my gut has me wondering.  We have a land tour to Canada that was postponed from last Sept. to this Sept.  If the Canadian border is open by then and the tour goes off, that would help my brain overcome my gut re: 2022.  We cannot wait to book something for 2022, but our gut won't let us quite yet!

[notamermaid]

TUI have postponed the start of their river cruise operations again, first sailing now 2 August: https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/travel-information/tui-river-cruises-update

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

This sounds a bit more hopeful than a couple of weeks ago. A round-up of river cruise lines: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Insights/A-reopening-for-the-EU-is-welcome-news-for-river-cruise-lines

 

Meanwhile, German operator Viva Cruises has also announced new postponements. The first to probably set sail will be their ship on the Douro, just like with other lines Portugal looks the first country to be back. German update only: https://www.viva-*****/information-coronavirus

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

Some good news...

 

My state - Bavaria - is opening for tourism on May 17th which means hotels can open. - This covers Aschaffenburg on the Main river, the canal, up to Passau on the Danube river.

 

Rhineland-Palatinate published a three steps plan and allows hotels and restaurants (indoor seating) to open up by June 2nd. - This would cover a good part of the Rhine and Moselle rivers.

 

It´s not yet said that river cruises are allowed to start too by those dates but it´s pretty likely.

 

steamboats

[AF-1]

notamermaid;  the article is good news for those who want to get back on the river in Jun/July.  Thanks for sharing

[notamermaid]

On 5/12/2021 at 2:31 PM, steamboats said:

Rhineland-Palatinate published a three steps plan and allows hotels and restaurants (indoor seating) to open up by June 2nd. - This would cover a good part of the Rhine and Moselle rivers.

It looks straightforward in its three steps but complicated in the details. It is important to note that this plan only applies to municipalities with an incidence rate under 100. There are 36 in total, 29 are under 100. That looks good. As of now, river cruises are not allowed. It is not clear in the plan when they will be allowed. 2 June as hotels? I cannot find this out as group tours are not specified. It is probably hidden deep in between §-signs in the regulations booklet. If we are lucky and vigilant, all places that river cruises run through will be under 100, that means if it is allowed and viable to run a river cruise, I am sure they will go. But this does not mean you can roam free. Tests for indoor dining, etc. will still be necessary. And cultural activities are still reduced. Again, the details are not easy to take in. Hopefully, I can find out more through work, will need to anyway when I am back in the office.

 

To show what would be possible, if our neighbouring states are not open for river cruises: In Rhineland-Palatinate you could sail from Saarbrücken to Trier, further then to Linz (Rhine) and to Remagen depending on ship size or to Mainz, but you cannot get as far as Bonn or Cologne, or get off the boat in Rüdesheim as that is in Hesse.

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

It´s a sign of opening... I´m pretty sure that other states will follow to open up. Baden-Württemberg announced that they will even open up for indoor seating in restaurants.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

That is really promising, perhaps a bit ambitious, but with testing a feasible idea I suppose. The incidence rate is higher in Baden-Wurttemberg, but is also well on the way down. 83 in my state today compared to 119 over there. 

 

notamermaid