Rhine Closed

[milling73]

We are on viking grand european going to Amsterdam. Today was at Wurzburg. Announced tonight that tomorrow last night on the Vili. We will be going to Coligne by bus, then on to final day in Amsterdam hotel. The Rhine is too low. 
 

Viking is trying to give comparable itinerary.  And they are scrambling for accommodations. 
This has never happened. We have already swapped boats, this time there is no boat to swap to. And no other alternative but bus. 
Anyone with a cruise involving Rhine / Danube right now be aware what going on. One can literally walk across these rivers in places. 
We were to leave this cruise and join Paris to The Alps Saturday. We have no idea if any of that be by boat. We have received no communication from Viking on that trip. 

[milling73]

We were to depart boat on Friday. As I understand it, we will spend 3 nights at Cologne hotel, and 1 night Amsterdam. 
Those with Spirits package are receiving credit on account for missing days. I believe we will receive meals at hotel. 
viking is trying to substitute itinerary, etc. it is disappointing for passengers, but there is nothing anyone can do but either fly home early or go with whatever can be worked out. If water too low, boats can’t sail.
Europe is having unprecedented drought and heat: crops dry,  communities running out of water, this is affecting far more people than those of us on river cruises. 

[Farang]

Thanks for the update.  I have been following a ship on the upper Rhine that is on an itinerary we plan to enjoy in late September.  On 3 different ship spotting websites that ship showed as stationary in Boppard since Friday. I suspected it was not a lost signal matter.  I guess your report, coupled with one spotting site's message that last ship communication contact was this afternoon confirms the ship is, in fact, idle in Boppard.  Ship was supposed to be in Frankfurt today and Strasbourg tomorrow.

[Roz]

@milling73, how disappointing.  Thank you for taking the time to keep us posted on what's going on.  I've often wondered how cruise lines find hotels with blocks of rooms available on the spur of the moment.  

[notamermaid]

That is so disappointing. What a pity Viking hasn't got a ship for you to swap to. Reading from other cruisers' posts I am confident that Viking will be able to hire another excursion boat to let you experience the Rhine Gorge.

 

2 hours ago, Roz said:

I've often wondered how cruise lines find hotels with blocks of rooms available on the spur of the moment.  

That has been my thought also. In Germany everyone is on holiday this week and although many may be in another country we now have many foreign visitors again. Not an easy time to find a suitably big hotel with the amenities and the necessary ease with the language (English is standard in hotels in Germany of course but a company will want to make sure the place is confident with so many foreigners). Booking potentially 90plus rooms in one go is a major task, especially if you want to have all your passengers in just one hotel and in a central location.

 

 

milling73, I hope you have an enjoyable last day on the Main tomorrow and Viking can give you a relatively nice experience on the Rhine.

 

As regards your other itinerary: with a few days to go still, Viking may want to wait and see how the river level situation progresses. Perhaps they have a ship swap possibility on that route which they will use at short notice.

 

notamermaid

 

[gentlemancruiser]

18 hours ago, Roz said:

@milling73, how disappointing.  Thank you for taking the time to keep us posted on what's going on.  I've often wondered how cruise lines find hotels with blocks of rooms available on the spur of the moment.  

Frequently.  They've done this many times before.   Sadly most of the hotels food is pretty bad compared with the dining rooms onboard.  Banquet dining scrapped together. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by gentlemancruiser
spelling error

[Haqdeluxe]

1 minute ago, gentlemancruiser said:

Frequently.  They've done this many times before.   Sadly most of the hotels food is pretty bad compared with the dining rooms onboard.  Banquet dining scrapped together. 

Yes to the dining downgrade. 😂 But it does open the door to seeking your dinner on the town without the worry of missing something delicious back on the ship. Or worse yet, missing a ships movement. I say make the best of it! 

[gentlemancruiser]

35 minutes ago, Haqdeluxe said:

Yes to the dining downgrade. 😂 But it does open the door to seeking your dinner on the town without the worry of missing something delicious back on the ship. Or worse yet, missing a ships movement. I say make the best of it! 

Having twice experienced adjusted river cruises, my suggestion is take your money and run.   Luggage outside your door at 7:30am isn't my idea of a vacation.     

[kpgclark]

Please keep everyone posted. We are scheduled for September for Swiss Alps to Paris and I'd like to know how they are handling things.

[epimom007]

5 hours ago, Haqdeluxe said:

Yes to the dining downgrade. 😂 But it does open the door to seeking your dinner on the town without the worry of missing something delicious back on the ship. Or worse yet, missing a ships movement. I say make the best of it! 

Does Viking reimburse your meals you have in town when the ship is inoperable?

[epimom007]

On 8/7/2022 at 2:40 PM, milling73 said:

We were to depart boat on Friday. As I understand it, we will spend 3 nights at Cologne hotel, and 1 night Amsterdam. 
Those with Spirits package are receiving credit on account for missing days. I believe we will receive meals at hotel. 
viking is trying to substitute itinerary, etc. it is disappointing for passengers, but there is nothing anyone can do but either fly home early or go with whatever can be worked out. If water too low, boats can’t sail.
Europe is having unprecedented drought and heat: crops dry,  communities running out of water, this is affecting far more people than those of us on river cruises. 

hoping something works out to get you back on the river. We are supposed to do A-BP on September 5. Not a positive outlook.

[2inSETexas]

As of today, the Rhine is not close completely. I think it must be based on size of the ship (depth of the hull). We are staying in a village in the Rhine gorge and saw two river cruise ships, one the Geoffrey Chaucer (pretty good length ship), sail through the Loreley this afternoon. Many barges are still making safe passage.

Edited August 8, 2022 by 2inSETexas

[Haqdeluxe]

4 minutes ago, epimom007 said:

Does Viking reimburse your meals you have in town when the ship is inoperable?

If Viking has moved you off your ship and into a hotel, they will see that you are fed. However those meals, especially dinner,  won't be what they would have been on the ship. We have been reluctant to skip dinner on the ship, even when in port for the night, because food onboard is always so good. Faced with hotel banquet food and having the option to go out on the town to a restaurant on our own... easy choice. Picking up the bill myself is to be expected. 

[CRUISINGFORFUN!]

if you are on river cruise and it changes to bus cruise....will vanguard pay your trip back home?

[greydog]

3 hours ago, CRUISINGFORFUN! said:

if you are on river cruise and it changes to bus cruise....will vanguard pay your trip back home?

If Viking doesn't cancel, then the trip goes and pax live with any shifts in itinerary such as bus transfers, hotels, ship swap, etc   V tries to make the best of unfavorable conditions with its excursion substitutions.  Passenger needs to cancel/switch under V's terms and advance notice deadlines (or face significant $ penalties)

If you had private 'cancel for any reason' travel insurance, you'd be refunded, usually 75%.

 

If you paid for round trip air with V, and had paid for their custom Air+ service, they might fly you back early if you're not willing to complete the full cruise (no cruise fare partial refund).  You may face penalty fee for ticket change charged by airline.  Good Luck