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Beware of Viking


wwinfl91
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We are on a 15 day Grand European cruise on Viking. It started in Budapest and should end in Amsterdam. Because of heavy rain we have been doing daily bus trips which have gotten longer and longer each day. This is because the Danube river is flooding and the ship is unable to go under the bridges on the Danube. We took a long 3 1/2 hour each way trip to Nuremberg today and managed to spend about 2 hours with our feet on the ground including a lunch of about an hour. This was due to a thundershower which hit during the first part of our bus tour after lunch. We missed spending any time in the castle or the old city. Then when we returned to the ship where we found out we are switching ships tomorrow which will include a bus trip to Nuremberg, yes the same city we were in today, and includes packing up our luggage so we can have it out for collection and transport by 7:30 AM tomorrow morning. We got this information at 10 PM during our late dinner.

 

I will tell you that this is probably our first as well as our last river cruise. I understand the cruise line can't control the weather but they can do a better job of informing people of what is happening. If we had known we we were going to be switching ships we would have never taken the Nuremberg tour tour and instead would have spent the time packing.

 

From my signature you can see we are experienced cruises but we have never experienced a cruise like this one before except for my one cruise on Carnival. While some members of the crew have been excellent others have been less than excellent. More on that later.

 

Anyway my wife wanted me to post tonight and tell everyone to avoid Viking and avoid river cruises unless you have a high tolerant for pain and agony.

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Sorry to hear about all the bad weather and high water probelms.

 

Sometimes things don't go well on the river. (Sometimes they don't go well on the ocean either).

 

I'm sure Viking is trying to give you the best experience possible given the circumstances. Just try to roll with the punches, go with the flow (sorry for the pun) and make the best out of it. You'll be happier in the long run.

Edited by Cary Cruiser
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Try not to cruise during hurricane season in the Caribbean either - sometimes you will be inconvenienced. I'm sure Viking is doing their best under the circumstances.

 

Sorry weather turned on you...we were on Danube two weeks ago and it was fine. Can't speak for Viking but you are seasoned travelers and should understand by now that some things are out of your control on water whether ocean or river. Try to enjoy the sights and hopefully the weather will improve.....ship happens but only you can let it ruin your whole trip. :)

Edited by Hydrokitty
correct spelling
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I understand the cruise line can't control the weather but they can do a better job of informing people of what is happening. If we had known we we were going to be switching ships we would have never taken the Nuremberg tour tour and instead would have spent the time packing.

 

I somewhat doubt that first thing in the morning they even knew exactly what the plan for the following day would be.

 

The level of the river changes by the hour and other factors like the broken lock affect possible solutions as well.

 

It would be great if the cruise companies could accurately predict water levels 24 hours in advance but they can't, so they do the best they can.

 

 

Anyway my wife wanted me to post tonight and tell everyone to avoid Viking and avoid river cruises unless you have a high tolerant for pain and agony.

 

Because Viking are of course 100% responsible for the water level and the broken lock? :)

 

I'm sure we all have sympathy for anyone who has their long planned holiday impacted by river conditions and lock problems, but it really doesn't help anyone to imply that it is somehow Vikings fault ...

 

Some types of holiday have a greater chance of being affected by these things and we would all do well to realize that before booking ...

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Before booking a river cruise in Europe, you should read the CC forums, not every river cruise goes according to the itinerary. The cruise companies cannot determine the weather, high or low water, lock issues, strikes or river difficulties. Because you are on Viking you should not single them out, other cruse lines are probably having the same difficulties too. I doubt Avalon has a dome over their boat. Is Viking responsible for the broken lock on the Danube ? i have been on 3 river cruises and encountered both high and low water issues and the cruise lines did the best that they can do with alternative travel. Do you really think Viking wants to rent buses and have the passengers travel that way ? What a logistics nightmare. You are on vacation, make the best of it and enjoy that you are away. I was on an ocean cruise from NYC to Bermuda and coming back we encountered hurricane issues, most to the passengers were sick due to the weather but what can the cruise line do about that. Do your home work, summer river cruising is unpredictable due to water issues, plan for the worst. On the last note, is Viking responsible for the WW2 bombs they find in the Rhine and have to shut down river traffic ?

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wwinfl91,

 

sorry to hear about your unpleasant experiences so far, I remember you did a lot of research and followed the posts on CC closely.

 

The main problem is a bridge in Passau, which is quite low above the water. There have been tentative plans to raise this bridge (i.e. the construction), but of course this does not help you right now.

 

To be fair Viking seems to be doing all they can to get people through the planned itinerary. It has become their policy to schedule the itineraries so that ship switching is the mode of choice for high or low water situations. They can do this as they know have so many ships running on the Danube and Rhine. I read this somewhere on their website.

 

As you are in Europe now try to make the best of an awkward situation, it will hopefully improve when you are on the canal and the Main river, there are lovely ports to look forward to.

 

The weather unfortunately is such that the river levels have risen and there is some much fluctuation from day to day that it is difficult to decide for a company how to proceed. In the morning they cannot know if they will be able to sail in the evening. This applies to the Danube and the upper Rhine.

 

Whether one likes this policy or not is a different matter.

 

Here in the Middle Rhine valley we are still o.k., but there has been another downpour this afternoon. It is unsettled but lovely for most of the day and we get some great sunsets.

 

River cruising is more "adventurous" than the holiday brochures want to make you believe, but please do not give it a miss, anyone, just because of the potential for it to turn into a bus trip, even if it means missing most of your scheduled itinerary. You might end up seeing a different place you just love.

 

notamermaid

Edited by notamermaid
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we have our first Vking Cruise this December, I talked with my family about the differences between ocean cruising and river cruising. one advantage the ocean cruise is ship is a destination itself. I am concerned with the communication part

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we have our first Vking Cruise this December, I talked with my family about the differences between ocean cruising and river cruising. one advantage the ocean cruise is ship is a destination itself. I am concerned with the communication part

 

From reading the OPs post I am not certain if it was a communication issue or just a "last minute" decision on the part of Viking.

 

One thing all can learn from this is that the river is unpredictable from day to day. Not like an ocean cruise where they can plot out the weather and course days in advance.

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From reading the OPs post I am not certain if it was a communication issue or just a "last minute" decision on the part of Viking.

 

 

 

One thing all can learn from this is that the river is unpredictable from day to day. Not like an ocean cruise where they can plot out the weather and course days in advance.

 

 

So very true. River cruising certainly is one day at a time.

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Should titled beware of river cruising.

 

 

I think that you just really need to understand the nature of River cruising and do some research BEFORE booking a trip.

 

And not to take the glossy pictures and beautiful TV ads as the entire picture....

 

My opinion (based on my research and not necessarily correct) don't cruise in the summer... Hot, crowds, River level issues. I'm sure these same issues happen thru out the year but I know for sure the summer is iffy sooooo we are choosing to sail in mid Sept in hopes of beating the river and look forward to having a wonderful adventure!

 

Also taking a good attitude and a back up plan with us!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited by nana541
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You really must take a very different approach to river cruising and BE FLEXIBLE. Things happen frequently. We are on the Avalon Impression and we have had to live day be day because of the broken lock.

 

 

Totally agree. Your own attitude is so important. Someone posted on the thread about the broken lock that they are on the Viking Aegir and are being treated like royalty and are "going with the flow." The problems are no one's fault. You're on vacation so try to enjoy the positives.

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As you can see in my signature we have been on six Viking cruises; two on the Danube and one on the Durou which is another river prone to issues when rainfall is above average. Our experience has been that Viking; whenever and wherever possible will try to stick with the itinerery even if it means that decisions are made at the last minute. Ultimately any decisions are the perview of the captain and are made first and foremost with the safety of the passengers in mind.

 

Our Durou River cruise was "adjusted" because of flooding but fortunately the effects were fairly minimal as the problmes occured near the end of the cruise.

 

River cruising has some "built in" issues but frankly a "go with it" attitude is the best and frankly I truly believe that the rewards far outweigh the risks!

:)

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We are on a 15 day Grand European cruise on Viking. It started in Budapest and should end in Amsterdam. Because of heavy rain we have been doing daily bus trips which have gotten longer and longer each day. This is because the Danube river is flooding and the ship is unable to go under the bridges on the Danube. We took a long 3 1/2 hour each way trip to Nuremberg today and managed to spend about 2 hours with our feet on the ground including a lunch of about an hour. This was due to a thundershower which hit during the first part of our bus tour after lunch. We missed spending any time in the castle or the old city. Then when we returned to the ship where we found out we are switching ships tomorrow which will include a bus trip to Nuremberg, yes the same city we were in today, and includes packing up our luggage so we can have it out for collection and transport by 7:30 AM tomorrow morning. We got this information at 10 PM during our late dinner.

 

I will tell you that this is probably our first as well as our last river cruise. I understand the cruise line can't control the weather but they can do a better job of informing people of what is happening. If we had known we we were going to be switching ships we would have never taken the Nuremberg tour tour and instead would have spent the time packing.

 

From my signature you can see we are experienced cruises but we have never experienced a cruise like this one before except for my one cruise on Carnival. While some members of the crew have been excellent others have been less than excellent. More on that later.

 

Anyway my wife wanted me to post tonight and tell everyone to avoid Viking and avoid river cruises unless you have a high tolerant for pain and agony.

 

Dear wwinfl91,

 

We’re very sorry to hear of your disappointment. Although the current river levels are beyond our control, we do apologize for the inconveniences you’ve experienced so far on your trip. Our Customer Relations team would like to discuss your cruise with you over the phone, and we kindly ask that you send an e-mail to TellUs@vikingcruises.com at your earliest convenience. We will ask a member of our team contact you when you return from your trip. Thank you.

 

Sincerely,

Viking Cruises

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I understand the cruise line can't control the weather but they can do a better job of informing people of what is happening. If we had known we we were going to be switching ships we would have never taken the Nuremberg tour tour and instead would have spent the time packing.

 

After contributing to this board for a number of years you'd have thought I would have gotten used to contributors reading a post and then commenting on something entirely different but no. It still goes on and I'm still amazed at peoples comprehension. The OP did not blame Viking about the high water levels or how that keeps boats from going under bridges or a broken lock or a bomb found in or near the river or did he indicate he was inflexible. All he stated, quite clearly I thought, was that he was disappointed in Viking's lack of communication with its paid passengers.

 

In this modern age I'm pretty sure that river cruise CD's all have a mobile phone and are in constant communication with others in the company and certainly have all the information at their finger tips. It's how they decide to pass on that information to their passengers that is important and from the OP it would seem that once again Viking decided to withhold information until the last minute for whatever reason.

 

Put yourself in the OP's shoes for a minute and see how you'd feel if you had already taken a very long bus ride and return from a destination that you were now going to return to by bus again less than 24 hours later. I too would be annoyed at being treated like sheep.

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After contributing to this board for a number of years you'd have thought I would have gotten used to contributors reading a post and then commenting on something entirely different but no. It still goes on and I'm still amazed at peoples comprehension. The OP did not blame Viking about the high water levels or how that keeps boats from going under bridges or a broken lock or a bomb found in or near the river or did he indicate he was inflexible. All he stated, quite clearly I thought, was that he was disappointed in Viking's lack of communication with its paid passengers.

 

In this modern age I'm pretty sure that river cruise CD's all have a mobile phone and are in constant communication with others in the company and certainly have all the information at their finger tips. It's how they decide to pass on that information to their passengers that is important and from the OP it would seem that once again Viking decided to withhold information until the last minute for whatever reason.

 

Put yourself in the OP's shoes for a minute and see how you'd feel if you had already taken a very long bus ride and return from a destination that you were now going to return to by bus again less than 24 hours later. I too would be annoyed at being treated like sheep.

 

I so agree. I have been thinking the same thing about many of the comments to the OP's original post. Glad you pointed this out.

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