Emerald canceled our tour dates, what recourse do we have?

We booked the June 26 to July 3 Rhine Main Discovery Tour for this year. Based on those dates, we decided to book our flight to Europe two weeks earlier flying to Barcelona on June 11 so that we could tour Spain two weeks before the Emerald Tour and our return flight was booked from Amsterdam on July 3. Last week we were informed by Emerald that our tour dates were cancelled. They offered us the following options: tour on June 18-25 with the same destinations or another scenic tour at a later time this year, or hold our deposit towards a tour next year, or cancel and get our deposit refunded.

I informed them that our flights were already booked for the original dates and the change in flights would cost us an additional $1800 and that I would have to do a lot of rescheduling of our Spain reservations to accommodate their June 18-25 dates. All they offered was the change flight fee of $350 per ticket and one night for a hotel in Amsterdam. We are fairly new to River Cruises--last year we went on the Danube Delights tour with Emerald and they changed our ship so we did not get the class of cabin we booked. I feel their offer does not compensate us for our costs and inconvenience and stress. Any thoughts?

What is the reason they gave for the cancellation? Did you book with a TA?

I booked directly with Emerald Waterways--the reason they gave me is that the ship we were scheduled to go on had a fire earlier this year and would be out of commission until 2017.

Did you book the Emerald Belle? The ship almost burned down totally during a fire in the shipyard. The ship was already finished for delivery in about three weeks when the fire broke out.

steamboats

I don't know how this would work for you, but since you've already bought plane tickets and made hotel reservations, have you tried checking your dates with another river cruise company to see if you can find one that's compatible or at least doable? Then you could take the full refund and book with someone else.

Yes, Steamboat, it was the Emerald Belle.

Hydrokitty, yes, I have looked at other cruises, but none are available for the same dates and same destinations. I believe I found one that was close, but the cost was a lot higher. We had a 20% discount from Emerald on this tour, because last year when the river levels were low, they had to charter another ship--the MS Mozart--for our tour and we did not get the level of cabin we had booked. I must say though, that their service was excellent, and I regret that they are not willing to pay the difference in our flights to change to the dates they have offered for this year.

Personally, I'd either change my flights to take the close-ish June river cruise they offered if you really want to river cruise, or just cancel the cruise and get my money back and do a land vacation - sounds like you were already going to do 2 weeks, so why not just enjoy that? It sucks, but the ship burned and I think they're trying to make things as right as they can for those affected by the change in plans....

ETA do you have trip insurance? If so, read your terms and see if they'll pay to cancel (or maybe change) flights due to cancellation of the cruise.....

No trip insurance! We are thinking canceling our Emerald tour and extending our Spain tour and flying to Amsterdam 3 days before our return flight since we've never been there. This way, we don't have to change our original flights. I just am disappointed that Emerald did not offer to pay the difference to change our flights other than the change fees.

That really sucks that the cruise was cancelled. One thing that I'm not understanding is that they are offering to pay the airline change fee and give you a hotel in Amsterdam for a night. What else would you expect them to give you? You wouldn't be out anything other than the time it would take you to shift around your Spain reservations, right?

No trip insurance! We are thinking canceling our Emerald tour and extending our Spain tour and flying to Amsterdam 3 days before our return flight since we've never been there. This way, we don't have to change our original flights. I just am disappointed that Emerald did not offer to pay the difference to change our flights other than the change fees.

May I suggest taking a train into Amsterdam when you finish touring Spain and touring Holland. Day trips are easy to do. Train transport is great and Holland is a beautiful country, so much to see.

No trip insurance! We are thinking canceling our Emerald tour and extending our Spain tour and flying to Amsterdam 3 days before our return flight since we've never been there. This way, we don't have to change our original flights. I just am disappointed that Emerald did not offer to pay the difference to change our flights other than the change fees.

We had our Avalon cruise cancelled last July 3 days before departure. They said it as due to low water on the Danube. I had booked directly with them and booked the air myself. They offered us several options and our flight changes would have also been $1800. They offered $500

Ultimately we got a total refund including the insurance, a $500 credit good thru this year. We are sailing with them on the Rhine inOctober 2016 using the $500 credit

We used the air tickets for a Fall trip to London.

I don't know how this would work for you, but since you've already bought plane tickets and made hotel reservations, have you tried checking your dates with another river cruise company to see if you can find one that's compatible or at least doable? Then you could take the full refund and book with someone else.

I think that is great advice. It would be a shame to miss the Rhine cruise and with so many different cruise lines now days, there ought to be several options as alternatives. I would contact a travel agent with knowledge of river cruises and let them search for you. Good luck!

Cole

I think that is great advice. It would be a shame to miss the Rhine cruise and with so many different cruise lines now days, there ought to be several options as alternatives. I would contact a travel agent with knowledge of river cruises and let them search for you. Good luck!

Cole

Apparently OP thought of that too and was unsuccessful...but Hoyaheel came up with what I would consider a viable alternative plan....fly to Barcelona and continue sight-seeing till they get to Amsterdam to fly home!! They've already booked hotel rooms in Barcelona and I would talk to the concierge at the hotel and ask for a local English speaking travel agent who could help with train tickets and hotel reservations to get to the places I wanted to see. I've traveled throughout Europe and lived abroad as well, virtually everyone associated with the travel industry speaks excellent English and every major city has local tour companies for day trips. This way they don't lose any money and get to have a trip to remember as well.

That really sucks that the cruise was cancelled. One thing that I'm not understanding is that they are offering to pay the airline change fee and give you a hotel in Amsterdam for a night. What else would you expect them to give you? You wouldn't be out anything other than the time it would take you to shift around your Spain reservations, right?

The airline charges an itinerary change fee plus the difference in the cost of the flights. I had booked them in advance and those ticket prices are not available for the flights I would need to change to, thus I would be out $1800 and Emerald is willing to pay only $700 for the change fees at $350 per ticket.

May I suggest taking a train into Amsterdam when you finish touring Spain and touring Holland. Day trips are easy to do. Train transport is great and Holland is a beautiful country, so much to see.

Thanks for that suggestion. I will look into that option. Is there a train from Madrid to Amsterdam or will I need to change trains?:)

Apparently OP thought of that too and was unsuccessful...but Hoyaheel came up with what I would consider a viable alternative plan....fly to Barcelona and continue sight-seeing till they get to Amsterdam to fly home!! They've already booked hotel rooms in Barcelona and I would talk to the concierge at the hotel and ask for a local English speaking travel agent who could help with train tickets and hotel reservations to get to the places I wanted to see. I've traveled throughout Europe and lived abroad as well, virtually everyone associated with the travel industry speaks excellent English and every major city has local tour companies for day trips. This way they don't lose any money and get to have a trip to remember as well.

I do speak Spanish, so that will not be a problem. I don't speak Dutch, but I'm sure we can find English speaking concierges to help. Thanks.

Thanks for that suggestion. I will look into that option. Is there a train from Madrid to Amsterdam or will I need to change trains?:)

I would look into flights. Train is over 15 hours. Painful.

I do speak Spanish, so that will not be a problem. I don't speak Dutch, but I'm sure we can find English speaking concierges to help. Thanks.

No need to speak Dutch in the Netherlands. It is a nation of polyglots (Dutch, English, German at a minimum).

I do speak Spanish, so that will not be a problem. I don't speak Dutch, but I'm sure we can find English speaking concierges to help. Thanks.

I think everyone in Holland speaks English!!! :D

I would look into flights. Train is over 15 hours. Painful.

Good point and inter-country flights can sometimes be very reasonable...although I really like trains....especially if you go first class which is not as scary as flying first class!! (price wise) :D

Good point and inter-country flights can sometimes be very reasonable...although I really like trains....especially if you go first class which is not as scary as flying first class!! (price wise) :D

I love the trains and generally much prefer them to flying. But my cut off is 6 hours and then I would just rather fly. The overnight trains are not for me at all and 15 hours is just too much.

Now if there was a stopping point of interest along the way, about midway, that is worth a couple of days, that would be ideal!

We have been using EasyJet a lot over the past few years. Nothing fancy but clean and efficient and very reasonable. I am a fan.

I love the trains and generally much prefer them to flying. But my cut off is 6 hours and then I would just rather fly. The overnight trains are not for me at all and 15 hours is just too much.

 

Now if there was a stopping point of interest along the way, about midway, that is worth a couple of days, that would be ideal!

 

We have been using EasyJet a lot over the past few years. Nothing fancy but clean and efficient and very reasonable. I am a fan.

I couldn't for the life of me remember the name of the airline....EasyJet was the one I wanted to recommend and I think there's another one.

A few hours off the train for shopping would be a great addition to the schedule:D

Ryan Air?

Shorten your Spain time, take the changed cruise, then tour Netherlands, Belgium, or France for the days until your flight leaves. See if you can negotiate the amount they were willing to pay for change fees for incidental costs due to all of the changes. Lots of ways you can spend the time after the cruise dates in touring a number of places.

Ryan Air?

That's the one!! :D

Lufthansa also has a short hop subsidiary but I don't know how low cost it is since nothing on Lufthansa is ever cheap.