Not sailing down the Elbe

The captain told us last night due to low water we will not be sailing far, may have to change ships will keep us updated very dissapointing

Sue

Which cruise line?

When the river boats can't cruise and the cruise turns into a bus tour, the cruise line should either cancel the cruise of give a significant refund.

When the river boats can't cruise and the cruise turns into a bus tour, the cruise line should either cancel the cruise of give a significant refund.

No they don't . At the bottom of my cruise info with Avalon it's mentioned they may have to go with a bus tour if there is a water level issue.

Unfortunately, non-cruises are all too common on the Elbe.

There is a significant difference from the contract's "what the cruise line can/must provide" and what the cruise line should provide.

Low water on the Elbe happens frequently. This should really be a "buyer beware" cruise, especially during mid to late summer. Cruisers need to do a bit of research on some of these cruises other than just looking at the pretty brochures. It's like going to Egypt in May and complaining about the sandstorms or excessive heat! Didn't you do any research at all and consider the odds? Win some, lose some! :rolleyes:

We are now stranded the ship cannot move and we will have to pack tonight and transfer to another tomorrow, waiting for another meeting, all very dissapointing and not a lot of information from Viking

sorry to hear and know how disappointing and frustrating that can be. hope you can make the best of it.

We actually did a great deal of research and were in constant contact with Viking who rang us directly the day before we left to say there was no problem with our cruise the water levels were fine and it would run as normal so with that information we expected it to go to plan, so don't treat us like idiots!

Unfortunately the water levels can change quite quickly, I see that on the Viking website they are warning of impact on several cruises due to begin in the next few days.

When did your cruise actually start?

Cruise Critic has done a report on the current Elbe water level problems:

Low Water Levels Affecting Elbe River Cruises

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7125

Are more lines than Viking not sailing. The report linked above doesn't say, and so far Viking is the only line specified.

Are more lines than Viking not sailing. The report linked above doesn't say, and so far Viking is the only line specified.

Last year when this happened Croisi was able to keep sailing when others had stopped.

Hello Sue,

Im sorry to hear about your cruise and have not heard any updates from you since July 11th. I am hoping that the rest of the vacation was super for you.

We are going on the same trip on July 28th could you please be so kind to let me know what happened each day when the water levels were low and what Viking did for you.

Thank you very much.

Sue and other:

I, too, am anxious to hear about what happened as a result of low water. Didn't sign up for a land tour and with the number of ships Viking has and the money that they generate, they should allow people to cancel. If this isn't the case, I will never cruise on Viking in the future. My friend warned me that the levels on the Elbe were low as she met a couple who were notified of this and then switched to another Viking cruise. I can't think of another one that I would care to switch to as we have done the major river tours. Thanks for keeping us alerted.

The Elbe has risen since the article was posted on cruisecritic by about 90 centimetres. That is substantial for the Elbe. However, I am not familiar with the situation in detail and can only read the official figures.

The Elbe is somewhat different to the Rhine for example in that the Elbe is not as "treated by man" to be a large navigable river as some people (speak: traders) would like. In addition to that the Czech Republic likes to keep some water in their country with the help of lock. CroisiEurope built a special river cruise vessel for a reason. I do not like to comment much on indiviudal companies but on the Elbe I have my doubts asbout Viking for their ships - please note they also have a special design for the Elbe waters - not least because of the police of bus tours. For myself I would only use the CroisiEurope paddle steamer, especially as it sails into Prague. Viking cannot or does not. I can only strongly advise anyone wanting to sail the Elbe to get insurance with some good cancelation policy thrown in. Especially with a company that wants US citizens to pay one year in advance. If I booked I would book with the UK administration with European terms and conditions.

I hope you can get some more info on the water levels and it should come from the company your are travelling with IMHO.

Sorry, but I feel I need to be direct here.

Good luck.

notamermaid

Thank you for the information. Im hoping Sue will write soon with specifics. Our sail date is getting closer and I really am hoping it rains in that area so the water levels are good. Thank you again.