SALAD MUNCHER

Salad Muncher: As you can see, the river situation is not good. I am surprised that your cruise operator can feel confident in going ahead, but of course I do not have access to all the facts. It appears (and I cannot vouch for the details) that some time at the end of last week, the Czech river authorities allowed shipping to resume, and shortly afterwards there was a collision between a vessel and a submerged shipping container, aalthough no one was hurt. Thereafter, it was decided to undertake extensive surveying and dredging. I hope that anyone better in the know than I, will correct this info if needs be. SM, please feel free to pass on anything I have written to your cruise operator.

 

Cheers

Hi David (and anyone else who may be following this story)

With your permission I emailed your posting on the lastest from the Elbe this morning to Riviera Travel and asked them if our trip was guaranteed to go ahead. This was the 4th email I have sent and as yet have not received an email response! However to be fair at 10amish this morning (after reading my email I assume) one of the managers rang my hb and was obviously quite shocked at your revelations. He told my hb that the agent over there had given them the go ahead to proceed, assuring them it was perfectly possible to carry out this trip. My hb told him we had been scouring the internet this morning and had found the flood level alert for Dresden had been raised to level 2 on Wednesday, and that looking at web cabs along the Elbe around Dresden we had not seen one boat moving, they all appeared to be moored alongside. After my hb gave his opinion of what might happen and the consequences of ruining our (and everyone else's) holiday which would probably lead to compensation claims from disgruntled passengers, he agreed to contact the agent once again for further clarification. My hb suggested he contacted the River Authority and / or the ship's captain for a clearer picture. He has just rung us back (4pm ish Friday) to let us know after contacting the agent once again they had been assured all was well and the trip should go ahead. My hb asked if the company had managed to speak to either the Captain or the River Authority, but he said not, just the agent. Therefore we are now leaving early tomorrow morning for Berlin and wait with trepidation of our fate once we arrive!! As we are due to sail within 24 hours from Dresden to Bad Schandau one hopes they have all acted with integrity and honesty with their passengers best interest at the forefront of their decision. Watch this space.....

Today (Wednesday)

 

To Salad Muncher: I think you will find some of the above useful in assessing the situation. I and my wife have enjoyed much about the holiday (today's unscheuled trip to Leipzig was well run and enjoyable) but would have preferred to have had it cancelled beforehand and come again next year instead, although given the advice apparently proffered by the river authority, I don't necessarily blame Viking for going ahead. However, as I have said before, I suggest passengers on all forthcoming Elbe trips, get some assurances from their operators as to possibilities of not getting the full cruise package.

Once again David thanks for an excellent appraisal of the current situation. Unfortunately yesterday we had an email from Riviera Travel confirming that (quote from their email)

"We understand and appreciate your concern regarding the itinerary and on an earlier date had no option but to cancel the tour as the water was unfit for travel. However, we are now assured that the river is clear therefore the tour is going ahead as planned encompassing the stated itinerary. "

We still don't think our stated itinerary will be possible, but after two further emails from us and a phone call they are still insisting the trip goes ahead. I am now going to contact them again after reading your report just to get a futher assurance. Just for your info, our itineary is Dresden-Bad Shandau; Bad Shandau - Dresden; Dresden-Meissen; Meissen - Wittenburg; Wittenburg-Magdeburg;Magdeburg-Burg;Betzsee- Berlin.

We'll let you know what the outcome is. Regards, Keith

Many thanks for the update David. We are still waiting to hear from the TA whether or not our trip has been cancelled. They said they would let us know sometime this afternoon (Wed), even though we are due to leave home tomorrow, so I'll let you know what transpires.

Have you actually sailed anywhere yet? It seems from your post they are bussing you around from a stationary vessel, making your trip a coach holiday rather than a River Cruise. I would be very disapppointed if they gave us the go ahead but did the same thing, so would rather they cancel before we left home which would give us the opportunity maybe to book a trip at another time when the flooding issues are not a problem. Anyway at least you seem to be getting some enjoyment out of your trip and that's the main thing. Please do keep us updated. Kind regards.

As noted in previous posts, the Elbe cruise (Berlin/Magdeburg to Prague) starting on 23rd June has gone ahead - sort of.

 

We had previously been warned that high water around Dresden would prevent the ship going through, so plan was to transfer at that point to sister ship 'stranded' upstream for second half of trip; a bit of a nuisance to have to repack and then re-unpack but nothing too drastic. However situation is not that simple.

 

We were told on Sunday evening that, due to measurements being taken on the river, we were not allowed to set out on Monday morning, but delayed until Tuesday morning. Monday’s excursion would be done by coach from Magdeburg. This went sort of OK, but I feel the excursion, although pleasant enough, was not really worth the 3 1/2 hours spent in the coach. Some, but not all, fellow passengers felt the same.

 

Sadly, this (Monday) evening we were told that we are now not permitted to sail on Tuesday and not even Wednesday is assured. It seems that the river is not navigable upstream (the way we want to go) until about Dresden. Viking assures us that the visits scheduled will take place but it seems possible that all the first half of the ‘cruise’ will be by coach trips from Magdeburg. Viking have told us quite clearly that they realise that this is not the experience we are expecting and that they are looking carefully at what sort of compensation will be appropriate.

 

I feel desperately sorry for their hardworking, andno doubt exasperated, staff on board, who seem to be making strenuous efforts to cope with the situation (including organising extra little walking trips and even a diversion excursion to a nearby canal and lock). However, I get the impression that someone (senior management?) took a ‘flyer’ and said “go ahead” prior to full sailing authorisation being given by the river authorities (I would welcome Viking’s correction of my supposition if appropriate). I do wonder if the cruise, which was not cheap, should not have beencancelled before it went ahead, rather than risk running at half mast.

 

We await developments with interest, but I suggest that passengers getting ready for the next cruise should contact Viking for some pretty firm assurances.

David

We are due to sail from Dresden to Berlin this Saturday, 29th June (down stream), our Tour operator is Riviera Travel and we are travelling on The MS Swiss Ruby. The 'on the ground ' information you post is very useful as the operator is due to make a decision tomorrow (Wednesday) on whether the trip goes ahead. Clearly we do not want to have a holiday where the boat is a fixed floating hotel with coach trips out to the places of interest. Finding independent information on whether the Elbe is open to traffic from Berlin to Dresden has been frustratingly difficult; your post is the only one we have found, so if you can continue to post your news on the navigability of the Elbe from Berlin to Dresden it would be most appreciated.

Keith

Other threads talk of free shuttles from Pizzale Roma to the port by some cruise lines. I'm wondering if Cunard has a shuttle and if they do, how much does it cost?

 

Russ

There is always the 'people mover' option which costs one euro each way. :)