Danube fiasco with Riviera

I am sure I should be entitled to a refund.

Not really. Have you read the Terms and Conditions/Contract of Carriage? You'll find a link to the entire document on the Viking website, in the footer. It says:

We are travelling with Scenic, not Viking, but they probably have the same conditions. My point was that I should be entitled to a refund, although obviously this is not the case.

I must say that in light of all the dreadful stories of the last month, I am regretting paying our $2000 deposit. I now just have to cross my fingers that we are a little luckier next year.

You really don't want the UK to follow the USA in regard to travel insurance, the UK policies are already much better in terms of the coverage they offer for the cost.

To the OP,

I understand your disappointment with how your cruise went. In view of the fact that other cruise lines had problems for weeks before you started your cruise - and the Robert Burns is one of the long 135m ships with a draft given as 1.6m on marinetraffic - I personally think that communication appears to have been lacking. If you feel they could have done better on that point and/or wonder about getting some of the money back for parts of the cruise that you have missed - scenic stretch sailing or a port in particular - you can contact the ABTA customer support. They hopefully can point you in the right direction.

Consumer laws in Germany mean that under certain circumstance you can be granted money back on missed parts of your journey even though companies rule out low water situations in their terms and conditions. Details I have to leave out as they will be specific to each cruise (and should be handled by the TA or even a lawyer). How far this applies to your country as well or is part of the European consumer rights you could find out with ABTA probably. Perhaps this is helpful: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/l/cruises-and-ferries

notamermaid

I don't know, I would feel a lot more comfortable rn if I had 'cancel for any reason' written on my policy! �� I would defo cancel and I would never do a coach tour.

To use such insurance you have to cancel before the trip begins, typically 48-72 hours before at which point you generally don't know if there is definitely going to be a water level issue or not.

Once you are past that time limit that part of the insurance is of no further use.

I am certain THEY also have insurance for this sort of thing.

I wouldn't be so sure, the cruise companies deal with the risk by trying to exclude the liability to refund.

The extent to which they can recover the additional costs they incur depends a lot on how they run their fleet as some companies charter the ships they use others own them.

In any event I would not assume that this is a 'win' for the cruise company or that they can actually get insurance to cover the fact that river levels change without notice...

Consumer laws in Germany mean that under certain circumstance you can be granted money back on missed parts of your journey even though companies rule out low water situations in their terms and conditions. Details I have to leave out as they will be specific to each cruise (and should be handled by the TA or even a lawyer). How far this applies to your country as well or is part of the European consumer rights you could find out with ABTA probably. Perhaps this is helpful: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/l/cruises-and-ferries

This is important to note as merely putting terms in a contract that excludes refunds for low water doesn't make it a valid contract term.

While it may have some use in respect to countries with relatively poor consumer protection laws, USA for example, it isn't going to stop people winning claims in EU and countries like Australia where consumer protection is much stronger.

Unfortunately, due to the low water level of the Danube our planned cruise will not occur. An abbreviated itinerary of 6 nights versus 14 was offered, but we did not wish to travel from the US to do this and then be responsible for finding hotel and travel to our departure city. We also were taking this special journey to celebrate my parents 70th wedding anniversary, our friends 50th and our 49th, booked a year in advance. We are sad, but I guess the bright side is we were notified 4 days before we were to leave. As far as the travel insurance is concerned, it would not cover trip interruption or cancellation as low water level in the river is considered an act of God, which is not covered.

 

Consumer laws in Germany mean that under certain circumstance you can be granted money back on missed parts of your journey even though companies rule out low water situations in their terms and conditions. Details I have to leave out as they will be specific to each cruise (and should be handled by the TA or even a lawyer). How far this applies to your country as well or is part of the European consumer rights you could find out with ABTA probably. Perhaps this is helpful: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/l/cruises-and-ferries

notamermaid

Thank you so much for this very useful information! I hadn’t even thought oh the ATOL protection aspect, I thought it was only if the tour company went bankrupt. The which? Article is very helpful.

Unfortunately, due to the low water level of the Danube our planned cruise will not occur. An abbreviated itinerary of 6 nights versus 14 was offered, but we did not wish to travel from the US to do this and then be responsible for finding hotel and travel to our departure city. We also were taking this special journey to celebrate my parents 70th wedding anniversary, our friends 50th and our 49th, booked a year in advance. We are sad, but I guess the bright side is we were notified 4 days before we were to leave. As far as the travel insurance is concerned, it would not cover tthe rip interruption or cancellation as low water level in the river is considered an act of God, which is not covered.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. Hopefully you'll receive a full refund from the cruise company.

We are travelling with Scenic, not Viking, but they probably have the same conditions. My point was that I should be entitled to a refund, although obviously this is not the case.

 

I must say that in light of all the dreadful stories of the last month, I am regretting paying our $2000 deposit. I now just have to cross my fingers that we are a little luckier next year.

You may want to look at the Scenic website for the insurance they provide if there are significant delays. Their sister company Emerald also provides this insurance. I thought I had seen at least one other line offers it.

An excerpt from their website is as follows (not the terms and conditions):

What is classed as an unforeseen event?

• A complete halt to your itinerary where the ship is unable to sail and we are unable to deliver your on shore excursions except by way of coach rides of greater than 3 hours each way
  
• Where we have the ability to accommodate you on another Scenic Space-Ship due to high/low water but your itinerary is delayed more than 24 hours
  
• If there is a mechanical breakdown on the ship that results in it not being able to continue the cruise and there are no alternative ships available
  
• If due to industrial action we are not able to pass through a lock and your cruise cannot continue Luxury Europe River Cruises
  

I will be going on their Budapest-Prague trip at the end of the month. I am certainly hoping for the best.