Viking Grand European Cruise

Anyone taking the Viking Grand European Cruise departing June 29th to Budapest and ending in Amsterdam?

No. We are doing the same trip leaving Budapest July 12. Have a great trip. I hope you post afterward so I can hear how wonderful it was.

We are doing the same one leaving Budapest on July 1st. We are staying In Prague starting 6/28. hope you have a good time.

We're doing the same one August 28. Hope you all have wonderful trips and post afterwards.

We are supposed to be on the trip beginning today (6/24) in Budapest. There are no Viking ships in Budapest, all are stranded somewhere near Regensburg. The previous cruises ended the last few days as bus tours. Ours is starting out as hotel and bus tours. We were notified yesterday, of course too late as we were already in Budapest.

Hello bville,

that is not good. What a disappointment I am sure. I assume you had booked the Viking Atla? She is in Regensburg. That is about 600 river kilometres away (very rough calculation). How will they get the Atla to Budapest or at least to Vienna in two days?

Do you know more about further arrangements?

I am afraid I am not hopeful from what steamboats and G.M.T. have reported on the other thread that there will be enough rain today. That could mean the Atla cannot even go to Passau.

Oh dear. I feel sorry for you. And I do not envy the crews on the river cruise ships on the Danube. They are having an even tougher job than they already have under normal circumstances sometimes.

notamermaid

bville,

Which ship and cruise are you supposed to be on, and what is Viking telling you? I can find the ships location and ETA for you. You can do it for yourself, if you have adequate internet access to use http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/. The site takes some getting used to, but you can actually search by ship, but, to perform adequately, it would require a decent amount of bandwidth. If you have and Android or an Ipad, you can load the Marine Traffric app for $3.99 (IOS) or $4.99 (Android).

Hello beverlyjack,

according to marinetraffic the Viking Bestla is moving and is downstream of Bratislava. I wonder if Viking will do a swap of the two vessels for bville's cruise?

notamermaid

Water levels on the Rhine still slowly falling. Hoping for rain. No water left in the garden tank for watering the plants.

Hello beverlyjack,

 

according to marinetraffic the Viking Bestla is moving and is downstream of Bratislava. I wonder if Viking will do a swap of the two vessels for bville's cruise?

 

notamermaid

 

Water levels on the Rhine still slowly falling. Hoping for rain. No water left in the garden tank for watering the plants.

Hopefully the Bestla if for them. It looks like the Atla is underway now, just leavingstill moored in Regensborg, and has been there since June 18, but still showing and ETA of yesterday in Budapest. The Njord and the IDI are still there moored in Regensburg as well. There are apparently a total of 10 ships moored there including the 3 longships.

We were supposed to board the Atla today 6/24 for 14 nights going to Amsterdam.

Everyone is now staying in Budapest at the Boscolo hotel in the city center, not a good location.

We are to have a meeting tonight and then dinner, but at this point we are taking a bus when we leave here, stopping in Bratislava for lunch then driving onto Vienna. They will not say yet, but most likely we will be in a hotel for a couple of nights in Vienna then bussed to Regensburg where the Atla has been since the 18th.

My biggest complaint is that I contacted Viking on 6/20 before we flew on 6/21 siting postings on here referencing that the Atla people were bussed to Vienna. I was told on two different phone calls that was not true and that there were no disruptions on the Danube. Had we been told the truth, we would have cancelled. Many people didn't find out until today when they got to the Budapest airport.

We are thinking of whether we will cancel our 7-1-14 cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest I was searching the internet this morning and found this story about the high water problems which was handled the way low water problems are handled by Viking...not very well. If anyone wants to cancel using the "Cancel For Any Reason" insurance, you have to do it 72 hours before your flight or any portion that Viking booked for you. Check your insurance package and read the fine print. We will have to cancel soon if we are going to.

http://elliott.org/the-navigator/what-to-do-when-your-river-cruise-turns-into-a-bus-tour/

I have to correct myself. marinetraffic showed the Atla underway, but it must have just been repositioning, possible to let another ship out. It now shows moored again. Even after Bville get to board the ship, in Regensburg or whereever, after their bus cruise, water levels could still be a problem. They do a magnificent job of conserving water passing through the Main-Danube Canal, but each ship going through allows some water to be lost.

Please keep us updated, as to the progress of your trip.

We received the following email from Viking concerning our 7-1-14 thru 7-15-14 cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest...

"Thank you for choosing Viking Cruises for your upcoming European voyage. We would like to alert you of a necessary change that has been made to your itinerary due to the recent low river level between Regensburg and Passau on the Danube River.

Upon arriving in Amsterdam, you will be welcomed aboard sister ship Viking Kvasir, as Viking Idi is currently unable to reach the city in time for departure. Like Viking Idi, Viking Kvasir is a new, state-of-the-art Longship, featuring all the same comforts and style as the rest of the Viking Longship fleet. She also has a warm and welcoming staff who will be delighted to have you as our guest.

In the event you need to contact the ship, please call Viking Kvasir at +49 (0) 152 225 38 098.

Please accept our apologies for alerting you of these changes so close to your departure date. Our Switzerland-based nautical and operations teams monitor river levels very closely and make changes only if and when no feasible alternative can be found. At this time we do not anticipate any other significant adjustments to your schedule.

If you have any questions, please call Customer Relations at 1-877-668-4546, extension 4525, Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., PDT.

We look forward to welcoming you aboard and wish you a wonderful journey.

Sincerely,

Joost Ouendag

Vice President, Customer Relations

Viking Cruises

Hi,

We are doing the opposite itinerary starting in Budapest July 1st. We will be trading ships along the way. Hope you have a great trip. Are you still planning on going? Our travel insurance does not have the "cancel for any reason" clause. I did talk with Viking today and it sound like we will just be trading ships and this should not be turning our trip into a bus tour. I hope they are right.:)

Yes, we have decided to take the cruise. We are doing the "Danube Rain Dance" in hopes that the river between Regensburg and Passau rises.

Looks like rain in Passau tomorrow and Friday. When are you leaving?

How ironic that when we usually hope for no rain during a vacation we are now all doing rain dances. Wishing everyone a wonderful trip, lots of rain in the middle of the night and sunny days.

Looks like rain in Passau tomorrow and Friday. When are you leaving?

We are leaving Amsterdam on Tuesday, 7-1-14.

Starrmom999, we are on the cruise leaving Budapest on 7/1 and also received the email from Viking this morning. We are doing the pre-tour in Prague as well. I noticed you are from California as we are, just south of SF. Perhaps I should call Viking tomorrow and see what the latest news is.

I spoke with Viking today. I did not receive the letter as they told me it went our travel agent. Viking sounded confident that the only change we will have is we may need to change ships half way through the trip. This should not affect us greatly as we will tour the city and then switch to the other boat. I hope with the forecast for rain we will not be further affected.

By the way are you leaving on Friday? We have a 745 PM flight on American to London and then Prague. Look forward to meeting you in Prague.

If you hear any updates please keep us all posted.

Hoping for rain as well! We have a 3:00 pm flight to Frankfort, then Prague. Looking forward to meeting you also! If I hear anything new from Viking I will post to the group.

It looks like ships have started moving, all over the Danube.

Hello,

update:

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/about-my-cruise/current-sailings.html

notamermaid

My husband just spoke to Viking customer service. He was told that regardless of how much rain is received, around July 7-8 we will have to pack up our belongings to move from the Viking Idi to the Kvasir. It is their hope that we will be on an excursion while the crew moves our bags to the new ship. Meredith, at Viking, admitted that this was not clear on the email we received (nor is it clear on their website section "Update on Current Sailings" dated 6/24/14).

Thank you for the update. Look forward to meeting you.

Barbara