VIKING PASSENGERS - were you cruising on The Danube on 2 June 2013?

[Noah1]

Noah1 was, indeed, on the Viking Legend 2nd June.

 

The cruise was an unmitigated disaster.

 

Viking had no apparent contingency plan for dealing with this situation.

 

Passengers were at no point consulted about alternatives.

 

To reiterate, this cruise should have been cancelled as it is unambiguously clear that, at point of inception, the cruise was effectively compromised.

 

Passengers were effectively held hostage to company policy, the company was clearly determined to press on with a poor substitute: a hastily cobbled together set of bus excursions.

 

Hopefully, this response will not be presented as constituting a rant!

 

The Ark

19/6/13

[Noah1]

Do not worry, posts will follow

 

Noah1

[Amtico]

Something else I thought about earlier, then promptly forgot ...

 

The Viking Legend has four Viking customised coaches 'attached' to it ... our Cruise Director told us it was only one of three or four ships to have this.

 

Another reason probably why Viking preferred to continue with the 'cruise' (that never moved on the water) rather than cancel or abandon it.

 

We've paid for these Viking customised coaches and drivers to be on call for the Legend, at all times - we're going to damn well use them! :rolleyes:

[cardes]

I am looking into a Danube trip next year as just having returned from a great Norway fjords trip. I am very interested to read your comments. Thanks

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Noah1]

If you get what you pay for (to answer your question). That certainly was NOT the case with the Viking Legend. Their bus tours (for that is what our cruise comprised) were approximatly 10 times as expensive as a properly organised bus tour to the destinations that were visited on the 2nd June cruise

[Ozjohnno]

Go for it. The average price charged by Tauck for 1 cruise is equivalent of 2 Viking cruises. So I’ll better stay with Viking and pay less…

 

But do you really get two Viking for one Tauck even after you've paid for all those optional extras and gratuities and all those other Viking extras? I'm not so sure. You can stick with mediocrity I'll take class every time.

[Peacemkr59]

Steamboats,

 

First let me that you for posting day by day updates to all of us here on Cruise Critic. You bring up some very important points here. Especially that the local people have lost their homes and their belongings. My heart goes out to all those affected by these floods in central Europe.

 

I think that the common thread among those that are posting their disappointments and, in some cases, disgust, with not only Viking but other cruise lines as well, is that while a decision needed to be made at some point, in many cases those decisions were not the right ones as we can see by reading some of the posts. In some cases, passengers felt they were not safe and certainly were not being listened to.

 

Where I think the problem lies, is when the cruise lines realized that poor decisions and "subpar" substitutions were made, they needed to "own" it and make is right, which in some cases they are doing and in other cases they are not. This is leading to frustration among those that have been affected. Those reading here on these boards see that Uniworld and Tauk cancelled cruises, refunded them in full and also offered a future cruise credit. This seems to be the "right" thing to do and unfortunately has not been the norm.

 

Again, thanks for the updates!

 

 

 

Peter,

 

You´re off the mark! Sorry, but I can´t see any hard facts provided by you either. I´m on this board for years now.

 

UK Bayern, ingo_e and I are locals and we have been following the German news both on TV and print. All the three of us did keep you informed about what was going on. We also followed the websites showing the water levels. So I do know my facts.

 

As for Passau the warnings were altered more or less by the hour. At the beginning they did expect a "century high". But no one thought it might be more than 2005 and 2002. Passau hit the record of 1951 and then of 1506 (no older records noted).

 

Viking started to post changes on June 3rd, see here. Uniworld started posting on June 3rd, see here. Avalon was the first company to react on June 1st, see here. Sure Amtico´s non cruise did already start on June 2nd.

 

Amtico, I´m sorry, I didn´t want to insult anybody with my remark about the people living there and having lost everything. It was just to remind everyone that there are people who have lost much more. Take it into relation: You have lost a nice vacation experience and whatever you have paid for the cruise (and it´s still not clear whether Viking is getting you a partial refund or not). The people living there have lost their homes and won´t be able to return for months. And there is no insurance covering all the damage. Near Deggendorf they are finally able to see what had happend. But there´s still water in the homes which were covered up to the roof. Along the Elbe river the situation is still grave and they hope that the dams will not break.

 

For every river cruise company it is a tough decision what to do - cancel a cruise or trying to work it out with partially buses and swaping ships. Maybe Viking has made a wrong decision or maybe their decision to cancel came in too late. From previous high or low water situations I do know that Viking had problems with their communication onboard. I can´t judge about how it was handled this time. But I also know that handling a situation like this is pretty tough. And reading comments like "subpar hotels" (in another thread) or "herded like cattle" is also off the mark. It is pretty hard to accomodate more than 100 people according to the ships standard on a last minute basis. Hotel capacities aren´t easy to get in some areas. And remember it´s not only one ship with this problem. Same with meals. No regular restaurant can provide a meal for 100 people (or more) without any pre warning (they have to buy the supplies first).

 

Ships can´t cruise when the authorities have closed the rivers for navigation. So what´s the choice? Stay onboard and do or see nothing at all? Or go on a bus and see at least a bit. Sure you all haven´t booked a bus trip and didn´t want to do a bus trip.

 

I´ve told you that I´ve been in that situation during the 2005 flood. We - at least - cruised from Passau with a stop in Dürnstein to Vienna. There we got stuck for the rest of the cruise. When we departed Passau I saw the parking lot already flooded where we unloaded our bags only a couple of hours before (the car went into a save garage). We were bussed to Budapest for an overnight trip with hotel accomodation. And definitely the folklore dinner was not up to par with the standards of the river cruise company (back then it was Deilmann, which was 5 star). But they wanted to offer us a dinner and entertainment. We had a bus trip to Bratislava and skipped the day trip to Melk staying in Vienna. And of course we had to go back to Passau - by bus on a 6 hour trip which is no fun having a 5 yo kid with you. BTW our CD was on his first trip ever and I´m pretty sure that he didn´t get any sleep during that week!

 

I´m also aware that they way the staff is communicating and handling the situation is very important and can make a big difference.

 

I´m not defending Viking at all. I just want to give you a different point of view and some facts you might not have thought of yet. I totally understand that you are upset. And I´m pretty sure that some things could have worked out better. But at some point someone has to make a decision. It might have been a good or a bad one.

 

steamboats

[annual cruiser 63]

We were on a Uniworld ship Amsterdam to Budapest that left May 28th. Our experience was not very different than the Viking experiences reported here. Mostly grin and bare it --- they grinned and we bared it.

 

Our ship was trapped in Miltenberg. We bussed everywhere and found ourselves on different ships and two days in a two star Hôtel in Nuremberg. Uniworld pretty much abdicated to the tour manager. No one could have tried harder than Tony and the passengers rallied in his support, but there was a petition circulating at the end of the cruise asking for a more substantial refund (25% cash and $1000 future discount).

 

The communications were awful. We were the equivalent of troops with Uniworld being the generals. Each day we were informed of what we effectively were required to do the next day.

 

My guess is that the big players got together and decided to all take the same actions: communicate on an as needed basis and hope for the best. The more confident and experienced tour managers staved off any mutiny, but all passengers at the end of the day knew they were treated very poorly.

[Cruzin Terri]

We were on a Uniworld ship Amsterdam to Budapest that left May 28th. Our experience was not very different than the Viking experiences reported here. Mostly grin and bare it --- they grinned and we bared it.

 

 

No offense, but sometimes spelling should count!

Terri

[Lobes1]

No offense, but sometimes spelling should count!

Terri

 

Maybe they did "bare it"!

[Host Jazzbeau]

My guess is that the big players got together and decided to all take the same actions: communicate on an as needed basis and hope for the best.

 

Conspiracy theories are always popular, but come on: this was a frickin' biblical flood. Did they have forecasts?--yes, but no one was really prepared for the magnitude of this disaster.

 

All the river cruise lines have dealt with high water before, and they each thought they had it figured out. This was much bigger than they were prepared for. [Remember how when a hurricane is predicted to hit the US, some old timers think they can ride it out because they have before. But when it's Katrina or Sandy, they get caught out. That's what happened here.]

 

When it hit, there was no time for conspiracies: they were scrambling as fast as they could to figure out what they could do.

 

Was it handled well? No. As well as it could have been (in hindsight)? No. But there's no need to imply ill will.

 

Unless, of course, your decisions have always been perfect. Then go ahead and cast the first stone.

[Amtico]

Having looked back over the boards a little more I notice that Avalon cancelled their 2 June, Legendary Danube Cruise on 1 June.

This was due to 'unprecedented river conditions'

 

This cruise was starting at Budapest and was calling at almost all the ports the Viking Danube Waltz was scheduled to and beyond.

 

Avalon offered all their passengers a full refund and a future $500 credit.

 

We already know that Tauck cancelled Danube cruises due to depart on 31 May, two due to depart on 2 June and one cruise that did actually depart on 2 June, was abandoned on 4 June. All passengers were given full refunds and I believe, small, future cruise credits.

 

I must admit I'd never heard of Tauck before coming to these boards - I will say I now am definitely very aware of them. Their handling of and caring attitude towards their passengers safety and well being seems exemplary.

 

It is quite often the case that when things go 'wrong' for whatever reason that you really see how much a company cares and looks after it's passengers/clients etc. When this is handled well a company almost always has a customer for life. :)

 

The information about river conditions was definitely out there.

[CanadianKate]

You are correct that how a line handles disruptions is the sign of their quality.

 

Our first sea cruise had bad weather. We missed ports, virtually everything on the ship was shut down (no dance lesson, no gym, no walking deck); they ran a bingo and opened the shop and casino. Since we were stuck on board, and were not seasick, we felt trapped . At the the two ports we did make it to, the excursions we signed up for were canceled and we didn't dock in town but tendered (which due to the weather was rough and it was dark since we arrived late) so we did nothing for our 5 days on the ship. We were offered $100 credit to be used in a year (no understanding that we had saved for 5 years for that vacation.) I will never recommend Norwegian.

 

Our second cruise had a full day without toilets in the cabin and was extremely rough as well. We don't get really seasick but, unlike the first cruise where we were bored because nothing happened, this cruise had lots to do. And we got back to our cabin that night, there was a letter of apology and small gift for our inconvenience through the day. Yes, I will cruise with them again and recommend Holland America.

 

I now cruise with SilverSea. I guess things have gone 'wrong' but I haven't really noticed (the worst thing was we missed the Great Barrier Reef due to weather.) I've had ports changed on me due to political riots and I've docked on outskirts of ports due to problems but there was always a backup plan that seemed like it was the primary plan because they were prepared for changes.

 

With Tauck, our bus transfer to Prague was a 'disaster'. The bus broke down. But the driver noticed something was wrong and pulled into a rest area before it failed completely. So we had access to outhouses if needed. One of the two other buses with us, pulled in behind to make sure we were ok. Tauck ordered immediate replacements from two sources. The second backup bus arrived while we were loading onto the first and followed us all the way to Prague "just in case." We arrived and the staff were ready with our hotel keys, our luggage was in our rooms. We actually had 10 extra minutes to catch our breath before going off to our dinner reservations.

 

When things went wrong, Tauck handled it brilliantly, with no regard to expense, kept us informed and made sure we knew that our comfort was their top priority. That's what you pay for in a high end line.

[Cruzin Terri]

Having looked back over the boards a little more I notice that Avalon cancelled their 2 June, Legendary Danube Cruise on 1 June.

This was due to 'unprecedented river conditions'

 

This cruise was starting at Budapest and was calling at almost all the ports the Viking Danube Waltz was scheduled to and beyond.

 

Avalon offered all their passengers a full refund and a future $500 credit.

 

We already know that Tauck cancelled Danube cruises due to depart on 31 May, two due to depart on 2 June and one cruise that did actually depart on 2 June, was abandoned on 4 June. All passengers were given full refunds and I believe, small, future cruise credits.

 

I must admit I'd never heard of Tauck before coming to these boards - I will say I now am definitely very aware of them. Their handling of and caring attitude towards their passengers safety and well being seems exemplary.

 

It is quite often the case that when things go 'wrong' for whatever reason that you really see how much a company cares and looks after it's passengers/clients etc. When this is handled well a company almost always has a customer for life. :)

 

The information about river conditions was definitely out there.

 

There is no way that you can compare Tauck and Viking. These two companies are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Terri

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

When things went wrong, Tauck handled it brilliantly, with no regard to expense, kept us informed and made sure we knew that our comfort was their top priority. That's what you pay for in a high end line.

 

Sounds wonderful --- wish we could afford the high end lines! If we did a SilverSea or Tauck we would only be able to do that once every 3 years or so. We are too old to only cruise once every three years so we "make do" with the lower end lines. We have loved all of our travels - those that went without a hitch and those that had hiccups. IMHO it is also important that WE handle the hiccups well.

 

I think it's wonderful to have boards like cruisecritic to share the good and the bad about our cruise experiences. There is a wealth of information here. I don't think it is right to post here with only one mission in mind - to share a horrible experience and make a serious effort to harm the company you consider responsible for that experience. Those posters with very few posts and very negative comments about any of the river cruise lines have absolutely no influence on any decision we make about which line to book with.

[euro cruiser]

When things went wrong, Tauck handled it brilliantly, with no regard to expense, kept us informed and made sure we knew that our comfort was their top priority. That's what you pay for in a high end line.

That is part of what you, and everyone else who travels with them, pay for. It's like insurance - everyone pays the premium so that the very few who have a problem can be taken care of.

[proppilot]

We, along with 188 other passengers anticipated our Viking River Cruise on the Idun departing Nuremberg on June 1. The cruise turned into a very expensive and deceptive bus trip through Europe. Unfortunately, the passengers had not done full due diligence prior to arriving to realize that the Danube river was ALREADY closed to river traffic and the ship would NOT be able to depart the canal it was on. The crew professed no prior knowledge of this and each day we had to see what the contingency plan was for the next day. The ship actually departed the canal dock in Nuremberg and sailed a short distance to Redensberg where we then proceeded to bus to either planned destinations or destinations such as Munich that VRC offered to keep everyone busy.

 

The horrible part was the lack of information by the crew to the passengers and a continued message of optimism that the water levels would lower and we would sail. This was impossible as they did not even crest until after our 'cruise' had ended.

 

VRC acted irresponsibly in transferring all guest by motor coach ( over 7 hours ) to Bratislava, Slovakia to the Viking Njord which was holed up in a totally flooded commercial shipping slip where passengers had to access the trip through a flooded parking lot walking on railroad ties and on a corrugated tin utility access cover that covered the electrical controls for the gantry crane that ran beside the ships. At 50 we were probably the youngest on the trip and there were many with disabilities that had to either stay on the ship or chance the path. VRC dropped one passengers suitcase in the water and did not even inform them.

 

They used the Njord as a 'hotel' for us for two nights and bussed us back and forth to Vienna from Bratislava instead of DOING THE RIGHT THING and putting people in a hotel in Vienna instead of saving money this way and wasting even more of our time on busses.

 

Everyone was empathetic to the situation the crew was in HOWEVER, the cruise that was scheduled to sail the next day from ours gave the passengers the option to go home / full refund or take the 'bus cruise'. VRC should have or fully knew the situation and pushed to get us through the system and out the back door.

 

VRC offered passengers a 75% cruise credit (time expired in 2015) to people that saved years for this trip and/or will never do another river cruise again. A few communications with VRC in California resulted in a reinforcing letter that they feel they did everything to accommodate and compensate according and that they will not move from this position.

 

BEWARE OF VIKING RIVER CRUISES. Competitive cruise lines did the right thing and cancelled cruises and/or offered refunds and compensation where VRC weight the options of the impact on its business and made a fiscal decision, not a customer focused decision.

 

Boat was good. Crew was good. Food was good. If the water was fine, it would have been good however a corporation is judged by how it reacts when things to WRONG and there are hundreds of very disappointed and upset passengers that feel that we were tossed along like hot potatoes, outright lied to and misled by the crew ( even to the point that the transfer to Bratislava was with the 'hope' that we would sail to Budapest form there ( THEY KNEW THE RIVER WAS CLOSED AND RISING ) but did not communicate that to the passengers.

 

The cost of doing the right thing would have been much less than the loss of business they will encounter from this. Even a partial refund in cash vs a time expired credit would have been the right thing.

 

Peed off in the North

[racewalker]

We were on the 2 June 2013 Romantic Danube cruise aboard the Vienna moored in the canal in Nurnburg. Our experience was very similar but, after four days of using the Vienna as a hotel, we did move to hotels in Vienna and Budapest. Due to internet access we were very aware of the river conditions: the levy breaking in Deggendorf flooding the Autobahn; the earthquake in Hungary that threatened to compromise the levies in Budapest; the rising water that was surging toward Budapest. We tried to voice our concerns to our program director but, he refused to take any questions or discuss the situation with us. Instead, he read dispatches from Viking Operations in Switzerland telling us that we had no other choice but, to do what they said. Viking's attitude was an insult to our intelligence. We made a nine hour bus trip to Vienna with such poor planning that we missed our lunch stop and our tour of the Melk Abby-we were treated to lunch at a truck stop in Germany. When we arrived at our hotel next to the Danube in Budapest, we were welcomed by sandbags lining the front door. When we voiced concerns, we were assured that customer safety was a top priority and that we were not in harms way. Well they were wrong! Our hotel flooded and we lost power-more hauling of luggage and waiting for buses.

 

We agree about Viking's arrogance. The Prestige out of Nurnburg on the same date was cancelled on 1 June 2013 with the offer of going home and a full cash refund. The Prestige passengers could also choose to continue on a bus tour and receive 50% cruise credit and 50% cash credit. We were not given a choice. It's unfortunate that this was our first river cruise and our first experience with Viking, a decision we made based on recommendations from friends and posts on Trip Advisor. We have had other trips affected by natural and man made disasters and at no time did we ever feel that the company was out of control and not looking after our best interest.

 

The offer for us has been bumped to 100% cruise credit because Viking would like us to sail with them again. This is not something we want to do.

[Cruisercool50]

Amtico,

I was also on the Danube Waltz trip on the Legend that began on June 2, and would like to be added to the email group of other passengers. I tried to email you privately, but was unable to figure out how to do that. Perhaps you can contact me.

On June 10, I received an email from Viking offering me a 75% discount on a future cruise. The email said that I would receive voucher for the discount by email within 7-10 days. It has now been 11 days. I wonder if everyone who was on that cruise received the same offer.

[Amtico]

Hi there - just to let you know I've seen this message and have brought it to the attention of the email group.

Rather than put any email addresses on a public forum, they will send you a friend request, so this information can be sent privately. :)

 

 

Amtico,

I was also on the Danube Waltz trip on the Legend that began on June 2, and would like to be added to the email group of other passengers. I tried to email you privately, but was unable to figure out how to do that. Perhaps you can contact me.

On June 10, I received an email from Viking offering me a 75% discount on a future cruise. The email said that I would receive voucher for the discount by email within 7-10 days. It has now been 11 days. I wonder if everyone who was on that cruise received the same offer.

[Cruisercool50]

Thanks, Amtico. I will await the friend request.

[cmagic]

We left Amsterdam on May 29th on the" Scenic Diamond" and then got stranded at Mainz for nearly a week. We were not even supposed to go to Mainz.

 

Common sense says to us that the flooding problem in the upper Rhine and the Danube must have been known to Scenic Tours and therefore they must have known what the passengers were heading into BUT they gave no bulletin's prior to the commencement of this "cruise of a life time". Basically they were unethical, amoral and cynical in their behaviour to the passengers. They had their money and they were going to keep it !!!!

 

We do not consider this a 5 Star cruise (who the heck allocates these Stars, the cruise lines themselves ???? ). Food was mediocre and the dinner portions miniscule. Breakfast and lunch buffets were at the level of a family restaurant. 3 Star at best. Table service was not up to par and definitely is not 5 Star. Cabins were adequate but again, nowhere near a 5 Star rating.

 

We had only moored in Cologne, cruised through the Rhine Gorge and we were then taken to Mainz which was not a scheduled stop. We were moored there for approx. one week.

 

Many overnight ports of call abandoned. All trips now were by bus from Mainz which meant minimum time at any towns we visited. Most of the itinerary including cultural events which would have been onboard, were abandoned.

 

To add insult to injury we were then bused (@ 8.00 a.m.) to Vienna which took 16 hours (including lunch and a stop in Krem) and put on the "Scenic Pearl". Our bus got to Vienna at 11.45 p.m. , the other 3 coaches arrived after that with the last getting to the boat at 1.45 a.m. !!!

 

We then spent the next few days moored next to a barge so many cabins with balconies were like the "black hole of Calcutta" with no natural light. We were also moored next to an Avalon boat which meant the cabins facing the Avalon vessel had zero privacy.

 

A few days in Vienna and again by bus we were taken to our final port Budapest where we were put up in a hotel.

 

We and many others onboard were just happy for this fiasco of a trip to end which it did on June 12th.

 

During the " coach + floating hotel tour " we were continuously fed platitudes, misinformation, propaganda + a promise that there would be an equitable refund which we all would be happy with . All of this originating from their HO in Zurich and fed to the passengers through the cruise director.

 

Many of us already knew that Avalon had offered their passengers (who were in the same position as us) a 50% refund + 50% off the next cruise. We knew because Avalon passengers had told us while we were tied together at Mainz and they also had it in writing. The Avalon passengers departed and a new group came onto that vessel. Again, a group of 6 Australians confirmed that Avalon had, in writing offered them a refund of 50%. This information was passed onto the cruise director who presumably told his HO in Zurich. Scenic Tours refused to put details of their equitable refund in writing.

 

Companies are not judged by their behaviour during the good times, they are however judged by their behaviour and decisions affecting their clients during a period of stress.

 

What has Scenic Tours offered by e-mail and via our travel agent on June 18th ???? A refund of $500 per passenger and $1000 off the next cruise. Remember this is on a cruise that cost us $7500 per person (cabin with balcony). Totally insulting and definitely not equitable !!!

 

The HO management should all be fired for their cynical attitude and ineptitude in handling what could have been a PR coup if they had just followed the example set by Avalon.

 

Taking all of the foregoing together, Scenic Tours is definitely a situation of "caveat emptor" and although we want to do another river cruise (France) you do not need to be a psychic to know that we will not even consider Scenic Tours. Nor should you !!!!

[no fuss travel]

Just for your information CMagic, Scenic Tours head office is in Australia, not Zurich. it started out as an Australian company and that is where its head office is located.

[newfirsttimer]

Having read nearly every post on these boards for the last few weeks, it appears that every cruise line is unethical, immoral, uncaring, has lousy client service and all should be boycotted. People, what has happened over the past couple of weeks took everyone by surprise with the magnitude of the flooding and the lasting damage. The early days around the end of May through all lines into a panic trying to manage the tours that were already in progress, those just starting where their guests were already in transit, and those that were upcoming. In some cases ships were available to use as floating hotels but docked wherever they could get a berth, along with hundreds of other stranded ships. For those folks who are complaining about no privacy or blocked views, hey, that is what one should expect on a river cruise and had you done research before you booked, you would have known that...it is the same with all cruise lines plying the European rivers. Too many ships, not enough berths.

 

The worst flooding in 500 years has certainly left the cruise lines with tarnished images even though they most likely did their best to look after their passengers comfort and safety during a time when conditions were changing hourly. I am sure they will all be looking at how they could have done things differently. At least give them time to assess these past weeks and provide an opportunity to reconsider if and how they could compensate those guests who were put out the most.

[no fuss travel]

At last a voice of reason. Thank you for posting that. There is no way the river cruise lines could have predicted what Mother Nature was going to throw at them and each cruise line had their problems. River cruising even when everything is normal still has its problems. You will still be double berthed and therefore have no privacy at several of the ports. It is a fact of river cruising. If one cannot accept that fact, then river cruising is not for you.:)