Europe River Cruising WORST EVER company

[Marty156]

A recent aticle in "The Australian" newspaper on October 12, 2013 is gaining traction showing the plight of many guests regarding the unethical behaviour of some Australian Europe River Cruise companies following the disastrous floods in Europe earlier this year.

 

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/when-the-rivers-run/story-e6frg8rf-1226736981342

Edited October 16, 2013 by Marty156

[nana541]

A recent aticle in "The Australian" newspaper on October 12, 2013 is gaining traction showing the plight of many guests regarding the unethical behaviour of some Australian Europe River Cruise companies following the disastrous floods in Europe earlier this year.

 

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/travel/when-the-rivers-run/story-e6frg8rf-1226736981342

 

Kinda old news at this point and sadly it ends with telling people to purchase travel insurance which as I understand this mess of Europe River floods would not have helped any passengers traveling on these "River cruises turned bus trips".

 

Oh but yes DO purchase travel insurance just know that it may not cover things you might think it should!

Edited October 16, 2013 by nana541

[Host Jazzbeau]

Yes indeed we are very very unhappy AMA/APT customers.

 

While they are often referred to as "sister" companies, from what I can tell through Cruise Critic there is a big difference between the customer relations of APT vs. AMA.

 

APT seems to charter the AMA ships for certain cruises, and those cruises have very different included amenities. That leads me to expect that all aspects of customer service on those cruises is run by APT, not AMA.

[nana541]

Yes indeed we are very very unhappy AMA/APT customers.

 

Confused did you sail with APT or AMA, as stated above APT charters the AMA boats but APT has their own rules....

[Ozjohnno]

Confused did you sail with APT or AMA, as stated above APT charters the AMA boats but APT has their own rules....

 

The two companies are in partnership in regards to European and Russian cruising. From all that I've read APT therfore don't charter AMA vessels. Friends of ours travelled on a river cruise with APT but their fellow passengers came from all over the world. Whilst there must have been different arrangements for the payment of gratuities as it is with Australian Avalon customers I don't think there was anything "special" for APT clients.

 

This spells it out a little more clearly than me ....

 

http://www.cleancruising.com.au/cruiseline.asp?id=APT

Edited October 17, 2013 by Ozjohnno

[nana541]

The two companies are in partnership in regards to European and Russian cruising. From all that I've read APT therfore don't charter AMA vessels. Friends of ours travelled on a river cruise with APT but their fellow passengers came from all over the world. Whilst there must have been different arrangements for the payment of gratuities as it is with Australian Avalon customers I don't think there was anything "special" for APT clients.

 

This spells it out a little more clearly than me ....

 

http://www.cleancruising.com.au/cruiseline.asp?id=APT

 

Actually I have already been on that site and it only muddies the issue further....

[CrusieToy]

Horrible! so sorry.

thank your for taking the time to share and hopefully they will lose a lot more

$$ in the long term than they thought they saved by screwing their customers

[Marty156]

A class action is being instigated against Scenic Tours / Evergreen Tours in Australia.

 

Check the link for further information

 

http://www.somervillelegal.com.au/page16858/Scenic-Tours-Class-Action.aspx

[notamermaid]

Hello,

 

A class action is being instigated against Scenic Tours / Evergreen Tours in Australia.

 

Check the link for further information

 

http://www.somervillelegal.com.au/page16858/Scenic-Tours-Class-Action.aspx

 

this is going to be interesting as there is always the issue of who can be - and to what extent - be held responsible for the natural risks on holidays, river levels in this case.

 

Living in the area affected during spring and summer I have my personal view on this, of course.

 

But how a company reacts to such impending risks and during flooding, i.e. their conduct towards their passengers and customers is another matter and with Scenic here in this case I very much welcome that someone is seeing into this from a legal point.

 

Please keep us posted.

 

notamermaid

[pully8]

yes agree this will be interesting. Australian consumer and contract law will be tested in this case. lets hope for a positive outcome and clear guidelines for all in the future.

[Smokeyham]

A class action is being instigated against Scenic Tours / Evergreen Tours in Australia.

 

Check the link for further information

 

http://www.somervillelegal.com.au/page16858/Scenic-Tours-Class-Action.aspx

 

I hope that the outcome is favorable for the passengers. One can certainly understand the need to make changes due to unforeseeable weather conditions, but this company seems to have made no efforts on behalf of their customers, especially when compared to the actions of other river cruise providers.

[dougo in oz]

Hmmm ... I went to sleep and woke up and a whole lot of posts have been removed.

 

I hope this thread is not closed down ... it would be a pity if we never knew the outcome and consumer were no longer able to voice their opinions on their travel experiences

[Fragonard]

After more than 4 years lurking in the background, I was finally moved to post a comment in this thread. I log on today to a "congratulations on your first post", then I see it has been deleted. I guess it is better to lurk if my opinion is worth so little!

Edited January 8, 2014 by Fragonard

[nana541]

I believe the moderators have removed posts that in their opinion got a little to contentious and possibly nasty....

 

Whatever the reason simply the act of "questioning" the removal on the thread itself is enough to have your posts removed with a "guideline warning".

 

Please refer to CC posting rules if you have further questions or e-mail the CC Admin for guidance.

[Pushka]

None of the posts were nasty. Just raising issues they thought were important.

[grand isle joe]

After more than 4 years lurking in the background, I was finally moved to post a comment in this thread. I log on today to a "congratulations on your first post", then I see it has been deleted. I guess it is better to lurk if my opinion is worth so little!

 

....well WELCOME to the boards........hmmmmm......Deja Vue all over again.......:D

[Marty156]

Fragonard,

Not only your opinion, but those of several others who have had their comments removed must also feel undervalued.

 

However, the majority of opinions that have been received on here and other places, show that people ARE interested and would like to know the outcomes.

 

Now I'm wondering if this is just an "Australian" thing about poor customer service like Scenic/Evergreen, as I recently came across another blog that also highlights pathetic customer service and response to legitimate concerns.

 

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/cruise_from_hel/1/tpod.html

 

..and I thought our own issues were serious!

[nana541]

Fragonard,

Not only your opinion, but those of several others who have had their comments removed must also feel undervalued.

 

However, the majority of opinions that have been received on here and other places, show that people ARE interested and would like to know the outcomes.

 

Now I'm wondering if this is just an "Australian" thing about poor customer service like Scenic/Evergreen, as I recently came across another blog that also highlights pathetic customer service and response to legitimate concerns.

 

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/cruise_from_hel/1/tpod.html

 

..and I thought our own issues were serious!

 

Marty156..... A piece of my mind if I might! Yes, many members of CC are interested in the process you are dealing with. What happened to many cruisers was bad and while the floods were certainly not the cruise lines fault how their dealt with paying passengers in many cases could best be described as criminal.

 

Now what I did object to is how you handled this in Cruise Critic and I suspect that you broke many many CC posting rules. MULTIPLE POSTS everywhere and repeated posts are what finally caused these and other posts to be deleted. This is a place to get information and trade travel opinions. It is not a place to gather fellow cruisers to your "class action" legal action!

 

Frankly I think you just went to far and Cruise Critic is a business run for profit and I think your "posts" just went to far.

 

All that aside, I hope you will drop in and update us but stop posting on every thread.

 

Here's hoping that lessons have been learned by the River Cruise lines and they deal with their paying guests more honestly the next time this type of disaster happens.

 

Good luck with your legal action!

[Pushka]

I'm very interested in the outcome. European cruises are extremely expensive compared with ocean cruising (at least from Australia) and customer care is important.

 

I only read this thread so must have missed the others so that hasn't bothered me.

[pully8]

we have done 6 European river cruises and have enjoyed them. the worst...well no doubt that is subjective. the beauty of forums like this is people can get info from real travellers and with the internet bad and good operators can and will be exposed.

from time to time people can experience poor service and most can see if it is a 1 off or a pattern of behaviour. with more competition on the rivers and more savvy travellers, hopefully standards will improve.

of course quality can come with a bigger price but many are prepared to pay. especially if travelling from oz to Europe, 30hrs is not unusual. no one that I know would want to travel that long and have a poor experience.

 

whatever the outcome lets hope the future will be brighter and lessons learnt.

[Nixmuts]

Marty156...

I understand your disappointment in your cruise last year but

I am really cranky now. I know that you have a grudge with Scenic, but at the moment I am watching a show on the Costa Concordia.... What those poor people went through makes your experience pale in significance..

If this gets deleted, well so be it...

 

Deb

[dougo in oz]

Marty156...

I understand your disappointment in your cruise last year but

I am really cranky now. I know that you have a grudge with Scenic, but at the moment I am watching a show on the Costa Concordia.... What those poor people went through makes your experience pale in significance..

If this gets deleted, well so be it...

 

Deb

 

That's absolutely true that what those poor people went through hell on the Costa Concordia ... but IMO it's not a fair comment nor comparison to make.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall reading that Marty compared his experiences to any other maritime disaster of the magnitude that you have mentioned above nor others that I can think of.

 

I'm glad he posted ... if nothing else it has served as a warning to others so they can make informed decisions about their contract of passage, cruise line, travel insurance etc etc

Edited January 13, 2014 by dougo in oz

[Nixmuts]

I know dougo, you're right.

 

Maybe it's time to move on.

We are survivors from the floods of 2011 and I know what it feels like to lose everything we owned. We don't live in a flood plain and it was a complete surprise to our neighbourhood that we were flooded (with 15 minutes to self evacuate)

 

We were fortunate to have avoided the flooding and lock strikes when we sailed with Scenic last year and my heart went out to the communities that were affected.

 

I would have been disappointed also if our trip ended up being a bus tour, and I don't know how I would have reacted especially seeing the towns/countryside in a flooded state.

 

Deb

[Pushka]

Marty156...

I understand your disappointment in your cruise last year but

I am really cranky now. I know that you have a grudge with Scenic, but at the moment I am watching a show on the Costa Concordia.... What those poor people went through makes your experience pale in significance..

If this gets deleted, well so be it...

 

Deb

 

 

But if you use that type of comparison then none of us should have problems with any of our fortunate lives when compared with the families and children in Syria and Sudan.

 

But life isn't like that.

 

In this situation a family has parted with a lot of money (and maybe a lifetime of saving for it) and the company tried to switch an expensive cruise for a ramshackle bus trip while other companies simply cancelled and refunded monies.

 

Everyone has their own life tragedies. Sometimes this occurs as a result of a disaster felt by many and at other times it's just their family. People don't wear them as badges but they are no less devastating whether by major flood, or a major car accident involving just them and whom no one else knows about.

 

Like all things, it isn't that crises occur, no one is responsible for that, but it's how companies deal with it that is important.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Pushka

[Emma Chisit]

But if you use that type of comparison then none of us should have problems with any of our fortunate lives when compared with the families and children in Syria and Sudan.

 

But life isn't like that.

 

In this situation a family has parted with a lot of money (and maybe a lifetime of saving for it) and the company tried to switch an expensive cruise for a ramshackle bus trip while other companies simply cancelled and refunded monies.

 

Everyone has their own life tragedies. Sometimes this occurs as a result of a disaster felt by many and at other times it's just their family. People don't wear them as badges but they are no less devastating whether by major flood, or a major car accident involving just them and whom no one else knows about.

 

Like all things, it isn't that crises occur, no one is responsible for that, but it's how companies deal with it that is important.

 

Well said - agree with everything you said.