May Danube flooding revisited - compensation??

[DocDave69]

This may be old news by now but I thought now that the dust has settled and the waters have receded it would be interesting to compare compensation given to cruisers who were supposed to be on the Danube in May. We sailed (for one day) with Avalon Waterways from Budapest to Prague and then were transferred to a rather hectic and 'un-Avalon' quality bus tour and finally left the tour four days before it was scheduled to end.

Avalon gave all of us a $1200.00 refund and in our case refunded another $660.00 for the unused four days. I have heard nothing more from them and assume this will be our total compensation.

It might be interesting consideration for those of you planning a European river cruise to compare how the companies handled this extraordinary crisis.

[Marty156]

Avalon gave all of us a $1200.00 refund and in our case refunded another $660.00 for the unused four days. I have heard nothing more from them and assume this will be our total compensation.

It might be interesting consideration for those of you planning a European river cruise to compare how the companies handled this extraordinary crisis.

 

Not old news, we are still attempting to get anything! A vague offer of $550 has been mentioned to us.

Have a read of this link, I think you did very well indeed to get as much as you did!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1892421

[jpalbny]

We were lucky enough to have our Danube cruise canceled a few days before we left for Europe. We had been scheduled on Avalon departing 6/10 from Vienna. They offered full refund, plus $250 pp in airline change fees incurred.

 

We kept our airline tickets and visited Germany on our own instead. It was awesome!

 

The full refund was credited to our card within a few days - I think they canceled on a Monday and we had the refund on Friday.

 

We did incur a change fee from the German railway - we had prepurchased tickets to Vienna (to be used on the day of boarding - to meet the ship). There was a €15 fee deducted from our refunds. Since that was a change fee incurred because of the cruise being canceled, we asked Avalon to refund that to us.

 

Initially they were persnickety about it and asked for some very specific receipts. They then told our TA that they would refund these fees to us - but that message came over a month ago, and to date we've not seen a check. Hoping it will eventually be in the mail, but if not, reading these boards has convinced me that things could have been far worse!

[smokeynz]

We had 4 days on the ship in May with the remainder of a 15 day cruise being a low quality bus trip. We are still trying ti get a fair compensation from Avalon along with others on our cruise. To date Avalon have refused any further compensation. We got $1200pp. The cruise that was scheduled as the opposite direction cruise immediately after ours started as a bus trip with passengers having the final 6 days on the ship, these people were offered 50% refund. In our opinion and the opinion of others on our cruise Avalon have shown a disregard for their clients. It has been said the true quality of a cruise line shows when things go wrong Avalon has failed that test

[Marty156]

It has been said the true quality of a cruise line shows when things go wrong Avalon has failed that test

 

I can add to this list Scenic, Evergreen and (I believe) Viking.

[4774Papa]

I can add to this list Scenic, Evergreen and (I believe) Viking.

Wait, it appears to me that Avalon came through with what appears to be reasonable compensation, unlike Scenic, Evergreen and Viking.

[smokeynz]

Avalon has compensated some clients fairly but not others they have not been consistent. The cruise directly after ours was the same 15 day cruise in reverse, they had 6 days on ship and received 50% refund. We had 4 days on ship and received 13% refund. You don't need to be a genius to work out the inequity.

[4774Papa]

Avalon has compensated some clients fairly but not others they have not been consistent. The cruise directly after ours was the same 15 day cruise in reverse, they had 6 days on ship and received 50% refund. We had 4 days on ship and received 13% refund. You don't need to be a genius to work out the inequity.

You got a $1200 refund and it was 13% of the tour. Expensive tour.

[smokeynz]

You got a $1200 refund and it was 13% of the tour. Expensive tour.

 

just under 9000pp for a15 day tour we pay a lot in NZ

[Marty156]

just under 9000pp for a15 day tour we pay a lot in NZ

 

You were lucky!

We apear to have been offered $550 for $8000+ bus ride!

Or around 6%

 

Offered, but NOT received.

[Host Jazzbeau]

just under 9000pp for a15 day tour we pay a lot in NZ

 

I wonder if that has something to do with the variations we've been seeing. It appears that all cruise lines (river and ocean) treat passengers from different countries quite differently. National laws may have something to do with it, but I suspect that local marketing strategies/partners are also involved.