Viking IDI Cities of Light cruise terminated by Viking May 16, 2022

[bunniebird]

We were passengers on the Viking IDI traveling down the moselle river, when we were informed that the ship was trapped behind the Koblenz lock.  Viking claimed that it was due to an equipment malfunction at the lock and even went so far as to tell us that they were working to see if they could fix it to allow us to complete the leg of our trip down the Rhine and Main rivers.  Turns out that the lock was down for its annual maintenance (planned 15 years in advance to prevent problems).  I inquired to the German Federal agency that manages rivers in Germany and they contacted the operators of the lock.  No unplanned maintenance, all part of the planned maintenance.  All shippers were aware of the MoselKommission schedule and they had posted two bulletins on ELWIS (Electronic Waterway Information System).  This system and the  nautical information radio system provided ample notice to Viking's Captain of the impending closure.  Can not get a reason for the termination from Viking, after I proved their first excuse was invalid.  Filed a complaint with Federal Railway Authority EBA (agency that oversees violations of passengers rights on inland waterways).  Easy to use complaint form at EBA.bund.de  Just need to click at top to get english version of website and complaint form.  Ruined vacation, especially knowing that this was Viking's fault (not high or low water flow, etc.)

Lock_closure_times_schedule_2021-2035.pdf

[notamermaid]

Wow, highly unusual. The link does not appear, but you are fully right about the maintenance being annual and scheduled in advance. Just for info's sake I posted about it in the thread on the Moselle. This is part of my post: quote "This is scheduled always far in advance. River cruise companies for example will have already adjusted their itineraries on the Moselle for next year accordingly as the dates have been published, even online for the general public to see." end quote

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

So here is the schedule: http://moselkommission.org/index.php?eID=tx_nawsecuredl&u=0&g=0&t=1656862780&hash=0bbe7a3b3543dd38ad24c0d4f003769feb40492c&file=fileadmin/user_upload/Sperrzeiten und Verkehr/Schleusensperrzeiten_Plan_2021-2035.pdf

 

 

notamermaid

 

[mhb1757]

On 6/30/2022 at 7:19 PM, bunniebird said:

We were passengers on the Viking IDI traveling down the moselle river, when we were informed that the ship was trapped behind the Koblenz lock.  Viking claimed that it was due to an equipment malfunction at the lock and even went so far as to tell us that they were working to see if they could fix it to allow us to complete the leg of our trip down the Rhine and Main rivers.  Turns out that the lock was down for its annual maintenance (planned 15 years in advance to prevent problems).  I inquired to the German Federal agency that manages rivers in Germany and they contacted the operators of the lock.  No unplanned maintenance, all part of the planned maintenance.  All shippers were aware of the MoselKommission schedule and they had posted two bulletins on ELWIS (Electronic Waterway Information System).  This system and the  nautical information radio system provided ample notice to Viking's Captain of the impending closure.  Can not get a reason for the termination from Viking, after I proved their first excuse was invalid.  Filed a complaint with Federal Railway Authority EBA (agency that oversees violations of passengers rights on inland waterways). 

Lock_closure_times_schedule_2021-2035.pdfUnavailable

So what did Viking do?  Did your trip continue via bus?  did they leave you sitting on the dock? Move you to another ship? Send you home early?  Details please. 

[pontac]

Just a rhetorical question...

 

I wonder if they planned to have a boat on the other side of the lock to transfer to. They've done transfers before when high water have made is not possible to travel under bridges.

 

Otherwise, why didn't they cancel this trip before had, or better still not schedule it?

[Canal archive]

Interesting that no one associated with the lock noticed the boat going through didn’t think to mention the fact that it would be closing shortly for maintenance or thought to ask the Captain when he was returning.