arlowood

2 hours ago, brillo said:

I don't no where you get the information about HAL I have just taken a look at their board and the complaints are about the same as on here.

From Cruise Critic website where they give the latest cancellation policy statements from the various cruise lines including HAL

https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/5151/

Having read the HAL statement however it does seem a bit ambiguous. If I'm reading it correctly it only applies to new bookings. Doesn't clarify what happens with existing bookings.

Well I'm in the slightly odd situation of having a P&O cruise booked for July (Aurora Fjords) with final payment due in about 2 weeks. We also have a Viking Alaska cruise booked for August.

Currently I can cancel the Viking cruise with a full refund voucher for any Viking Ocean or river cruise in the next 24 months.

What do I have with P&O - obviously a  chance to transfer our Aurora cruise to 2021 but we already have a cruise booked in May and 2 weddings later that year so the options are very limited. Will sit tight for now and contact our TA as the payment date approaches to see what developments crop up in the interim.

Not minded to cancel or transfer currently as we are both pretty fit mid 70's cruisers. However I do wish P&O would drag itself into the 21st century as far as customer relations goes. Plenty of other cruise lines adjusting their cancellation policies including Holland America (part of Carnival)

We've done several river cruises and 1 Ocean cruise with Viking - all with start and finish points within Europe. We live in the East Midlands and specifically requested that our flights originated and finished in Birmingham. We just did not want the hassle of getting to and from any of the London area airports (Heathrow, Gatwick etc)

Viking always claim that they use scheduled carriers so they will not book you on eg Easyjet, Ryanair, Jet2 etc. Our Birmingham based flights have almost exclusively been with Lufthansa using either Munich or Frankfurt as a hub to change over for any onward flight. I think we did use KLM via Amsterdam on one occasion.

These days with so many airlines being in group alliances then there will be no problem getting an efficient routing from Birmingham to Stockholm and back from Bergen. Have a look on the Tripadvisor flight planning tool for flight options from Birmingham to Stockholm and see what is on offer.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/CheapFlightsHome

In all our years of cruising with Viking we have never had a problem going from Birmingham

Just to add my comments to others given above - assuming you are doing the itinerary from Bergen to London

You will need Norwegian Krone if you plan to use cash in Bergen. From memory I think the public toilets require a 50 cent coin. However if you grab a coffee in a Costa or Starbucks you can use the facilities there. Bit more expensive but saves the hassle of seeking out change.

Shetland, Invergordon, Edinburgh, Kirkwall, Ullapool, Belfast, Liverpool, Holyhead, Dover and London will all require Pound Sterling. However there are one or two caveats as hinted above. In the Shetland to Ullapool sector you may be faced with receiving £5, £10 or £20 notes in change issued by several Scottish banks. Within Scotland you will have no problems using them but here I have to take issue with @Nippy Sweetie. Outside of Scotland you may have problems with acceptance even in large stores. The same comments apply for Belfast, as Northern Ireland banks issue their own notes that differ from the standard Bank of England notes. In my view I would avoid using ATM's in Scotland or Northern Ireland as you will almost certainly get Scottish or Northern Irish notes dispensed.

To avoid any difficulties I would ask your TA to source a quantity of Sterling notes (these will be Bank of England notes) in small denominations £5 and £10 preferably but also £20 if necessary. As said above avoid having £50 notes as they are often treated with suspicion. In all the UK ports, public toilets are generally free although some may charge a 20 pence coin.  If in doubt, visit a large department store or supermarket if there is one nearby as they will usually have free public toilets.

In Dublin you will need Euros. Again get small denomination notes - 5 and 10 Euro. Some public toilets in Dublin may charge so use the department store option or better still - visit Kilkenny's gift shop close to Trinity College and Grafton Street. Browse the gifts and/or use the cafe/coffee shop with free toilet access.

Contactless payment is widely available in the UK so could be the answer for small purchases but be aware that there may be a limit to the number of contactless purchases made before you will be required to enter a PIN to validate the purchase.

@SantaFe1

Thanks for the response. Yes we are on the August 14 Seward to Vancouver cruise. UK based so just hoping that the flight connections work seamlessly to get us to the ship on time.

Also appreciate the heads up regarding the roll call group - I'll have a look for that and keep tabs on any developments regarding the shore excursions. I must confess that I did not survey the listed trips in depth so did not spot the errors in the trips and ports of call. As you surmise, it is probably a draft of some description and will be amended and corrected in due course.

Hi there

Booked on Viking Orion in August to do the Alaska Cruise from north to south (Seward to Vancouver)

When we originally booked the cruise (about 18 months ago) I am sure I recall seeing a gold panning excursion on the itinerary (probably at Juneau or Skagway) and also the White Pass scenic rail trip from Skagway.

I've just logged in today to my Viking Journey planner and had a look through the excursions on offer (too early yet to book anything). I can't see any mention of the gold panning or rail excursion listed. 

Anyone able to comment on whether they have been removed or are they likely to appear later as the cruise date gets closer?

23 minutes ago, oldgeez said:

 

Thanks.  This is a very useful site.

 

It tells me that unless we have 40 days and 40 nights of rain over the next 2 weeks, my ship won't be leaving the dock.

 

 

Looks like you might have to offer up a prayer to the equivalent of St Swithin in the Czechia and Germany

19 hours ago, oldgeez said:

Any updates on the Elbe water depth?

Can anyone point me to a site (or sites) where I can monitor this info?

 

We're scheduled to board the Viking Astrild on 6 September. Hoping that we don't have to make the choice between cancelling or staying in a "boatel". 

Hi there

We were also affected on our Viking cruise. Our dates were 16th til 24th July and we were offered the option to do the coach/boatel tour with a 50% voucher towards a future cruise or take a full refund. We opted for the refund as my wife and I did not relish all the hours of coach shuttle involved to complete the itinerary as advertised.

One site I used to monitor water levels was the one linked below

https://www.bafg.de/EN/06_Info_Service/01_WaterLevels/waterlevels_node.html

If you zoom in on the map to the Elbe, you can hover your mouse arrow over the yellow dots along the river which represent locations where the level is measured regularly. In terms of the ability to cruise, I think one critical area is just upstream of Wittenberg at Elster and Pretzsch-Mauken where I understand there are some tight bends in the river. The gauge levels at these points have been consistently low over the past couple of months.

In my opinion, I think Viking needs to reconsider there Elbe cruising programme in the summer months. These low water levels have caused disruption several times in recent years

12 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Particularly with this ship design.  The Elbe gets so bad that nobody can sail, but CroisiEurope usually manages longer with their paddlewheel design.

 

Viking do claim with the Asdtrild and the Beyla that  "Their customised hull and engines are specially built to navigate the historic Elbe river"

Obviously the design engineers have not accounted for the extremes in water levels seen in the last 3 or 4 years.

Maybe it's a hull length issue or a draft isssue but if the CroisiEurope paddle wheelers fare better in low water then maybe the kjey is how much depth ius below the hull/power unit.

An earlier commentator suggested the length was the key in the sections where the river has tight bends. The ships can't make the curves when the water at the edges is too shallow.

Just had confirmation today from Viking that our cruise will be affected by the low water levels currently affecting a large stretch of the Elbe. We were due to leave for Berlin on 16th July and join the Astrild in Wittenberg on the 18th.

As with previous contributors, we were offered a modified itinerary with coach travel to the various sites and a switch of ships from Wittenberg to Dresden part way through. This did not appeal and we have opted to cancel and take a full refund.

Looking at the weather outlook it would seem that the possibility for cruising proper to resume in the near future is doubtful. Maybe if significant rainfall is experienced later in July then maybe cruising could start again in August.

My reading on the situation is that this low water problem has affected Viking over several of the past years. Maybe they should be reviewing the viability of offering the Elbe itinerary during summer months

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Dresden gauge has now dropped to 50cm and with no significant rain in the Upper Elbe area before Friday I doubt it will stay at that. I cannot imagine the four days of substantial rain from Friday to Monday will be enough to give the river back the 30cm it needs to make resuming sailing a sensible notion.

 

The BAfG (German Federal Institute of Hydrology) issued its first report on the low water last week. The outlook is o.k. for the Rhine and Danube for the time being but Elbe and Weser will get worse, as of last Thursday. And today we can see they already are. I am beginning to worry about the Danube now, will it be o.k. till the rain comes. But the Rhine is fine.

 

notamermaid

 

Yes, I've been following the long range forecasts for the upper reaches of the Elbe involved in our planned cruise, namely Bad Schandau and Decin in Czechia. At the moment they are forecasting showers for Friday and thunderstorms on Saturday in both areas but nothing on Sunday or Monday. I'm guessing that 2 days of rain will not have a great short term effect on the river levels in the critical area between Dresden and Wittenberg.

Have not heard anything yet from Viking but other contributors recently have been contacted about a week before their planned travel date. We are due to fly to Berlin on 16th and join the Astrild on the 18th so I'm anticipating a call in the next day or so. The outlook suggests that our cruise will also be affected by low water levels

14 hours ago, steamboats said:

Wow, only 56 cm at Dresden... that´s quite low...

 

steamboats

Hi there

56cm at Dresden is only part of the story. Several places between Dresden and Wittenberg which is one of the Viking "termini" have lower levels. At Torgau the level is currently (excuse the pun) 42cm, at Pretzsch-Mauken it's only 19cm and at Elster it's 20cm. These figures have been gleaned from tha BfG website and are fairly reliable I would assume

https://www.bafg.de/EN/06_Info_Service/01_WaterLevels/waterlevels_node.html

As AnhaltER1960 states there does not appear to be any significant rainfall forecast along the length of the Elbe from Saxony into Czechia so it would seem unlikely that cruising can resume for a few weeks yet.

12 hours ago, Upgradefairy4u said:

Thanks so much for the link, I have read it over and over to reassure myself we are making the right decision to continue with going on our trip.  We had less than 72 hours to make a decision plus we are packed!!  I am still working so I don't have the luxury of traveling when I want, I have to go when work permits and we have planned this trip for over a year.  It took some convincing my sister to still go, she is hesitant, but I am reassuring her that it will work out for the best, Viking will make sure of that!!  I am looking forward to seeing the countries, history, and sights (and maybe even a little shopping!!)  Glad also to hear that the weather has broken and is now closer to normal temps.  Bon Voyage!  

Hi there

Appreciate your dilemma but I'm sure you will have a great time despite the alteration to the planned schedule. We have done 4 river and 1 sea cruise with Viking and have found them all to be exceptional. They will look after you very well and ensure that your trip experience is the best that it can be.

My wife and I are in a slightly different situation to you. We are both retired and are based in the UK close to 2 airports that fly directly into Germany/Czechia. If we cancel then we can easily take a flight to see the cities and sights at a later date.

Have a great trip

Hi Upgradefairy4u

Many thanks for taking the time to give the full detail of your Viking letter.

My wife and I are booked on a later cruise leaving for Berlin on 16th July then transferring to the Viking Astrild in Wittenberg on the 18th.

I've looked at the long range forecast for the upstream regions of the Elbe in Czechia and there seems little prospect of significant rainfall during July so my guess is that the low water levels will persist and will affect our sailing dates also.

We wait to hear from Viking but if our trip is affected in the same way as yours then my wife and I will probably take the cancellation and refund option. I am not a great fan of coach travel at the best of times but was happy to accept the itinerary as originally booked with the benefit of a bit of relaxed river cruising in between.

If you have not already done so - take a look at the Tripsavvy account I linked to in an earlier post. Here is the link again

https://www.tripsavvy.com/viking-cruises-elbe-river-travel-journal-4100188

This will give you an idea of how Viking handled the coach shuttle operation on a holiday where the ships were marooned by low water. I believe from information supplied by another contributor that this account dates from 2016 due the the reference to certain excursions that don't feature in the current itinerary

8 hours ago, Upgradefairy4u said:

Just heard from Viking. Our Elbe cruise leaving July 6 has a change of ships in Dresden due to low water levels.  😟

Hi there

Tks for the info.

Can you clarify if they have just stated that you will be on a different ship and that your cruise will go ahead as normal or have they indicated that you will be spending 2/3 nights on one ship with a coach transfer to the other ship part way through.

Also if the coach shuffle is happening, were you given the option to cancel with a full refund?

Hi there

Appreciate the comments and anaylsis.

The actual cruise part of our trip is due to end in Decin (Czechia) on 23rd July followed by a transfer to Prague. Since that area is upstream of the problematic Dresden section I have checked the long range forecast and there appears to be no significant rainfall for the whole of July - maybe some morning or afternoon showers but nothing more.

Of course we cannot rely totally on the accuracy of these forecasts so I will keep my fingers crossed that things improve. As I've said already, I would not welcome the coach shuttle option so hopefully the cruise can go ahead as planned.

Many thanks for the confirmation regarding the position of the Astrild in Wittenberg.

I would be grateful to hear if you observe any movement over the coming days and also any possible weather changes that might see an improvement in the river levels ahead of our expected cruise date of 16th July.

Hi there

Just a correction to my previous post. The Tripsavvy account is not current as I first suspected from to the publication date. Having read the piece in detail I came across reference to a "fall market" in Torgau and also reference to some site that would not be open until 2019. So I'm guessing that this was a report from a 2018 tour. Apologies for the misinformation.

The other info however is current from the passenger on the Beyla so coach shuttling is now a factor it would appear

OK a further update

Heard on another forum from someone currently on the Beyla in Dresden. They are there for 2 nights then they are being transferred by coach to Wittenberg to join the Astrild for a further 3 nights. They were given the option to cancel and return home which 24 passengers chose to do. Those who stayed were given generous discounts on a future cruise.

Just had a quick check on www.vesselfinder.com and contrary to what Anhalter1960 suggested this website puts the Astrild just slightly north of Dresden while the sister ship Beyla is actually in Dresden itself with a cluster of at least 6 other passenger ships in the vicinity.

If that is correct then its unlikely that Viking will be able to do any effective shuttle programme between the 2 ships until one or more can move on from where they are.

Will check the situation again tomorrow for any developments

Hi there

This is bad news for my wife and I. We are booked on the Viking Astrild leaving Wittenberg on 18th July. Looks like we will be enjoying some extended coach trips rather than the expected river cruise. We knew that the Elbe was problematic but this extended hot spell has just compounded the issue. Don't suppose a wet spell in the next 2 weeks will change things much.

No word yet from Viking

We were going to book a cruise a year or so back for one of the Viking Ocean ships but were told all the spaces had been taken up with their 'good' airlines but were offering flights with Vuelling which I were told were the Spanish equivalent of Easyjet - not that I have anything against Easyjet but for the price of the cruise I would not have expected a budget airline. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

Yes - Viking make a big point of only using scheduled carriers which is a bit of a pain in our case. Our closest airport is East Midlands(EMA) in the UK (abt 15mins away) and we could fly direct to Rome on Jet2 and return from Barcelona direct to EMA on Ryanair. Jet2 is viewed as a budget airline but we have flown to Cyprus and back with them and we rate them as highly as some scheduled carriers. Ryanair is definitely bottom of the barrel in the budget stakes but on a return 2hr flight I would not be too bothered.

With Vikings scheduled-only policy, we have to travel to Birmingham and fly KLM via Amsterdam or Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Munich. Split journeys are always a pain and Schipol airport is not for the faint hearted. On one previous trip our aircraft taxied for 30mins after touch down to reach the allocated gate.

Having had a quick look it appears that the Vueling flight is a code share with Iberia so that perhaps gets around the "no-budget" constraints.

UK includes gratuities. US does not.

OK - thanks for the clarification. Must be a little confusing when there is a mix of US and UK passengers on board.

I presume the US cruisers have the gratuities added directly to their on board account on a per person per day basis. Not sure if there is an opt out if you want to tip directly as is the case with at least one UK based cruise line (P&O, part of Carnival Group)

Try it because you are sick and tired of the nickel-and-diming. BUT the gratuities are not included Very strange

Not sure what the marketing brochures state in the US but here in the UK I have their 2018-2019 Ocean Cruise brochure and for each cruise itinerary where it details the dates and pricing there is a list under the heading "Enjoy it all, it's all included" and "On board gratuities" is the final item on the extensive list.

I was a bit surprised when I saw your post but as far as I can see nobody has challenged you to date on that statement

Just a quick update to round off this topic.

Called Viking UK again this morning and the young lady again stated that she could not access the seating plan on the Vueling website. She claimed that Vueling allocated seats at the time of booking and did not allow these to be changed.

Thought this was very strange as the "Manage Your Booking" page on the Vueling website clearly had a seat selection option listed.

Anyway - long story short - my contact offered to email their flight booking unit to see if they could be more successful. Odd - as I thought she had already spoken to someone in that section.

Finally got a call to confirm that they had been able to secure me an aisle seat (16D) with my wife in 16E across that aisle. She made it sound as if they and Vueling were doing us a huge favour in allowing this change. She also stated that no further changes could be permitted???

So folks - rant over. Just slightly miffed that it took so much effort on my behalf to make a relatively simple alteration.

On second thoughts - just wondering if Viking are gouging really cheap deals with Vueling that make them unwilling to be flexible about seat selection/allocation