not-so-ancient mariner

Danke to notamermaid, for posting the link to the above article and  Daisi, for beating me to the task of translating! 

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Yep,

Read earlier that they are checking ship paint samples. Currently it is going more in the direction of a barge being the culprit.

 

notamermaid

 

I haven't seen that in the sparse coverage I've found.  Would you provide the source?  I don't mind if it's in German, lol, thanks to Google translate. 

I'm surprised that after two days, I haven't seen a single  English language article. Surely people who have booked for cruises this week should be informed of the changes in their trip before they arrive in Europe. 
Like the woman who was told by the captain, this past weekend when she arrived for her Viking river cruise , that the June 5th hit and run damage was still being repaired. (see above post for her words)  Is this latest incident being repressed to keep the tourists flooding to Europe?

6 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

Then your friend should report this to the police as they still don´t know which ship damaged the lock gate this time ;-).

 

steamboats

Haha.  The authorities may be politely waiting for the perp to " "fess up".  As I recall, it took Viking a week or so to acknowledge one of their boats was at fault the last time they damaged this lock even though people were already talking about it.  And, of course, my friend may have been misinformed.  There seems to be a lot of misinformation and a dearth of detail.  I came across this post by a Viking cruiser whose says she was told that the closure of the lock was due to the damage from early June's hit and run:

" July 1, Viking Tor, Problems effect itinerary
From a passenger: I am on the Viking Tor (Danube river tour) and we have been stuck here (Roth) for 3 days never really beginning the Friday the 28th June itinerary. The Captain and personnel announced their “surprise” that “ one” of the locks is broken. They seemed to have no knowledge of the damage to the  Riedenburg lock. However it appears quite clear that Viking themselves damaged the locks on June 5th, 2019 and have not only known all along that the repairs are not complete. There had been no release of known closure of the lock prior to this moment. Now it is a 3 hour bus ride (and 3 back) to the next stop (Passau). Strange indeed how little of this is on the for profit travel sites. "

I'm sure they will accommodate everyone fairly.  After all, Uniworld has collision insurance to cover costs and  the MSC Cruise Line will ultimately have to pay for any expenses not covered by insurance.

A friend of mine whose cruise with Scenic has become a bus tour, said it was a Viking boat that damaged the lock.   A Viking boat hit the same lock earlier this month, as well.  And earlier this season Viking hit a sightseeing boat in the Danube causing  26 people to be killed. 

We'll probably bring a letter with the M&Ms and hazelnut milk just to be safe. Luckily because he's completed desensitization, we don't need any special dietary requirements from the ship-- he can eat anything he wants now :).

It's worth an advance call to HAL's 1-800 line as well. I had a special medical request and they wrote a note for my file, indicating the call, and assured me my request would be honoured.

PS. Most medical requests should be made well in advance of the voyage (they ask for 2 - 3 months notice!). Easy ones like yours and mine will be accommodated. Some require a form to be filled out (mine did) but that was easy.

Have a wonderful trip. Alaska is awesome!!

This is for the Katie, who started this thread.

Two weeks ago, on our Alaska trip on the Westerdam, we saw a man turned away from the dining room on a gala night because he did not have a collared shirt. The maitre d' was very discreet but my partner is a birdwatcher with acute hearing and she overheard it while we were waiting to be taking to our table. The man was told that he had the choice of eating at one of the other venues that night or returning wearing a collared shirt. He came back in 5 minutes with a sports shirt.

You suggest that a long-sleeved t-shirt should be sufficient. Sleeve length apparently is not the issue -- there were lots of men and boys with short-sleeved shirts -- but with collars.

Now it may be that your son will be treated as a young child and exempted from the dress code. You might want to think about this: risk it or not? Also consider, would he prefer being treated in a special, respectful, adult way by simply wearing a collared shirt? This might be a good occasion for a mother-son talk to find out how he feels about the possible thrill of dressing for an occasion. After all, if he's excited about it, why spoil it for him? And it's a great opportunity for him to learn about wearing appropriate attiire for different occasions, something we all learn as we grow up.

It's up to you and your family to decide what is appropriate; just be aware that on Gala nights, the rules are different and you always have the choice of the Lido restaurant, specialty restaurants or room service if you feel that there is a burning reason why he should wear a t shirt that night.

We knew our July cruise with Scenic on the Danube would have rafting and that factored into our decision to book the panorama suite (450 sq ft at the back of the boat).

It worked perfectly. Although we were rafted four times (out of 7 nights) we were on the dockside once and on the other times were able to have a clear, private view out the back.

Scenic's provision of a privacy netting for the balcony window meant we could also have light coming in from the rafted side 9 with privacy as long as we didn't turn on lights.

We are going on the Amber on 6th June on Nuremberg to Budapest, so can let you know after that if its not too late?

I, too, look forward to any info you can pass on. We are taking a similar Scenic cruise on July 11th.

I'm particularly interested in knowing how much time is spent in Passau and Vienna. If you attend a morning tour, is there sufficient time in the afternoon to do some personal exploring? Are there shuttle buses to and from the ship? What time do the boats leave port?

I don't know why Scenic doesn't provide this information, at least in general terms (eg: "Most walking tours are about __ hours. Shuttle buses are available to take passengers back to the ship for lunch then back to the central square, if desired". Or "the ship generally leaves for its next port before/during/after dinner")

Many thanks for your help, salbags! I hope you are already enjoying your cruise!!

Not sure what happened to my earlier post so I'm posting again. On some cruises heading down river, Scenic does not offer the C-K tour as an option. I phoned to clarify this, as I have booked the Nuremberg-Budapest (Danube Discovery) tour for July.

The answer I got is a) if it isn't described on the website page or in the downloadable tourbook for the direction your trip takes, it isn't offered and b) the rationale for not offering C-K on my trip is that our riverboat stops at Regensburg, which is also a medieval town. When we reach Passau, the only tour offered is Salzburg.

Your tour (Jewels of Europe -- the Amsterdam to Budapest direction) has exactly the same tour description as mine for Passau. In the other direction -- Budapest - Amsterdam -- the cruise includes C-K, I believe.

With respect to others who have posted above, the cruise they refer to is Gems of the Danube, which has a different itinerary than Jewels of Europe.

You will still get to see a well-preserved medieval town (Regensburg) without the need for a long bus trip. But you won't have the option of C-K as an alternative to Salzburg.

If the Cesky Krumlov is not mentioned in your itinerary, it is not an option. That is what I was told (I am taking the Nuremberg to Budapest trip in July). In my instance, the trip down to Budapest does not include CK; the trip up does.

Asking for clarification on amenities (we are booking a Royal Panorama suite). Are there two sets of walking poles, robes and 2 prs of slippers? One or two umbrellas? Are binoculars provided? Many thanks for all who answer!

And who can forget the Marx brothers and all their friends, cramming into a small stateroom on board ship to America in A Night at the Opera?