hbr777

7 hours ago, kathywin53 said:

Due to disembark Amaprima Nov 24 at the ungodly hour of 430 am for bus to Amsterdam airport for 700 am flight to Zurich and further on by bus to Basel hotel. All arranged and supported by Amawaterways personal along the way. We will get to enjoy the continuation of our planned vacation. Amawaterways has been very accommodating with information during the modified cruise. Stayed on the ship every night with no hotels so well fed and entertained. Excursions well run and interesting although cold weather a challenge. Only regret, did not see a castle but planning to use the compensation from AMA to rebook in future. Have had an acceptable cruise considering having not seen the area we travelled. 

Good luck everyone with your cruises.

I am confused by your post. Your cruise from your previous posts was supposed to be Amsterdam to Basel. You started and ENDED in Amsterdam?  And now have to fly to Zurich? You are a very nice person indeed. That is not a modified cruise, it is a totally different cruise if you never left Benelux. I hope the compensation makes it worth it. Have fun in Switzerland!

1 hour ago, Hoyas96 said:

Does anyone know what stops we may have in store for us between Amsterdam and Antwerp?  Will we bus to Cologne?

I'm assuming the southern portion of the trip will include the original destinations (Heidelberg Castle, Rudesheim), just via bus back and forth from Strasbourg.  Is that right?

It is not set in stone that this will be a bus. I was in contact with someone at AMA who said re: the drive from Strasbourg to Antwerp, "Although such a picture is a bit daunting, this is nowhere near our ideal cruise and have been making adjustments to make sure that future sailings do not operate in the same manner. For example, for one of our recent sailings, we did cover this distance via train, rather than by bus so you could see the castles on the Rhine and the scenery as well." An additional reply added, "We’re doing a rain dance on our end here too and hoping for the best! We should be reaching out shortly (early next week) regarding your sailing and the contingency plans we have in place. You will hear from us very soon and hopefully we will get this all straightened out."

Very professional replies. Cheerful.

I also assume the southern portion will have most of the excursions intact. I also imagine they will try to figure out how to actually preserve some of the "Rhine" on a Rhine cruise lol.

1 hour ago, luv2travelandcruise said:

Can anyone help me out? I'm supposed to leaving on the Monday, 11/26, AMAStella from Basel to Amsterdam. It looks like we will be transported from Strasburg to Antwerp. This is disappointing but what can you do.  I'm wondering where we would cruise to get to Amsterdam and will we probably have hotel nights? Thanks!

Hi! We are supposed to be on the AmaKristina 12/3 Basel to Amsterdam. We might have the same revised itinerary as you.

From what I heard, there are no hotel nights. You cruise from Basel to Strasbourg and then spend 3 nights docked with trips. Then, bus to Antwerp via Luxembourg City - a long day - where you meet the AmaKristina and cruise Belgium up to Amsterdam. Not sure if that is correct!

Based on my possible revised itinerary, we are to leave Basel on the Amastella on Dec 3. On marinetraffic.com, I am watching the Amastella now head from Basel toward Strasbourg, but I think it HAS TURNED AROUND at Breisach and is heading to Basel. Can someone look at that and confirm that is what I am seeing? If it is, it is bad news. That means we will going from Strasbourg to Antwerp, bypassing all of Germany. 

4 hours ago, nstarrenburg said:

Nothing yet....

 

I did get one from Jane S sailing on 8 December but I assume that is not you.

 

nick

I just resent it. Check your spam, Nick?

35 minutes ago, nstarrenburg said:

Has not arrived yet....

 

send it to the following?

 

nbstarrenburg

AT

gmail.com

Yup. That's what I sent. I just resent it. Let me know if you don't get it.

11 minutes ago, katz said:

Thank you for your reply.  I received our documents, by email, this morning.

Now, I just need to get through Thanksgiving and stress over water levels😀😢

See you on board. 

See you on board! I am preparing for the worst, which would be cruising the short distance from Basel to Strasbourg. Being docked in Strasbourg for 3 days and doing day trips.  At least Strasbourg is wonderful, with really nice towns around it.  Then being bussed to meet another skip and then sailing through the boring Netherlands and Belgium (Amsterdam, Gouda, Ultrecht, and Antwerp), skipping the Rhine along the pretty part (sad face). Ending up in Amsterdam. This is my worst case scenario lol.

8 hours ago, nstarrenburg said:

hbr777

 

Thanks for posting....

 

We are doing the exact same cruise two weeks after you.

 

i would love to contact you directly so we could get info and tips as you take the trip we will be doing.  It seems the private message option is not working here.  If you are ok to do so, my email is....

 

my username - add a “b” between the first “n” and “s” @gmail.com

I sent you an email.

13 hours ago, katz said:

When did you receive yours?  I see that you live in NC.  We are up the road in VA. I talked to AMA over two weeks ago.  The rep said the docs would be mailed at the end of that week.  I talked to another rep yesterday, she didn’t have a clue when we would get them.  She said they might come in an email. She said just show up and not to worry about it.  Gee, thanks for the advice!!

 

We leave next Monday for a few days in Frankfurt, then the precruise. I am getting nervous!!

 

I just checked the forecasts and there is some rain in the future.  Fingers crossed!!

Yes, I got them on Sunday. They have all the original excursions listed, which we KNOW will not happen. 

Yes. They are the excursions for the cruise as if there were no changes. I was a bit confused by that, but I realized that it makes sense. Ama most likely doesn't have a clue where we are going yet. It will all depend on the levels.

Letter from AmaWaterways about our 12/3 sailing Basel to Amsterdam. Option B is essentially a bus tour through the low countries. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. From an email, Ama said some of that might be on a train.

6 minutes ago, sjde said:

I still don't have specifics on what is happening with our cruise early next week but we did receive clarification of their policy in an email sent to us-

 

"We do not give full or partial refunds for cancellations due to water-levels or other bad weather issues. Realize that there would be no river cruises in Europe if at every turn the cruise line gave a full refund if guests were not able to sail their purchased itinerary at the last minute or desired to cancel due to possible sailing or weather issues. 

 

As a company we have a fiscal responsibility to our employees and contractors that we cannot just send home or cancel a ship’s sailing at the last minute nor can we sustain a business model of handing out refunds for things out of our control. 

 

Again, this type of risk (6 - 10% chance) is not for everyone and if you would like to avoid the risk, we recommend guests purchasing “Cancel For Any Reason” insurance coverage (noting standard Travel Insurance does not cover low or high water-level issues). "

 

Well we did purchase trip insurance but not Cancel for any Reason!

That is most obnoxious email a cruise company could send to a guest. What company is this?

38 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

A bright Autumn sky means the locals are out and about again, walking to the Mouse Tower island (currently a "peninsula") no doubt, but also in the woods, town centres, etc. It is dry and lovely almost everywhere you go these days. Muddy and wet November days, vaguely remember what those are like from last year. This year? Nothing of the sort.

 

I have decided to stay indoors mostly, housework calls. And I have been wondering for the last two hours how to gently give you the bad news. After this post I shall leave the computer fast, just in case it finally does work and someone out there manages to throw a dagger at me through the cables... I am just the messenger, arrghh. Here goes:

 

I am sorry to inform you that the river levels on the Rhine are still very much far from favourable for river cruising. They have actually slightly deteriorated. Currently I am not envisaging a return to smooth sailing for 135m ships in the Rhine gorge for some days to come. The current status: Maxau 318cm, Kaub 33cm, Koblenz 29cm. The level at Kaub could fall further still. This is Kaub:

 

NNW is the line for the lowest level ever recorded. We have been there before this year:

 

Where we were on 31 October is where we would like to be, sharpish. That is not going to happen, though.

 

Further bad news: snow will not be plentiful this week and rain will frustratingly leave out most of the catchment area of the Rhine. Good rain covering the whole area is not anticipated before Saturday 24th November. See wetteronline.de

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No daggers being thrown here.  Thanks for the info, even if bad.

Is there rain in the forecast AFTER Nov 24?

2 hours ago, nstarrenburg said:

From the FB page of the person currently doing the Basel to Amsterdam cruise on AMA.

This is truly ridiculous. And all AMA keeps saying on their Facebook page is "We are looking forward to seeing you on board!"  Do they think we are all stupid?

7 minutes ago, Intlxpatr said:

LOL@ verbiage: "exciting alternative solutions"

Right? Exciting! A motorcoach! 6 hours on a highway nowhere near the river! Oh, I cannot contain myself.

Honestly though, if that is the only bus, it is doable. Not optimal. But doable. With some compensation lol.

6 hours ago, Hoyas96 said:

I'm scheduled to embark AmaKristina on 11/26 in Amsterdam headed to Basel.  I received the attached update from AMA today.  It's not super clear what this will mean for the itinerary / ports of call in between the cities mentioned, especially for scenario B.  Fingers crossed for scenario A.  No matter what happens, I'll be happy to escape the smoky air in CA and breathe some fresh air in Europe!

 

This is dishonest to say the least. "From Antwerp you will transfer to the Amastella in Stasbourg." Notice how they don't say you will get to Strasbourg in the actual paragraph? Not to mention that your original itinerary doesn't include Antwerp? I would ask that question because if this is a bus trip, it will be LONG. As in 6 hours. And cut out the pretty sections of the river. Why can't these companies be honest? I would carefully ask that question of Amawaterways.

"From Cologne we will do a ship swap with the AmaStella in Rudesheim."

Again, this cuts the pretty section of the river, and involves a bus ride that they do no mention. At least the bus ride would only be 2 hours.

19 minutes ago, Jaydub99 said:

 

I’ll say! I don’t quite understand it. Our ship’s sister ship is in Amsterdam and ours is in Strasbourg right now with another 110m near Mainz. If we were to sail to Cologne and bus to Koblenz or Mainz for a ship swap and then sail to Basel it would be a different story - in fact I expected that to be the option we would be given. A bus to Strasbourg with in some cases only a few hours in town for the markets and lunch before being herded back onto the bus to keep going is not what we envisioned when we signed up in January.  Not sure the reasoning for the itinerary they produced. We have a breakfast planning session with the couple we are traveling with in the morning to decide. With only 2 days actually transiting the river, I see a Eurail pass in my immediate future....

I hope they offered you credit or compensation for that drastic change? I'm sorry you have to make that decision. It just stinks.

47 minutes ago, Jaydub99 said:

 

We just got our revised itinerary or option to cancel notice from Avalon for our 110m ship’s cruise. Essentially bussing Amsterdam to Strasbourg to meet our ship with stops in Cologne and Mainz and then bus back to Heidelberg for a tour. The Amsterdam to Cologne portion must also not be passable, or assessed not to be for our 24 Nov departure. 

Hey, that sounds like a really nutty itinerary.  A bus from Amsterdam to Strasbourg bypasses many areas where larger ships are currently running on either side of the Rhine gorge. I don't think that section is not passable but that Avalon doesn't have ships on either side of the gorge to do a ship swap and your ship is stuck in Strasbourg? Are you canceling or cruising?

Hi everyone!

Is the Rhine gorge the only impassable part of the river right now for a 135m ship? Are there other low areas that prevent passage Basel to Amsterdam?

There is a GIANT thread here of 34 pages or so about the Rhine water levels. The last 15 pages are as about as informative as you can get. Lots of us are in the same boat, so to speak.

Whatever direction has more water lol. Right now, neither does.

Basel to Amsterdam is going with the flow of the river. Might be quicker, less vibration, noise, etc.

22 minutes ago, holacandita said:

The credit is better than what Crystal is offering and I am happy with it.

They said they will either be sending us back to Basel via train from Dusseldorf or by plane from Amsterdam, depending on which itinerary we end up taking.  We have an extra day in Basel before we leave for home, but I'm hoping to not lose it to traveling.

Thank you! I hope it works out for you and that you have a wonderful trip!

1 hour ago, holacandita said:

Correct, we embark on Saturday!  Possible itinerary includes sailing Netherlands and Germany from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf -OR- a round trip Amsterdam to Amsterdam sailing through The Netherlands and Belgium.  But we won't know until we're on board.  Either way they will have to get us back to Basel via train or plane to make our post cruise arrangements. 😞  But I'm still hoping for a great trip.  And we will receive credit for a future cruise.

Is it  lot of credit?

I have to be in AMS the morning our cruise ends. We have train tickets to Berlin  and Prague (same ticket)@ 9am and we are meeting other people. 

Have they said what they will do for you to get you back to Basel if necessary?

28 minutes ago, holacandita said:

I definitely understand and sympathize with the current situation with the wildfires in CA.  My cruise is definitely a first world problem compared to that.  With that said, the water levels have been low for weeks if not months, so transparency would have been nice more than 4 days prior to sailing.  My TA just received our amended cruise itinerary and Ama is doing what they can to make it right -- we will have an amended itinerary either sailing round trip Amsterdam or from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf and we are okay with that.  It's not ideal but we understand things are outside of their control.  Hopefully we will be able to spend as much time on ship as possible.  

You are sailing in 4 days? Oh my goodness!

Were you supposed to be sailing Amsterdam to Basel? And now you are only going as far as Dusseldorf?

2 hours ago, bubbulz said:

We do this as well. An added bonus is that it almost feels like 'free money' when you're starting out a trip.

Yup, we do the same! It makes me happy knowing they are there, waiting for the next trip. My husband is a business traveler so he is always dipping into the stash.