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Scenic Low-Water-Level Schedule Changes/Cancellations


candf
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I see that a thread was started for Crystal, so I thought I would start one for Scenic. I have found little information as to what Scenic is planning to do if the Rhine levels remains low. What I have found on other Cruise Critic threads regarding how the passengers have been rerouted/compensated has me somewhat concerned. Any other info would be greatly welcomed.

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Norvig

 

Good luck with your cruise and hopefully the conditions will get better soon.

 

Linda and Jeff

 

Couldn't find any updates on the Canadian site, so this will be helpful. Thank you.

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Thanks for pointing this out. But no thanks to Scenic for the actual content, which is laughable. For example, such phrases as "if deviations from the standard itinerary become necessary" and "cruises may be affected." Why can't they just come out and openly state that some cruises *are* affected, and list how. Does it really make sense to claim that they will contact all passengers "as a priority" rather than giving passengers an easy way to look at the info themselves without waiting for Scenic to get around to contacting them?

 

Personally, we're booked on the Sept. 12 Jewels of Europe trip, and I find it hard to believe that it isn't listed as a cruise that "may" be affected. Sure, I'm hoping for significant rain between now and then, but it's crazy to not also consider the possibility that it won't happen. So it would be helpful to know how they're modifying itineraries on their current cruises, just to give upcoming passengers some idea about possible changes. I don't expect Scenic to make any firm changes this far in advance, but to not even admit there's a possibility? That's disrespectful to their passengers' intelligence...

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Good point DougK. These cruise companies have to remember that many of us have planned more than a year in advance, tied up our $$$$, planned activities before & after the cruise, choosing to book our own flights for various reasons, arrangements at home, etc. I understand Mother Nature has control but folks need to have more choices so once in Europe we can make the most of our overseas trip. We have done many bus tours but now at an age where we want a more relaxing trip. I appreciate that they are doing their best but we don’t want to spend 3 hours on a bus to spend 2 hours in a town that was on the original agenda So there should be more options. We don’t want credits etc, we want to bow out gracefully & make other plans. I feel for those who have not been given any time to change their plans especially if there are mobility or health issues. I admire folks who continue to explore this wonderful world when they have health issues beyond their control but have the right to travel. Amen.

Edited by Norvig
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Thanks taxare. Look forward to your reports. We’re on Scenic Jewel departing Basel Sept. 3, but leaving Toronto Sept. 1 for a prenight in Zurich at a hotel that we booked personally. Luckily, we can cancel the hotel, if we need to, with 48 hrs. notice. We also have other train and various hotels booked. Trying to stay optimistic too.

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The problem though is that no matter how much we might wish it were otherwise there is almost nothing useful that can be said more than about 5-7 days at the most before sailing and even that is a bit of a guess when you are talking about a 7-14 day cruise.

 

 

We have an Amsterdam - Budapest cruise booked in early November this year but I'm not going to even start thinking about water levels until the end of October.

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The problem though is that no matter how much we might wish it were otherwise there is almost nothing useful that can be said more than about 5-7 days at the most before sailing and even that is a bit of a guess when you are talking about a 7-14 day cruise.

 

I agree that they can't say anything definite about cruises more than a week out. But I still think there's no excuse for not listing changes they have already decided on, for cruises currently happening, or in the next few days. And I think it also makes sense to admit that there *may* be changes for cruises a few weeks out, although of course we all hope for the best on rain. Shouldn't Scenic's own web site be a better source of information on these changes than Cruise Critic? At the moment, it sure isn't.

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Wouldn't you rather have the people at Scenic actually dealing with rerouting people and changing excursions and doing whatever needs to be done to make the trip as good as it can be, rather than spending time updating a website? I know that I would. I do agree that more information would be helpful, but I'm not sure how valuable it really is.

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I don’t see a problem with the time horizon Scenic is using. The low water area on the Danube is Day Six from Budapest and Day Nine from Amsterdam. And it’s just one good rain storm away from clear sailing. I think adding more future cruises to the list of concern is just a recipe for increasing anxiety among people who are blissfully ignorant.

 

Those of us who are paying attention are plenty nervous already.

 

 

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I just got off the phone with the Scenic rep in Vancouver, BC and was told that all boats are presently functioning but there may be some small delays out of certain ports as things are moving slowly. He said that Scenic boats have a shallow draft so are able to get thru. There were some problems earlier in the season, but all boats are now cruising as usual. This applies to the Rhine.

Hopefully this is accurate info....

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We are sailing on the Opal out of Basel to Amsterdam on Sep 5th. Leaving Toronto on Aug 28 and doing a bunch of scenic train trips in Switzerland. I have been watching the Opal. It just got back to Amsterdam after an aborted trip to Budapest - in didn’t even get to Nuremberg. It is now scheduled to leave Amsterdam for Basel on the 29th. It will be interesting to see what its plans are for the next week.

 

This will be our second Scenic trip. We did Budapest to Nuremberg in June 2016. High rivers just impacted the last day. No real problem.

 

Anyone else on theOpal.

 

 

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I just got off the phone with the Scenic rep in Vancouver, BC and was told that all boats are presently functioning but there may be some small delays out of certain ports as things are moving slowly. He said that Scenic boats have a shallow draft so are able to get thru. There were some problems earlier in the season, but all boats are now cruising as usual. This applies to the Rhine.

Hopefully this is accurate info....

 

This is absolutely *not* accurate info. As best as I can tell from reports here on Cruise Critic, *no* boat has gotten through from the Rhine to the Danube since at least the beginning of the month. Specifically with respect to Scenic, somebody earlier posted a great site which shows the position of all Scenic ships, both currently and with historical information (http://www.anyoverip.de/scenic/index.php). It shows similar information.

 

 

For example, the Opal, which I believe was supposed to be doing the Jewels of Europe from Amsterdam to Budapest, followed its intended itinerary only as far as Koblenz, then turned around and was back in Amsterdam on the 7th. It presumably started a new cruise on the 8th, leaving Amsterdam on the 9th, but only got as far as Bamberg before turning back, returning to Amsterdam yesterday, where it still is.

 

From the other direction, the Crystal was supposed to start in Budapest on Aug. 1. It did so, but only got as far as Passau on the 6th, stayed there for two days, turned around, spent an unscheduled day in Engelhartszell, returned to Passau, then reversed and was back in Budapest on the 14th. It then headed out again and is back in Passau right now.

 

Another boat is supposed to be starting Jewels of Europe in Budapest today, but the closest boat is in Vienna (consistent with reports on Cruise Critic that traffic to Budapest has been stopped).

 

Clearly, significant changes have been made to itineraries, and I think that information should be posted on Scenic's web site. I shouldn't have to go to a third party tracking site and try to reconstruct movements.

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There were some problems earlier in the season, but all boats are now cruising as usual. This applies to the Rhine.

 

To add to my previous post, the Rhine isn't immune to problems either. As best I can tell, the Jewel was scheduled to go Amsterdam to Basel from the 6th-13th (Rhine Highlights), and then return from Basel on the 13th (Romantic Rhine & Moselle). The Jewel only got as far as Rhinau (between Strasbourg and Breisach) to end the Rhine Highlights cruise, and that's where it began the next cruise. It was able to get up to Breisach as scheduled for the first stop of that cruise, but definitely did not go to Basel. That disruption is obviously far less than the Rhine/Danube cruises, but it's still not "cruising as usual."

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I just got off the phone with the Scenic rep in Vancouver, BC and was told that all boats are presently functioning but there may be some small delays out of certain ports as things are moving slowly. He said that Scenic boats have a shallow draft so are able to get thru. There were some problems earlier in the season, but all boats are now cruising as usual. This applies to the Rhine.

Hopefully this is accurate info....

 

You are hoping in vain there and for anyone at Scenic to tell you all of that is unforgivable...

 

I'll happily defend them dealing with those on the rivers ahead of posting stuff on websites, but telling lies to people who call them directly is well beyond anything defensible...

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Just like to give a heads up given our experience with Scenic earlier this month.

1. In my opinion there is probably no incentive for Scenic to cancel any cruises before embarkation because they would need to offer a refund. Once you've embarked the River Cruising Guarantee kicks in and so Scenic's only obligation is to provide a letter stating how many days you are eligible to claim under this insurance scheme.

2. In our case, once the boat could go no further, we were given 2 hours notice to decide if we were going to leave the cruise, stay on the moored boat for 4 nights and then transfer to another boat downstream somewhere, or the default option was to take buses and hotels. We were told the first night would be Nuremburg but were given no further information.

3. Those who elected to leave the cruise were taken to the nearest airport and flown home. This obviosly did not work for those with end of cruise plans. It was the option we would have preferred (second to outright notification at the start with a refund and option to rebook).

4. Those who stayed on the stationary boat were told they would get meals but no excursions. In fact the 6 couples got Portabellos and got the Degustation meal everyone else missed out on. They also got to use the e-bikes but after 4 nights had an 8 hour coach ride to join the rest of us.

5. Those who continued on coach and hotel had lengthy coach tours each day. We were fed. At lunch there was a set meal (usually potato salad and a meat, but on the 4th day we got mac and cheese). The hotels were big named hotels but the cheapest rooms. Felt for those who had booked suites on the boat and ended up in rooms where they had to pull the double bed out from the wall to get in. Before we left the boat, as a group we tried to ascertain what happens to the all inclusive on land. We were told they were working on it. We received one drink at lunch and at the first hotel were told that if we had anything from the mini-bar or bar it was at our own expense. If you didn't join the daily excursion lunch was at your own expense as well.

6. Under the River Cruising Guarantee we have been offered 1 day of interruption. Some people in other countries on our tour have received 5 days interruption.

 

The thing that stopped us from leaving the tour was being told that we would be flown home from Munich whereas we needed to get to the destination port. We wanted to use our return flights as they were but we were told by the cruise director that if we left and travelled under our own steam we would receive nothing from Scenic. We understood that to mean the River Cruising Guarantee as well. We are still attempting to clarify with Scenic if we were given the correct information.

 

We understand the tours with 2 nights off the boat have gone well. For whatever reason, there was no boat available for us to move to.

 

My only purpose for revealing all of this detail is so that people can insist on the answers we didn't get and be fully informed. We did want to see it as an adventure but I don't think anyone had the stamina for that at the end of the first day on a hot crowded bus when we were all a bit dehydrated.

 

Don't let this turn you off Scenic - many people have had good experiences. We just didnt.

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As best as I can tell from reports here on Cruise Critic, *no* boat has gotten through from the Rhine to the Danube since at least the beginning of the month.

 

I may have to eat my words. I just took another look at the Scenic Cruise Map, and it appears that the Scenic Jade is in the process of making the transit. She was at Bamberg yesterday morning, cruised to Nuremberg overnight and spent the morning there today, and is now moving towards Regensburg. Let's hope she makes it, and that this is a good sign for other boats!

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So perhaps those that are more adept at reading the maps than I am can help me understand this. We are scheduled to leave Budapest on the Amber. If I am reading it right the Amber and the Pearl have been stationary just north of Vienna for three days. So perhaps they bus people from Budapest to Vienna? I don't understand why one of the ships wouldn't keep moving north?

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