Effects of floods in Germany, Austria?

[Riversanddale]

Any word on how the current flooding in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia is affecting river cruising? The news photos of places we've just visited are heartwrenching.

[Cary Cruiser]

If you follow the threads on the regular "River Cruising" forum I think you will find all you need to know.

[blueheron2]

First, our hearts go out to those whose homes and businesses have been flooded.

The Romantic Danube

We boarded our ship in Budapest on Saturday. The Captain decided to leave a day early from Budapest because of the rising water. Passengers were then bused back the next morning who wished to tour Budapest, and the boat continued cruising until Bratislava, where the Captain could only find docking in an industrial area. Folks coming back from Budapest then had 2 3/4 hrs trip back to bus. Monday we were bused to Vienna, and because of traffic had only 10 minutes free time, and a very unsatisfactory tour from the bus, as many sights were blocked by trams, trees, etc. It took us around 2 1/2 hrs round trip, except the bus who was delayed at the border for almost an hour because the bus did not have the correct permit. This morning we can't visit Passau due to flooding, so we are touring Bratislava.

 

The staff has been great--as constant rescheduling, hiring buses at the last minute and rearranging meals is not an easy task. However, we find the lack of Viking's transparency very troubling. We question why the cruise wasn't cancelled Sat, or at least passengers told the river cruise would not be as expected but bus trips only, and then given the option of leaving. We have been told the boat cannot leave. We are not sure what other trips we will be able to take. Whatever trips, they will entail long bus rides--something most folks schedule a river cruise trip to avoid.

 

Please Viking, let us know our options

[Cruzin Terri]

First, our hearts go out to those whose homes and businesses have been flooded.

The Romantic Danube

We boarded our ship in Budapest on Saturday. The Captain decided to leave a day early from Budapest because of the rising water. Passengers were then bused back the next morning who wished to tour Budapest, and the boat continued cruising until Bratislava, where the Captain could only find docking in an industrial area. Folks coming back from Budapest then had 2 3/4 hrs trip back to bus. Monday we were bused to Vienna, and because of traffic had only 10 minutes free time, and a very unsatisfactory tour from the bus, as many sights were blocked by trams, trees, etc. It took us around 2 1/2 hrs round trip, except the bus who was delayed at the border for almost an hour because the bus did not have the correct permit. This morning we can't visit Passau due to flooding, so we are touring Bratislava

 

The staff has been great--as constant rescheduling, hiring buses at the last minute and rearranging meals is not an easy task. However, we find the lack of Viking's transparency very troubling. We question why the cruise wasn't cancelled Sat, or at least passengers told the river cruise would not be as expected but bus trips only, and then given the option of leaving. We have been told the boat cannot leave. We are not sure what other trips we will be able to take. Whatever trips, they will entail long bus rides--something most folks schedule a river cruise trip to avoid.

 

Please Viking, let us know our options

 

This needs to be moved to the main river cruise board.

Terri

[lukesdad]

So sorry to hear of the conditions BLUEHERON2, and very sorry to hear of Viking's failure to be responsible to passenger's needs, safety and security:confused:. We are on the other end of this, still in the USA. Booked and paid for the Romantic Danube departing June 8 from Nuremberg. Viking happily says all is well, just can't start in Nuremberg, and no trip to Passau, and oh by the way, no Danube/Mein river cruise:mad:. BUT WE PAID FOR THIS:eek:! Can't cancel with our own decision. It's SO obvious that we will be encounter similar circumstances as blueheron2. Viking ignores our calls, sends form e-mail back with information we already have and fails to answer our questions, other than cancellation by our choice is out of the question. VERY UNIMPRESSED WITH THIS COMPANY!

[blueheron2]

We are still on our Romantic Danube cruise (cruised 1 day). Today, I learned the Danube will be closed until the washed out channel markers can be replaced and that might be quite a bit of time. ( I learned this from someone on Viking staff who was told this by a Viking captain). Therefore your cruise will consist of bus tours and maybe changing ships to allow for other trips. Yesterday we left Bratislava at 9:30 and did not arrive at our new ship (in a lovely location) until around 10 at night, and then we has supper. Every day has brought changes and this is just not relaxful. On top of that we had to totally pack to change ships. If there is anyway to get out of your trip I sure would. The Njord was docked in Bratislava and the site is an industrial site with no opportunities for walking anywhere or visiting a port by walking. The scenery is industrial ships and a train, quite often with the smell of fuel. This is NOTHING like our first cruise with Viking. Shame on them for not offering cancellations.

[Viking Cruises]

lukesdad,

 

We hope to have conveyed to our guests, including you, that this is a situation that remains constantly in flux. Weather, water levels, regulations from certain countries, alternative lodging and transportation… there are a multitude of challenges during situations such as these. But above all else, we make every decision with the safety of our guests and crew as our top priority. Our Swiss operations and nautical teams have worked together to determine which ships from our extensive fleet located throughout Europe will be able to sail, which won’t, and what are the options in between.

 

As conditions on the rivers have changed over the past few days, so have our contingency plans. Early this morning we contacted guests scheduled on our June 8th Viking Njord departure of the Romantic Danube itinerary, originally scheduled to begin in Nuremberg. We no longer felt that we could operate this itinerary and to make amends—for the unfortunate cancelation and inconvenience—we offered our guests two options:

 

1. Rebook another river cruise for a later date, plus receive $500 credit for a future river cruise. If guests decided to rebook in the 2014 season, their 2013 price is locked-in.
   
2. Receive a full refund of monies paid to Viking Cruises, plus $500 credit for a future river cruise.
   

 

We trust that these options were presented to you, as it sounds like this is the cruise you mention. If you have any additional questions or concerns, we’d be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com

 

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

 

 

So sorry to hear of the conditions BLUEHERON2, and very sorry to hear of Viking's failure to be responsible to passenger's needs, safety and security:confused:. We are on the other end of this, still in the USA. Booked and paid for the Romantic Danube departing June 8 from Nuremberg. Viking happily says all is well, just can't start in Nuremberg, and no trip to Passau, and oh by the way, no Danube/Mein river cruise:mad:. BUT WE PAID FOR THIS:eek:! Can't cancel with our own decision. It's SO obvious that we will be encounter similar circumstances as blueheron2. Viking ignores our calls, sends form e-mail back with information we already have and fails to answer our questions, other than cancellation by our choice is out of the question. VERY UNIMPRESSED WITH THIS COMPANY!

[Viking Cruises]

Dear blueheron2,

 

Please accept our apologies for the substantial disruptions that you have experienced on your cruise. When you and your fellow guests left the U.S. late last week we had been monitoring the levels of the rivers as there was a chance for high water, which can cause minor adjustments to an itinerary. However, the water rose rapidly over a very short amount of time and was categorized over the weekend as a flood in certain areas, certain countries. Please know that these local floods took us by surprise.

 

We hope that you have been able to enjoy some aspects of your trip, despite the changes and unfortunate weather conditions. All Viking guests affected by this flood will be contacted by us upon returning home. We very much want to make amends and want our guests to travel with us again under more favorable conditions so that they can experience the very best that river cruising has to offer. Since the situation remains in flux and continues to develop, we believe it is fair to all involved to determine the level of compensation at the conclusion of your trip. You can expect to receive an email from our Customer Relations department upon arriving home, followed within a few days by a phone call.

 

If you would like to contact us prior to returning home to the U.S., please email us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

Very best,

Viking Cruises

 

 

The staff has been great--as constant rescheduling, hiring buses at the last minute and rearranging meals is not an easy task. However, we find the lack of Viking's transparency very troubling. We question why the cruise wasn't cancelled Sat, or at least passengers told the river cruise would not be as expected but bus trips only, and then given the option of leaving. We have been told the boat cannot leave. We are not sure what other trips we will be able to take. Whatever trips, they will entail long bus rides--something most folks schedule a river cruise trip to avoid.

 

Please Viking, let us know our options

 

We are still on our Romantic Danube cruise (cruised 1 day). Today, I learned the Danube will be closed until the washed out channel markers can be replaced and that might be quite a bit of time. ( I learned this from someone on Viking staff who was told this by a Viking captain). Therefore your cruise will consist of bus tours and maybe changing ships to allow for other trips. Yesterday we left Bratislava at 9:30 and did not arrive at our new ship (in a lovely location) until around 10 at night, and then we has supper. Every day has brought changes and this is just not relaxful. On top of that we had to totally pack to change ships. If there is anyway to get out of your trip I sure would. The Njord was docked in Bratislava and the site is an industrial site with no opportunities for walking anywhere or visiting a port by walking. The scenery is industrial ships and a train, quite often with the smell of fuel. This is NOTHING like our first cruise with Viking. Shame on them for not offering cancellations.

[Lisa1a]

We were stuck on a boat for almost a week and bused all over the place. Not even one day of cruising. We were not given any other options as well. When we arrived home we were offered a 75% credit on a future cruise. This is totally unacceptable and Stephanie Maldonado, Manager of Customer Relations, has refused to offer any of us anything else. How did Vikiing respond to you BlueHeron2?

[capeaches8834]

lukesdad,

 

We hope to have conveyed to our guests, including you, that this is a situation that remains constantly in flux. Weather, water levels, regulations from certain countries, alternative lodging and transportation… there are a multitude of challenges during situations such as these. But above all else, we make every decision with the safety of our guests and crew as our top priority. Our Swiss operations and nautical teams have worked together to determine which ships from our extensive fleet located throughout Europe will be able to sail, which won’t, and what are the options in between.

 

As conditions on the rivers have changed over the past few days, so have our contingency plans. Early this morning we contacted guests scheduled on our June 8th Viking Njord departure of the Romantic Danube itinerary, originally scheduled to begin in Nuremberg. We no longer felt that we could operate this itinerary and to make amends—for the unfortunate cancelation and inconvenience—we offered our guests two options:

 

1. Rebook another river cruise for a later date, plus receive $500 credit for a future river cruise. If guests decided to rebook in the 2014 season, their 2013 price is locked-in.
   
2. Receive a full refund of monies paid to Viking Cruises, plus $500 credit for a future river cruise.
   

 

We trust that these options were presented to you, as it sounds like this is the cruise you mention. If you have any additional questions or concerns, we’d be happy to hear from you at TellUs@vikingcruises.com

 

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

 

Viking,

Why was the June 5 romantic Danube not offered these options?

[Riversanddale]

We are curious to see if Viking responds to you, capeaches. We are looking at future cruises but we are looking very carefully at how Viking and the other lines respond to their passengers this year. That will most likely be the number one deciding factor on who gets our business.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Viking Guests & Cruise Critic Members,

 

We recently posted this information on a few other threads, so we do apologize for being a bit repetitive, but there are a lot of conversations of a similar nature that are taking place simultaneously across various threads. We’ve been watching and listening to the many differing points of view shared here recently—and we’d like to offer some input to this conversation, for your consideration…

 

Timing and Making Assessments

Our Swiss nautical and operational teams rely on an extensive, established network of local authorities and port operators—along with decades of experience with past high and low water situations—to make assessments on navigability of all rivers on which we sail. Weather, soil conditions and water levels are routinely monitored and evaluated. This is particularly crucial under circumstances where a few hours or a few centimeters of difference can have an enormous impact on a ship’s sailing schedule.

 

Cancellations

Where conditions precluded us from being able to provide a modified itinerary that we believed would be worthwhile—we canceled those particular cruises. For these cancellations, we provided a refund plus a credit for a future cruise so that these disappointed guests may book another journey with Viking.

 

Modified Itineraries

If we believed that we would be able to continue operating an itinerary with some modifications, we did. Each of these modified sailings was considered individually. Partial compensation in the form of a voucher was provided. In most cases we contacted guests ahead of departure to let them know the ways in which we anticipated their itinerary would proceed based on current conditions. In some cases the rapidly changing navigational conditions prompted additional modifications to the itinerary and as a result we have re-evaluated the compensation provided for these.

 

Looking Back

Not all of our assessments were perfect and as conditions quickly changed, not all of our contingency plans always occurred exactly as we had planned them. But a good many of them did.

 

Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20. At the time we made decisions whether to cancel cruises or proceed with modifications, we always had the interests and safety of our guests and crew in mind. We have received many emails and phone calls from guests whose cruise did not go perfectly, but who still enjoyed themselves.

 

Departures in the First Week of June

We get the sense that many of the posts in which returning guests are voicing their disappointment, feedback and point of view, are from departures that occurred in the first few days of June. We understand that when these guests arrived they were taken by surprise at the conditions of the rivers; we were taken by surprise, too. Our Switzerland-based teams worked diligently and in good faith trying to make arrangements as needed and keep their guests informed. We’ve heard frustration over instances where a crew could not provide answers on contingency plans that were beyond the next day, and we apologize for this, to both our guests and our crew, as it was surely frustrating for both parties. With conditions changing quickly, we did the best we could to provide each crew with complete information as it became available. Again, a few hours or a few centimeters of difference can have an enormous impact on a ship’s sailing schedule.

 

Compensation for Impacted Sailings

We have extended compensation in the form of a credit voucher of varying percentages of the cruise fare paid for the impacted 2013 sailings. These sailings were provided alternative travel arrangements, dining, lodging, and excursions to destinations on the original itinerary (where possible) and substituted places of interest. However, based on sentiments expressed here and elsewhere online, as well as with our Customer Relations department, it is clear that some of those affected guests are unsatisfied with our attempts to make amends for a difficult and challenging situation. So, please do contact us directly if you would like to discuss your experience. Our Customer Relations team is starting to return to normal levels of incoming calls and emails after a few weeks of very high volume, and they would be happy to continue the conversation with any of our guests. We can be reached at TellUs@vikingcruises.com and will be pleased to put guests in touch with a member of our Customer Relations team.

 

Safety

The safety of our guests and crew is always our top priority; in every deliberation we had it was our primary focus. We are happy and grateful to report that no Viking guests were injured as a result of the flooding. However, we recognize that some of our guests have voiced concerns about their safety and we take those concerns very seriously; please contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so we can further discuss your particular experience.

 

Updated Information

For guests on upcoming sailings, we continue to update our website: http://www.vrc.com/weatherupdate. We began providing updates on June 3rd when the situation became apparent—including email updates to all affected guests and their travel agents—and we will continue to provide updates until sailing on the affected rivers no longer requires modifications that are known ahead of departure. Please note (though we’re sure most Cruise Critic members who are actively engaged with this forum are already aware) current modifications are no longer a result of water levels, but of the recently announced extended closure of the Altenwörth Lock in Austria.

 

Contact Us

Even if you have already done so previously we ask that you contact us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. We are re-doubling our efforts to address concerns with guests who may feel that they have not been adequately heard. We understand that there are members in this community who remain disappointed and we hope that each of you will contact us again so we may discuss your particular situation.

 

Thank you, as always, for reading and allowing us to have a voice within this community. We appreciate your time, patience and understanding.

 

Sincerely,

Viking Cruises