Any River Cruises cancelled due to low water?

[pully8]

Appreciate all the real time reports. We note APT have advised 4 river cruises cancelled on their website and their Facebook site.

Some are complaining about short notice having already arrived in Europe from Australia but it seems APT did not have their contact details or for some reason could not reach them.

We contacted them today and were told they have all our contact details and aim to contact prior to departure. full refunds paid within 3 business days.

We hope our cruise will proceed but understand the difficulties having experienced high/low water and strikes over the years. Good operators do look after their customers.

Watching with interest.

 

[BillPizzaiolo]

9 hours ago, Begete said:

Bill - we are supposed to be on the River Duchess for that same cruise with Uniworld, November 9.

 

Was there any word re expectations from crew regarding future cruises? Are water levels improving or worsening?

We are not sure of any future plans.  As far as the water levels improving. That would probably take lots of rain.  This time of year is usually very rainy in that part of the world.  However we had warm sunny days for every day of our river cruise. The last time we did this exact cruise it rained every day save one cloudy day and one snow flurry.  It is a serious drought impacting tourism and agriculture in a big way, though not being publicized significantly.  Do a rain dance and pray it might help.

[Mark_T]

This is the part I hate, having to wait until the very last minute for the cruise line to decide if they are going to cancel or still try to run some sort of loose approximation of what we paid for ...

 

So far, it looks like cancellation is the most likely option as APT have already killed the four cruises immediately preceding our Amsterdam - Budapest trip due to depart on November 10th.

 

If there is enough rain to get the Rhine Gorge passable then it wouldn't be too bad if there was a ship swap around Passau and we could live with a Hotel for Budapest.

 

Trying to bridge the gap between Cologne and Passau with hotels and coaches on the other hand would be completely unacceptable so I do at least applaud APT for the cancellations they have already made.

 

Just gets frustrating to have such a one sided arrangement where the cruise line can literally leave you without a vacation only days before departure with nothing beyond a full refund...

[Laura Macky]

I'm not sure the few days of showers will fill the very low water levels but you never know.  I took this of the Rhine about three days ago from the The Niederwald above Rudesheim which shows how low the water is.

 

[Mark_T]

I'm not really expecting anything short of un-forecast torrential rain making enough of a difference.

 

The levels are so low now, and the ground so dry, that mere showers will not really change a thing.

 

Just have to wait, paralysed, while APT make their inevitable decision at a point that leaves too little time to do anything about it...

[ural guy]

11 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

 

Just gets frustrating to have such a one sided arrangement where the cruise line can literally leave you without a vacation only days before departure with nothing beyond a full refund...

 Ditto:  I understand that sometimes a bit of rain can make the unpassable spot passable in just 24 hours.  This is historical low river levels, they aren't coming back in the next 10 days. 'Our' Vantage ship is in Amsterdam now, doubtful it could get close to Basel by 2 November.  

 

It seems that in these extreme situations, one week notice of a cancellation would be appreciated.  Our 2 adults kids were joining us post-cruise, so we're going to Europe one way or another.  Looking at using our purchased airfare to fly into Zurich, and then catching a plane to Lisbon.  The weather should be nice and crowds down a bit.  Lodging still available where I want to go...

[notamermaid]

5 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

I'm not really expecting anything short of un-forecast torrential rain making enough of a difference.

 

The levels are so low now, and the ground so dry, that mere showers will not really change a thing.

 

Just have to wait, paralysed, while APT make their inevitable decision at a point that leaves too little time to do anything about it...

It is the 21st today with levels potentially still falling five more centimetres in the Rhine gorge before levels are predicted to rise after the first rain on Wednesday. The rise will be from catastrophically low to very low. That is about it next week. I am sure this is causing APT some sleepless nights.

I agree that a coach substitute from Cologne to Passau is unacceptable.

Hoping for you that APT make up their mind soon.

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

As mentioned on another thread APT decided to cancel a few of their Grand European cruises. It makes sense, I think. Amsterdam to Budapest has become a pain to organize around the low stretches and could result in long coach tours if there are no ships located along the Main or close to it. Here is the article on travelweekly Australia: http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/weather-forces-apt-and-travelmarvel-to-cancel-multiple-river-cruises/

 

But they are not the only ones having had to cancel. European lines are struggling as much with the water levels when they use the 135m ships. And many use them apart from CroisiEurope who have made it their policy to stick to the 110m ships. In times of drought and sometimes flooding (when the two-level ships fit better under bridges) that works well for them.

 

An article in the German newspaper "Westfälische Nachrichten" states that nicko cruises has changed ports on affected itineraries and used coaches for getting to Bratislava from Vienna for example. Their smaller ships have fared better, like the MS Casanova with 103 metres. But complete routes have been changed as well in some cases. And Arosa Flussreisen has had to make changes as well. For a few itineraries a complete cancellation, mainly the trips to the Danube Delta, became necessary.

 

Phoenix Flussreisen in another article also reported changes and cancellations.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Mark_T]

Indeed, these are the APT cancellations at the moment:

 

These cancellations affect four APT Luxury cruises as follows:

• 26 October 2018 - Amsterdam to Budapest
• 26 October 2018 - Budapest to Amsterdam
• 27 October 2018 - Amsterdam to Budapest
• 27 October 2018 - Budapest to Amsterdam

Also affected is the following APT Essential cruise (operated by Travelmarvel):

• 29 October 2018 - Amsterdam to Budapest, aboard the Travelmarvel Diamond. 

 

Next decision date is on or around November 2nd for cruises departing a week later.

[SD Cruzr]

On 8/23/2018 at 9:03 AM, nich3cats said:

 

 

 

Were you able to go all the way to Budapest on the ship?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Yes, we made it to Bud and got to do the amazing night illuminations cruise past the Parliament.  BUT, we all had to be off the ship by 9:00am so she could move farther north to higher waters.