Scenic Low-Water-Level Schedule Changes/Cancellations

[jo-b]

We left Breisach at 10 pm,will be changing ships tomorrow . Nothing else will change will still get the full Romantic Rhine Mosselle agenda

 

 

 

Thanks caskale hope you are enjoying “our ship” I’m sure Kathy is taking good care of you.

 

 

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[Mrs Miggins]

On the Uk Scenic Website Rhine Highlights October 8th is now showing as being impacted by the low water levels. We are on Basel to Amsterdam Rhine Highlights on the 15th October which I presume is the reverse itinerary to October 8th. Would be interested to learn how those on the October 8th cruise get on.

This is our first Scenic river cruise. Looking forward to it, but forewarned is forearmed.

[jo-b]

Scenic Jade appears to be heading north through the Rhine Gorge today so they may be heading up to Amsterdam for the 8 October to Basel, and caskale said they swapped off Crystal which seems to be heading back towards Basel ? Or Jade may be off down the Moselle if that is the ship caskale is on!

Mrs M I got a helpful girl (Danielle maybe?) on the phone in Scenic's Manchester office about 3/4 days before we were due to sail who couldn’t tell us for certain at that stage what would happen, but told us what would be likely. Worth a try ringing nearer your departure.

 

 

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[Mrs Miggins]

Scenic Jade appears to be heading north through the Rhine Gorge today so they may be heading up to Amsterdam for the 8 October to Basel, and caskale said they swapped off Crystal which seems to be heading back towards Basel ? Or Jade may be off down the Moselle if that is the ship caskale is on!

Mrs M I got a helpful girl (Danielle maybe?) on the phone in Scenic's Manchester office about 3/4 days before we were due to sail who couldn’t tell us for certain at that stage what would happen, but told us what would be likely. Worth a try ringing nearer your departure.

 

 

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Thanks, I will give them a call at the end of next week.

 

 

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[jo-b]

Good luck Mrs M. Scenic Jewel seems to be in Amsterdam today so that should be the 8 October cruise and Ruby is just south of Cochem

Unfortunately no one onboard a Scenic ship is reporting back.

[Dusty1210]

Currently on scenic pearl having just swapped ships with thescenic opal in Nurenberg took a four hour bus trip from there to Passau, Germany. Scenic opal was wonderful and we were able to sail from Amsterdam to Nurenberg and through the Rhine gorge which was absolutely beautiful. Got on the scenic pearl last night and have a feeling that the schedule from now on will be iffy about sailing to Budapest. Taking it day by day.

 

Service on board the two ships is also iffy. Don’t expect dinner,in your room,with white table cloth as shown on their website. You’ll get a steward dropping a tray on a questionably clean table in your room. Many people on board sick so be sure to bring cold meds.

 

So we are sitting in Passau with an option to take a four hour bus trip to either an abbey or a city. Or do Passau on a walking tour or on our own which we have decided to do.

 

People on board ship are just the nicest and friendliest!

Mostly Aussies and Canadians and all lovely and making,the trip enjoyable.

[caskale]

On the last day of our 15 day Rhine/Moselle cruise.we were booked on the Jasper,started off on the Crystal,transferred to the Ruby after 4 days. Ruby is older no gym,rooms smaller. The staff were incredible though. Generally food was very good as was drink selection. The crew knows already they will not be completing the next voyage,wherever it goes to,more ship swaps ahead

[jeb_bud]

Caskale, glad to hear you made it all the way. Were  you able to cruise the Rhine gorge?  Notamermaid posted recently that even some day cruise boats have had to stop cruising the gorge. 

Were you able to sleep on a ship every night?

Edited October 16, 2018 by jeb_bud
Dang autocorrect

[caskale]

We did the Rhine gorge on a another boat with lots of people. Yes we slept on board every night on both ships.we heard from the crew the people who left the Ruby made 2 ship swaps. Sounds like the Danube is a mess

[andreas butter]

On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 12:26 AM, Mark_T said:

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.

we are also on that cruise. I have been watching the Dutch news and there are major interruptions happening now with barges in particular getting stuck with less than half their normal load and only getting worse with no rain in the forecast 7 to 14 days. I hope that Scenic do the right thing as we have already done the road trip several times with our own hire car. I certainly don't want to coach it!!

[andreas butter]

On ‎8‎/‎21‎/‎2018 at 12:26 AM, Mark_T said:

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.

there is NO ( maybe a shower or 2 ) rain in the forecast so for Scenic to leave it till the last day is absurd as other cruises have already been impacted. we leave on October 30 and the Amsterdam/ Budapest cruise on November 7th is part of our 6 week trip. we can't book anything till we know if we are even getting to our cruise destination. this is our first river cruise, we had been trying for this for 4 years and always had some sort of obstacle preventing us from booking. we have done several road trips in Europe and were really looking forward to this. Our insurance will cover if Scenic cancels or amends but not until then. I won't want a credit as holidays for us are always subject to work timetables.

[djh1959]

41 minutes ago, andreas butter said:

there is NO ( maybe a shower or 2 ) rain in the forecast so for Scenic to leave it till the last day is absurd as other cruises have already been impacted. we leave on October 30 and the Amsterdam/ Budapest cruise on November 7th is part of our 6 week trip. we can't book anything till we know if we are even getting to our cruise destination. this is our first river cruise, we had been trying for this for 4 years and always had some sort of obstacle preventing us from booking. we have done several road trips in Europe and were really looking forward to this. Our insurance will cover if Scenic cancels or amends but not until then. I won't want a credit as holidays for us are always subject to work timetables.

I see that you are in Australia.  I know insurance will cover if Scenic cancels, but what sort of amendments will they cover for?  Do you mind me asking who you are insured with please.  From what I understand, it is highly unlikely that Scenic will cancel, they will suggest buses and hotels.  And if you decide not to go ahead, insurance won't cover it because it was your choice.  Hopefully I am wrong but that's what I have heard from a few insurance companies.

[Mark_T]

42 minutes ago, andreas butter said:

there is NO ( maybe a shower or 2 ) rain in the forecast so for Scenic to leave it till the last day is absurd as other cruises have already been impacted. we leave on October 30 and the Amsterdam/ Budapest cruise on November 7th is part of our 6 week trip. we can't book anything till we know if we are even getting to our cruise destination. this is our first river cruise, we had been trying for this for 4 years and always had some sort of obstacle preventing us from booking. we have done several road trips in Europe and were really looking forward to this. Our insurance will cover if Scenic cancels or amends but not until then. I won't want a credit as holidays for us are always subject to work timetables.

 

It is a somewhat different situation 9 weeks on from my post that you are quoting,.

 

9 weeks of no rain makes it highly unlikely that your cruise will run as expected, but the most hopeful spin I can put on it is that if there is enough rain to get the Rhine Gorge passable you at least stand a chance of getting close enough to the Nuremberg end of things to do a ship swap and avoid having to leave the ship for hotels.

 

We sail with APT on November 10th so we are also watching carefully, but at least with APT we have the advantage that they are proactively cancelling cruises at least a week out, and when progress became impossible for the cruises currently in progress they came up with good options for people rather than just offering a bus/hotel.

 

I'm not sure that Scenic will prove to be as flexible sadly.

 

 

[andreas butter]

33 minutes ago, djh1959 said:

I see that you are in Australia.  I know insurance will cover if Scenic cancels, but what sort of amendments will they cover for?  Do you mind me asking who you are insured with please.  From what I understand, it is highly unlikely that Scenic will cancel, they will suggest buses and hotels.  And if you decide not to go ahead, insurance won't cover it because it was your choice.  Hopefully I am wrong but that's what I have heard from a few insurance companies.

if I cancel i'm up the creek without a paddle regarding the cruise. but I will be covered for the other legs of our trip. my insurance is with Woolworths, under written by Hollard. I know/fear that is what Scenic will do, maybe they will get a conscience and refund for a later trip. I'm not holding my breath though. I can't handle prolonged bus trips. anything over 1 hour starts to cause problems for me. a bus holiday with hotels is much cheaper than a cruise. thanks for your reply

Edited October 22, 2018 by andreas butter

[ScenicTours]

On 10/22/2018 at 6:44 PM, andreas butter said:

if I cancel i'm up the creek without a paddle regarding the cruise. but I will be covered for the other legs of our trip. my insurance is with Woolworths, under written by Hollard. I know/fear that is what Scenic will do, maybe they will get a conscience and refund for a later trip. I'm not holding my breath though. I can't handle prolonged bus trips. anything over 1 hour starts to cause problems for me. a bus holiday with hotels is much cheaper than a cruise. thanks for your reply

 

We appreciate yours and other guest concerns over your upcoming cruise. As you’re aware, the water levels in sections of the Rhine, Main and Danube Rivers and their tributaries are low and are impacting navigation of vessels, and may require Scenic to modify ship deployments frequently and on short notice.

 

We would advise you or your travel agent to contact the Scenic reservations team in your local destination, so that we can work with you to find a solution based on your sailing date.

Edited October 23, 2018 by ScenicTours

[Mrs Miggins]

Just returned from Rhine Highlights.  Meant to be Basel to Amsterdam on Jewel but bussed to Worms from the Airport, three hours but no water on the coach and poor communication at the airport.

Ship swap in Frankfurt after long day of outings and coach travel.  We moved to Amber which was a newer ship with nicer waiting staff.   However completely unimpressed with Scenic generally.  Never saw Captain on second ship.  Senior management invisible.  Who was in charge in the dining room? - never saw any form of Maitre D.  Cruise Director understandably busy with all the changes on this cruise but no personal interaction at all.  Food OK but not spectacular.  Bar service generally good.  Cabin steward bordering on poor.  I guess I should have complained to Butler, but things like drinking water not being replenished etc annoying.  We had no Enrichment evening due being in the wrong place.  Entertainment on both boats consisted of piano and not very good singing  On last evening (which was apparently a Gala evening, meaning we had an extra course at dinner) we did have a lovely classical trio for half an hour then back to very loud music.  By this time we were very friendly with lots of passengers but talking was difficult, lots of shouting and repeating.

Upside on the cruise was a fantastic, funny and friendly group of fellow cruisers.  I guess we all stuck together and could discuss our concerns but that soon turned into general friendly interaction.  

We are ocean cruisers mainly (Azamara, Viking Ocean, etc) and were disappointed with Scenic and how they handled a very difficult situation.

Wouldn't pay the premium for Scenic again.  Our two previous river cruises were organised as charters by our local Travel Agent at a significantly lower price.  Might try Emerald as friends have had good experience.  Other option is Viking as they are certainly the biggest operation which allows them some flexibility.  

All in all we had an enjoyable time and met some great people.

[jo-b]

Sorry to hear you had such a poor experience Mrs M. We fared better but have been unimpressed with Scenic corporately. Our cruise director was a superstar which helped immensely onboard but HO were noticeable only for their silence. 

 

How have Scenic compensated you for the changes to what you booked? 

 

Like you we aren’t experienced Ocean cruisers and even allowing for the changes due to weather don’t think river cruising is for us. Fellow passengers great, but food and environment not as good, and we were never in. Aposition just to wander off into town as we thought we may be. 

[lildidge]

I too would love to hear how Scenic has compensated those who have had their itineraries disrupted, has anyone challenged Scenic on the amount they were told?  Any insight on your experience with this would help us all, thanks!

[Mrs Miggins]

Have been told we will be sent an email some time soon.  There is some sort of guarantee but even after extensive searching online I cannot really understand what is actually covered.  Still anything will be better than nothing.

Jo-b I see you will be on Azamara soon.  I hope that you receive their excellent on board service.  Mind you the 'back office' is not so wonderful.

[jo-b]

I wonder if Scenic are referring to their “river cruise guarantee” 

https://www.scenic.co.uk/why-scenic/river-cruise-guarantee

 

Hopefully you will be happy when they contact you. 

 

It’s been a while since we’ve been on Azamara, Oceania is our current favourite.

But Az is quite a lot dearer so the service will have to be even better than we remember for us to switch allegiance back to them! This was chosen  the itinerary, and the New Years Eve in Sydney harbour, which is not quite wher it seems we will be! 

 

 

[hernstro]

We took Scenic's Romantic Rhine and Moselle Sept. 10-24th. We had to skip the port of Rudesheim, as we were behind schedule by 5 hours due to low water in the gorge.  Since returning, our TA has emailed Scenic twice inquiring about compensation for this missed port as well as a couple of other hiccups. Thus far, no response from Scenic. Very disappointing. If we do hear back from Scenic, I'll post something here.

 

However, we thoroughly enjoyed the Scenic Jewel and felt the staff provided excellent service. Based on the current situation, we also feel very fortunate that our 14 day itinerary was mostly left intact. My heart goes out to those who have had major disruptions. 

[jo-b]

I e, ailed Scenic once we got home,  about our disappointment in the lack of communication from HO. I got a preprinted posted reply saying I would get a reply in 28 days. But at least a response!

[djh1959]

4 minutes ago, jo-b said:

I e, ailed Scenic once we got home,  about our disappointment in the lack of communication from HO. I got a preprinted posted reply saying I would get a reply in 28 days. But at least a response!

28 Days!!!!  That is pretty disgraceful for a supposed "luxury 5 star" company.

 

Why don't you telephone, at least someone needs to respond.  Oh how I wish we hadn't booked with Scenic for next year, so tempted to cancel but then we lose $2000 AUD deposit.

[Philandher]

18 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

Have been told we will be sent an email some time soon.  There is some sort of guarantee but even after extensive searching online I cannot really understand what is actually covered.  Still anything will be better than nothing.

Jo-b I see you will be on Azamara soon.  I hope that you receive their excellent on board service.  Mind you the 'back office' is not so wonderful.

Mrs M, were you given the opportunity to cancel and, if so, how close to your cruise. We're due on the Opal in December a quick "like for like" with the Quest or Journey would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Phil

[jo-b]

56 minutes ago, djh1959 said:

28 Days!!!!  That is pretty disgraceful for a supposed "luxury 5 star" company.

 

Why don't you telephone, at least someone needs to respond.  Oh how I wish we hadn't booked with Scenic for next year, so tempted to cancel but then we lose $2000 AUD deposit.

I believe “within 28 days” is a standard UK time for responses to complaints.  I was amazed to get a reply at all to be honest.