Scenic Low-Water-Level Schedule Changes/Cancellations

[caskale]

Waiting to see what ship we will board in Basel,Oct 3rd. It is supposed to be the Jasper

[tony18670]

We leave on the Scenic Pearl from Budapest to Amsterdam on the 2nd of October-I e-mailed Scenic in Australia and go this reply, "At this stageyour cruise will be operating as per its normal schedule. If we are required tomake any adjustments we will communicate this to you as specific detailedinformation becomes available."

 

At least they have replied. Has anyone sailed from Budapest to Amsterdam recently and has there been any changes to your itinerary?

[jo-b]

jo-b, I'm glad to hear that you actually have had some communication from Scenic, even though it's pretty vague.

 

As for the Ruby staying in Andernach, I'm guessing they did a ship swap with the Jade, because the Jade is showing a very weird path--It came north downstream on the Rhine from Basel, but instead of continuing through the Rhine gorge, it headed east on the Main. That doesn't match any itinerary I know of, so my best guess is that Ruby and Jade passengers were less fortunate than those on the Jewel, and were not able to transit the gorge, and instead swapped ships. FWIW, I believe the Ruby, as an older ship, has a larger draft than Scenic's newer ships; I don't know about the Jade. As usual, this is just speculation, because Scenic doesn't announce anything like this, and I don't believe any current Ruby or Jade passengers have posted.

 

Well this morning Ruby is still stopped in Andernach where it has been since 20th at least, so I'm not sure about a ship swap. I wonder if Jade has changed itinerary? There is a post on the Crystal cancellations thread about someone whose Amsterdam to Basel cruise has changed to Amsterdam to Koblenz and on Marine Traffic Jade is shown as heading to Regensburg, currently on the Main.

 

Marine traffic shows draught of the ships but I'm unsure how accurately it is showing Jasper for instance as 0.2m and Ruby as 1.8m.. 0.2m sounds VERY shallow, but what do I know :)

[jo-b]

Waiting to see what ship we will board in Basel,Oct 3rd. It is supposed to be the Jasper

 

IF our ship is Ruby and IF we still do the same itinerary that is the day we were due in to Basel. So your ship would be Ruby too.They told us it is the same other than no vitality pool. Will post as soon as we know what is happening.

[jo-b]

And now Ruby has left Andernach at lunchtime heading towards Koblenz, and according to Marine Traffic a final destination of Budapest! That was it's original itinerary so we can discount that. But where it is going we will see!

 

This incessant ship watching is what happens when you are determined not to start packing until you actually know if you are going, but would really really like to be more organised than this!!

[caskale]

IF our ship is Ruby and IF we still do the same itinerary that is the day we were due in to Basel. So your ship would be Ruby too.They told us it is the same other than no vitality pool. Will post as soon as we know what is happening.

Please do let us know what ship you get on. We are hoping for the best and will make the best of whatever situation we get. It appears that ships are moving up and down the Rhine,on schedule or not cannot tell.

Hope your cruise goes well

[notamermaid]

jo-b,

 

 

the Scenic Ruby is certainly doing some unusual manoeuvres. She has been fitted in "last-minute" in third row at Koblenz, tight up to the Rhein Prinzessin and the Amadeus Classic. She is not scheduled in the Koblenz docking list dated 19 September, but neither is the Amadeus Classic: https://www.koblenz-touristik.de/fileadmin/Mediendatenbank/PDF/Belegungsplaene_Hotelschiffe/Belegungslan_2018.pdf

 

 

In Rüdesheim she is scheduled to be on 22 and 29 September but as we have seen, she did not make today's scheduled visit: https://www.fremdenverkehrsgesellschaft.de/pdf/schiffsanlegungen_zwei_monate.pdf Where it says "Storno" in the list the docking has been cancelled but this does not necessarily mean that ship will not be there, the listing could reappear as a different docking location on the same day or the following day for example.

 

 

notamermaid

[jo-b]

Thanks notamermaid we will wait eagerly for what happens tomorrow!

[jo-b]

Please do let us know what ship you get on. We are hoping for the best and will make the best of whatever situation we get. It appears that ships are moving up and down the Rhine,on schedule or not cannot tell.

Hope your cruise goes well

 

 

Ruby has just left Koblenz heading north, hopefully to Amsterdam! As notamermaid said she is doing a very strange route, not sure if she has a complement of passengers or whether they were swapped to another ship. Maybe it is time to start thinking about packing after all!

 

 

Edited to add the destination on Marine traffic has now changed to Amsterdam die 25 September so as long as we stick to our itinerary she should be in Basel on the 3rd!!

Edited September 23, 2018 by jo-b

[daleyecs]

We were supposed to board the Amber in Nuremberg on 9/20 heading to Budapest - instead we boarded the Jasper stayed overnight in Nuremberg but only sailed into the next port and are now stuck in Regensburg :( we stayed here overnight - no ship swap available for us

 

Current offer is to chose to fly home from Munich or stay for a bus / hotel option - neither is appealing, limited compensation on the table if you stay - twice as much if you leave but still not a generous offer - $ depends on your room category

[jo-b]

Daleyecs, sorry to hear this, I thought Scenic had being doing ship swaps on here for a while. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

[DougK]

Daleyecs, sorry to hear this, I thought Scenic had being doing ship swaps on here for a while.

 

Scenic is doing ship swaps, but they're currently stuck with two ships downstream from Passau on the Danube, and three scheduled itineraries in that location. Daleyecs, I feel very bad for you that the Jasper apparently drew the short straw, and I feel a little guilty that I'm writing this from the Amber, which we were able to swap to. Given that situation (three sets of passengers and only two ships), I think Scenic should have been much more up front, and warned you in advance that you might only make one stop before being transferred to buses. It seems quite unfair to wait until the last minute and give you limited time to decide between two bad options. Perhaps they were waiting and praying for rain to open up the passage between Regensburg and Passau, but they should have told you that, rather than pretending all was fine.

[caskale]

We were supposed to board the Amber in Nuremberg on 9/20 heading to Budapest - instead we boarded the Jasper stayed overnight in Nuremberg but only sailed into the next port and are now stuck in Regensburg :( we stayed here overnight - no ship swap available for us

 

Current offer is to chose to fly home from Munich or stay for a bus / hotel option - neither is appealing, limited compensation on the table if you stay - twice as much if you leave but still not a generous offer - $ depends on your room category

Very sorry this is happening to you,on the Canadian Scenic website your cruise was the only one listed as being interrupted.

For all other future cruises cross fingers they all go ahead as planned

[Tidalmist]

We were supposed to board the Amber in Nuremberg on 9/20 heading to Budapest - instead we boarded the Jasper stayed overnight in Nuremberg but only sailed into the next port and are now stuck in Regensburg :( we stayed here overnight - no ship swap available for us

 

Current offer is to chose to fly home from Munich or stay for a bus / hotel option - neither is appealing, limited compensation on the table if you stay - twice as much if you leave but still not a generous offer - $ depends on your room category

As we have a booking for Budapest to Nuremberg on October 11, I find this terribly disturbing!

What do you intend to do? Very difficult to make a quick decision as most of us have planned for months if not years. We also have car and hotel reservations post cruise.

[jo-b]

Very sorry this is happening to you,on the Canadian Scenic website your cruise was the only one listed as being interrupted.

For all other future cruises cross fingers they all go ahead as planned

 

Interestingly the Scenic UK site Travel Alert section has had no cruises shown as being affected for the last week, just a general message about low water levels in Rhine,Main & Danube.

[mfreilly]

Unless there's a water miracle we're leaving the Jasper tomorrow in Regensburg for a bus hotel adventure to Budapest . Richard our cruise director has been great with the hand he's been dealt. We'll stay with Scenic as long as the plan, night by night , sounds good, then we'll bail on our own. Compensation is fair.

[jo-b]

Scenic have now advised that we WILL be on Ruby, but warned that the Rhine Gorge is still an unknown. Fingers crossed for us seeing the gorge and for caskale and their departure from Basel on the 3rd.

 

Now I really will have to get on with packing ready for a 3am car to the airport on Wednesday. This is the notification we got

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you for making Scenic part of your upcoming travel plans. We’re excited that you’ll be joining us and we are delighted to share this journey of wonder with you.

 

Due to an earlier required ship schedule change, guests on our Rhine Highlights River Cruise departing Amsterdam on 26 September, 2018, will now be joining Scenic Ruby, not Scenic Jasper as reflected in their original booking. Scenic Ruby sup

 

We have included any guest direct contacts that were provided to us on our Trip Personaliser in our update, and our Scenic Europe team will update any guests currently touring in Europe with Scenic.

[mfreilly]

Unless there's a water miracle we're leaving the Jasper tomorrow in Regensburg for a bus hotel adventure to Budapest . Richard our cruise director has been great with the hand he's been dealt. We'll stay with Scenic as long as the plan, night by night , sounds good, then we'll bail on our own. Compensation is fair.

There has been a miracle. Just one day/ night of bus and hotel and we'll be back on the Jasper tomorrow!

[notamermaid]

jo-b,

 

 

finally the adventure begins for you. :) The Scenic Ruby is on her way to Amsterdam currently approaching Düsseldorf. Thank you for posting the message from Scenic. Indeed, after the rain over the last three days rainless four days are forecast so what will be in five days time is difficult to predict.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

[jo-b]

There has been a miracle. Just one day/ night of bus and hotel and we'll be back on the Jasper tomorrow!

 

Maybe we will all get the miracle and the water levels will rise!! I hope you enjoy "our" nice new ship whilst we get the "old tub" :):):)

[jo-b]

jo-b,

 

 

finally the adventure begins for you. :) The Scenic Ruby is on her way to Amsterdam currently approaching Düsseldorf. Thank you for posting the message from Scenic. Indeed, after the rain over the last three days rainless four days are forecast so what will be in five days time is difficult to predict.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

notamermaid, many thanks to you for all your wise words and information. I know 100% more than I did a week ago about the Rhine!! Maybe we can wave to you as we sail along :)

[caskale]

Will hope the Ruby makes it all the way to Basel.we still have not been officially told of the change,not that it makes much difference. Yes my thanks to notamermaid as well for all your help. We fly out a week today .

[jo-b]

Will hope the Ruby makes it all the way to Basel.we still have not been officially told of the change,not that it makes much difference. Yes my thanks to notamermaid as well for all your help. We fly out a week today .

 

Will try and update as we go, because I so wish someone was onboard now telling us about their weird and wonderful journey!

[caskale]

Will try and update as we go, because I so wish someone was onboard now telling us about their weird and wonderful journey!

That be great if you can update ty.

Today your cruise showed up on the Scenic Canada site as a cruise that may be affected by river levels. Cross fingers for you

[jo-b]

That be great if you can update ty.

Today your cruise showed up on the Scenic Canada site as a cruise that may be affected by river levels. Cross fingers for you

 

And again the Scenic UK site is not showing any cruises affected just the standard message about low water levels and individuals will be notified if there is a change. I think it is worrying that there is not a standard company wide transparency about information on their websites.