Emerald- Legends of the Moselle and Rhine

[oceans52]

The reason I put emeralds description on my post is so people will know the route the ship took. Looking at Emeralds main river description the rivers mentioned are Moselle  and Rhine, no mention of Maine. Later on the mention the Maine. Talking to a passenger this morning they looked at brochures left for us in cabin on our arrival , no mention of sundeck closing. I cannot see Emerald doing this section of the Maine again without telling people up front that they are going to ruin there holiday. 

[DougK]

3 hours ago, oceans52 said:

The reason I put emeralds description on my post is so people will know the route the ship took. Looking at Emeralds main river description the rivers mentioned are Moselle  and Rhine, no mention of Maine. Later on the mention the Maine.

 

I understand that you're upset by the sundeck closure, but I'm surprised that you weren't aware of the route. I just took a look at the 2019 Emerald Waterways brochure, and it titles the cruise "Legends of the Moselle, Rhine & Main" and shows exactly the route taken. Surely you knew you were disembarking at Nuremberg--how exactly did you think you were going to get there without going on the Main?

 

It is unfortunate that the Main effectively requires closure of the sundeck on most ships, and I do think that cruise companies could do a better job of making passengers aware of that prior to the cruise. But there are enough fabulous cities along the way that I highly doubt cruise lines are going to decide to stop using the route. FWIW, Emerald has the exact same itinerary scheduled for next year as well.

[oceans52]

DougK. I totally disagree with what you have said. . I'm booking a holiday and paying Emerald to take me on my holiday.  It's up to emerald to provide a ship suitable to take me on my holiday. The ship they to on their route was not. That is not my fault, that is Emeralds. Emerald knew that the sundeck would be closed for half the time I was on holiday. So when advertising the holiday they should made clear that the sundeck would be close. THEY DIDN'T.

We didn't find out until after we boarded the ship

The route and ship Emerald used are not suitable. If Emerald had told me or any of the passengers before we booked the holiday that the sundeck on the ship would be closed half my holiday the ship would have been empty.

[ericosmith]

Hmmmm....Having sailed the Main canal, I don't recall seeing a single ship that had an open sun deck.  It's the same for all the major lines marketed in the US.  All of those river ships are virtually identical in size and height so I seriously doubt that you are going to find any one of them with an open sundeck.  Don't know how you can blame Emerald for being the same as all the rest.

[oceans52]

ericosmith.  I totally agree with you.

My whole anger with Emerald is that  all passengers should have been told by Emerald that the sundeck would be closed for that length of time. They didnt. Why. No one would have booked  this cruise.

Do other cruise lines with similar size ships sail that part of the Main?

 

[TravelerThom]

13 hours ago, ericosmith said:

...All of those river ships are virtually identical in size and height so I seriously doubt that you are going to find any one of them with an open sundeck...

While most R-M-D boats are 3 full decks plus sun deck for their entire length, there are some boats (eg Grand Circle, Scenic, and others) that are split level with 2 decks in the front and 3 aft. In general the forward railings are the same level above water as the aft sun deck, and the forward railings and chairs are left in place. The forward sun deck has about 1 meter clearance under bridges and will be cleared of passengers approaching bridges, but passengers will be allowed to return when the bridge is cleared. 

6 hours ago, oceans52 said:

Do other cruise lines with similar size ships sail that part of the Main?

Yes, many. The majority of the R-M-D cruise boats are configured similarly to Emerald, and the Main is the only passage for boats this size passing from the Rhine to the Danube. 

[oceans52]

TravelerThom. Thanks for explaining about that. I didn't know what split decks meant when it was mentioned on here. Considering Emerald are part of the scenic group is ironic.

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, oceans52 said:

TravelerThom. Thanks for explaining about that. I didn't know what split decks meant when it was mentioned on here. Considering Emerald are part of the scenic group is ironic.

 

Emerald was designed as a lower-cost alternative to Scenic.  That may explain the design of the ship.  Scenic is considered one of the top lines for luxury in river cruising.

[oceans52]

My whole gripe boils down to, that Emerald didn't tell their passengers beforehand about the sundeck being closed. As I keep saying it would never have been booked.

From what i can see they had only 2 cruises on the my itinerary. Mine was the second.Then there are 2 at end of August and beginning of September. 

Although I haven't checked to much, I believe scenic do include some stops on the Main. I did ring Emerald this morning and asked about my cruise and was told that the ships they use are designed on the whole to suite the needs of the river they sail on. The crew did seem as though they were just brought together. But then that is all secondary to what was really wrong. I was given email address and contact name. Let's hope they don't take to long to reply.

Jazzbeau how would you feel with the sundeck being closed for half your cruise without being told beforehand.

Please don't answer if it puts you under any pressure. And thanks for your input.

[gnome12]

37 minutes ago, oceans52 said:

My whole gripe boils down to, that Emerald didn't tell their passengers beforehand about the sundeck being closed. As I keep saying it would never have been booked.

From what i can see they had only 2 cruises on the my itinerary. Mine was the second.Then there are 2 at end of August and beginning of September. 

Although I haven't checked to much, I believe scenic do include some stops on the Main. I did ring Emerald this morning and asked about my cruise and was told that the ships they use are designed on the whole to suite the needs of the river they sail on. The crew did seem as though they were just brought together. But then that is all secondary to what was really wrong. I was given email address and contact name. Let's hope they don't take to long to reply.

Jazzbeau how would you feel with the sundeck being closed for half your cruise without being told beforehand.

Please don't answer if it puts you under any pressure. And thanks for your input.

I sailed Vienna to Basel (13 nights) with Uniworld in 2011. We also cruised the Danube-Main canal, and our sundeck was probably closed for 3-4 days. We hadn't been informed either. We dealt with it. It would not have been a deal breaker for me had I known in advance.

[oceans52]

Did you have any access to outdoor areas when they shut down the sundeck?

[gnome12]

2 hours ago, oceans52 said:

Did you have any access to outdoor areas when they shut down the sundeck?

There was a fairly small forward deck area. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

Jazzbeau how would you feel with the sundeck being closed for half your cruise without being told beforehand.

 

I can't answer that question because I knew that this is the situation on most ships sailing the Main [through Cruise Critic] before I booked my second river cruise – and I followed the general advice to sail the Amsterdam to Basel itinerary on one's first river cruise.  Trying to put myself in your shoes, I can see why you are upset.  But ultimately this comes down to you and your TA not doing enough research or asking the right questions – but since this seems unusually important to you there's no way you would have known to ask.  But your gripe isn't with Emerald, it's with this stretch of river.

[oceans52]

Thanks gnome12. The only outside space  on the Emerald Destiny available to the 140 Passengers had 6 chairs. My wife had one for a couple of hours. She sent me a text so I could sit on the lounger whilst she used the loo.

 

[djh1959]

Couldn't you have sat on your balcony for outside space?

[oceans52]

Jazzbeau. I booked directly with Emerald.  Who will know the river better than anyone. . When I wanted a telephone number to contact their customer services I couldn't find one. And was trying to do seven things at once as it was my first day back. The number readily available was the sales team. So i rang them. Even their sales didn't know the sundeck was closed for that length of time. But he gave contact name and email address.

I never paid the river, so I don't have any grievance against it. I paid Emerald. They knew they were closing down the sundeck. So who else should tell their customers. As far as researching goes, not everyone has the ability or time to do. And you would hope Emerald would inform there customers.

The sundeck is for me and I thought for most people the most important part of the ship. For views  that cant be seen from any other part of the ship,and meeting people. Which is why people do river cruises. 

I honestly think Emerald just hid the fact that for half the time of my 7 day holiday. Even when we asked onboard staff why we we not told he said we were and would print it off and show me. He didn't.

 

[oceans52]

djh 1959 -Thanks. I could have a  seat inside the lounge or my cabin. But for half of our cruise I couldn't go on the sundeck which is where I wanted to sit. But wasn't told beforehand. 

 

[oceans52]

Does no one think that that Emerald used a ship that was not fit for purpose on this stretch of river. 

 

[pully8]

We have done several European river cruises on different rivers including the Main.

We have not travelled in summer and often the weather would preclude long periods on the top deck for viewing.

Yes it is closed for safety reasons on some routes because of low bridges.

On some ships there is a hot tub on the top deck and we have seen people using that.

In winter we have experienced snow on board and people have made snowmen on the top deck. 

We generally have had a balcony, the double ones on AMA are delightful in good weather.

We have found we have had plenty of time off the ship to enjoy the fresh air and every day there is a port stop to get off if desired.

We have not ever felt deprived by the top deck being closed.

Sorry you had that experience and it impacted your enjoyment.   

[notamermaid]

It took me a bit of time to find this, but I managed to spot the clause in the terms and conditions, it is no.11, where it says that the sundeck may be closed due to low bridges. It gives neither a duration nor a specific river. If this was stated in no more specific words in your documents then I do find this lacking in info by Emerald. Without knowing the geography of the river one would not assume to have the sundeck closed for days on end.

 

notamermaid

 

[oceans52]

pully8 we did a Christmas markets cruise 7 months ago. Luckily the weather was not that bad.

But a view from the balcony is just that. Looking at one side of the river. Hopefully the side your cabin  is on has the best views. I find looking out from the cabin gets monotonous.

[oceans52]

Notamermaid- thanks for doing some trawling. We found that to, but I dare say there's a list of other things that are put on as a standard "we are not to blame" by most cruise companies. 

The days of a business hiding the bad points in small print and getting away with it are gone. I hope. 

Have Emerald lied about the sundeck being closed. No

Did Emerald know the sundeck was going to close. Yes

Did Emerald tell the fare paying guests that they closing the sundeck for half the.trip. No

Are Emerald a cruise company to trust about being upfront with cruise information. Absolutely No.

Sorry that I'm sounding bitter, but give the full and correct information and let me decide. 

[old biddy]

Perhaps the conclusion to this thread is that river cruising isn't for you, oceans52, leave it to those of us who love it. And yes, we have done a cruise where the sun deck is shut for long periods. Not a problem, it's for the safety and well being of all passengers and crew.

[oceans52]

Thanks old buddy- you seem to be missing the whole reason of this thread. I'm not moaning about river levels bridges or locks.

Emerald knew that they were going to close down the sundeck for half the duration of the cruise. They should have informed the passengers. They didn't. Why because they wouldn't have sold there cabins. I don't think sitting in lounge for 3.5 days is cruising. On what cruise were you when the sundeck closed for days. Please. just out of curiosity. Thanks for your comments 

[oceans52]

Sorry should have been biddy. Not buddy