When all is said and done, there is no way to accurately predict whether your river cruise will be affected by low-water or high-water levels for river cruises in Europe. But in general, high water occurs in the spring while low water occurs in heat of the summer, usually August. The summer of 2018 saw record low water levels for river cruises in Europe on the Danube. However, contrary to the conventional wisdom, I saw record lows on the Rhine in November of 2015. While high or low water can impact your river cruise, in 50+ river cruises, I’ve never experienced a major disruption because of high water or low water. I should add that I did not river cruise in the summer of 2018. In the comments below, some readers say their dream vacations were disappointing because of low water levels for river cruises in Europe. Others had their trips scuttled altogether because the river cruise companies could not operate due to high or low water levels for river cruises in Europe. My hope is that this page will serve as a useful forum for sharing information about the conditions on the rivers and how the cruise companies are handling adverse water levels for river cruises in Europe.– Ralph Grizzle
Whether a river has high or low water levels is something you’re unlikely to consider when planning your river cruise – until it happens to you.
Unlike ocean cruising, river cruising is all about narrow margins. Low bridges make the air draft of a ship – how much of it sticks out of the water – critically important. Most river cruise ships have collapsible upper deck railings, removable furniture, and even navigation bridges that lower completely into the floor.
Being aware of water levels for river cruises in Europe can greatly enhance your travel experience.
Understanding water levels for river cruises in Europe is vital for ensuring a smooth and enjoyable journey.
Monitoring water levels for river cruises in Europe is essential for a trouble-free adventure.
What’s under the keel – or hull – of your river cruise ship also makes a difference. In some cases, there can be less than a foot of water under the keel. River cruise ships have incredibly shallow drafts to begin with, and river cruise operators construct their ships as efficiently as possible. They’re the high-performance sports cars of the cruising world.
Understanding Water Levels for River Cruises in Europe
Understanding the significance of water levels for river cruises in Europe can help travelers make informed decisions.
Unfortunately, low water and high water conditions can exist – and they can throw a real wrench into an otherwise flawless cruise.
For current updates from river cruisers currently on the rivers (or from those who have returned recently) be sure to see the comments at the bottom of this post.
In fact, keeping an eye on water levels for river cruises in Europe could save your trip.
The Rhine is perhaps the most dependable river when it comes to being able to continue navigation due to low water. I felt the boat scraping the bottom of the Rhine in Rudesheim in November of 2015, but we made it past. See Is AmaWaterways The Champion Of Low Water?
Water levels are unpredictable. In many cases, the cruise line may only find out on your actual sailing, or a few days beforehand, that a particular stretch of water isn’t navigable.
See related article: Low Water Levels Continue To Affect River Cruises; Plus Why This Happens In The First Place
Water levels aren’t uniform. That is to say, if there’s low water on the Danube, the entire Danube isn’t affected. In 2014, water levels were too low for many ships to pass between the German cities of Passau and Regensburg. In past years, the stretch heading across the Austria-Hungary border has been problematic.
History isn’t a good indicator of high or low water. In June of 2013, Passau was hit by the worst flooding – and the highest water levels – since the Middle Ages. In 2018, the Danube was so low that many cruise ships terminated their journeys in Passau.
What happens if high/low water levels affect my sailing? River cruise lines will typically attempt to keep your itinerary as operational as possible. Generally, when high/low water levels hit, three options are available to cruise lines:
- Continue the affected itinerary by having guests ‘swap ships’ – typically, being bussed from one town to the next, where you will embark a sister-ship or similar vessel to continue the rest of your journey. Read about our ship swap on Viking.
- Complete the itinerary as far as possible aboard your ship, and then transition to hotels (on the company’s expense) to complete the remainder of your itinerary.
- Outright cancellation. This is the rarest option, exercised when no other options are available.
I’m not sure if I should cancel my river cruise because of high/low water levels. What do I do?
Unless you have travel insurance that covers cancellation, do not cancel your river cruise over high/low water. Wait for the cruise line to either pull the plug or offer alternatives. If your sailing commences in a few weeks, cancelling your sailing will result in you losing all monies paid. If you wait for the cruise line to pull the plug, offers typically include the ability to switch to another sailing at no cost; the offer to complete your cruise as scheduled at a discount or rebate; or the offer to cancel with minimal or no penalties. Of course, such offers are determined by the cruise line, but typically favor the guest.
Curious as to what the current conditions on the rivers of Europe are? A reader has provided us with a map showing the water levels on rivers in Germany. From reader “Sabine” see this link: https://www.wetteronline.de/pegelstaende?gid=HES
We have found the Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde (BFG) to be helpful. The organization published maps like the one below and forecasts. Find BFG’s 14-day water levels forecasts here and the six-week forecasts here.
It’s advisable to check the latest updates regarding water levels for river cruises in Europe before you travel.
To see what our readers had to say about how their trips were impacted by low water levels, click here.
Additionally, understanding how different seasons affect water levels for river cruises in Europe will enhance your planning.
In summary, staying informed about water levels for river cruises in Europe is crucial for a rewarding travel experience.
Hi Kathleen, we are on the same cruise or bus. Have you heard if they are able to sail out of Budapest ? Thanks. Jim Wiemels
Trish,
We’re taking this same trip with Viking on August 31st. Please update how your trip goes. Praying for rain!
LAD
See Susie’s posts from Aug 14, 15. The Rhine is unnavigable from Strasbourg to Cologne
Thank you so much, Susie! This has been the most helpful information and we will cancel/rebook our cruise. I appreciate your thoughtfulness in informing your fellow travelers!
Thank you so much! We are booked on same cruise on Avalon for Aug 23-30. Am I understanding correctly: you sailed from Basel to Strasbourg, disembarked, they took you on a 6 hour (round trip?) bus excursionn to Heidelberg, then you disembarked, at Strasbourg, had another 3-4 hour (round trip?) bus excursion to Rudsheim, then were bussed 2 more hours to Koblenz to get on the sister ship and now you will be able to sail all the way to Amsterdam? So it sounds like there were 2 full days of bus excursions (Ugh!). Your account has urged me in the direction of cancelling. Avalon may offer us the option to rebook at a later date or go on the Saone River instead.
When you swapped boats, how far a distance did you go by bus? A few hours? On more than one day? We are booked Basel to Amsterdam on Aug. 23 and are considering cancelling if the river is impassable for more than just the equivalent of one day of cruising; ie. the whole second half of the river. Which town did you disembark at and which town did you rebound the new boat at? Thanks so much!
Does anyone have any information on Main-Danube Canal and the Danube from Nuremberg to Bucharest?
Thanks!
WK, thank you so much for this info. 4 of us are booked on Scenic Jasper on Sep. 12 (AMS-BUD). Crazy that I feel “relief” at the thought of 2 swaps mid-trip if the rest of the cruise follows the itinerary. I hope Scenic is able to keep disruptions to a minimum and appreciate any updates you can share on your trip.
Hi Harold,
I have until Sep 3rd to decide and will hold out a bit longer as well.
I did hear back from our travel agent and they were told by Viking that the airfare couldn’t be be parsed out of the entire trip so when you cancel all parts of the trip are cancelled.
Jennifer,
We had the no risk guarantee, but did not cancel it time. We had purchased additional travel insurance through Viking. Our travel agent says we submit to the travel insurance company, who will deny it, since it is not for a covered reason. Then Viking will issue a travel voucher for the trip. Voucher must be USED, not booked, within 12 months, not 24 like the no risk guarantee. It is also not transferrable. I am just glad to be getting out of this seeming hell of a trip, and the chance to travel again in better conditions.
We’re also booked on Viking Sept 5 Amsterdam to Basel. Getting really concerned about the Rhine water levels, especially now seeing what others have to say about so much busing, etc. In addition, we don’t have our flights yet. We did have flights from Tampa to Amsterdam via Atlanta, but that itinerary has been “temporarily unavailable “ for two weeks, apparently due to Delta’s issues here in the U.S. This would be our first river cruise also, so we’re starting to think about cancelling rather than risk having a huge disappointment.
Hi Stewart
We’re also booked, very concerned
waiting for Riviera to respond?
My husband and I are on the same cruise. We are going to do the trip, there is never a guarantee that all will go as planned on any trip. We will keep our fingers crossed.
I cancelled our Sept. 29 Viking Rhine cruise yesterday. We had the trip insurance through Viking which allows us to cancel for any reason. We are led to believe we will get our entire money in the form of a voucher, minus the $370 we paid for the trip insurance. What is the $1600 cost you mention?
If the airfares were given
free as part of the cruise …..and if you cancel the cruise you lose your flights is my guess.
However you could call Viking cancel the cruise and pay for your flight seperately. They may accomodate you.
Could not agree with you more about Viking’s poor, inadequate communication. We are really left in the lurch as we begin our tour next Saturday from Paris to Zurich. We can’t cancel so we have decided to just stay on board wherever we are rather than bus around for hours. Not sure if this strategy will work, has anyone else tried to do this?
Hi Michael. We are on that same cruise, and I am still holding out a few more days hoping for rain before I cancel. I can’t say definitively, but when I have cancelled with Viking’s No Risk Guarantee in the past the Air Plus was also cancelled as part of the package. That said, I didn’t specifically request keeping the air so seems it wouldn’t hurt to call Viking Air and ask. Hope you can still go. We had the Oberarramergau extension in 2020 and had to cancel for Covid. Again, I would call Viking to know exactly what your options are. Would be interested in what you are told… we are doing Amsterdam after the cruise.
Could you please provide a little more detail about the bus rides as far as distance traveled and what towns were involved? I’d hate for my upcoming river cruise turn into a bus tour. Thanks
We are going from Amsterdam to Budapest leaving April 17th, 2022. We fly out tomorrow for AM. We just received a revised proposed itinerary for Scenic. It appears we will have 3 ship swaps,
“Our team in Europe are working to finalise the alternative arrangements, and below is the proposed itinerary. ”
Day 1 & 2 – AMSTERDAM
Welcome to Amsterdam! Join Scenic Pearl in Amsterdam, and enjoy your standard sailing itinerary.
Day 3 – COLOGNE
Today to avoid low water in Kaub, we will enact a ship swap to Scenic Jasper to allow for the continuation of your sailing itinerary. All meals, attractions and Freechoice activities as outlined in your itinerary.
Day 4 – 8 – As per your sailing itinerary
Day 9 – REGENSBURG
Today we will enact a ship swap to allow for the continuation of your sailing.
Day 10 – 14 – As per your sailing itinerary
Day 15 – BUDAPEST
Budapest disembarkation
I talked to Viking two days ago and the rep said the affected Danube cruises as of now were the Romantic Danube and Danube Waltz. Ours includes Oberammergau and is supposed to leave Aug. 31. We can cancel up to Aug. 28 and he said it might be a good time to do that. Really would love to go mainly for the passion play but also don’t want to be on buses. Would love any updates from cruisers for the Danube/Budapest/Vienna etc. Thank you!
Sorry I meant we leave Amsterdam on 22nd (start of trip)
Hi, thank you all for these really helpful comments – does anybody currently know what Uniworld are doing regarding the low water levels, we are due to be on their Castles Along the Rhine trip starting 21st August, and have heard nothing yet from the company – after reading these comments we imagine long horrible bus rides, which is such a shame as we’ve been waiting 2 and a half years for this trip to be put back on. Is anyone/has anyone been on this trip recently with Uniworld? Thanks in advance!
We are supposed to leave on the 18th for a Basel to Amsterdam cruise. I can’t get straight answers out if viking. I can’t abide buses.
We were booked on Viking Rhine B to A on 9/15. We cancelled today and wanted to just book a different, much more expensive cruise with Viking for 2 weeks later. You would think that would be an easy transfer for them, but they have to first issue us a credit, which takes 14 days. By the time we get that, if it is really 14 days, the cruise we want will most likely be sold out since only 2 cabins remain open. Our travel agent said it makes no sense and that Viking is the most rigid cruise line to work with. We cancelled this same trip last year due to Covid, but when we contacted Viking we found out our Amsterdam extension had been cancelled a week or so before. They never contacted us about that happening. I know they are going through some tough times but they sure aren’t doing much to get repeat passengers.
Susie,
Your updates are greatly appreciated. Booked on Avalon from Amsterdam to Luxembourg on September 25. Very interested in what you experience.
Janet
Susie, please keep the updates coming. We are scheduled for Amsterdam to Luxembourg on Sept. 25 on Avalon. Very interested in what you have to say!
Thank you!
This is really a followup to my previous post. I appreciate all the previous posts, but still confused about the condition of the Danube. I haven’t been able to understand whether the Danube (say from Passau to Bucharest is also experiencing the same ship swap/busing issues. Has anybody got any current information?
I had the same questio about keeping the flight. My travel agent inquired with Viking and we were told that we only can cancel the whole arrangement with Viking, not parts of it. Flights, transfers and hotel will also be cancelled. But I also learned that the insurance will be transferred as well if cancelled together. I am going to cancel our Amsterdam – Budapest tour on Sept.10 today and hope that all this works out well for us according to this info.
Hello Peter – So sorry about this trip! We are booked on the same trip but not until October 26. So you haven’t been on the ship at all? I would appreciate very much any updates from you! Best of luck for a better journey! Lynn
Update: Grand European Tour departing Amsterdam 8/14
Sunday night, 8/14: The Viking Hlin is docked in Amsterdam and leaving tonight for Basel, Switzerland. They sail at 11:30 tonight and have been told that there may be some bussing and/or ship swaps, but otherwise have heard no details. This begs the question: why are they able to leave Amsterdam and we (Viking Magni – Grand European tour) are not. Possibilities:
– fewer passengers on the Viking Hlin and shallower draft
– staff shortages and priority decisions – Grand European tour is longer and can afford more missed days on the river. First priority is the shorter trip, and the net result is average higher passenger satisfaction on the combined trips.
– (a totally cynical idea) Viking is running a controlled trial. One arm is the bus trip with hotels, the other arm is trying the Rhine, see how far they get, and use buses or ship swaps as needed (pretty sure Viking knows what their plans are for the whole of the Amsterdam-Basel trip). End points for comparison: customer satisfaction vs. cost to the company for meals, buses, and hotels.
–
Footnote on Monday 8/15: Viking Hlin is docked at Kinderdijk as our buses lumber in about 10:00. Among others, the cheese making and ebike tours are cancelled because the buses don’t arrive in time.
my understanding is it’s ‘all or nothing” if flight bought from Viking and you cancel. This is our situation
I greatly appreciate your updates.
Interested in this information as well. Our trip is 9/10 Amsterdam to Basel, with Oberammagau and Munich (Oktoberfest) add on. Our main reason for doing the cruise was for the Passion Play I have wanted to see since I first went to Oberammagau 51 years ago! Although I would hate the cruise portion to turn into a bus trip, I don’t know why they can’t keep the itinerary the same and use hotels in the cities where the ships are not able to travel. This would be preferable to missing out on major stops and being docked in the same location for 2-3 days.
Further update – unscheduled midday meeting with cruise director telling us that now we can’t join the sister ship at Koblenz as planned, as the water levels are now too low. So we will miss another section of cruising the river and join the ship at Cologne.
We will now leave the ship in Strasbourg as per original plan but by bus, and spend a night at the Frankfurt Hilton, to avoid a super long bus day from Strasbourg to Cologne via Rudesheim. We have to pack tonight and asked to only take hand luggage for the night in Frankfurt, as the main luggage will transfer to the sister ship tomorrow, ie the day before we arrive. After the Rudesheim visit, we will be bussed to join the sister ship at Cologne. Excursion arrangements not yet finalised, but should be later today, but expecting changes. Missing Koblenz entirely? Will be confirmed later hopefully.
So the river is currently unnavigable between Strasbourg and Cologne. From Basel to Strasbourg the scenery is not great, on a ‘canal’ with trees either side but no scenery of any interest. So missing the most scenic part of the Rhine – a 40 mile stretch of castles. Look on a map – it is a short distances between Basel and Strasbourg, and between Cologne & Amsterdam. Most of our ‘Rhine cruise’ will have been covered by bus.
We cancelled 8/28 Grand European Cruise. Viking Customer Support are echoing what they are told to say…trip still on. They refuse to admit no cruising or busing is taking place. That is truly disappointing that they refuse to give documented facts. Their response….Weather changes daily and they can’t predict the future weather. Trip still on. They would not confirm. German government said Rhine likely to close but Viking said they have no info on that? What???
Understand Viking have a lot of money on the line but, $20K for bus trip, packing and repacking for transfers, and schedule changes are not what customers want. Tell the truth to permit customers to make an informed decision. That being said, paying $1600 to get voucher is Viking’s answer.
Any update on how your trip is progressing ? We just saw you post yesterday and it is to late for us to get a voucher. We sail from Budapest to Amsterdam August 24, 2022. Was wondering once you actually board can you sail all the way to Budapest. Thank you
Mary, we are on the same trip. Though I would hate for our first Viking cruise to turn into a bus tour, my main reason for this trip is the Oberammagau and Munich (Oktoberfest) add ons, which I hate to miss. Today, we got word from Viking that our direct flight (DC – Amsterdam) was changed to DC – Houston, TX – Amsterdam. Fortunately, I was able to get this changed to a slightly better connection, as I don’t want to fly half way back and forth in the US to start this trip, but it does not bode well for the trip. Fingers crossed!
If this topic was covered somewhere I apologize in advance. I have my doubts that our planned cruise Sep 17 from Basel to Amsterdam will operate without modification due to Rhine river levels, so I am considering cancelling the cruise. My question to others here is what happens to the airfare I purchased with the Viking Air Plus option which has deviations both pre and post cruise? Will they allow the airfare to continue or will that have to be cancelled as well? We would like to continue with a trip to Europe as we have a tour commitment before the cruise ( Oberammergau passion play) arranged.
Thank you for your post regarding your trip. We are scheduled for the 8/30 Rhine trip Basal to Amsterdam, wondering if you could update regarding your itinerary, what ports/ cities have you missed? Thank you – stay safe and healthy.
We are leaving Budapest for Passau on Viking on Aug 24. Too late to cancel now. Just have to go in with a positive attitude and hope for the best I guess!
We are doing Budapest to Amsterdam 22 Sept.
I am praying your rain dance is a BIG success!!!:)
apologies for double post – internet so poor, it took me 6 attempts to post anything
We left Basel yesterday 13th Aug, and cruising to Amsterdam with Avalon. Thought I’d give interested parties the latest, although similar disruption to David, who posted last week.
Original itinerary
Day 1 Basel
2 Breisach
3 Strasbourg
4 Mainz
5 Rudesheim in morning, cruising to Koblenz in afternoon with free time in Koblenz
6 Cologne
7 Amsterdam
8 Disembark Amsterdam
At the welcome meeting we were advised of the (expected) disruptions, but minimalising changes with no mentions of the number of hours we would be spending on buses, excursions cancelled etc. Having contacted Avalon prior to leaving, I was told nothing, only basic information that river levels are low & minor disruption. A query on Facebook was deleted by Avalon & not responded to. I’m rather cross that they choose to not mention issues on their website and continue to sell cruises that include major changes with hours on buses rather than relaxing time spent in the cabin. I hate bus travel & 6 hours of bus travel in a day is not my idea of a holiday. Health issues make this particularly difficult for me.
The boat will travel as far as Strasbourg where it will stay two nights, missing the stop at Mainz (where we had booked & were looking forward to visiting the Gutenberg museum – an included excursion). Day hiking excursion of Philosophers Way also cancelled. Instead they are bussing us to Heidelberg & offering a city tour and lunch, with an afternoon at leisure in the town, before returning to Strasbourg.
On Wednesday we will disembark the ship at Strasbourg, to swap with the ship that left Amsterdam at the same time. They will bus us to the Rudesheim Music Museum (the excursion we had chosen) & local lunch. This will involve a 3-4 hour bus trip to get to Rudesheim, ie longer than the original shore excursion. They had said they were trying to organise a small boat to do a cruise in the gorge in the afternoon, but this is apparently getting too shallow for even the small local boats & confirmed today 14th that this is unlikely – ie we will miss the highlight of the trip. The cruise director said they would take a road along the gorge, but just not the same. The other two Rudesheim excursion options don’t seem to be running, (not surprising as one was using ship bikes). (Not sure how this afternoon mini cruise would have worked logistically even if they did arrange it with: 4 hours on bus from Strasbourg to Rudesheim with stops, an hour for lunch, hour or two for a museum visit & a couple of hours to new ship to arrive for dinner).
We will then continue by bus for another couple (?) of hours to transfer to the sister ship waiting in Koblenz, and continue onto Amsterdam. Also joining us will be the passengers of an Italian cruise doing the same route as us, (but don’t have an equivalent ship of their own to swap with). We will then be nearly full. Currently sailing with 92 passengers, with a ship capacity of 168. We booked fairly late, and knew the ship would be quiet – a massive plus for us, so this is also a negative for us & unexpected.
We are being offered monetary compensation for the inconvenience, but significantly less than we paid for the supplement for a cabin for floor to ceiling windows. We knew much of the sailing would be done in the evening and at night, & we would be likely to get a view of the dock wall / another ship when tied up, but paid the significant upgrade mainly for that afternoon cruising through the gorge in the afternoon from Rudesheim to Koblenz. This was going to be a highlight, laying in bed in our cabin looking out of the full panoramic windows.
With drought across Europe, it is unfortunate timing. Of course, we would have preferred our original itinerary & not having to change boats & spend hours on buses rather than the expected relaxing on board. If passengers choose to cancel now they are onboard, they have been offered a proportional refund, but with most passengers having pre-booked flights / connections out of Amsterdam, I very much doubt anyone would take up this option. Unusably poor Internet & data would make arranging anything impossible anyway. Many passengers are from the US & further afield, & were joining this boat as part of a larger European trip, so again cancelling at this point would have given them logistical problems too.
This is as of 14th August. There is apparently rain forecast tomorrow, but not enough to make any difference to the current water levels & dry weather expected to continue.
We just got back from our Amsterdam to Basel cruise a couple of days ago and we had to swap boats halfway. It was a pain n we weren’t crazy about the buss rides but Viking did a great job and made it pretty painless.
We left Basel yesterday 13th Aug, and cruising to Amsterdam with Avalon. Thought I’d give interested parties the latest, although similar disruption to David, who posted last week.
Original itinerary
Day 1 Basel
2 Breisach
3 Strasbourg
4 Mainz
5 Rudesheim in morning, cruising to Koblenz in afternoon with free time in Koblenz
6 Cologne
7 Amsterdam
8 Disembark Amsterdam
At the welcome meeting we were advised of the (expected) disruptions. Having contacted Avalon prior to leaving, I was told nothing, only basic information that river levels are low & minor disruption. A query on Facebook was deleted by Avalon & not responded to. I’m rather cross that they choose to not mention issues on their website and continue to sell cruises that include major changes with hours on buses rather than relaxing time spent in the cabin. I hate bus travel & 6 hours of bus travel in a day is not my idea of a holiday. Health issues make this particularly difficult for me.
The boat will travel as far as Strasbourg where it will stay two nights, missing the stop at Mainz (where we had booked & were looking forward to visiting the Gutenberg museum – an included excursion). Day hiking excursion of Philosophers Way also cancelled. Instead they are bussing us to Heidelberg & offering a city tour and lunch, with an afternoon at leisure in the town, before returning to Strasbourg.
On Wednesday we will disembark the ship at Strasbourg, to swap with the ship that left Amsterdam at the same time. They will bus us to the Rudesheim Music Museum (the excursion we had chosen) & local lunch. This will involve a 3-4 hour bus trip to get to Rudesheim, ie longer than the original shore excursion. They had said they were trying to organise a small boat to do a cruise in the gorge in the afternoon, but this is apparently getting too shallow for even the small local boats & confirmed today 14th that this is unlikely – ie we will miss the highlight of the trip. The cruise director said they would take a road along the gorge, but just not the same. The other two Rudesheim excursion options don’t seem to be running, (not surprising as one was using ship bikes). (Not sure how this afternoon mini cruise would have worked logistically even if they did arrange it with: 4 hours on bus from Strasbourg to Rudesheim with stops, an hour for lunch, hour or two for a museum visit & a couple of hours to new ship to arrive for dinner).
We will then continue by bus for another couple (?) of hours to transfer to the sister ship waiting in Koblenz, and continue onto Amsterdam. Also joining us will be the passengers of an Italian cruise doing the same route as us, (but don’t have an equivalent ship of their own to swap with). We will then be nearly full. Currently sailing with 92 passengers, with a ship capacity of 168. We booked fairly late, and knew the ship would be quiet – a massive plus for us, so this is also a negative for us & unexpected.
We are being offered monetary compensation for the inconvenience, but significantly less than we paid for the supplement for a cabin for floor to ceiling windows. We knew much of the sailing would be done in the evening and at night, & we would be likely to get a view of the dock wall / another ship when tied up, but paid the significant upgrade mainly for that afternoon cruising through the gorge in the afternoon from Rudesheim to Koblenz. This was going to be a highlight, laying in bed in our cabin looking out of the full panoramic windows.
With drought across Europe, it is unfortunate timing. Of course, we would have preferred our original itinerary & not having to change boats & spend hours on buses rather than the expected relaxing on board. If passengers choose to cancel now they are onboard, they have been offered a proportional refund, but with most passengers having pre-booked flights / connections out of Amsterdam, I very much doubt anyone would take up this option. Unusably poor Internet & data would make arranging anything impossible anyway. Many passengers are from the US & further afield, & were joining this boat as part of a larger European trip, so again cancelling at this point would have given them logistical problems too.
This is as of 14th August. There is apparently rain forecast tomorrow, but not enough to make any difference to the current water levels & dry weather expected to continue.
Has Viking ever cancelled for water levels? From reading posts here doesn’t sound like they do. I have Basel to Amsterdam coming up soon, and if Viking doesn’t cancel then me cancelling for a voucher seems best although I hate getting vouchered again. I first paid in 2019 for a cruise I’ve yet to take due to Covid and war. Viking has just given vouchers and been earning interest off my money all this time!
We are going on the same cruise in early September. Any word on Uniworld cruises?
John
So sorry you’re having such a bad experience! I wonder if Viking has ever cancelled a cruise for water levels, or just handles things the way you’re experiencing. Far from what you hoped for and paid for.
My sister in law just finished this cruise but reverse. Only a couple of days crusing then long bus ride, boat switch but they couldn’t even cruise into Budapest at the end.