What is often a cruise without water? A ruined vacation. A warm, dry summer leaves European rivers with record-low water levels in 2010, causing travel disruptions along with other challenges to cruiselines who operated with the Danube, Rhine, and Rhône rivers.
Jana Tvedt, vp of Riviera Cruises’ US branch, told The modern York Times the fact that unpredictable water levels generally is a nightmare for cruise operators. “Sometimes it’s challenging detect whether we have to cancel before an excursion starts,” she said. “You\’re thinking that it’s likely to work a proven way and after that 48 hrs later it’s distinct.” Cruise companies like AmaWaterways compensate passengers having a 15 % discount off an upcoming trip, for each and every day the cruise deviates through the planned itinerary. In case a cruise is cancelled completely, cruiselines will typically issue the full refund.
This uncertainty is more serious for travelers who won\’t know before the day before their trip if it’s been cancelled. Carol Milsoch, who lives Vermont, was getting excited about cruising on the Rhine this October when she received a disappointing email. “That we got an email three days before we were required to leave,” she said, “with all the choice to cancel for any full refund.” She wound up touring the countryside by bus instead, “even so it just wasn’t the trip I spent nearly yearly imagining.”
Another way cruiselines are coping with unexpectedly low water levels is actually transferring passengers from a single ship completely to another, mid-voyage. “Ship swapping” has actually turned into a relatively common strategy for navigating through low water levels around the Danube, Rhine, and Elbe.
