Barbara Orr just had a very unusual cruise experience. Over the next few days she will explain what happens when a trip does not work out as planned. We thought it important to share this information with you, our readers, because these things do happen when you travel and it is wise to think ahead as to how you might react in a similar situation. — Cynthia Boal Janssens, editor
Cruises are expensive investments of money and time. But sometimes, for a variety of reasons, the cruise goes wrong. And then what? Who’s at fault? Is there any compensation?
Here’s the day by day record of a cruise that didn’t roll out as it should have – read it to see what to expect when Mother Nature throws a curve ball, to learn your rights and the obligations of the cruise line, and to see how you can plan best to avoid disappointment.
This was to be a week long cruise from Basel to Amsterdam aboard the new Emerald Sky river ship, scheduled for the first week in May. But heavy rains and rising water levels changed the whole character of the cruise.
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Day 6: Thursday
There is a quite human start time of nine o’clock today and then another two hour bus ride to Koblenz. We are given a short tour of the town, then take the cable car up to the historic fortress overlooking the Rhine and Moselle, where we have time to look at some of the museum installations and have lunch.
Then we head out in our buses again for the drive to Cologne and do a quick tour of the area around the cathedral.
Our hotel is about an hour further, in the city of Bonn. Not a great hotel, but then I imagine finding a hotel with enough rooms at such short notice cannot have been easy. It’s not that it is a bad hotel, maybe a three star, but it is not up to the standards of our staterooms on the ship. There is more grumbling.
Next: To Amsterdam
Heidi, Editor-In-Chief
