AS the drought continues across Europe, low water levels in Europe are now threatening river cruise holidays.
The River Rhine and the Danube River have started to dry up with passengers being re-routed at the last minute after two ships ran aground.
On the morning of June 29, the ship called Viking Einar ran aground on the Rhine River at Cologne in Germany.
Days later, the Viking Ullur ‘experienced a grounding incident on the Danube River‘ in Bulgaria with 186 passengers being evacuated.
It came ‘into contact with a sandbank during a period of exceptionally low water levels‘, Viking said in a statement.
With no rain on the horizon, river cruise companies are having to take action with some having to change sailings completely.
One woman who booked with Riviera Travel wrote on Facebook: “We have just received an email to tell us that our Rhine and Switzerland cruise is being re-routed and will not be travelling to Switzerland but instead north to Netherlands and Belgium.”
She added that she was given the option to change the itinerary or “cancel with full refund and have been offered compensation”.
Riviera Travel, issued a statement about potential alterations on its website.
It explained that “individual sailings may continue to develop right up until departure and, occasionally, during the cruise itself.”
“Currently, our cruises continue to operate, although itineraries are being adapted where necessary.
“This may include adjustments to sailing schedules, excursions or mooring locations, and in some cases carefully coordinated ship swaps to help you continue your holiday with as little disruption as possible.”
Passengers who have booked after August 5 are being contacted up to two weeks before departure with updates and between 48 hours and 24 hours before departure to “explain the latest position, any expected changes and the options available.”
Talking to The Independent, Riviera Travel said that cancelling a cruise is always a last resort.
In another case, one woman heading on a river cruise with TUI shared her new itinerary on a Facebook page.
Instead of sailing from Basel, through Germany to Amsterdam, the new suggested route starts in Zaandam through to Rotterdam, Antwerp, Middelburg, Dorecht and Amsterdam.
In the email, TUI also offered a 15 per cent refund of the holiday cost with £150 holiday vouchers per person on the new sailing.
Other options were to rebook another river cruise with a refund in cost if the new sailing is cheaper, or if it’s more expensive, an incentive of up to 10 per cent of the value of an existing holiday.
Or there was an option to cancel the booking with a full refund.
On TUI’s website, it says “Most sailings go ahead without any disruptions, but water levels on the rivers can go up or down depending on the weather.”
It continued: “If your cruise is affected, we’ll make every effort to complete your itinerary. To do this there may be changes to berth locations, modifying shore experiences or completing some sections of the itinerary by coach.”
Emerald Cruises confirmed that reduced water levels are affecting sections of the upper Danube between both Vienna and Budapest, and Regensburg and Passau near Pfelling.
On its website it has said that it may make “operational adjustments” with passengers possibly being transferred to a “sister ship” as well as embarkation and disembarkation being amended.
There could also be overnight stays in hotels.
AmaWaterways said: “Due to unusually low water levels on sections of the Rhine and Danube rivers, operational adjustments to select sailings have been deemed necessary.”
It continued to add that “modifications may include changes to ports, embarkation or disembarkation locations, motorcoach transfers, ship scheduling or other itinerary elements”.