December 23, 2024 06:30 AM

Flooding in Europe Causes River Cruise Cancellations

Flooding in central Europe has caused river ship companies to cancel their trips and reschedule, reported USA Today. Many trips had to re-route on the Danube, Main and Rhine because of extreme flooding.

The Associated Press reported that at least eight people have died and nine were missing because of flooding in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. One of the hardest hit areas was the city of Passau, Germany which is near the Danube river a popular spot for river ships as well as being an embarkation port.

Much of the city was inaccessible by foot and highly flooded and Viking River Cruises had to cancel many trips that were due in upcoming weeks.

"Viking also canceled two cruises: a June 9 Romantic Danube cruise from Budapest to Nuremberg aboard the Viking Prestige and a June 9 cruise between Passau and Budapest on the Viking Legend.

Guests and their travel agents were being notified. Viking said it would provide guests with the option of re-booking another cruise at a later date or canceling for a full refund -- in either case they would also receive a $500 future cruise credit 'in acknowledgement of the inconvenience,'" reported USA Today.

"In every decision we make, the safety of our guests and crew remains our top priority," Viking officials said in a statement.

Uniworld also canceled two itineraries on its River Ambassador which was due to leave on June 7.

High waters caused Uniworld to cancel two itineraries on its River Ambassador that were. The company said that some of its cruises in progress have also been affected by the flooding.

"In these cases our ship staff and European-based headquarters staff are working on itinerary deviations and in, some cases, canceling the remainder of the cruises," the company said in a statement according to USA Today.

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