river. Cruises

From a COVID 19 standpoint? Not at all this year. Next year, perhaps.

we take a River Cruise every year, but we cancelled for 2020 and booked a Christmas Market River Cruise on the Danube (it'll be our 3rd Xmas one) for Dec. 2021. Germany cancelled Octoberfest - I don't see it happening this year.

I’m in agreement with the others - doubtful that a cruise would happen, let alone be safe the rest of 2020. Do you have a cruise operator who’s currently forecasting trips, and are they reporting safeguards and procedures that would be in effect during the cruise? What assurances about safety and schedule timing are they offering?

I think they will tell us when they will open up. Frankly I would be less concerned about a river cruise, since the number of passengers is so drastically different from the ocean cruise ships. Seems like it would be easier to physically distance.

However, I don't think it would be fun at all to pay lots of money and have to be served by mask wearing servers and have to use disposable plates, etc.

We've done 4 river cruises and I don't see them happening this year unless Europe drastically changes social distancing (as well as other factors). Yes there are fewer passengers but the ships are also much smaller and have fewer common use areas. They could limit the number of passengers and have more space in common areas like the lounge or dining room, but on daily excursions you're pretty close together in groups. They would also need to do all table service dining vs the breakfast and lunch buffets.

Then you have the likelihood that the Christmas markets and other events drawing crowds are even going to happen. Maybe. I'd like to think that our world will be back to something like normal by then but have lots of doubt.

When do you think it would be safe to take a river cruise in Germany 2020?
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One epidemiologist was interviewed on CNN this morning--and he thinks this social distancing will be with us for another 24 months.

So, a river cruise in Germany  or any country along the river banks of the three rivers: Rhine, Danube and Main  wouldn't be any different  from the US in terms of retrictions.

We came back from Danube river cruise just in time before covid-19 reared its ugly head. That was in June last year.

Allowing tourists to some villages from cruise ship [boat] to set foot on their public places would be another issue especially tourists from US who don't take social-distancing seriously.

One advantage of  River Cruise versus a mega ocean liner cruise ship is-- if some kind of virus strikes a river cruise ship-- passengers won't find themselves marooned in the middle  of the ocean--since no country would allow them to dock. 

It is happening now in the port of Los Angeles where  111 cruise ships with 75,000 passengers / crews are languishing in the Pacific Ocean.
All of them have to be cleared of covid-19 infection. . .and it will be awhile to test all 75,000 people before being allowed to leave the ship.  :(

Wait for 2021.

First, European countries have to allow foreigners to enter. That hasn't happened yet. Then the cruise companies have to reasonable assurance they can conduct business as usual. They'll be happy to collect and hold your deposit, so just having the sailings up and available is not a sign they're going to happen. So I'd be watching their sites and the cruisecritics forum, carefully for information. Nobody here can predict those things. Noting that Viking has new policy allowing last minute no-cost re-scheduling, so maybe others will adopt the same kind of system.

People are to my knowledge the primary carriers of Covid-19. Why would Germany open its doors to tourists before there is a vaccine or a swift, sure cure? Even after the vaccine is developed, it will take time to produce and distribute the billions of injections to end this pandemic. I would be reluctant to reserve a fight or cruise.

I would also wonder if cruise lines will avoid bankruptcy. If a cruise line becomes insolvent holding your deposit, you are just one of many creditors.

I hope to return to Germany and my wife wants to do another cruise, but the virus is still in charge and setting the rules. We have to be patient.

If you like cruises, they will be running out of Texas and Florida in a few weeks. Sounds like a thing to do if you just need to get away.

I know for a fact that Vantage, Avalon, and Gate 1, have canceled all their Rhein cruises up through the end of Aug.

I sincerely doubt that any of them will run at all this year.

I don't know how common this is, but may be something to consider.

On 3 June water level on Rhine river at Kaub near Frankfurt dropped to as low as 1 meter threatening navigation on Western Europe’s most important river way. BASF and Thyssen Krupp booking alternative transport. Over summer refinery output may be in doubt.

https://twitter.com/adam_tooze/status/1270687156516904963

pm,

The answer to that will probably be determined by when the river cruise firms resume operations. As others have mentioned, I believe most have suspended operations through August. When they do resume, they will probably start slowly and may only have a limited number of ships operating. There may initially be Covid restrictions both on board and when on shore excursions, such as frequent hand sanitizing, wearing masks or distancing. With that in mind, the experience probably won't be as enjoyable as anticipated.

If I were thinking of booking a European river cruise, I'd be in "watch & wait" mode for a few more months before booking, to see how this situation plays out. I'd probably be thinking more about next spring.

I had a Christmas Market river cruise booked for December 2020. I called and requested my reservation be rolled to Dec 2021. They did so, no questions asked. That tells me 2020 river cruises aren’t happening.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/articles/news-river-cruise-returns-europe-after-coronavirus-recovery/

River cruising has started back up for Europeans.

Thats excellent news..... !! And here we thought it was over for the year.