Seduced by masterful advertising we decided on a Viking cruise of the Danube. As a result of posted concerns about river levels, I waited until virtually the last minute before booking. Ten days before our intended cruise on September 4 I called Viking and asked if there were any problems with river levels. I was assured that there were not. Just to be sure, I asked our travel agent to confirm this with Viking before we committed. Our agent also received assurances from Viking that there were no problems. Only after receiving these assurances did we book our cruise. Four days later we received an e-mail from Viking advising that due to "unusually dry" weather there were historic low water levels on the Danube. As a result we might have to take buses between ports.

This was the situation we had sought to avoid by waiting to the last minute before booking and by checking with Viking before committing.

Upon receipt of the e-mail warning from Viking, we immediately called our agent and asked to postpone our cruise until the following Spring when there would be less chance of low river levels. Our agent called Viking only to be informed that we had signed a contract and that we were therefore bound to take the cruise scheduled for less than a week later. We did not ask for a cancellation of our contract, merely that we be allowed to reschedule our cruise. Viking refused to allow us to reschedule. Read more