Immigration Problem Impact on River Cruises
 

We are planning a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest for Sept, 2016. I am interested if anyone has had recent experiences on a river cruise as to how the flood of immigrants has impacted the cruising experience. Also, does anyone have any thoughts on what it might be like next year?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts/help.

Why would it impact river cruising? Sorry but I don't understand why you would think that.
You are more likely to have problems with low water levels than refugees.

I am concerned (maybe I should not be) that it will affect the experience in the various cities we visit, e.g. Vienna, Budapest, etc.

Affect it how, exactly? That you'll see a bunch of people wandering the streets or begging for money? You very well could see that already.

Well lacking a crystal ball I don't think anyone could say what the situation will be a year from now. A year ago we had no idea of what the situation would be now after all. But I seriously doubt it will have much, if any impact on visiting any of the places on your cruise.

Low water could be a real consideration however - if the water is low you may have to do (large) parts of the trip by bus, or be delayed. If we have another dryish winter and spring on top of this years long dry period it could be a real problem on the rivers.
You have to accept that river cruising is not the same as ocean cruising, and rivers can be very high- which means a problem getting under bridges, or very low, which means not enough water for the draught of the vessel, and a limit on use of locks. Freight vessels will always have priority in either situation.

I fully understand the issues surrounding the water level. That exists every year. The immigrant/refugee issue is new. Does anyone have experience with the refugee situation?

You could easily check with the local newspapers in the places you are headed for, or call the cruise company, but what on earth are your concerns? You think refugees are going to somehow spoil your vacation? And how could anyone possibly have a crystal ball to project the situation next year? No one knew this would happen THIS year. I cannot imagine canceling an expensive cruise, which I'd never go on, anyway, because there might be refugees around.

Agree that in Sept I would be much more worried about low water - as has happened in a couple of recent years - so you are sitting on a bus instead of your ship.

Not sure how refugees (and no one knows the status of next year now) could affect your cruise. Are you expecting them to try to board the ship like pirates and steal your luggage?

I am interested if anyone has had recent experiences on a river cruise as to how the flood of immigrants has impacted the cruising experience. >>

I doubt that they are going to be swimming up the Danube, but in these troubled times, i suppose that anything is possible.

Of course it is possible that the political situation in Europe may affect your trip, but in recent times, travel, and indeed life in Europe has been affected by Al-quieda and ISIS, the weather, a volcano eruption in Iceland, air-traffic control strikes, german railway strikes [who could have predicted that?] and probably a lot more things that I can't immediately think of.

In short, you cannot be insulated from life just because you are on holiday.

Friends just came back from a river cruise going from Budapest to the Black Sea. Here's what he says:

"BTW we travelled by train from Utrecht via München and Salzburg to Budapest, and despite all the uproar about thousands of Muslim refugees invading Europe while we were there, we didn’t find any encampments in the railway stations where we changed trains in Germany, or in Budapest on arrival. Perhaps we just hit a quiet day amidst the chaos . . ."

The first question is reasonable.
No one can answer the second question.

this year there are many problems with water levels and these cruises can for some segments become expensive bus trips. I as most here don't see a "migrant issue" ...not jumping on the river boats or anything and a year from now who knows...doubt any insurance would cover you if there were some of these kind of problems in the cities you visit. In all honestly these cruise lines work overtime to make sure their passengers do not see anything unpleasant!! They will tell you areas to avoid etc. Stuff happens in the world we live in but if you want you can be perfectly insulated.

There have been news items about the refugees and trains / train stations, specifically Budapest and then the Chunnel so the question is not unreasonable. But I think items that get in the news often make a problem seem more widespread than it actually is. And who can know how this migration will play out from this point on? Also your tour company will be monitoring the situation and doing it's best to insure a pleasant and safe vaction experience - I'd say if you are aware and willing to "go with the flow if the river is low", then you can accept the fact there might need to be some minor adjustments on account of the refugee situation. Wishing you a nice holdiay - we loved Budapest! and cruising the Danube.

Most of them cannot afford river cruises.

We recently spent two weeks in Salzburg, and other than seeing migrants in the train station and changes in train routes with trains being unable to go through Germany, there was no impact on our travel at all.

I also am currently researching river cruises out of Amsterdam in Sept 2016, and have thought about your same questions. Although we have travelled in Europe quite a bit on our own, the political situation has changed since our last trip in 2012. This is one of the reasons we are looking at river cruises rather than exploring on our own. However, since this is our first river cruise, we probably will not sign on for one as long as the one to Budapest. Also am wondering if trip insurance will cover trip cancellations due to airport/city terrorist threat. Does anyone know the answer?
Thanks

I believe that a terrorist threat would have to be an official one: that is either the state department or the local government saying it is too dangerous to visit - which is incredibly unlikely. Barring that I don;t think insurance would cover you unilaterally canceling a trip.

A flood of immigrants is a metaphor, not a navigational issue.

Of course trip insurance isn't going to cover you for a "terrorist THREAT." Whatever that might be.

Insurance policies do not cover war, civil commotion or terrorists activities.

In fact when American insurance companies paid the families of victims of 9/11 life insurance benefits, they violated their own policies, because they were afraid of recriminations.