River cruise lines were forced to amend itineraries in Europe this week as operators and agents continued to monitor the impact of flooding caused by Storm Boris.
River lines including Scenic Group and Avalon Waterways confirmed they had made changes to sailings due to adverse weather, which had caused the deaths of 21 people.
Agents reported minimal concern about disruption from clients, but said they were continuing to monitor the situation.
Scenic said it was looking to amend affected itineraries but was “restricted” by high water levels.
“Where possible we will reschedule our fleet of Scenic Space Ships and Emerald Cruises Star Ships to allow us to enact ship swaps,” said a statement on its website, which added: “However, we are restricted with the current rising water levels, specifically around the Upper Danube River areas of Vienna and Budapest.”
Avalon Waterways said it was contacting customers and agents about amendments, with a number of sailings affected.
“Due to this record rainfall in a short period of time, there are some current and upcoming Avalon cruises in the area that are affected with itinerary changes and cancellations,” said a spokesperson.
“We are in the process of communicating changes, plans, options and refunds with guests – and travel advisors – directly.”
Uniworld, A-Rosa, Viva Cruises, AmaWaterways and others have published travel advisories on their websites about disruption to sailings.
Uniworld stated it had to adjust its programmes on River Duchess, River Princess, Maria Theresa and Beatrice and had teams on board and on shore “monitoring the situation closely”.
A-Rosa said itineraries and ports of embarkation and disembarkation “may have to be adjusted”.
AmaWaterways said the high water level was affecting docking locations on the Upper Danube River in particular, between Budapest in Hungary and Vilshofen in Germany.
It has been forced to adjust itineraries, use alternative docking facilities and arrange “convenient ship swaps” for planned excursions.
A Clia spokesperson said: “The safety of guests and crew is central to any decisions relating to itineraries. Where any changes are planned, operators are working hard to minimise any disruption and are expressly committed to transparent and open communication with guests.”
Phil Nuttall, chief executive of the Travel Village Group, said the agency would “deal with [the situation] in the best way we can”.
“We have got it on our radar and are keeping in touch with cruise line partners,” he said, adding: “We don’t have any customers ringing about it at the moment.”
Nuttall said the industry “is geared up to deal with these things” having overcome similar challenges in the past, adding: “You will get some impact on the experience if ships are restricted but I hope it will settle down soon.”
City-break specialists including Newmarket Holidays and Regent Holidays said they had not received many calls from concerned customers with bookings to affected destinations, but would continue to monitor the situation.
Abta said its Destinations team had issued two operational bulletins to its members last weekend as Storm Boris wreaked havoc across central and eastern Europe. The storm was reaching Italy on Tuesday, with warnings for heavy rain, strong winds and floods issued for much of the country.