Celiac Cruise

[u/TraditionalPass4136]

I just want everyone to know that your cruise trip can become partially or entirely a bus trip, and that the cruise company's normal policy of offering partial refund or the option to reschedule for a different cruise does not apply to Celiac Cruises.

[u/UnexploredEnigma]

How does that happen?? What was your experience

[u/TraditionalPass4136 → u/UnexploredEnigma]

Water is low on the Danube right now and so they've changed the itinerary to be partially by bus (2 days on busses, 5 days on boat as of right now).

In the fine print of the legal documents it says they don't even have to ever put you on a boat. They can bus you from start to finish with no warning and that will be fulfillment of the contract, no refunds required.

The boat is run by amawaterways and normally when they change an itinerary due to low water levels they offer you the choice to accept the new itinerary with a partial refund, or else to get credit towards a future cruise.

We've just been informed that does not apply to Celiac Cruises.

Meanwhile there's the question of how they are handling celiac safety for the bus part of the trip. I have felt like all their communication about that has been weirdly ambiguous.

[u/UnexploredEnigma → u/TraditionalPass4136]

That's terrible. Ill be sure to book a non-river trip then.. That's a really expensive trip to just be bused.. I'm sorry that happening to you and hopefully its still a good trip.

[u/warriorprincess71 → u/TraditionalPass4136]

Oh my... sorry this has happened to you. And thanks for letting us know!

[u/Penelope742 → u/TraditionalPass4136]

Cruises are environmental terrorism

[u/bcdog14]

My friend tried to do a European river cruise and ended up on buses. She said it was exhausting and she was disappointed about not being on the ship which would have been a lot more relaxing. I'm not a fan of cruises, I went on a Caribbean one and we didn't get to see half the islands we signed up for. I will say on the ship they were extremely excellent about guiding me through the gluten free system ..that part was very impressive. It was through Norwegian.

[u/TraditionalPass4136 → u/bcdog14]

This would be my first cruise. I wouldn't say I'm a cruise person but I was really looking forward to the opportunity to travel with a dedicated kitchen. I'm a very cautious celiac and don't eat food that isn't produced in dedicated spaces, so this was a unique chance for me to be able to travel without having to bring my food with me or stick to major cities.

Traveling with the dedicated kitchen was sort of the whole point, and obviously a bus isn't going to have that.

Beyond that traveling in busses tends to make me carsick and give me back pain. This feels like a real bait and switch.

[u/bcdog14 → u/TraditionalPass4136]

That's the problem with these cruise lines. They all do it and it should be considered fraudulent. I haven't been diagnosed with celiac but I'm 100% gluten free which fixed my thyroid issues and reversed 50;years of digestive issues. I didn't want to start eating gluten again to be tested because my results were so outstanding. I hope they will do right by you somehow on that "cruise"

[u/TraditionalPass4136 → u/bcdog14]

Personally I welcome everyone who's 100% gluten free into our club. I'm glad it helped you solve major health issues and I think the choice not to get tested is understandable. My gluten challenge was devastating to my health. I never really fully recovered.

[u/flagal31]

Celiac Cruises carry a big added cost compared to booking the same exact cruise without them and you deserve better. imo, doesn't sound like they did their homework and aren't qualified or prepared to sell river cruises to a celiac guest.

Everyone in the cruise business knows river cruises are a whole different ball game vs Caribbean and Alaska ocean cruises. Low water levels are always a risk and bus transport is a standard Plan B.

Seems quite customer-UNFRIENDLY to deviate from the cruiseline's own satisfaction policy.

(If Celiac Cruises is US based, you may have some leverage via your state's agencies, BBB, and even a credit card chargeback if CC didn't inform you IN ADVANCE that they don't honor the cruiseline's own refund/reschedule satisfaction policies.)

Another celiac posted a similar story about a month ago: you're not the first Celiac Cruise river cruise passenger to face this. If they keep disappointing guests, it won't end well for them.

[u/TraditionalPass4136 → u/flagal31]

I appreciate your empathy. When they announced the switch I expected they would explain a clear plan of how they intended to provide safe food. Water in the Danube has been low all summer so they've had plenty of time to consider it. Beyond which they've been doing this for a decade so I assumed that they would have policies in place.

Instead it's been lots of very vague and general reassurances that our safety is very important to them or whatever.

[u/kittycatblues → u/flagal31]

The same person posted about this two weeks ago. There is only one Celiac Cruise river cruise this year, so it's the same cruise that they posted about previously.

[u/joyfall]

I would be so angry. Those cruises are not cheap. The whole point is to have safe food. It's real fucked up they can't even tell you where your food will be coming from yet. Vacations shouldn't cause this much anxiety.

[u/TraditionalPass4136 → u/joyfall]

The whole experience has been bizarre. Rather than the stress-free experience I was promised this has been substantially more stressful than just organizing the whole thing myself.

[u/mzlmtzmrg914]

what a shame. I went on the upper danube cruise two years ago and it was lovely. these cruises are so effing expensive. after reading this post I won’t be returning