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Tui river cruise passengers complain of lengthy coach trips after itinerary changes
Tui attributed the disruptions to low Danube water levels and said customers continued under standard booking conditions, with some travellers reporting no refund offers despite asking for money back.
Passengers who paid thousands of pounds for European river cruises with Tui say their itineraries were altered to include hours of coach trips instead of planned river travel, and they have described their anger to the BBC.
According to the BBC, some passengers contacted the airline asking for money back but were offered no refund. Tui apologized and said low water levels on the Danube required changes, adding that customers went ahead with amended itineraries under its standard booking conditions.
One affected traveller, Richard Pearson from Lincolnshire, told the BBC his week-long holiday began on 21 September. The BBC says he was told upon arrival in Budapest that his vessel, Isla, was in Vienna, so passengers were put up in a hotel before the ship sailed overnight to Krems.
The BBC reports that passengers then took bussed day trips to destinations ranging from 45 minutes to two hours away, and that the return sailing to Vienna also happened in the dark, with only one daytime “scenic sail” described as a round trip back to K.