Booking Gotthard Panorama in early April 2017

I believe the Gotthard Panorama Express does not start until 14th April. Does this also apply to the boat section of the trip? I made a reservation for a train from Luzern to Lugano for 9th April before I realised the Express will not be running. My reservation states Luzern to Lugano will this be entirely by train, with no boat trip? There is no mentioned on the booking sheet the method of travel.

Hi Molly and welcome to MySwissAlps!

Normally, yes the trip would be by train unless you specify the trip from Flüelen to Luzern by boat.
You can find the timetable for lake Luzern boats here. These boats run year round but are limited during the winter season (which runs to April 13).

I'm not sure what your reservation ticket or booking sheet looks like but usually it will state the train type and # on the ticket (IC#, ICN#, EC#) etc.

Lucas

Thank you Lucas fro replying so swiftly. My booking sheet does have IC on it. Thank goodness the boat still runs through the winter period. Would it be okay to book when we arrive in Lucerne? I am not sure how to book the boat as the SBB website keeps coming up and that's the train isnt it? Should I look for a train from Fluelen to Lugano? I do appreciate your time, and answers.

Hi Molly,

There won't be any issue buying a ticket for the boat in Luzern and just taking a cruise!
For SBB it always gives you the fastest route so you must go to advanced search and de-select everything but boat. In any case it won't be an issue to just take the cruise in Luzern.

FYI you are most likely traveling via the new Gotthard base tunnel and this is not the same trip as the Gotthard Panoramic Express. You can follow the same route as the GPE even though you won't be on the panoramic express train before April 14 but you will probably need to make a new reservation if you want to do that. The route and the options for traveling it are noted in the link above.

Cheers,
Lucas

Lucas you are a gem thank you for your most valuable knowledge. I will try all the options you have suggested. Cheers