Rhine water levels 2017 and similar topics

This is just to confirm the above. We have a river cruise from Budapest next Friday. When we left Salzburg 5 days ago, it was high 70's F. Today in Vienna, it was 80, and Budapest for the next week is predicted to be 85. While we had a few rain showers in Salzburg, no rain is predicted for the next 10 days anywhere near here.

Tonight we ate in a cafe outdoors with a wonderful sunset and never felt too cold. Welcome to late Spring/early Summer!

Norm

We are on Uniworld's River Princess right now. We are traveling from Amsterdam to Budapest. We left Wertheim yesterday and the weather has been absolutely perfect, if a little warm. Cruise has been great so far. We really enjoyed the holidays sitting out, drinking beers.

One thing we did notice was the Riesling served this year was really outstanding. There must have been good harvests the last couple of years.

We are looking forward to the rest of the trip, hopefully without any bad weather.

It is going to be 35 Celsius (95 F) in Düsseldorf today, but happily the temps will go back down into the 20s (70s) the rest of the week. Finding air conditioning in Germany is pretty much impossible, other than in some office buildings. Which is why I'm very happy I'm at work today and not in my sweltering apartment :)

Air conditioning - what is that? :D;)

It is 29 degrees in my living room (9pm!) and will probably still be 25 when I get up.

The outside temperature measured in Frankfurt was supposed to have been still 30 at 9pm, hard to believe, but officially recorded. We normally reach a maximum of 25 in the afternoons and it normally has cooled down a bit by 8pm.

It is unpleasant. Even too warm on a river cruise ship sundeck in this heat I find.

This will affect the river levels but there is still enough water in the river to get us through a few more days without rain before there will be any widespread problems.

notamermaid

We just pulled in for our tour of Nuremberg. Weather is still great. We had a little rain a couple of days ago but it did not hamper our trip. We haven't heard of any problems with low water and expect no changes to our itinerary.

Hello fred111,

thank you for reporting from your cruise. That is good news. I hope you are having a great time. I hope you do not mind that I copy this into the thread on the Danube.

notamermaid

Marksburg castle

The famous castle on the Rhine - in what has been nicknamed the "castle stretch" - is also infamous for its ankle-challenging steps and staircases. I was reminded of this when I watched a programme on German television yesterday. The lady presenter walked up some steps with "Burgvogt" Gerhard Wagner, he is the official charged with looking after the castle and he lives there. I found a good video on youtube courtesy of Viking River Cruises where you can see the challenges inside the castle well. The lovingly outfitted rooms with the exhibition on armour through the centuries are presented. And Herr Wagner is in the video, too:

Enjoy.

By the way, many companies visit Marksburg castle, even German ones. And I like Marksburg castle, too.

notamermaid

After a few cool days with rain it has been warmer again and it is sunny today. A nice early summer's day. The river level is up and down with the amount of rain that falls, but staying generally at a good mean level, neither high nor low.

A big anniversary is here today, in the Southwest of Germany, and as that concerns the area that many people already know from river cruises, as well as cyclists, here is a nice report about it. The bi-centenary of the first public ride of the "Laufmaschine" by Karl von Drais: http://www.tennessean.com/story/travel/2017/06/11/celebrating-bicycle-southwest-germany/372193001/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Drais

notamermaid

We are on Viking Ve from Budapest to Amsterdam. Today we entered the Rhine (and visited Marksburg Castle). So the journey on the Danube and Main went smoothly, and we believe we won't have any problems getting to Amsterdam on Friday. Weather was 75 F today, 80 tomorrow in Cologne, and 68 F predicted for Amsterdam all with no rain.

Happy sailing!

Norm

Thank you, nreeder, for the info. You will have arrived in Amsterdam by now and are possibly even back home. I hope you have had a great river cruise.

It has indeed been uneventful as regards river levels. We do not have much rain which is not too good but rain will come potentially as downpours after a few days of very high temperatures forecast for today and Monday and into Tuesday (reaching 33 degrees in Mannheim for example).

It is plain sailing right now but nature could do with a little bit of rain (not the bucket-load type).

I hope you are all having a great time on the rivers right now.

notamermaid

Something different in Cologne...

Strolling through Cologne you will notice that it is a true mix of old and modern. The main reason for much 50's and 60's architecture among the - in many streets - few old (often merely restored to old glory) edifices is the massive destruction during WWII. Among the many buildings destroyed is a church called St. Kolumba. The ruins were incorporated into a modern building, also housing a museum. I have walked past it and it is quite intriguing. My tip for a second visit to Cologne, whether on land or by river: https://www.apollo-magazine.com/the-museum-building-that-expresses-the-tragedy-of-cologne/

The article states that the railway station was destroyed. This is true, but a little part of it has remained, called "Alter Wartesaal" and is a restaurant.

notamermaid

A last post. We arrived in Amsterdam Friday. It was 64 that day and cloudy but no rain. Yesterday it was 75 and today it was 85! Tomorrow we leave for London where it will be 87...

I guess you all need some rain. It we couldn't have had better weather during the whole cruise. I wish the same to those following us

Thanks

Norm

Have a great time in London nreeder!

While the Elbe is loosing water fast and most shipping has been suspended the Rhine valley is enjoying beautiful sunshine and pleasant river levels. We have an official heat wave and it is forecast to get to 35 degrees in Trier, Karlsruhe and Mannheim today.

We can manage - sailing the river that is - without rain for four more days easily but water in my neighbour's water tubs is getting low. The flowers and strawberries are very thirsty.

All you sailing right now have a great time.

notamermaid

As an american living without air conditioning in these temps for the first time since I was a kid, it has not been fun. Luckily, I have a ceiling fan in my bedroom (According my my jealous american colleagues, I'm "rich"), and good German insulation/construction does keep the heat out if you can cool down the apartment overnight and then shut everything else back up.

(For non-Germans, very few private homes or apartments have air conditioning. My colleagues keep insisting its only needed a "few times a year". I told them that they are 3 days over that already for the year :) )

However, for lounging out on a river boat or touring, its probably very nice weather indeed :)

Polabear,

on a day like this I would like a ceiling fan. My living-room is at 29 degrees again. Outside temperature is around 31 at the moment. Would love to be on a river cruise ship right now, they have air-conditioning, so does my office, but I do not long for it, cranky and hot customers!

Anyway, as you can all imagine this is not normal and it has been too warm in Germany over the last six months (statistically). More importantly there has also been far too little rain:

official report of the German federal institute for hydrology issued 20th June

states that the rivers Ems, Weser, Elbe, Rhine and Danube have had less rainfall statistically in the months from November 2016 to May 2017 than in equivalent months in the years from 1981 to 2010. The Danube is closest to the statistical 100% identical amounts of rain while the Elbe varies from the mean by many percent each month. It has been far too dry in that region hence the fact it has problems with low water so early in the year.

The Rhine is doing ok but the report predicts falling levels. It looks as if they will not reach relevant (low) levels for river cruise ships - not sailing or sailing amended itineraries - in the next week.

notamermaid

We're on the Emerald Sky right now (15 day from Budapest to Amsterdam). We were told last night that due to the heat and water levels, we would need to switch to the Emerald Sun tonight. We will be bussed from Passau to Regensburg. Sadly, the crew will change as they've been magnificent so far. The only crew that stays with us is the cruise director.

I'm taking this as a good experience, but packing and unpacking wasn't what I planned for this cruise. I guess it could be much worse.

Hello mikelan,

sorry to hear that. It is hot for sure, rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Bavaria tonight, hopefully this will help. suja has reported on another thread their ship will sail without passengers and they will have bus tour. It is always difficult to make a decision based on current water levels and predictions for the next few hours. A hard time for captains. suja's post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53362210#post53362210

I am sure your second ship will be as enjoyable as the current one. Glad to see that Emerald has two ships on the route right now and they can offer this to keep the river cruise going.

Stay safe and good to read that you are keeping your spirits up.

notamermaid

We're booked on Emerald Destiny in about a month's time Budapest to Amsterdam. Hope river levels have recovered by then so we're spared this minor inconvenience.

We are sailing with Uniworld on The River Empress on 2nd August from Amsterdam to Budapest. I read that the 110m ships have less trouble with water levels than the bigger ships. Is this correct?

Thank you for all the updates. First river cruise. Viking Vi hope we don't have to change ships.

We are sailing with Uniworld on The River Empress on 2nd August from Amsterdam to Budapest. I read that the 110m ships have less trouble with water levels than the bigger ships. Is this correct?

That is basically correct. It is due to the draft of the ships, the 110m ships do not lie as deep in the water. Crucial centimetres. Here are some figures: Avalon Felicity 110m, 1.28m to 1.96m (empty versus full with passengers and water tanks) and taken from last year's thread what I posted in reply to some questions including draft: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=51335654&highlight=draft+Viking#post51335654 post#402

ARosa is similar to Viking for example. CroisiEurope only has 110m ships on rivers where they could sail with 135m ships. It is their company policy.

Please note that in the end it is up to the captain to decide wether it is safe to sail, but depending on where they are stranded and if there is another ship that they can swap with a company might decide not to wait for the crucial drop in centimetres that they would have needed for clearance.

Some ports can be quite some distance from each other and it could be difficult to reach the next one in time.

Sadly, it looks as if we will get to such a scenario on the Rhine again this year (not yet, but my prediction is it will in late summer). Never good to have to use plan B.

notamermaid

Is late summer late July or late August. We are scheduled for July 27.

I would not want to say any precise week or even month, but it seems that even July on the Rhine is possible this year, although I would say August more likely. Last year the problems were in October. The year before in October and November. If we have a wet July there will be no problems in August. Impossible to say, but we are starting into Summer with too little water, which makes me think that we will get problems (based on previous years's experiences)

.

Current official predicted scenario is for falling levels this week into next week, thankfully without reaching the crucial GlW, a figure that is an indicator for the depth of the navigation channel, meaning the end of plain sailing due to low water. After that week it all depends on rain. By that time the officials are likely to have published another statement if levels stay low-ish.

notamermaid

Thank you for starting this thread. We are a group of 6 travelling 24 September from Amsterdam to Budapest on Gate1 Monach Queen. The boat is 110m in length and the draft is 1.75m. We will be doing a rain dance when we reach Europe this year in August. If the Rhine is too low do you know at what point a transfer would most likely happen.

Hello chessy bear,

happy to help. But I really do not know how things might go with the Monarch Queen. Sounds as if she should be ok, we sort of established last year here on CC that Viking still sails when the level is at 80cm at Koblenz. I have lost track of how far down it went after that, but Viking narrowly avoided the ship swaps I seem to remember. Have a look at last year's thread from post #390 onwards: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2308253 to give you an idea of what the situation was like.

As regards place: the ships get stuck in or very close to the Rhine gorge with the shallowest navigation channel being there, that is between about Wiesbaden and Koblenz.

notamermaid