notamermaid

I gather that means the ship swaps made the two ships end up in the opposite ports to where they were scheduled. Changes could mean a ship swap or changing a docking location (like in Cologne) or slower sailing with excursions affected. Of course, Viking cannot know yet, but it is good of them I find to send general info about it. Nobody knows and I reckon all those on the river wonder how low it will get this autumn. As a local I am obviously also a bit anxious about supply chain issues that can happen with the strains on commercial river traffic. For now, just a brief look at Kaub: 83cm, forecast on target, i.e. reliable in the figures, giving 80cm for tonight and suggesting 70cm for tomorrow evening. The scattered rain is not enough to keep the level up. Let us hope the river favourably beats the computer modelling. notamermaid

Guten Morgen to you. Well done to your captain. Docking can be so tricky and while the shallows at Rüdesheim are currently not visible on the webcam I know they are there not far below the current level of the water. Good to read about the rain, so the weather forecast was right. Scattered and a very much interrupted band of clouds with rain but at least it is there in the Upper and Middle Rhine valleys. notamermaid

Yes, Pfelling is in Bavaria, Germany and on the navigable (for big ships) Danube between Kelheim and Budapest considered to be the shallowest point. Generally speaking, in autumn when it does not rain in Germany it has a considerable effect downstream all the way into Austria and beyond in that the level gets low everywhere. But of course there are many tributaries between Kelheim and Budapest that play a role so if the weather pattern is unfortunate we also see little rain along those smaller rivers. If the weather pattern is favourable, i.e. it rains in Austria and beyond it is good for the Danube and does not help Pfelling in Germany. There is a drought in much of Europe and too little water in the river basins in other places too. It all plays a part. Austria has several locks and Vienna is not considered a problem area. Budapest and the outskirts upstream can get low and not suitable for river cruise ships with a deep draught. Vilshofen is before Pfelling for you so you will not get to the shallow stretch in Germany on your itinerary. If the level drops low in Budapest a likely scenario is that you will board your ship in Komarno and be picked up by your river cruise line in Budapest by coach to transfer you to the ship. In short, Budapest to Vilshofen is a pleasant and very much sailable itinerary, possibly necessitating not too long a coach ride. Much better than Budapest to Regensburg or Nuremberg. Have a look at the recent roll call for your itinerary (or a similar stretch) to get an idea of what people think of the coach ride. I myself do not see it as a problem. notamermaid

@RiverCruiser36 and @judythg welcome to CC. I stumbled a bit with two people on "1 post" count right after another. Thought the software was having a problem, but I guess we really have two new people. The more the better. To all three of you the tip to join the roll calls, great place for all those tiny little questions, also to past and current cruisers that may not post on this river cruising board. notamermaid

Always good to hear from people on the ground. Budapest to Passau is certainly the more "fortunate" itinerary in this low water. With just a bit of rain in Austria things should be good, I agree. Have a great time, even more so after that really long wait. notamermaid

Lovely. Google tells me Eschelbrun does not exist, could that be Eschelbronn, near Heidelberg? It is a typical region of early emigration to North America. notamermaid

It is September, time to have a look at the Elbe gauge at Dresden for August. In a nutshell: erratic and unusual: While the low trend, the peak due to rain and the otherwise consistently low levels on the Rhine and Danube are clearly visible and can easily be explained, the pattern at Dresden is a weird one and as suggested by the "Niedrigwasserbericht" this was due to the work going on in the Czech Republic and would continue for more weeks. I would say that this is what the first half of August is showing us. It is interesting to note just how much a river can be controlled with large scale alteration like several locks and an adjacent reservoir that diverts some of the flow and retains water. However, the weather pattern changed and rain was able to raise the levels of both the Elbe and the Oder in a more sustained way. The new Niedrigwasserbericht does not mention the works on the reservoirs so the Elbe should react more naturally and the report suggests the latest weather forecast points to the Elbe dropping to lower levels again. notamermaid

My pleasure. Welcome to CruiseCritic. A few more weeks to go till your adventure but as we all know it will be here before you know it. So much planning to do - for most people- when staying away from home for so many days. If you would like to plan more and read about river cruises before you go I recommend the stickies (pinned threads) at the top of this board. You could also join a roll call: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/851-viking-river-roll-calls/ Brief update on Pfelling gauge before I give the monthly summary: better. A small but important little hump in the graph, now at 285cm. Still tight for ships with the deepest draught. Hope you are all getting through. Not easy on the nerves... notamermaid

For those who have not seen it yet, here is the tower (the gauge) at Kaub: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegel_Kaub#/media/Datei:PegelKaubRhein.JPG The castle on the island is Pfalzgrafenstein: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfalzgrafenstein_Castle It is one of the many unusual places open to the public on 11 September as part of the "Tag des offenen Denkmals". These are all places that are listed and protected for their importance to heritage. It can be almost anything, from a castle to a mine to a private house to a ditch in the forest. A guided tour in German is planned: https://programm.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/denkmal/kaub-burg-pfalzgrafenstein Just one of the many objects that would interest me; the water tower in Lahnstein: https://programm.tag-des-offenen-denkmals.de/denkmal/82b62b9b-c696-11ea-ab68-960000611c47 You can roam around the website, there is a useful map, who knows, there might be something open exactly where you will be on that day - if you happen to be on a river cruise on that day or, more practical, on a land trip. notamermaid

Kaub gauge is doing better than the forecast suggested, now at 87cm. Question is: just a higher peak or staying on the higher level for longer? Anyway, going okay for the time being and Saturday looks to be pleasant sailing still but Sunday has the downward trend that, according to the forecast, could see the level dropping below 70cm in the evening. Currently, any rain that could have a major effect is only forecast for later next week, Thursday into Friday. If that will work we will need to wait and see. On the probability modelling, 62cm comes into view for Tuesday/Wednesday but not as a strong likelihood yet. It should be clearer by Sunday what the week will bring. notamermaid

Sometimes it is better not to know I think... Must remember that about the pilot. I have only read about it three times so far. On my river cruise on the Danube I actually asked about the sound that was near the door in our cabin. It sounded like a shower running for hours. She assured me it was not some technical fault in the bathroom next door or so, just the sound travelling up from under the ship. It varies depending on depth and nature of the river bed. Not having been on a ship overnight before I just did not know. notamermaid

The extraordinary grand European journey of the MS Alisa hull part 3 While the news of the blockage occupied the local headlines and even made it into international news (the Rhine as a major transport artery being in focus already due to the low water) the MS Alisa was waiting in Bingen. By early evening the barge had passed and the river around Rüdesheim filled with ships. The backlog was mostly cleared within a few fours hours and just before 19.50 the Johanna with hull attached sailed away in the light of the evening sun, downstream into the Rhine Gore. This is her just before she left: So would she actually sail all the way, or stop at a nearby dock? I could not be sure so waited to see where she may pop up again with a terrestrial signal. The following morning I had backtracked the signal but could not be sure the Johanna still had the MS Alisa attached. Again, ship spotters came to the rescue. They informed the community on the Danube transport from where I was able to follow her path. This time it was downstream from Cologne that the info came from. Yes, the MS Alisa was still there. On the Lower Rhine it must have been a relatively fast run to the Netherlands as she is reported to have arrived at Gendt on 19 August. Much of the info I have given here comes from the „Binnenschifferforum“ where they track hulls, Kaskotransport is the word. This is the page of the MS Alisa: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?111874-Alisa-–-FGKS-Kasko When the hull has been turned into a fully functioning ship she will be given a naming ceremony and deployed on the Rhine and Moselle. But who knows, she may return to Serbia for a brief visit on an itinerary some time. If you are interested, you can look up her sailing dates for next year already: https://www.phoenixreisen.com/?pm=uebersicht&source=widget&searchShipIds=1000252 When she is an official river cruise ship she will be given her own page within the section of passenger ships under A, the link to the full list: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/forumdisplay.php?1059-Passagierschiffe-Fahrgastschiffe So to conclude: a river cruise ship of 135m length made it through two shallows in extremely low water, one on the Danube and one on the Rhine, despite the size, when other ships needed to wait for the rivers to rise. She was sailed with much reduced draught, i.e .less than we know from other river cruise ships as she is only a hull at this time. The logistics are standard for this kind of transport but in a weird twist in this low water the hull stayed the same but the ship swap happened with the helper ships twice while you as a passenger needed to swap your „real“ ship twice on the Grand European. What she has not got compared to a fully functioning river cruise ship made the MS Alisa able to sail and have her extraordinary grand European journey. notamermaid

I tend not to look at weather forecasts further than four days out, they become tentative. But there are several weather sites that give relatively good info, like accuweather. I use German ones. I do not see much rain forecast for next week for the areas that matter. From Wednesday onwards it looks like drizzle to me. If we got widespread rain for two days all over the High Rhine, Lake Constance, Basel, the Upper Rhine and the Middle Rhine, as well as the Neckar and the Main rivers, that would be very useful. The main thing that needs to happen is moderate amounts over a long time, i.e. not a downpour of two hours. Downpours fill the rivers, widespread rain feeds the ground and raises the water table. We need moisture. That is the problem in autumn and this year it is extreme due to lack of rainfall in Spring. There does not seem to be much hope built into the computer modelling at Maxau gauge for rain raising the level substantially going into the weekend and next week: Computer modelling at Kaub shows a similar picture, so neither Neckar nor Main have much additional water to give the Rhine. Both rivers join between Maxau and Kaub from the East, i.e. are right tributaries. The only good news is that 60cm and lower at Kaub (which we had in August) is still highly unlikely. While the Danube at Pfelling is a nerve-wrecking scenario, the Rhine is for the time being a little more stable, albeit on a slightly worrying low level. I think we need to see if the weather forecast changes by Sunday and then basically wait how much rain actually comes down next week. River level modelling on Monday should give us better ideas what to expect but it still needs to be read with caution. Note that the river level forecast is updated every morning. Maxau that is, Kaub is done time stamp midnight, but I read it the next morning. notamermaid

A-Rosa Sena gets certification that awards ships for "looking after the environment": https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/latest-a-rosa-ship-receives-top-green-certification notamermaid

I will throw in a brief update at this point and get back to the MS Alisa later. Kaub gauge, stable, now at 83cm. Forecast suggests minimal change for the worse and then a slight rise for tomorrow, afternoon on Friday reaching 84cm. Saturday minimal change with Sunday potentially falling below 80cm again. Weather forecast: rain coming from France tomorrow, reaching the Upper Rhine valley on Saturday. notamermaid

Brief update. Pfelling gauge is at 272cm. Currently virtually no rain over the Danube basin in Germany. Rain coming into Germany from France tomorrow, probably reaching the Danube going into Saturday. notamermaid

The extraordinary grand European journey of the MS Alisa hull part 2 Having found the great webcam at Bingen a while ago, which is just opposite Rüdesheim on the Rhine, I thought this would give me a good chance to try and spot the barge with the hull of the MS Alisa. The archived shots that you can retrieve are in ten minute intervalls and that means that most ships that sail past there are caught on camera, either small or clearly discernible. I was lucky and the Johanna was photographed in full view in great sunrise pink hue, I just added a bit of zoom to get her closer: Now here comes the „maritime engineering“ bit: the Johanna II is clearly carrying little load herself and much of her hull is exposed. Look at the hull of the MS Asara. She is sitting very high in the water, I mean a high ratio of black against white paint, more than you normally see when river cruise ships are sailing. Delighted, I assumed that it must be possible for her to sail through on that day. I found the time stamped photo around lunchtime and by then knew that double-width and extended length ships are allowed and able to sail the Rhine Gorge. It was on that morning (early hours) that a barge of similar dimension had come upstream and due to a technical failure had had an emergency stop at Oberwesel, blocking the Rhine Gorge passage for all ships! If the MS Alisa wouldn’t be able to sail through the Gorge on that day, it was not due her being too large or having too much draught. No chance of getting further that morning, the Johanna with the MS Alisa docked at Bingen and waited for things to come, i.e. the barge, having been cleared by police launch to proceed, to slowly sail past Bingen and clear the navigation channel. To be continued. notamermaid P.S. In post #909 it should read KV Johanna and Johanna II (not KVB)

Just reading that makes me nervous. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Amsterdam and have a good journey home. notamermaid

Thanks, never heard of them before. Looks interesting. notamermaid

Lovely. Have a wonderful cruise. It was a great experience to wake up in the morning, open the curtains and see the embankment at Bratislava. Never having done a river cruise before I really enjoyed that new special moment. The castle is really nice, with a great view. We rode a little train up the hill. notamermaid

The extraordinary grand European journey of the MS Alisa hull part 1 The MS Alisa has been ordered by Phoenix Reisen. Her hull was built by the Vahali shipyards in Serbia; the Vahali shipyards in Gendt, Netherlands (the original location) will do the outftting. This has been a standard procedure for some years now. The MS Alisa left Serbia in July , pushed by Argo, and got as far Linz. There the journey had to be interrupted as the Argo had developed technical problems. Luckily, the stop was not too long as the Argo was several days later spotted with the hull in Regensburg on 7 August. This already tells us that the MS Alisa went through the low stretch around Pfelling when (most likely) no other 135m river cruise ship did. The level at the gauge there was between 240cm and 250cm when the Argo pushed her through. So the Rhine would be okay, right? We will come to that later. First, the Main Danube Canal and the Main river. As has happended with previous hulls, the MS Alisa got a new push boat, the Zasavica III at Regensburg. The journey along the the canal and river was uneventful as far as I can tell. A few days later, at Gustavsburg, just past the last lock on the Main river, the MS Alisa got a new carrier, a barge that would help her down the Rhine towards Gendt. I have seen this procedure at Gustavsburg with hulls before but do not know why it is a barge instead of a pushboat that is used on the Rhine. So which one would have the responsibility of taking the MS Alisa to Gendt? As we have read, it was the KVB Johanna and Johanna II, meaning a combined barge. By the time pushboat and hull reached Gustavsburg, the Rhine had lost so much water that it was almost as bad as Pfelling. At the time I did not know if the authorities on the Rhine put restrictions on double-width and extended length barges, so I was eager to find out what would happen and not being able to see the changeover at Gustavsburg did not know which barge it would be and when exactly the journey continue. Would they really sail her alongside a barge? The barge should be able to sail with its hull construction but would the MS Alisa really sail/be sailed when the level at Kaub is only 34cm, I mean it is a different river with different shallows and bends? The day turned out to be the 17th of August and things – again – did not go as planned. To be continued. notamermaid

Full story coming up... I should have been clearer when I posted before. Small river cruise ships have been sailing the Rhine Gorge in these low waters as well as the lightly loaded cargo ships (like the Johanna) but some 110m river cruise ships struggled and stopped as well as all the 135m river cruise ships as far as I can ascertain. notamermaid

That is a pity. With there having been rain in Austria I thought it may hold. Esztergom has got a gauge so let us have a look at it today: Hmm, really looks to have gone done significantly compared to previous days. But the forecast looks promising. On my cruise we left the ship at Esztergom, saw the Basilica, which is a great edifice, toured the countryside, stopped briefly at Szentendre and arrived at Budapest with our coach being late for lunch because we were stuck in traffic somewhere on the outskirts of the city. Highly interesting morning which gave us a great introduction to Hungary. notamermaid

I enjoyed Esztergom. The basilica is fabulous. We had a good guide there. The town was also quite interesting. notamermaid

Brief update on Pfelling gauge: 288cm. Could be getting tight for a few ships. Rain visible on the radar image, sweeping over the southern half of Bavaria. This volume of water should reach the area of the shallow stretch during tomorrow. Perhaps some rain will directly hit Straubing to Vilshofen. But it looks as if it may not be in time to keep the level at Pfelling stable during today. notamermaid