austinetc

Arrived in Amsterdam for our Oct 26th A-B Grand European Tour.  Waiting for us was an email from Viking.

Friday hotel somewhere in Amsterdam (not specified).  Saturday bus to ship in Mainz with a tour and lunch in Cologne. Sunday a boat tour down river to Koblenz. Lunch and tour of Marksburg Castle. Bus return to Mainz. Monday tour of Mainz and the Gutenberg Museum.  They confirmed the ship swap in Passau and that the ship would end short of Budapest with hotel stays there.  25% credit for a future cruise.

Our start date is one of the few times Viking has two ships going at the same time from both ends.  I'll be curious how the other ship's passengers are handled.  Viking has six ships available forthe Amsterdam to Koblenz run, covering both the A-B and A-Basel cruises.

I'm not angry with Viking, though I certainly would like to know in advance the hotel they have us staying in.  Near city center or not?  Otherwise, it is what it is.  Life is a bowl of cherries.  There's got to be a few pits.

I agree, but hope springs eternal.  I'm less than completely pessimistic because 1) a rapid drop presages a rapid rise, 2) the Rhine's catchment area seems less absorbent, meaning more rapid runoff, and 3) I want it to happen.

2 minutes ago, Laura Macky said:

 

Not to be pessimistic but the water levels are so low that the showers predicted will probably not do much for the water levels.

Oh, be a pessimist.  Let the cruise lines own optimism.  I'm sick of their rosy predictions.  While I'd agree that the Danube's low water is not going away with just a few showers, the Rhine Gorge hasn't been closed nearly as long.  So I'm going to wonder about the science.  Neither pessimist nor optimist.

The is rain forecast!  Reliable amounts.  But is it too late?  The rain is forecast to begin falling on the 27th, from Cologne to Basel.  My  ship is scheduled to pass through the Rhine Gorge on the 30th.  It's not going to help?

I fear it will be too little, too late.  I imagine us doing tours, cruising the river, riding buses, all in the rain.  But I hope whatever rain that comes helps the locals. 

16 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

I have finally found some info on German companies and how they fare. But more on that later.

 

notamermaid

 

I've been looking for data that compares average monthly rainfall with this year's actual monthly totals.  Goal is to show how many consecutive months of below average (way below average?) rainfall there has been this year.  I'm essentially trying to do the cruise lines' work for them to explain why their behavior has appeared so apathetic and optimistic.

Host JazzBeau: Excellent synopsis.  Agree on all points.  

6 minutes ago, Laura Macky said:

I think river cruises are overly optimistic with carrying on with their cruises.  The water levels in the Rhine are awful.  We just got back yesterday and our trip was scheduled through the 23rd.  We did a ship swap even during the short time we were there and they did the best they could with side trips but it wasn’t the same.  

 

If you think you will be cruising in the next few weeks I would probably do a LOT of research.  Water level websites are not updated often enough and the cruise lines will be overly optimistic.  I believe they are this way to reduce their losses. 

 

Get trip insurance!!!

Part of the problem is differing expectations.  There are plenty of people who just want to get away.  Or they've planned pre- and post- travel around the cruises.  Or they're happy to have a little less fulfilling cruise if they can get a goodly amount of credit for their next cruise.  (Or they have a fetish for buses?)  To assume that everyone would rather stay home than have a less than ideal trip is to assume that everyone likes the color red.  It doesn't work that way.  That said, corporate offices of all cruise lines have totally screwed up their reputations by either not providing news or providing overly hopeful news.  I suppose they have financial people who encourage a middle ground between getting their money and losing their reputation.

Weather forecasts seem to become consistent in predicting some days of actual rain in the next two weeks.  I'm taking that to mean things won't get worse.  "Getting better" is more than one can hope for.  Unless you work at a cruise line's corporate office.

1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

The rafting (correct name for thethering) is not only due to the number of cruise boats floating (or  not) around, but is the current situation where many ports and moorings cannot be reached because of the lower water levels.

 

PS. Please let us know how you get on with Him about the deceit issue.

 

Regarding "rafting".  I agree that it's the proper term, but for some reason in the U.S. Navy it was (and is?) called "nesting". Don't know why.  For months I though everyone was wrong to use rafting. Live and learn.

10 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Hello Cobbie48,

since we spoke KD has announced that they are "ending the season early" due to the low water levels. I am glad to read that you are able to sail still with the Bingen-Rüdesheimer line tomorrow. They all end the season on Sunday. The weather is lovely, have a great trip tomorrow.

 

notamermaid

 

notamermaid, what do you mean "they all end the season Sunday"?  I'm hoping you don't mean that all local riverboats ceased sailing through the Gorge.  I'm counting on Viking being able to find one for us in a few weeks during our A-B cruise.

I don't have any firm answer, but you should call the ship; you should have its phone number in the cruise documents.  (It's possible you won't be on the ship your documents say you'll be on, but they'll know the phone number of the one you will be on.)  I would guess that they won't let you on until the day that everyone from Budapest arrives.  Ship routine changes dramatically from empty to full.  I doubt that they'd want or be able to accommodate a handful of passengers.  But who knows.  This year the exceptions outnumber the norms.

I'm getting pretty good at tracking ships.  There are six Viking ships downriver from the Rhine Gorge.  Three ships are supposed to depart from Amsterdam in the next two days; two for Basel, the other for Budapest.  There is only one ship in Amsterdam (Eir).  She appeared to stick to the proper schedule from Cologne with a four hour stop in Kinderdijk today (Thursday).  Two ships are heading north.  One just left Dusseldorf (Mimir), which is where it arrived this morning from the north.  I assume traffic slowed her down so she couldn't reach Cologne or Koblenz in time to disembark passengers in those locations.   Or perhaps that bomb had something to do with it.  Another ship just left Koblenz (Hlin), which I guess means she'll have to move fast to arrive in Amsterdam by Saturday.  Hope they don't find another bomb.

None of these ships are the ones that were scheduled to pick up passengers this weekend.  Hurrah for Viking and their identical ships.

5 minutes ago, TakResiuc said:

Hello there, I am due to sail from Amsterdam to Basel, departing Sunday the 21st. Was curious if there is any hope of Not doing the ship swap I was notified may happen. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

 

Kathie 

Sailing VR-Kara, now Hiln 

I see no hope.  

I've already realized that this drought is much worse for the locals than it is for we who are only on vacation.  In sympathy, whenever I walk into a pub, I plan to look around to make sure its empty, then shout "Getränke sind auf mich!"  I'll feel better.

Does anyone have knowledge of transits from Amsterdam to Koblenz? I've heard that traffic and port space are issues, but is the river still navigable?  There is now new low water issues south of Mainz which makes Amsterdam to Basel cruises problematic.  But our cruise hangs a left at Mainz on the way to Budapest.  

I'm envisioning the current optimal process as Amsterdam to Koblenz, swap to Mainz, Mainz to outside Nuremberg, swap to Passau, Passau to Vienna, swap to Budapest.  Three non-excursion bus rides.  It's horrible that I'm considering this to be the best that can happen.

3 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

That is frustrating, but I'm not surprised.

We are booked out of Amsterdam on the 10th November, 2 weeks after you and I'm waiting for the same thing to be honest.

Once the Rhine Gorge became impassible for them that pretty much put an end to the cruises out of Amsterdam sadly.

Ships are still getting to Koblenz?  I've counted cruises versus ships north of the Gorge and determined that Viking has an adequate fleet to satisfy all the cruises out of Amsterdam, if there is water under the keel.

15 minutes ago, SuzieQK said:

We are supposed to leave on Avalon’s Panorama on Wednesday next week from Budapest to Prague. Our travel agent informed us yesterday that we wouldn’t be boarding in Budapest, but staying overnight for 2 nights in a hotel TBA. We will then be bussed to Vienna to board a ship(don’t know if it will be the Panorama), missing Bratslova altogether. Keeping an open mind.

I think other cruises bused people back from Vienna to tour Bratislava.

54 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Not quite. The Basel area and about two thirds of Switzerland feed the Rhine. East-southeast of Basel is the divide and the drainage system of the Danube. The mountains are called the Swabian Jura and at the closest point Rhine and Danube are only about 60 kilometres away from each other, but I would need to check the figure again.

notamermaid

 

Well, I've pretty much given up on any improvement on the Danube.  But I need this weather front to put its racing shoes on.  My cruise is scheduled to go through the Rhine Gorge on the 30th. I have little hope, but the forecast is better than anything I've seen in a month.

Just in time to not help our cruise, Basel's extended weather forecast from Oct 28th predicts eight out of nine days of some rain, without the words "a little". From what I gather Basel's area feeds both the Rhine and Danube, yes?

One more thing to worry about.  Shutting down the river to detonate more bombs.

https://www.thelocal.de/20181018/record-low-water-levels-expose-world-war-ii-bomb-in-cologne

OnTheWater50: Are you expecting any credit from Viking for future cruises due to the changes?

Record low water in Budapest.  

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-danube/water-level-in-danube-in-budapest-falls-to-record-low-affects-shipping-idUSKCN1MQ16F

It seems clear now that Viking is using Straubing (southeast of Regensburg) as a swapping point for cruisers from the east.  There were three ships there, now one is heading back west.  No other cruise line seems to be doing this yet.  Driving distance is reduced to under 100km from Passau.  Wise, or desperate?  

MarineTraffic is not tracking ships from Linz to Passau.  Mountains?

What are the limitations in navigating the Danube?  Notamermaid has said that the Rhine leaves it to individual captains.  It appears that the Danube is more tightly controlled.

Can anyone who has stayed in a hotel or eaten at a restaurant on Viking's dime answer me this?  Does the establishment understand food sensitivities?  A friend going along has a very severe food disorder.  Shipboard galleys are usually able to accommodate her.  I'm worried that alternative eateries cannot.  Can someone enlighten me?