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Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics


notamermaid
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The storm is behind us and the valley is sunny again. But the weather has turned to autumn, the nights will now stay cool or chilly. The temperatures in the afternoon will rise again and could reach 24 degrees in some parts of the valley. And from tomorrow onwards almost no rain is forecast for four days.

 

 

The river level at Maxau took a turn for the worse yesterday morning. By late afternoon the Middle Rhine valley levels were already showing a reaction to the rain. With the Upper Rhine valley getting the storm a bit later Maxau reacted with a rise during the night. Both Kaub and Koblenz now have (on paper) their guaranteed navigation channel depth again and Maxau is due to rise to that level soon. For now it is looking promising for river cruisers. Will it hold or will the levels fall again from tomorrow as no rain is forecast? We will need to see what Lake Constance and the tributaries up to Bingen - where the Nahe joins the Rhine as the last significant river before the Rhine gorge - can provide.

 

 

 

The current levels: Maxau 366cm, Kaub 79cm, Koblenz 92cm. This is still low but certainly better than 48 hours ago.

 

 

 

notamermaid

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Many thanks for your continued and thorough updates, notamermaid.

 

I called Viking today because our guest information forms suddenly indicated that they were incomplete. The representative kindly fixed the issue which wasn't visible on my end.

 

While I had him on the phone, I asked if he had heard anything about potential ship-swaps or other modifications to our cruise. He indicated that there haven't been any modifications for Rhine cruises in the last couple of weeks and it is early, but so far so good. He said we should be glad we aren't on the Danube or Elbe as things aren't going so well for guests booked on those cruises.

 

Still hoping for rain for the Rhine!

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Many thanks for your continued and thorough updates, notamermaid.

 

I called Viking today because our guest information forms suddenly indicated that they were incomplete. The representative kindly fixed the issue which wasn't visible on my end.

 

While I had him on the phone, I asked if he had heard anything about potential ship-swaps or other modifications to our cruise. He indicated that there haven't been any modifications for Rhine cruises in the last couple of weeks and it is early, but so far so good. He said we should be glad we aren't on the Danube or Elbe as things aren't going so well for guests booked on those cruises.

 

Still hoping for rain for the Rhine!

 

I have defended Viking's credibility often, but this morning I saw this on their Updated Itineraries page:

 

"While the unseasonably hot and dry weather in Europe resulted in low water levels on several rivers earlier this summer, recent rains have improved conditions significantly.

As water levels continue to rise, most sections of the rivers are now stable, making sailing through possible. We expect most itineraries will resume regular operations in the coming weeks."

 

I realize Viking needs to be optimistic, but I take exception to the word "significantly". In any case, I consider this notice to be the work of one person. I'm not going to change my opinion of the entire organization. Viking is still a class act up close and personal, but the greater the distance from the actual customer, the less friendly they seem.

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I have defended Viking's credibility often, but this morning I saw this on their Updated Itineraries page:

 

"While the unseasonably hot and dry weather in Europe resulted in low water levels on several rivers earlier this summer, recent rains have improved conditions significantly.

As water levels continue to rise, most sections of the rivers are now stable, making sailing through possible. We expect most itineraries will resume regular operations in the coming weeks."

 

I realize Viking needs to be optimistic, but I take exception to the word "significantly". In any case, I consider this notice to be the work of one person. I'm not going to change my opinion of the entire organization. Viking is still a class act up close and personal, but the greater the distance from the actual customer, the less friendly they seem.

 

That language has been there for a while. Interestingly enough I got the same response verbatim from the person responsible for monitoring the Viking FB page when I asked about Rhine water levels on one of their posts a few days ago. That response oddly came to me via PM and I replied that Avalon's page seemed to be more forthcoming about the possibility of ships swaps etc. for Rhine cruises. I got a little more personal answer after that and certainly a more honest answer when I spoke with them live today. I know that the truth isn't always the most marketable approach, but it's what counts the most to me.

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That language has been there for a while. Interestingly enough I got the same response verbatim from the person responsible for monitoring the Viking FB page when I asked about Rhine water levels on one of their posts a few days ago. That response oddly came to me via PM and I replied that Avalon's page seemed to be more forthcoming about the possibility of ships swaps etc. for Rhine cruises. I got a little more personal answer after that and certainly a more honest answer when I spoke with them live today. I know that the truth isn't always the most marketable approach, but it's what counts the most to me.
I agree ~ we spoke with Viking yesterday and heard the same. We're still on track to leave Friday for Amsterdam ~ praying that water levels will be ok on the Rhine! I'll do my best to post an accurate picture too...

 

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I agree ~ we spoke with Viking yesterday and heard the same. We're still on track to leave Friday for Amsterdam ~ praying that water levels will be ok on the Rhine! I'll do my best to post an accurate picture too...

 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Forums mobile app

 

Sure hope the prayers work. I'm not sure why I am torturing myself by doing this but I just read the last couple of entries on the Danube low water thread and UKgolfer posted this two days ago:

 

"We left Amsterdam on the Emerald Sky on the 19th and got as far as Koln. They bused us to a local tour ship so we could sail the middle Rhine past all the castles. Spoke to a Viking cruise director who said they got through but their ship was scraping the bottom and the levels in the middle Rhine are still dropping so ships cannot now really get upsteam of Koblenz. Therefore they can not reach the Main where the levels are fine."

 

Was feeling more hopeful before this. I think I need to step away from the keyboard for a while :o

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The Viking Tialfi is currently docked in Mannheim after leaving Strasbourg last night. We received the good news right before Monday night’s dinner that Sunday’s rain raised the river 15 cm adding enough depth for us to proceed through to Amsterdam. Upon boarding in Basel, we were informed we may have to complete a ship swap with our sister ship, the Alruna. So the rain was very welcome and we are happy to be continuing with our cruise as originally planned. Here’s hoping all other cruisers have the same luck.

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Greetings from the cool Rhine valley bathed in sunshine. This morning was one of those early autumn days when the difference in temperature between the river and the air makes for those lovely floating mists on the river. It is those occasions when even the industrial parts of the river take on this mysterious romantic air and give you a poetic outlook on the valley. :) A deep breath... and we are back onto more practical matters.

 

To perhaps help with understanding the somewhat generic but truthful message on the Viking website I would like to show you the graph for Maxau gauging station. The levels on the Rhine have risen enough for companies to be confident and "improved conditions significantly" the rain really has. The level at Maxau peaked at 418cm this morning. Have a look at this: https://screenshots.firefox.com/R1zaS4pg0GRtktAw/www.pegelonline.wsv.de

 

The river levels right now are better for river cruising but certainly still low. But that is the point, for river cruising the conditions are significantly better than three days ago.

 

The figures: Maxau 409cm, Kaub 85cm, Koblenz 75cm.

 

Ok, Kaub does not look brilliant and Koblenz has gone done again, but the good thing is the fact that most of the rain hit the valley South of Koblenz, so while the rain that came down directly in the gorge and around it has drained off by now, the wave from Maxau is still to come into the gorge. The problem will be to back it up with more rain. But that is not in sight for a couple of days more. With those figures we still cannot know if there will be enough water for all the large river cruise ships next week but for now we can look forward to easier conditions, certainly.

 

 

By the way, Germany got the first snow of the season yesterday, on the Fichtelberg in the Ore mountains that border on the Czech Republic. The mountain is 1200m high.

 

azbirdmom,

 

Ukgolfer's post about the Viking ship scraping the bottom of the river bed made me shudder. Sand and gravel is fine (sort of), but you do not want to scrape rock... Anyway it seems to have been fine in the end and the situation is in the past as around the 20th September the ships in the Rhine gorge had to deal with levels lower than they are now: https://screenshots.firefox.com/DTqeckC0npV9Yq2v/www.pegelonline.wsv.de

 

 

ElliBellieFloats,

 

a 15cm rise it is indeed (and a little more now). See graph above. So everything really looks good for your cruise and I am sure the crew is relieved not to help with swapping luggage. Have a great time, it is going to be lovely and sunny in the Rhine gorge. A bit chilly on the sundeck if you go in the morning but I think Viking provides warm drinks from what I remember from older reviews. :)

 

notamermaid

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notamermaid: You are very right. Great news! Several Viking ships have made it down the Rhine Gorge, now docked at Koblenz. But my cruise is still a month away, so fingers crossed for more bad (good) weather. Need the Danube to follow suit.

 

You spoke of river bottoms. Are the shallower parts of the Rhine composed of bedrock? Is that why there is no dredging? Never mind cruising, I'd think it would make commercial sense to deepen the channels where possible. I'm curious, and you are a wealth of knowledge.

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austinetc,

 

there is indeed bedrock in the Rhine gorge. Actually, a famous reef of quartzite rock running at an ankle towards the flow of the river marks the entrance to the Rhine gorge from the South. It is called the Binger Loch. It is underneath you somewhere when you travel past the Mouse Tower on the island at Bingen. Not too worry, it was blasted away in the 17th century, i.e. a hole (Loch in German) was created to ease navigation. The remaining part of the reef is in the part of the river that is not used as the navigation channel. The gorge has a wide range of depths and has shallows as well as one of the deepest ravines on the whole river. There are a few deeper ones around the Swiss/German border.

 

As regards deepening the navigation channel: it is tricky, time-consuming and very expensive but it has been considered to deepen the channel from 1.90m to 2.10m. I am not sure how far these plans are...

 

notamermaid

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To all - We were fortunate to complete our Basel to Amsterdam cruise on the Viking Alruna without incident. We began in Basel on September 15 and ended in Amsterdam on September 22. I think the crew probably had some careful steering through the gorge. On both of our two extra days in Amsterdam, it rained but at the wrong end of the Rhine.

 

Good sailing to everyone!

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Hello Notamermaid,

 

I want to thank you for all the information you have been posting on the Rhine river. We are scheduled for an Avalon Amsterdam to Basel cruise leaving on 30 Sep and arriving in Basel on Oct 7. (Ship is the Felicity).

 

You know so much about the Rhine and about cruising. This is our first river cruise. Is there any advice or suggestions you can give us about things to do or things to avoid?

 

Thanks again,

 

Alec Jason

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To all - We were fortunate to complete our Basel to Amsterdam cruise on the Viking Alruna without incident. We began in Basel on September 15 and ended in Amsterdam on September 22. I think the crew probably had some careful steering through the gorge. On both of our two extra days in Amsterdam, it rained but at the wrong end of the Rhine.

 

Good sailing to everyone!

 

Thanks for sharing the good news! Hope you enjoyed your trip. Fingers crossed that the rest of us are as fortunate.

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To all - We were fortunate to complete our Basel to Amsterdam cruise on the Viking Alruna without incident. We began in Basel on September 15 and ended in Amsterdam on September 22. I think the crew probably had some careful steering through the gorge. On both of our two extra days in Amsterdam, it rained but at the wrong end of the Rhine.

 

Good sailing to everyone!

AztecDuo ~ we're due to leave on Friday....haven't heard anything from Viking yet ..our route is Amsterdam to Basel on the Alruna. We are watching this board for any updates!

 

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AztecDuo ~ we're due to leave on Friday....haven't heard anything from Viking yet ..our route is Amsterdam to Basel on the Alruna. We are watching this board for any updates!

 

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Alruna will be in Basel this sat sept 29... You will prob board the tialfi ... We are on it now and will arrive in Amsterdam sat..

We were able to sail through ... Today we do the Rhine gorge. Has been a great cruise so far... You will love it

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Alruna will be in Basel this sat sept 29... You will prob board the tialfi ... We are on it now and will arrive in Amsterdam sat..

We were able to sail through ... Today we do the Rhine gorge. Has been a great cruise so far... You will love it

Thank you russandcheryl,

I've been so obsessed with reading all of these posts I haven't even taken the time to get excited yet....the ship doesn't matter to us, but being safe and reasonably on plan would be nice.

Safe travels to you!

 

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Hello CSINC,

 

welcome to the river cruising board. And thank you for your kind words. Happy to help.

 

Hello Notamermaid,

 

I want to thank you for all the information you have been posting on the Rhine river. We are scheduled for an Avalon Amsterdam to Basel cruise leaving on 30 Sep and arriving in Basel on Oct 7. (Ship is the Felicity).

 

You know so much about the Rhine and about cruising. This is our first river cruise. Is there any advice or suggestions you can give us about things to do or things to avoid?

 

Thanks again,

 

Alec Jason

 

I have actually only done one river cruise, see my signature. But like so many others I got hooked on the subject and fully intend to do another one some time. I saying this to show you that I do not know "my" river in and out, I have actually never been to Amsterdam or Basel. But let's see, here are some tips of mine for your cruise. I believe it is this one: https://www.avalonwaterways.com/river-cruise/romantic-rhine-southbound/waz/

 

Amsterdam: one recommendation I picked up from past cruisers is do not ever walk on cycle paths, Amsterdam is bicycle-city!

 

From Amsterdam heading to Cologne you are first not on the Rhine but the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal which only dates from 1952. Some say this is boring others find it interesting.

 

Cologne is old, but unless you know where they are, you will have a hard time finding the scattered Roman building remains. Apart from the stunning Cathedral I therefore recommend a trip to the museum next to it where many Roman artefacts where moved to, the museum itself is built on top of some finds in fact: http://www.roemisch-germanisches-museum.de/Homepage Or if that appeals to you more, take a walk across the Hohenzollern Bridge to take a photo of the skyline. I like shopping in Cologne but never go along Hohe Straße as it is full of tourists ;), I take a side street to get to Kaufhof and Schildergasse.

 

A walking tour in Koblenz is nice but if time works out I would try to get to Ehrenbreitstein fortress on the cable car for the view.

 

The Rhine Gorge speaks for itself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhine_Gorge If you would like to see details of the castles close up take some small pocket binoculars. It can be chilly on the sundeck, you might want a scarf or similar if you easily feel the cold. Good shoes are always recommended by cruisers to manage the long walks on cobblestones.

 

I have expressed a dislike of Rüdesheim in the past as it has become too touristy for me but if you are prepared for that it can be fun especially when you have a walk into the vineyards. I have not been to the musical instruments museum.

 

I like Mainz and a guided tour is a good introduction to the town. Heidelberg I do not know but it is loved by almost everyone who has told us about their cruise.

 

I would definitely take the excursion into the Alsace wine country, the villages are delightful.

 

In Breisach the excursion to the open-air museum of life in the past sounds intriguing. I have not done this particular one but similar ones and love looking at those places.

 

River cruising is totally different from ocean cruising past cruisers have told us. Whether you have been on an ocean cruise before or not I highly recommend our host jazzbeau's introductory pages to river cruising, those are the stickies at the top of the main page. There is a wealth of information in there.

 

One general tip: you do not have to do all the excursions or feel obliged to stay with the guide the whole time. Politely excuse yourself so they know you are leaving (to look at something of particular interest to you, etc.) but make sure you know where and when you have to be back at the ship (it could move within the port) and allow for plenty of time to get back!

 

 

I am sure you will really enjoy this cruise and if you have a particular question about a port do have a look at the river cruise ports section. For something that you think you cannot find the answer to you can also start a new thread with your question.

 

notamermaid

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Thank you everyone for reporting from your cruise or after you have just returned. It is great to read that most of you have been able to sail without interruption or ship swap. Crystal is - it seems deliberately - the odd one out with pro-actively changing the cruise from Basel to Amsterdam into Koblenz - Amsterdam or even Amsterdam round trip.

 

 

The river levels: Maxau 369cm, Kaub 83cm, Koblenz 74cm. The river levels are forecast to rise at Kaub and Koblenz still and then fall again towards the weekend as little to no rain is forecast.

 

 

notamermaid

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Notamermaid and fellow travelers,

We have just returned from Scenic 14 day Romantic Rhine/Moselle itinerary. Aboard Jewel, we left Amsterdam on 9/10, and disembarked in Basel on 9/24. We had one deviation from our itinerary. We briefly docked in Andernach, tied up to the Ruby for a few hours, but was given clearance to transit the Rhine Gorge later that day. The Captain told us that is the lowest water level he had sailed in, at one point having only 40 CM of water below us! Due to being behind schedule, we had to skip Rudesheim. Overall, it was a wonderful cruise and the Scenic staff was warm and helpful. I will be posting a trip review with specifics of our excursions, as it seems that info may be useful to others still in the planning stages. Best wishes to those with upcoming trips!

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CSINC,

 

 

Thank you so much. Seeing all those lovely posted photos of menus and food plates I would love to take you up on the offer. :)

 

Come to think of it, some lines have quite strict rules now I read, about having visitors onboard. I had a look at the Viking Rinda's lounge a few years ago but read in at least one small print page a while ago that you cannot meet friends and relatives onboard. A couple years ago I spoke to such a visitor (German) and he had picked up his friends at the ship, not going onboard.

 

Anyway, if I happen to be out and about when your ship sails through my area I shall wave vigorously. If another passenger points out a mad woman waving from the embankment you will know it's me. :D

 

notamermaid

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We depart the US for Basel - Amsterdam on September 29th. I just got an email from Viking that our ship has been swapped with another (no big deal) and because the water levels are so low, we may have to do a mid-cruise ship swap to avoid the affected area. I hope we don't wind up on a bus for an extended period. Keeping our fingers crossed.

 

Notamermaid - thanks for all of your local insight!

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The question by austinetc about bedrock reminded me that I had promised myself to post some info about the difference between what the gauge says, the depth of the navigation channel and the actual depth of the river. So, here goes, another "lesson in sailing the Rhine river":

 

 

When the gauge at Kaub shows 65cm, can one cross the river on foot?

 

In August the Federal Institute of Hydrology published a paper with the title "Can one soon cross the Rhine at Kaub on foot?": https://www.elwis.de/DE/Startseite/Kaub-Rhein-%C3%BCberqueren.pdf;jsessionid=1CE7098C6433C2AA042C6FBF3E92E0E0.server2t2?__blob=publicationFile&v=2

 

 

Have a look at the drawing. It shows a cut through the river at Kaub, with the width of the river being 322.27m. To keep it is easy I would just like to draw your attention to the uneven line in blue that is the river bed at Kaub. The red line marks the 78cm Glw river level meaning that at this height the navigation channel has its desired (by the authorities) depth of 1.90m. The red box is the navigation channel. So the width of the navigation channel is around 120m. Now imagine the red line moving downwards to represent the lower river level of 65cm. That is done in the second drawing, showing you how to calculate the new depth. The navigation channel is now only 1.77m. Not only is it shallower but also narrower making it more dangerous to navigate with more shallows of gravel and rock coming up closer to the ships bottom. But it is still ok for sailing depending on your ship and your skill.

 

 

 

So to cross the river you not only need to get through the shallow parts but also the deeper navigation channel and the ravine underneath it.

 

 

It does not work, you still need to swim to cross the river at Kaub!

 

 

The reason for the gauge being a different figure that seems so much smaller than the actual depth of the river is how it has been related to the mean sea level, giving very different gauges along the river and many, many different calculations when sailing along the stretches with differing navigation channel depths.

 

 

It hope the drawing also helps to explain how ships can get stuck when leaving the navigation channel. Another such incident happened at Rüdesheim on Saturday afternoon. I do not know which ship it was but from reports it is clear that with the number of people involved (225) it most likely was a 135m one. It was towed free by a tugboat from what was most likely a gravel deposit and noone was injured. It happened during a turning manoeuvre.

 

 

Gravel and sand are regularly re-deposited from the river's flow and from ship propellers. Captains have access online to daily updates of such dangerous spots and other important data relating to the navigation channel and embankments. That is the website ELWIS from the German authorities for example, where I also got the publication that I have linked above from. The original publisher of the paper is the Federal Institute of Hydrology that had embedded it in its update on low water levels dated 9 August 2018.

 

 

 

If you have any questions, ask away, this laywoman will try to answer. If needs be I will pass them on to my acquaintance in hydrology, an engineer.

 

 

Now onto the levels as of this afternoon: Maxau 361cm, an unexpected drop that clearly surprised the experts as the forecast 24 hours ago looked quite a bit better. Kaub at 86cm is looking ok, Koblenz at 80cm is going down but it could be just fluctuating during the day and be a little higher tomorrow morning.

 

 

I had expected a bit more from the recent rain, a bit disappointing, we need more rain to keep the levels at this height. On the general map I cannot see any rain for the next three days, which is fairly accurate, but isolated showers could happen.

 

 

Now I am off to the shops walking under a cloudless sky in lovely sunshine.

 

 

notamermaid

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