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Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics


notamermaid
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Please let me know if I'm hogging this thread!

 

Tomorrow - leaving Andenach at 3.45am.Passing Koblenz at 6.00am. From there to Rudesheim we've been told to have earpieces in and cameras ready - Rhine gorge. Loreley rock about 9.00am. 4.30pm on way to Main River.

Sounds to me like everything is on track.

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Oh, good question, I have not looked into that company at all. The five ships they might cruise the Rhine with are all 135m long. That makes them prone to experiencing problems (soon). I have found the Emerald Sky on marinetraffic near Mannheim. You could track her and see how she is doing. According to a couple of websites the draft is 1.45m. That is little and would appear to be the figure when empty. A conflicting figure is 2.10m which would be when full and would put her in the highest catagory. The figure seems a little exaggerated to me but I cannot verify or dismiss it. Unfortunately the shipyard de Hoob does not give the draft in the description.

 

 

The Viking Baldur has left Andernach and is on her way to Koblenz.

 

 

notamermaid

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Keep the info coming, oh muriel. When you are safely in the Main river past Frankfurt you could continue on the Danube thread or stay with us here, or post on both. But more importantly, enjoy the evening and the Rhine gorge! You need to be up early then for Deutsches Eck... Have a good night.

 

I myself shall retire for the day from this thread. :D

 

Safe travels everyone.

 

notamermaid

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I see on Viking's website under "Updates", it says all the current and next day Grand European sailings (Aug 6 and 7) are affected by the low river level. Anyone who's currently on the 6th or recent sailing from Amsterdam that can provide a more accurate update of what Viking is doing to remedy the situation? Swapping ships? Or busing passengers instead to another port?

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Any word on scenic’s boats on the Rhine? We leave in 3 weeks.

 

 

 

Three weeks is an eternity when it comes to water levels. Keep watching this thread and closer to departure you will know more. Good luck! I hope everything works out for you.

 

 

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Back to making the best of this situation (the lemons and the lemonade). The Rhine gorge luckily for everyone is right in the heart of life and a busy artery for traffic, so if you cannot do it on your itinerary you can implement plan B and or C and or D. In brief: The excursion boats can mostly still run and have seating for anything between 50 and 500 passengers. A coach trip is also possible, I hope river cruise companies do not choose the fast route but take you along the Rhine. You can also take fast and slow trains on both sides of the river. A fast train on the main line will give you a view of the Lorelei and if you then wanted to see Marksburg castle on the opposite bank a ferry is available. That ferry is not directly at the foot of Marksburg castle so that needs a bit of careful planning but is doable via switching embankments at Koblenz for example. Long-distance busses are available but might not take in the sights, for that a local bus might be better (but that is time consuming). A rental car is also an alternative, of course.

 

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks notamermaid - appreciate this info

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Please let me know if I'm hogging this thread!

 

Tomorrow - leaving Andenach at 3.45am.Passing Koblenz at 6.00am. From there to Rudesheim we've been told to have earpieces in and cameras ready - Rhine gorge. Loreley rock about 9.00am. 4.30pm on way to Main River.

Sounds to me like everything is on track.

 

Great news, I am following your posts with interest

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Just some info in brief today.

It is up to 38 degrees in the valley today. The river has reacted downstream from Maxau with a drop to its lowest figures this year so far (by one centimetre). A little rain this lunchtime in the Black Forest. Forecast is still for thunderstorms starting late in the day tomorrow and running possibly into Friday in other areas. River to react on Friday with a rise that will last for up to 48 hours followed by a gradual fall. No prediction for next week available yet.

 

notamermaid

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Appreciate that info! We're about to leave Rudesheim after a fabulous day sailing and wandering - let's see what the next few days bring. As we'll leave the Rhine soon I'll continue to post elsewhere with any updates. Thanks all!

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The Aug 11 Grand European voyage from Amsterdam to Budapest on Viking Bragi has been changed to Viking Skadi since Bragi can't make it to Amsterdam due to the low river level. It may involve ship swapping later on the cruise in River Danube but for now it looks like Skadi for sure unless something comes up the last minute.

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A storm is certainly brewing and we experienced the "preliminary rumblings" during the night. Rain and thunderstorms could well come a little earlier than predicted a couple of days ago. There have been localized thunderstorms and the river could well react today and tomorrow. In fact, Maxau is a little higher again at 366cm and predicted to rise a little further. Kaub shows no reaction for the better yet and fell to its lowest this year yet, this morning at 64cm. Koblenz fell to its lowest this year at midnight with 62cm but appears to have reacted to the little rainfall there was with a rise during the morning. Every centimetre counts right now as - to be brutally honest - it is only August and the usual pattern is for low water level more in September running into October or November. By that I mean average lows not these lows. So, it could get worse, I have mentioned the drought in 2003. On 28 September in that year the gauge at Koblenz read 23cm! :eek:

 

But to half fill the glass instead of calling it half empty: we can look forward to lower temperatures and slightly higher levels in the next few days. In our minds, we shall ignore the flip side of the coin of local flooding incidents. Counting the hours till it rains...

 

To follow up on a ship: the Viking Baldur I reported as sailing upstream towards Koblenz. She apparently made it to Mainz yesterday and is now already returning into the gorge or stopping just before in Rüdesheim! (??)

 

 

The drafts of ships, now that is something I will need to come back to in a later post.

 

I have mentioned being able to do the Rhine gorge with your cruise line even though your original ship cannot sail its itinerary. Bussing through the gorge would appear to be the obvious alternative. That is easily done as the road called B9 runs through the Rhine gorge through the villages lining the gorge or leads along the embankment. Of course, you would only see one side of the castle section as the valley is for the most part too narrow to view the castles on your side of the road. Switching embankments is tricky as there are few ferries and no bridges for quite some kilometres. The preferable alternative: another boat. Not every river cruise ship would be able to take advantage of the local excursion boats as they themselves are busy with local tourists but it might be doable for a few and has indeed been done in the past. In 2015 rcaruso reported back that they had done the Rhine gorge on an excursion boat of the company Gilles. That company is conveniently based in Vallendar, just North of Koblenz. Near their base they have a slightly trick part of the river (as it is the side not frequented by the large ships and away from the deeper navigation channel) to negotiate. And here is the junior captain Gilles reporting on turning into the harbour and sailing in low water (in German): https://swrmediathek.de/player.htm?show=a7c77930-9102-11e8-b070-005056a12b4c

 

He says that "sailing in low water is nothing for beginners". The harbour master in Bendorf would like to see some rain, too. And it is said again that swimming in the Rhine in low water stays dangerous, the fast-flowing stream can even pull adults off their feet when wading in the shallow stretches close to the embankment. The television video was filmed on 26 July. Jens Gilles hoped for the levels staying put so that there would not be any problems sailing on the big day in August: Rhine in Flames on the 11th. https://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/home_gb.html As we all know, the level has fallen further since then.

 

The bigger threat to the fireworks display currently is the fire risk and a report has just been published by the event's organizer that the festival will go ahead with adjustments to the sites from where the fireworks are set off to minimize the risk. The ships parade will sail in two rows rather than three due to the low water.

 

Hoping all goes well with that splendid event.

 

By the way, sailing on the Rhine is suspended for all ships that are not part of the parade for the duration of the event (a few hours).

 

notamermaid

 

oops, sorry, a long post.

Edited by notamermaid
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You have not mentioned any of the new Crystal ships. I am booked from Basel to Amsterdam leaving Minday 8/13. We were just informed the cruise will now leave from Koblenz. Everyone who was flying into Basel now needs to be rerouted to Frankfurt airport and then transferred to ship. Are we able to take the Rhine to Amsterdam from Koblenz?

 

I am new to this blog. I hope you can provide some information about the Crystal Debussy.

 

Kathy

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Hello Kittykat52,

 

 

welcome to the river cruise boards. If you still have the time and patience I recommend reading some of the pages at the top of the board by our host jazzbeau. They contain a wealth of information. The Crystal Debussy is a 135m ship as well which is unfortunate in these conditions. Crystal provides great live coverage: http://www.crystalcruises.com/river/river-guidebook/our-ships/crystal-debussy/crystal-debussy-live-views I admit I did not recognize the bridge and looked it up: she is in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. I am sorry to hear that you now have to board in Koblenz. Missing out on Strasbourg and the area is certainly a bummer. Travelling by coach from Frankfurt airport to Koblenz is not too bad a drive. Should be about two hours only, depending on traffic and route. Talking of route, I sincerely hope (and am sure they will) that they take you along the Rhine river embankment on the coach so you can see the castles. On the other hand: I wonder if they will try to sail into the Rhine gorge if the water is sufficiently high? We are all hoping for that rain tomorrow and on Friday. Ships are able to sail o.k. from Koblenz downstream and you can follow some on marinetraffic. The river is still deep enough but ships might reduce speed for safety and have problems at landing stages. The Netherlands have had problems with locks, I have not got any details. Koblenz is an interesting town and I hope you can enjoy it despite the itinerary changes.

 

 

I am sure Crystal will take care of you the best they can.

 

 

Safe travels.

 

 

notamermaid

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Dear Notamermaid, I remember the 2015 cruise on Gilles. It was a long 5 hour cruise, plenty of wine, beer and a huge piece of Lemmon cake. They also had to go really slow due to the low level. Now that cruise was in November of 2015, so low water can happen most anytime. This December we do the Seine river with Viking, next November the Douro in Portugal. However we spent a great three weeks in Germany this May for Spargel. All land and stayed two weeks in Karlstadt am Main, beautiful and relaxing. Hope you get rain and us too in Texas.

 

 

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Just got informed our Crystal Bach river cruise from Mainz down the Rhine has been replaced with a cruise from Koblenz down the Moselle. It's a big disappointment, but understandable with the low river level. What has us concerned is Crystal has not said anything about replacing excursions, and since they don't normally cruise the Moselle they may not be setup for it. It's our first time on Crystal - anyone have experience with them changing routes, and if they will offer new excursions? Communication from Crystal so far has been very limited.

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Johng75370, my husband and i are also taking our first Crystal river cruise leaving home on Sunday morning. Our itinerary has been changed due to river levels as well.

We are currently flying to Basel on Saturday/Sunday where we were to board the Crystal Debussy. 3 days ago we received an email informing us that our itinerary had been changed. Today we finally received our air info from Crystal to fly us from Basel to Frankfurt and then they will bus us to Koblenz and the ship.

 

We have not heard anything about new excursions other than an email saying they were diligently preparing for excursions in the 4 new ports we are now scheduled to visit between Koblenz and Amsterdam. They said we would receive information about our new excursion choices once we were aboard.

 

I have been very upset this week not knowing how we were going to get from Basel to Koblenz, but today we have our transfers. Although it took a few days for them to communicate with us about our upcoming cruise, they seem to be on top of things now.

 

I am sure there are many anxious cruisers waiting for information from cruise lines who are scrambling to provide an enjoyable experience for their clients.

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I am sure there are many anxious cruisers waiting for information from cruise lines who are scrambling to provide an enjoyable experience for their clients.

 

Hi there.anxious cruiser here,.just wondering if Crystal offered you any alternatives to travelling, such as rescheduling ot cancelling with a refund? We are travelling on Viking Rhine river beginning of Sept on our first cruise so not sure what to expect from such a significan change to plan.

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I could not find the Spiegel report you mention. There has been talk of closure in the sense of "it has never happened before and is unlikely to". In low water it is still always the captain's responsibility. Authorities might contemplate it and could change the rules if they thought that the situation was becoming too dangerous. But, as I have mentioned before, the situation could get worse as regards river levels. There are short closures imminent because of events (see Rhine in Flames) or one near Worms, for example. Rescue operations in the wake of incidents might necessitate a closure. Of minor ones I can easily not be aware of. Sadly, a few people have died swimming in the Rhine this Summer. Yesterday a person was rescued at the Hohenzollern Bridge in Cologne.

 

 

Some smaller docks cannot be reached because the level is just too low closer to the embankments, even for excursion boats.

 

 

About river levels: it is getting interesting. More later.

 

 

notamermaid

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johng75730,

 

 

as you have found a fellow affected river cruiser I leave a longer answer to your worries aside for the time being. Just in short: the situation is of course new to Crystal and IMHO some patience with the company is necessary while they get their heads round organizing it all. I am sure it will work out well in the end.

 

 

To river levels: Things are getting interesting as the river is now reacting sometimes relatively fast with change to the lack of rain or the rain that has come. I mean by that more than the two to three centimetres that is just normal fluctuation throughout the day. Maxau is now at 388cm and above GlW, out of its specific low water zone. Kaub is at 67cm, up from its lowest at 63cm. A further rise looks possible with the rain that is forecast for the evening. Unfortunately that figure is still lower than the GlW. Koblenz dropped to 59cm during the night but rain has made the gauge there rise to currently 71cm. For an explanation of the term GlW see post #127. Warnings are in place for severe weather in the region. I can see the rain coming on the radar image. Thunderstorms are just coming into Germany from Belgium and hitting the Rhine valley North of Düsseldorf. Useless for the Rhine gorge but good for the Netherlands. The Upper and Middle Rhine valley will get rain later in the day and into the evening. There is even a small risk of a tornado in Northwest Germany! O.k., now that sounds a bit like too much weather change happening...

 

 

Apart from all this, fish are now dying in the Rhine upstream from Basel, the water is too hot there for some species of fish. The drought in Europe apparently is so bad that it shows up on satellite images.

 

 

Here is a report in German of which the photo and one sentence are the things that are most important for river cruisers: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/Trockenheit-in-Rheinland-Pfalz-Immer-weniger-Wasser-fuer-Schiffe-und-Fische,wasserstand-rhein-temperatur-fische-100.html The spokesperson for the authorities in Bingen says: "Shipping on the Rhine is never suspended ((i.e. he means in low water: my edit)), the companies decide themselves..."

 

 

I am counting the hours till it rains substantially for the first time in - how many weeks?

 

 

Of course, it should only rain at night, or when you are on a coach, or when you are indoors sightseeing. :)

 

notamermaid

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