Rhine water levels 2019 and similar topics

[djh1959]

We are currently cruising the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel on Scenic Pearl. There are no water level issues whatsoever. Today  been cloudy with sunny breaks, although it is drizzling slightly now. It is dinner time though so it doesn't matter. 

Thank so much notamermaid for all your posts over the past year or so. We are loving our first river cruise. 

[notamermaid]

36 minutes ago, djh1959 said:

We are currently cruising the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel on Scenic Pearl. There are no water level issues whatsoever. Today  been cloudy with sunny breaks, although it is drizzling slightly now. It is dinner time though so it doesn't matter. 

Thank so much notamermaid for all your posts over the past year or so. We are loving our first river cruise. 

My pleasure, djh1959. After all the anticipation it is good to hear from you saying you are enjoying your cruise! I see on marinetraffic you are leaving the canal and are about to enter the Rhine, which is called Waal in that stretch, heading towards Nijmegen. I expect that means you will sail through the night and wake up in Cologne. Prepare yourself for a spectacular sight!

 

Wishing you many more enjoyable days on the river.

 

notamermaid

 

[patprov]

Notamermaid,  Thank you for all the info and tips over the past 6 months.  Out cruise from A to B was scheduled for October 5, 2019 and we were anxiously anticipating it when my husband had a heart attack.  Unfortunately, we had to cancel cruise but again I thank you and all the others.  Pat

[notamermaid]

7 minutes ago, patprov said:

Notamermaid,  Thank you for all the info and tips over the past 6 months.  Out cruise from A to B was scheduled for October 5, 2019 and we were anxiously anticipating it when my husband had a heart attack.  Unfortunately, we had to cancel cruise but again I thank you and all the others.  Pat

Pat,

I remember know that I forgot to comment on the thread in which you told us. I meant to send my wishes, sorry.

 

So here is to a full recovery to happen as soon as possible. Hope to hear from you again with the good news that you have rebooked. 🙂 

 

All the best.

 

notamermaid

 

[Schlugs]

3 hours ago, djh1959 said:

We are currently cruising the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel on Scenic Pearl. There are no water level issues whatsoever. Today  been cloudy with sunny breaks, although it is drizzling slightly now. It is dinner time though so it doesn't matter. 

Thank so much notamermaid for all your posts over the past year or so. We are loving our first river cruise. 

ooh, we saw The Pearl a few times today, one time as the Pearl and my ship the Jewel were waiting for a loch to clear and you were right beside 😁 We will arrive in Cologne tomorrow(Wed) also and I am SO looking forward to seeing  the sights there. The river looks perfect to me ! Thanks again notamermaid for all your great info 😁

 

[notamermaid]

4 minutes ago, Schlugs said:

ooh, we saw The Pearl a few times today, one time as the Pearl and my ship the Jewel were waiting for a loch to clear and you were right beside 😁 We will arrive in Cologne tomorrow(Wed) also and I am SO looking forward to seeing  the sights there. The river looks perfect to me ! Thanks again notamermaid for all your great info 😁

 

Had a look on marinetraffic and you on the Jewel are indeed not much ahead of the Pearl, a bit more than one river bend only! Oh and the Amakristina is right at the Scenic Pearl's tail. What fun to watch, better than television. What a busy river.

 

I suppose you could hold a sheet of paper up with your cruisecritic name on when you see the Pearl again, perhaps you get a name in return...

 

Anyway, have fun in Cologne, big city with enormous cathedral!

 

notamermaid

 

[xo-cruzar]

Thank you, notamermaid, for all the helpful information. I’m doing the Bach Amsterdam-Basel itinerary on Nov.10 (first river cruise experience). I’ll keep watching and appreciate your comments on water levels as it gets closer to my cruise dates.

[USCAdventurer]

hello xo cruzar,

i'll be getting off the bach on nov 10th after my cruie from basel to amsterdam.  hope we both have great river experiences without any water level issues.  this is my first river cruise too!

[rafinmd]

2 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

hello xo cruzar,

i'll be getting off the bach on nov 10th after my cruie from basel to amsterdam.  hope we both have great river experiences without any water level issues.  this is my first river cruise too!

A nice string of Cruise Critic people.  I get off November 3.

 

Roy

Edited October 17, 2019 by rafinmd

[trickylibrarian]

DH and I are getting on Uniworld River Empress on October 26 in Amsterdam headed to Basel.  

Second river cruise, first was last fall on River Beatrice Prague to Budapest.  Had to bus it a lot last year 

due to low river levels on the Danube.  Looking good for none of that this year.  Yipee!!!

[djh1959]

On 10/15/2019 at 6:52 PM, notamermaid said:

My pleasure, djh1959. After all the anticipation it is good to hear from you saying you are enjoying your cruise! I see on marinetraffic you are leaving the canal and are about to enter the Rhine, which is called Waal in that stretch, heading towards Nijmegen. I expect that means you will sail through the night and wake up in Cologne. Prepare yourself for a spectacular sight!

 

Wishing you many more enjoyable days on the river.

 

notamermaid

 

We certainly did wake this morning to a spectacular sight!  The fortress in Cologne just before dawn. 

[G.M.T.]

21 minutes ago, djh1959 said:

We certainly did wake this morning to a spectacular sight!  The fortress in Cologne just before dawn. 

Hopefully you are on the right ship.😇

 

The photo is of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz.

 

Have a great cruise.

[xo-cruzar]

9 hours ago, USC Adventurer said:

hello xo cruzar,

i'll be getting off the bach on nov 10th after my cruie from basel to amsterdam.  hope we both have great river experiences without any water level issues.  this is my first river cruise too!

Hello USC Adventurer,

Good to hear! Would you be so kind to post updates while you’re onboard? I shall look forward to reading your updates. I’m an ocean cruiser so I’m a bit worried on how I will like river cruising.  Thanks in advance!

[xo-cruzar]

7 hours ago, rafinmd said:

A nice string of Cruise Critic people.  I get off November 3.

 

Roy

It sure is, rafinmd. CC boards are certainly great sources of information. 

[USCAdventurer]

xo-cruzar

sorry to say i'm not one for reviewing or writing much while i'm on a cruise.  

[xo-cruzar]

No problem, USC Adventurer. Fingers crossed that water levels will be fine. I'll keep watching notamermaid's reports.

[notamermaid]

On 10/17/2019 at 4:48 AM, xo-cruzar said:

Thank you, notamermaid, for all the helpful information. I’m doing the Bach Amsterdam-Basel itinerary on Nov.10 (first river cruise experience). I’ll keep watching and appreciate your comments on water levels as it gets closer to my cruise dates.

Hello xo-cruzar,

Happy to help. Now you need a fourth passenger for the cruise after that and you could have a kind of relay, "pass the cruise critic baton"...

 

Do not take me too seriously, I blame my ideas on being glad the working week is over and I have a weekend off!

 

 

So where are we as regards weather and river levels?

Our weather is unsettled but likely to steady itself next week. Today I just managed to avoid a downpour with mild storm. I saw the clouds in the distance ("oh oh") and would have got soaked within seconds. The whole thing was over in 15 minutes and my street was a mess of water not draining off with heaps of leaves all over the place.

 

A warning for similar incidents to happen is in place for Basel towards Freiburg (as of 2200 hours local time). More rain will sweep the area tomorrow and the day after, but moving a little towards the West. Monday should see less rain.

 

River levels will rise from tomorrow well into Monday, in the Middle Rhine valley at Kaub from Sunday onwards. Kaub is currently at 180cm and could well rise to 210cm on Monday.

 

Have a good weekend everyone.

 

notamermaid

 

[xo-cruzar]

That’s funny, notamermaid!  Hmmm, we shall see. I may have to take the torch to the finished line. 😊  Fingers crossed that all sailings will run smoothly as planned.

 

Enjoy your weekend!

[eqj60]

Hope rivers stay navigable at least for next week!

Many thanks t p.o botj of you for all your help and advice!!

[prekteacher1]

We fly into Budapest to board Emerald Star next Sunday.  We sail to Amsterdam. Hoping all river levels are good enough for cruise passage. Will be checking often this week!

[notamermaid]

15 minutes ago, prekteacher1 said:

We fly into Budapest to board Emerald Star next Sunday.  We sail to Amsterdam. Hoping all river levels are good enough for cruise passage. Will be checking often this week!

Ah, the "crossing Europe" itinerary. I am sure you will have a great time sailing through the countries and varied countrysides. The Rhine is likely to look its Autumn best next week - and hopefully the week after. The Danube could need a bit more checking. Both G.M.T. and I will be around in the background on the Danube thread and report if we come across something that we think is note- or newsworthy.

 

notamermaid

 

[G.M.T.]

23 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

 The Danube could need a bit more checking. Both G.M.T. and I will be around in the background on the Danube thread and report if we come across something that we think is note- or newsworthy.

 

notamermaid

 

See Danube thread.

 

First Christmas Market N O W open in Bayreuth (from 17th. October).

[Deedeedac]

I am embarking on a river cruise down the Rhine late October 2019. How can I get info on the current water level of the Rhine?

 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Deedeedac said:

I am embarking on a river cruise down the Rhine late October 2019. How can I get info on the current water level of the Rhine?

 

Hello Deedeedac,

welcome to cruisecritic.

 

I try to post every few days or so and daily when the situation is critical either way (drought or flooding), but of course you can follow yourself by looking at the website of the BAfG, they have a good map: https://www.bafg.de/EN/06_Info_Service/01_WaterLevels/waterlevels_node.html

 

You move the mouse over the dots (currently mostly in green all over Germany) and the gauge station's name shows up with the current level. When you click you get more details. Green is good, although that is a statistical level. Orange is low, but does not mean it is too low for sailing as, again, it is a statistical value. However, that colour does indicate problems arising at that moment or soon later at some gauges.

 

You can also get an app in German language: https://www.hochwasserzentralen.info/meinepegel/

 

Note: the figures given are never the depth of the navigation channel, but of the gauge at a certain point at the side of the river. For navigational purposes those figures are "translated" into the respective depths for a certain stretch of river.

 

The Rhine is fine right now and is likely to stay so for quite a few days to come.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

9 hours ago, G.M.T. said:

See Danube thread.

 

First Christmas Market N O W open in Bayreuth (from 17th. October).

Thanks.

 

Although not actually called a Christmas market, it conspicuously looks like one . I dunno, Glühwein in October? Even for Bayreuth with slightly cooler temperatures than along the Rhine that feels a bit - wrong. It is still going to hit 20 Celsius there next week...

 

I prefer my Erntedankfest time with Autumn colours and all and quiet days in November, then get into the real festive mood that I prefer to drag out into the New Year a bit. At this point in time I purposely steer round that big display of Christmas biscuits in my local supermarket as wide as the alley allows me to.

 

I could get Christmas festive mood and display in abundance if I took a trip out to Rüdesheim to that infamous shop... so far I have never been (to the shop).

 

notamermaid