Danube water levels 2019 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

22 hours ago, MaineYachtClub said:

I've been casually watching this thread since making our Monarch Governess reservation oh so many months ago.  Now we're down to 3 weeks and am paying a lot more attention.  Thanks for keeping us informed.  Looking forward to reading more.

All Gate1's ships are 110m in length which we have seen from last year on the Rhine can be an advantage. By that I mean a few centimetres less draft that ships of a shorter length tend to have can be helpful when sailing through the shallow stretch. I mention the Rhine as I did not follow ships in marinetraffic along the Danube last year. The problem with the stretch from Straubing to Passau is that in marinetraffic the signals are lost and more accurate data is only available to subscribers.

 

To give you an example: I looked at the Serenade1 which was near Straubing more than 20 hours ago, she should reappear after Passau soon if all has gone well.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[thunter1224]

On 9/15/2019 at 5:14 AM, notamermaid said:

The level has dropped a bit further than was anticipated on Friday. Pfelling is now at 295cm. A figure of as low as 280cm is shown in today's forecast.

 

More info tomorrow.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 I am wondering if there is any special number I need to watch for, To know if the boat will make it all the way thru the trip ? I will be on the Danube from Vilsofen to Budapest on Oct. 4th.    

[slewis7]

I am currently on the Viking Modi, having arrived in Vienna today.  We are scheduled for Passau in 3 more days and then heading to Regensburg the following day.  We are being told there is a good chance we will need to swap ships, but not a certainty. We will not be sure for several more days.

 

We are experiencing lovely weather, with no rain on the cruise so far starting from Budapest.

[Jammy Bun]

We are just arriving in Vienna, on our way to Budapest on Viking Egil, having transferred from Viking Gullweig this morning.  Whilst the coach transfer went as smoothly as it could have done, we left Gullweig at 8:30am and didn’t meet up with Egil until 12:30 at Grein.   We have done very little actual cruising, and wish I had done more research in advance - definitely would no5 have chosen to come here at this time of year if I’d known the likelihood of major disruption to our holiday.

[Escaper]

Jammy Bun posted: "Whilst the coach transfer went as smoothly as it could have done, we left Gullweig at 8:30am and didn’t meet up with Egil until 12:30 at Grein.   We have done very little actual cruising..."

 

This comment has me confused.  If you were headed to Budapest, was this at the latter stages of your river cruise?  4 hours for the transfer does not seem terribly long, at least to me.  Were there other times you were not on the ship itself?

Thanks for the clarification.  We leave Amsterdam on Grand European on Oct 1.

[notamermaid]

Good morning, everyone.

The dreaded post...

The Danube at Pfelling took a turn for the worse during the evening, actually falling below the range of figures the forecast gave. The gauge now shows 260cm!

 

Naturally, the forecast has been adapted and shows figures that stay well below 290cm. It looks as if the river is most likely to loose a few more centimetres within the next 36 hours. The situation after Saturday is anybody's guess...

 

Weather forecast remains the same: no rain of note for the Bavarian Danube before Monday. And  Austria looks dry to me as well, following the same weather pattern as Germany right now.

 

Jammy Bun has hinted at problems possibly starting in Austria, them having swapped to the ship at Grein town. A delay due to slow sailing or the ship had to stop? A manoeuvre just with better logistics in mind?

 

notamermaid

 

[G.M.T.]

12 hours ago, Jammy Bun said:

We are just arriving in Vienna, on our way to Budapest on Viking Egil, having transferred from Viking Gullweig this morning.  Whilst the coach transfer went as smoothly as it could have done, we left Gullweig at 8:30am and didn’t meet up with Egil until 12:30 at Grein.   We have done very little actual cruising, and wish I had done more research in advance - definitely would no5 have chosen to come here at this time of year if I’d known the likelihood of major disruption to our holiday.

Lower water can happen at anytime of the year.

[nclaker]

Any reports on weather or not Avalon boats are getting through on the Danube between Nuremberg and Budapest?  My parents are supposed to take this trip 9/27-10/7.  Appreciate any information.  Thanks!

[notamermaid]

56 minutes ago, nclaker said:

Any reports on weather or not Avalon boats are getting through on the Danube between Nuremberg and Budapest?  My parents are supposed to take this trip 9/27-10/7.  Appreciate any information.  Thanks!

Hopefully a cruiser on an Avalon ship will be able to post from the Danube.

Meanwhile you could try a tracking site and follow the ship. It is a bit of test of patience but can work.

 

As regards the stretch Straubing to Passau: I have found the Switzerland I (110m) in Melk this lunchtime so she is through. The Amadeus Silver II (135m) arrived in Passau this morning, she made it through during the night.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by notamermaid
Clarification

[Jammy Bun]

Sorry for any confusion.  Here’s what has happened on our ‘cruise’ so far.  Day 1 we flew into Munich, transferred to Viking Gullweig docked on the canal on the outskirts of Nuremberg, and spent the rest of the day relaxing onboard. Day 2 - after a tour of the town (excellent) we sailed down the canal, and enjoyed the sunshine and some fairly ordinary scenery...not the Danube. Not able to go onto the open top deck as there are lots of low bridges along the canal.  Evening briefing hinted that we may have to change boats.

 Day 3 We woke in Regensburg - on the Danube! - and spent the whole day here.  Evening briefing confirmed that we would be docking at Straubling the following day, and would indeed have to change.  No daytime cruising today, we left as it went dark.

Day 4 We were supposed to be in Passau today, and had just booked a 2 hour walking tour, but this turned into an over 7 hour excursion - and we stayed in Straubling overnight, so this was another ‘no cruising’ day for us.  We had to pack our bags this evening, ready to be taken from outside the rooms at 7:30am.  

Day 5  - up and about very early again - off Viking Gullweig by 8:30am and transferred by coach to Grein arriving on Viking Egil before 1pm, in time for lunch. In the afternoon we had the option to take the included trip to Gottleib Abbey, and meet the boat further down the river in the evening, or to stay onboard and See The Danube...guess which we did?  Yes, the scenery on the river was just what we’d hoped for, we we enjoyed a whole afternoon of Danube cruising.

day 6 - we are in Vienna, rafted initially with Viking Modi, and later another Viking boat.  After the evening excursions return I think we are on the move again in the dark.

tomorrow we’ll be arriving in Budapest, but we’ve heard that we may have an option to skip a booked tour and stay onboard to sail some more of the river.  So a total of two days daylight cruising (including the canal)- and I do know that I should have maybe known river levels could interrupt our vacation.  Viking have kept us well fed and cared for.  I just write all the above to warn those that haven’t yet booked a Danube cruise that you might not get what you expected!  Happy cruising everyone.

[G.M.T.]

Along the German Danube, expecting a week long rain session - starting Monday.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, Jammy Bun said:

Sorry for any confusion.  Here’s what has happened on our ‘cruise’ so far.  Day 1 we flew into Munich, transferred to Viking Gullweig docked on the canal on the outskirts of Nuremberg, and spent the rest of the day relaxing onboard. Day 2 - after a tour of the town (excellent) we sailed down the canal, and enjoyed the sunshine and some fairly ordinary scenery...not the Danube. Not able to go onto the open top deck as there are lots of low bridges along the canal.  Evening briefing hinted that we may have to change boats.

 Day 3 We woke in Regensburg - on the Danube! - and spent the whole day here.  Evening briefing confirmed that we would be docking at Straubling the following day, and would indeed have to change.  No daytime cruising today, we left as it went dark.

Day 4 We were supposed to be in Passau today, and had just booked a 2 hour walking tour, but this turned into an over 7 hour excursion - and we stayed in Straubling overnight, so this was another ‘no cruising’ day for us.  We had to pack our bags this evening, ready to be taken from outside the rooms at 7:30am.  

Day 5  - up and about very early again - off Viking Gullweig by 8:30am and transferred by coach to Grein arriving on Viking Egil before 1pm, in time for lunch. In the afternoon we had the option to take the included trip to Gottleib Abbey, and meet the boat further down the river in the evening, or to stay onboard and See The Danube...guess which we did?  Yes, the scenery on the river was just what we’d hoped for, we we enjoyed a whole afternoon of Danube cruising.

day 6 - we are in Vienna, rafted initially with Viking Modi, and later another Viking boat.  After the evening excursions return I think we are on the move again in the dark.

tomorrow we’ll be arriving in Budapest, but we’ve heard that we may have an option to skip a booked tour and stay onboard to sail some more of the river.  So a total of two days daylight cruising (including the canal)- and I do know that I should have maybe known river levels could interrupt our vacation.  Viking have kept us well fed and cared for.  I just write all the above to warn those that haven’t yet booked a Danube cruise that you might not get what you expected!  Happy cruising everyone.

If you were expecting a lot of daytime cruising on a European river cruise (excluding the Douro) you were misinformed. Generally, daytime cruising is limited to 1 or 2 scenic stretches, and all other cruising is done during dinner or later, to maximize port time.

[notamermaid]

27 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

If you were expecting a lot of daytime cruising on a European river cruise (excluding the Douro) you were misinformed. Generally, daytime cruising is limited to 1 or 2 scenic stretches, and all other cruising is done during dinner or later, to maximize port time.

That is correct. What is bugging me with Jammy Bun's description is that they cut out Engelhartszell and Linz as potential ports for a swap. On top of that the excursion was from Straubing to Passau (and back). Going straight to Grein from Straubing is a lot of river cut out of the itinerary That could have been sailed - in part at least in daylight. As I have stated before it could have been to do with water levels in Austria. But I have no way of confirming this.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[Jammy Bun]

38 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

If you were expecting a lot of daytime cruising on a European river cruise (excluding the Douro) you were misinformed. Generally, daytime cruising is limited to 1 or 2 scenic stretches, and all other cruising is done during dinner or later, to maximize port time.

Thanks, yes, I should have researched more thoroughly!  We’d done a Rhine cruise a couple of years ago, with no problems (and lots and lots of scenic cruising), so I thought I knew what I was getting into.  

Hey, we’ve had a good time anyway.  Good enough that I’ve just been to the desk to pay for future cruise vouchers for myself and OH.  To go towards payment for an ocean cruise 😁

[G.M.T.]

I had a look at the river levels in Austria, everything seems OK. Even during the worst conditions last year there were not many (if any) boat swaps between passau and Vienna.

 

I do not think it is to do with the river levels. Why do a swap Straubing - Grien, Viking of all cruise companies would have enough boats much nearer to do a swap.

 

Also this is the only swap tghat has come to light.

 

Austrian Levels:

 

http://www.doris.bmvit.gv.at/fahrwasserinformation/pegelstaende-und-prognosen/grein

[notamermaid]

25 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

I had a look at the river levels in Austria, everything seems OK. Even during the worst conditions last year there were not many (if any) boat swaps between passau and Vienna.

 

I do not think it is to do with the river levels. Why do a swap Straubing - Grien, Viking of all cruise companies would have enough boats much nearer to do a swap.

 

Also this is the only swap tghat has come to light.

 

Austrian Levels:

 

http://www.doris.bmvit.gv.at/fahrwasserinformation/pegelstaende-und-prognosen/grein

Thank you for checking. I am not so familiar with stretches beyond Passau, so I just do not want to rule anything out. I don't know but I really wonder if they could this better logistically? It does seem a long distance on a coach, why not do that excursion to Passau on the previous day differently? Perhaps it was just a one-off, I hope they do not do this more often.

 

You are certainly right about the high number of ships, strategically placed one could do a boatel swapping trip, a bit like a ship (pub) crawl along the Danube from port to port and Viking ship to Viking ship... or a Viking ship relay race, I mean the ships "race" from port to port.

 

(Light cough) I better get some dinner, before I get into trouble.

 

notamermaid

 

[flgatorgirl]

2 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you for checking. I am not so familiar with stretches beyond Passau, so I just do not want to rule anything out. I don't know but I really wonder if they could this better logistically? It does seem a long distance on a coach, why not do that excursion to Passau on the previous day differently? Perhaps it was just a one-off, I hope they do not do this more often.

 

You are certainly right about the high number of ships, strategically placed one could do a boatel swapping trip, a bit like a ship (pub) crawl along the Danube from port to port and Viking ship to Viking ship... or a Viking ship relay race, I mean the ships "race" from port to port.

 

(Light cough) I better get some dinner, before I get into trouble.

 

notamermaid

 

In late July, Viking did the same thing to us.  We docked in Straubing and were bussed to Grein the following day.  This made for two very long days on a motorcoach, and I was not a happy camper as we didn’t even stop in a place to tour on the way to break up the time (as they can’t get us on the next ship until 12:30 or so as rooms have to be completely cleaned for new passengers).  Instead we stopped at a rest stop off the highway for 45 minutes.  It was a rest stop with a gift shop and cafe, but we had just eaten breakfast on the ship.  This time stalling break really bothered me and many people made it known.  We also had the same after effects such as having to choose the abbey (as the ship sails on and you meet up in another port) or the scenic cruising.  After many hours on a bus, we chose the scenic cruising which was a great call.   We also had shortened time in Budapest, as I think we had to make new lock reservations.  I agree surely Viking can come up with better logistics on the ship swaps.

 

We did receive a small credit for another future cruise when we got back, but I am not sure we will use it.  I should look at the Rhine boards to see if and when water levels may impact that itinerary as if we do use the credit, that is where I would want to cruise. 

 

 

[notamermaid]

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

Along the German Danube, expecting a week long rain session - starting Monday.

Yes, it looks promising. The colour chart suggests that the Rhine will get higher amounts, but in the catchment area  of the Danube it does look nicely spread all over, better than a thunderstorm that could bring a flash flood which no one wants. Hopefully the amount will be enough to sustain the river in Bavaria.

 

This morning the level at Pfelling looks relatively stable. Figures of 258cm to 261cm show that the level is not falling as fast as it has done in previous days. But we might see it drop to 250cm before the rain comes.

 

notamermaid

 

[wanderingoz]

Thanks to all for their contributions to this thread and particularly Notamermaid for all the wonderful information.

 

I have been tracking the Uniworld River Duchess from Amsterdam to Bucharest as we are scheduled to board her for the cruise back to Amsterdam from October 2.  She has been docked at Regensburg, upstream from Pfelling, for a couple of days and is now headed back upstream towards Nuremberg instead of continuing down the Danube as scheduled.

 

It looks to me like a ship swap has occurred with the River Princess. She was docked at Vilshofen, downstream from Pfelling, and is now back at Passau.  If anyone has any first hand info it would be appreciated.

 

I am guessing that even if the level at Pfelling rises next week so ships can get through, Uniworld will swap us at some stage to get the ships back on schedule.

 

Off to do some research on the River Princess 😃.

[G.M.T.]

48 minutes ago, wanderingoz said:

Thanks to all for their contributions to this thread and particularly Notamermaid for all the wonderful information.

 

I have been tracking the Uniworld River Duchess from Amsterdam to Bucharest as we are scheduled to board her for the cruise back to Amsterdam from October 2.  She has been docked at Regensburg, upstream from Pfelling, for a couple of days and is now headed back upstream towards Nuremberg instead of continuing down the Danube as scheduled.

 

It looks to me like a ship swap has occurred with the River Princess. She was docked at Vilshofen, downstream from Pfelling, and is now back at Passau.  If anyone has any first hand info it would be appreciated.

 

I am guessing that even if the level at Pfelling rises next week so ships can get through, Uniworld will swap us at some stage to get the ships back on schedule.

 

Off to do some research on the River Princess 😃.

Regensburg to Vilshofen is a 1 hour Autobahn drive.

[Inspirazione]

We are scheduled to begin our cruise on the Uniworld SS Beatrice in Nuremberg on Weds 9/25.  We leave Ohio tomorrow to fly to Prague for our pre-cruise (on our own).  We just received an email tonight from Uniworld that the SS Beatrice will not arrive in Nuremberg by Weds due to low water levels.  We will be shuttled to either Regensburg or Vilshofen from the Nuremberg docking location. Hopefully we can figure out logistics so we can still explore Nuremberg before hopping on a shuttle.   This will be our first river cruise.  We knew the risks, but hoped for the best. 

[notamermaid]

Pfelling is at 257cm this morning, staying slightly above the most likely figure the forecast gave. Okay, does not make much difference at the moment but if it stays like this it means ships will start sailing again earlier, Pfelling being at an agreeable level earlier when the rain comes.

 

More info tomorrow. I am off to work.

 

notamermaid

 

[TMLAalum]

In the event that the water levels in November preclude boarding the Avalon Illumination in Nuremberg as scheduled I am concerned about the logistics since DH & I will be returning our rental car to Europcar on Frankenstrasse @ 1pm, after 12 days of independent travel, and from there take a taxi to the Illumination.

Am I correct in thinking that Avalon will provide shuttles from the Nuremberg dock to the nearest viable dock if we experience what @Inspirazione is encountering on Uniworld?  

We will be meeting 10 friends aboard, but they've booked the pre-cruise Prague add-on with Avalon, so the logistics should not be an issue for them.

[tom60w]

Illumination left Budapest en route yesterday about 6pm. currently four Viking ships in dock, two arrived empty. Lots of cases and buses so not sure what is happening!

[notamermaid]

On 9/18/2019 at 11:29 PM, slewis7 said:

I am currently on the Viking Modi, having arrived in Vienna today.  We are scheduled for Passau in 3 more days and then heading to Regensburg the following day.  We are being told there is a good chance we will need to swap ships, but not a certainty. We will not be sure for several more days.

 

We are experiencing lovely weather, with no rain on the cruise so far starting from Budapest.

Hope you are having a great time in this splendid weather. If you have got a chance would be happy to hear how things are going for you on this Northbound itinerary.

 

notamermaid