Danube water levels 2023 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge has been on a down slope since yesterday morning. A bit surprising in the cool weather. Now at 308cm. It has been raining but not much, yet is not cold enough for snow during the day in the valley. Night frosts are possible but do not happen every day yet. Sample temperature for Pfelling:

In the same time frame Passau has been warmer with the gauge staying just above zero at night.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The level at Pfelling continues to be good, up again to now 319cm.

 

It is cold this morning, snow for more of Bavaria soon? It is snowing in the mountains close to the Alps and the highest parts of the Black Forest, so not anywhere where river cruise ships can go. But the afternoons are too warm and there will quite a bit of rain.

 

notamermaid

 

[tosteve1]

Currently on Viking Atla in Regensburg. Steady cold rain. Not the best for walking tours but we are feeling pretty good about Danube water levels!

[notamermaid]

A windy and rainy day today, with both increasing tomorrow along the Danube. The centre of the country will be wild again, that is the Harz mountains with the Brocken:

 

Mild flooding for the Rhine, mild flood warning for the Upper Danube and preliminary warning for some tributaries of the Danube West of Munich. Pfelling at 336cm, uncertainty in the forecast but a rise to 500cm may happen.

 

Passau is still the bigger uncertainty, but a rise will follow Pfelling in due course. The rise could stop short of being official flooding. We will know more tomorrow.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Kristal Blade]

Thank you, notamermaid, 

We really appreciated your river info while we were pre cruise and also during our trip.

We have returned home after a lovely cruise and are thinking about where to go next.

All the best to you

[tosteve1]

We were unable to pass a bridge on the way to Passau. Rain has stopped for the moment so hopefully a solution will be found today while we are on our excursions!

[Izengolf]

Cruisemapper shows the Viking Atla docked in Lindau? Did you end mup making it from Regensburg?

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, tosteve1 said:

We were unable to pass a bridge on the way to Passau. Rain has stopped for the moment so hopefully a solution will be found today while we are on our excursions!

Thank you for the info. I feared this could happen at some point. Not sure which bridge you mean along the way. I am looking with a bit of worry for river cruisers at the one in Passau which I can pinpoint and supply a figure for. For now Passau is okay, 511cm, when the level rises to 630cm passage is difficult for the river cruise ships with the highest superstructure.

 

Pfelling is at 436cm now so a rise of a metre in less than 24 hours.

 

The modelling is a bit more dramatic than what the river is doing but it may just be a delayed reaction. The forecast is giving a further strong rise as more or less definite but if that will cause problems at Passau is a bit uncertain still I would say.

 

Flood warning for the Iller, a tributary to the Danube, in the Southwest of Bavaria so that additional volume of water will go through Regensburg in two to three days time.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

Thank you, notamermaid, 

We really appreciated your river info while we were pre cruise and also during our trip.

We have returned home after a lovely cruise and are thinking about where to go next.

All the best to you

Thank you for your kind words. Good to hear you enjoyed your cruise so much.

 

Have fun planning your next holiday and safe travels always.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Occasionally I look at the river cruising roll calls. It is fun to read when people enjoy themselves planning, cruising and giving advice to past cruisers. Lately I have been reading more not so happy comments about passengers being ill on the cruise with colds. But what comes up again and again is on the long European journeys passengers saying that they did not realize you cannot always dock in town and need a bus ride. So let us see for the Danube. It actually is the case that you dock in towns. Depending on company, how busy a place is, the harbour master's orders and water levels. It works all the way from Straubing to Budapest, Regensburg does but ships also seem to be in a harbour area further out. Granted, in Vienna much of docking is in Nussdorf, a suburb, these days. But several companies still dock in Vienna proper.

 

The bigger issue is the Canal. Ever seen a river cruise ship in front of the skyline of Nuremberg or Bamberg in brochures? Yup, you guessed it, the rivers do not lend themselves to it. Bamberg is not too bad for docking I would say as regards distance. The problem with Passau is that it is very busy and needs to move ships out to other harbours. Check out the docks and the blue dots on marinetraffic.com and you can see how it looks in the various places. Here is the example for Nuremberg, arguably the worst docking spot, this morning:

Remember it is correct to say you dock in Nuremberg as the commercial harbour is in the outskirts of Nuremberg. Just not in the city centre.

 

"My" Belvedere is in the harbour this morning. 🙂

 

notamermaid

 

 

[clugo123]

We have been lucky as we left Budapest on 11/3 and are due to arrive in Amsterdam on 11/17. We have had wonderful weather and only had rain in Wertheim. We are on the Viking Mimir. Per the crew, this has been the first Viking ship to make the Grand European B to A successfully in three months.

[notamermaid]

Welcome to Cruisecritic.

2 hours ago, clugo123 said:

Per the crew, this has been the first Viking ship to make the Grand European B to A successfully in three months.

Wow, it sounds as if you have indeed been fortunate. Also seeing that coming up are likely problems with flooding rather than low water. I see the Mimir signalling in the Rhine Gorge but the signal is weak so you are most likely in Koblenz by now. So one of the two may be your ship:

 

From: https://www.feratel.com/webcams/deutschland/koblenz.html

 

Hope you enjoyed the castles and have a great time on "my" river and in Amsterdam.

 

No flooding in Koblenz yet of course, all of Deutsches Eck is still exposed.

 

notamermaid

 

[tosteve1]

5 hours ago, Izengolf said:

Cruisemapper shows the Viking Atla docked in Lindau? Did you end mup making it from Regensburg?

We left Regensburg yesterday evening for Passau. We stopped just before Passau due to high water. At the moment we are on an excursion so I don't have an update on the plan from here. Not raining at present.

[HawaiiTraveler]

4 hours ago, clugo123 said:

We have been lucky as we left Budapest on 11/3 and are due to arrive in Amsterdam on 11/17. We have had wonderful weather and only had rain in Wertheim. We are on the Viking Mimir. Per the crew, this has been the first Viking ship to make the Grand European B to A successfully in three months.

We were on a prior Viking cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam, scheduled to depart Budapest on 10/21 and arrive in Amsterdam 11/04…however, upon arrival at Budapest we were bussed to Komárom, about 1-1/2 hours up river from Budapest where we boarded our ship the Viking Skadi, as she couldn’t make it to Budapest due to low water conditions…however, from Komárom all the way to Amsterdam we did not have any other issues or ship swaps, as earlier cruises had required…it was a great cruise with cool temperatures and occasional rain, making the excursions easier and more pleasant than if it had been hot weather…we are planning on doing the same cruise again next year in late November into December so we can hit the Kriskindlmarkt’s along the way, spending some additional days in Amsterdam at the end of the cruise…hope you have a great time on your cruise! 

[HawaiiTraveler]

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Occasionally I look at the river cruising roll calls. It is fun to read when people enjoy themselves planning, cruising and giving advice to past cruisers. Lately I have been reading more not so happy comments about passengers being ill on the cruise with colds. But what comes up again and again is on the long European journeys passengers saying that they did not realize you cannot always dock in town and need a bus ride. So let us see for the Danube. It actually is the case that you dock in towns. Depending on company, how busy a place is, the harbour master's orders and water levels. It works all the way from Straubing to Budapest, Regensburg does but ships also seem to be in a harbour area further out. Granted, in Vienna much of docking is in Nussdorf, a suburb, these days. But several companies still dock in Vienna proper.

 

The bigger issue is the Canal. Ever seen a river cruise ship in front of the skyline of Nuremberg or Bamberg in brochures? Yup, you guessed it, the rivers do not lend themselves to it. Bamberg is not too bad for docking I would say as regards distance. The problem with Passau is that it is very busy and needs to move ships out to other harbours. Check out the docks and the blue dots on marinetraffic.com and you can see how it looks in the various places. Here is the example for Nuremberg, arguably the worst docking spot, this morning:

Remember it is correct to say you dock in Nuremberg as the commercial harbour is in the outskirts of Nuremberg. Just not in the city centre.

 

"My" Belvedere is in the harbour this morning. 🙂

 

notamermaid

 

 

Notamermaid, I want to thank you for your consistent reports on this site, as your posts kept us informed on the river conditions and what to expect prior to leaving our home in Hawaii to start our cruise in Budapest, as well as all during our cruise…your valuable insight and river condition updates took away worry about what lay ahead of us each day…again, thank you for your dedication and service to us wayward travelers that find our way to the rivers that you monitor…♥️

Edited November 14, 2023 by HawaiiTraveler

[notamermaid]

Thank you for your kind words.

58 minutes ago, HawaiiTraveler said:

your valuable insight and river condition updates took away worry about what lay ahead of us each day…

So glad it has been helpful and I took away a bit of worry.

 

Good to read you are planning to go again to see the Christmas markets. It is a magical time. I always get excited for people who have not seen the lights and festivities and can look forward to experiencing Europe in this way.

 

notamermaid

 

[tosteve1]

The Atla got past Passau and we are on our way to Krems. Hopefully smooth sailing from here!

[notamermaid]

Passau gauge has reached 623cm and is rising more slowly now. Can it stay below 630cm?

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Passau gauge now stands at 645cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge is at 576cm, that is very high but statistically not yet flooding.

 

Passau is high at 625cm but that is better than yesterday and eases the situation for river cruise ships.

 

notamermaid

 

[VikgKruzer]

I am on the Viking Ve. We are stuck in straubling  due to high water and can’t get under the bridge. .  We are in the midst of a ship swap with a ship just pulled from service for the season This means the crew will be part of the swap with 

lots of logistics and work but Viking has been top notch throughout.  I guess ithis is absolutely rare for the crew to follow. They are packing up more than most swaps and everyone remains smiling and professional. 

you can’t control the weather but they are doing a great job on everything else.  
 

My second cruise with Viking and I am becoming a fan. 

 

 

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, VikgKruzer said:

I am on the Viking Ve. We are stuck in straubling  due to high water and can’t get under the bridge. .

Sorry to read that. Viking are really trained in the ship swaps, should go smoothly under the circumstances.

 

Passau gauge at 656cm. Too high...

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[rcaruso]

7 hours ago, VikgKruzer said:

I am on the Viking Ve. We are stuck in straubling  due to high water and can’t get under the bridge. .  We are in the midst of a ship swap with a ship just pulled from service for the season This means the crew will be part of the swap with 

lots of logistics and work but Viking has been top notch throughout.  I guess ithis is absolutely rare for the crew to follow. They are packing up more than most swaps and everyone remains smiling and professional. 

you can’t control the weather but they are doing a great job on everything else.  
 

My second cruise with Viking and I am becoming a fan. 

 

 

I just wonder if the Ve will be the ship that picks up the passengers from the Gymir (ship that hit bridge on Main) in Nuremberg.

[VikgKruzer]

6 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Sorry to read that. Viking are really trained in the ship swaps, should go smoothly under the circumstances.

 

Passau gauge at 656cm. Too high...

 

notamermaid

not a problem.   I’m sitting on the Ullur drinking a bourbon in the lounge like nothing happened.  I left with my suitcase packed from the Ve and got to the new ship after the tour

New key. Account on my screen. Same smiling crew   Other than the name change on the ship I would not know.    Absolutely Flawless.  
 

 

6 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

 

 

 

[VikgKruzer]

3 hours ago, rcaruso said:

I just wonder if the Ve will be the ship that picks up the passengers from the Gymir (ship that hit bridge on Main) in Nuremberg.

my understanding is it is currently stuck between bridges on both directions but is heading north 

 

viking central monitors water levels so they know more than I do