Danube water levels 2024 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[goksucats]

11 hours ago, steamboats said:

@goksucats in case you´re looking for some nice Bavarian restaurants nearby the Sofitel I can recommend

 

Irmi

or

Münchner Stubn

 

Irmi has a nice beergarden plus my favorite beer - Giesinger Bräu. It´s inside the Hotel Le Meridian but open to the public. They do have a separate entrance in the side street but you can also use the hotel entrance and walk through.

 

steamboats

oh thank you.  I've only visited the Munich airport so I've never seen the Marianplatz or any of the city.  I've spent time in Berlin which was interesting but I'm much more excited about Munich.  I was looking at restaurants and of course an aware of the famous Hofbrauhaus.  But I'd love to see something more recommended by somebody local so I will look those up.  

[goksucats]

3 hours ago, Izengolf said:

Mist, to us Canadians, is a really heavy fog but not quite rain 😊

Ditto in the USA.  

[Kenster]

1 minute ago, goksucats said:

Ditto in the USA.  

Between a fog and a drizzle. 

[Yorkieboy1972]

1 hour ago, Kenster said:

Between a fog and a drizzle. 

Me again, couldn’t resist this one.

 

Mist and Drizzle, in the UK we call it Mizzle.

 

We had a well known weather girl called Ulrika Jonssen who coined the phrase.

[Chuck from Saline]

My wife and I are scheduled to take our first river cruise starting on Sunday June 16 in Passau on the viking Danube Waltz to Budapest.  We will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary.  I am hoping things will be back to normal or at least operational by then, but it looks like more rain is still in the forecast.  We will be spending a week in Switzerland beforehand, and I am glad I found this group and will be anxiously following the updates.  We didn't purchase trip insurance, but we are adventurous and will roll with the punches, hopefully things will go okay.  I lived in the flood plains in Pittsburgh PA and I sympathize with all the locals.  Flooding is no fun for them either.  Thanks for all the updates you are all providing.

[Lisa SG]

6 minutes ago, Chuck from Saline said:

My wife and I are scheduled to take our first river cruise starting on Sunday June 16 in Passau on the viking Danube Waltz to Budapest.  We will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary.  I am hoping things will be back to normal or at least operational by then, but it looks like more rain is still in the forecast.  We will be spending a week in Switzerland beforehand, and I am glad I found this group and will be anxiously following the updates.  We didn't purchase trip insurance, but we are adventurous and will roll with the punches, hopefully things will go okay.  I lived in the flood plains in Pittsburgh PA and I sympathize with all the locals.  Flooding is no fun for them either.  Thanks for all the updates you are all providing.

See you there - will be on the same trip. We did get insurance and will decide soon if we are going to use it. Passau - Pittsburgh - both at the confluence of three rivers! 

[notamermaid]

Welcome to Cruisecritic.

11 minutes ago, Chuck from Saline said:

My wife and I are scheduled to take our first river cruise starting on Sunday June 16 in Passau on the viking Danube Waltz to Budapest. 

We can assume that the situation has improved by then but right now we just cannot say how long it will take to see a major improvement.

 

13 minutes ago, Chuck from Saline said:

I lived in the flood plains in Pittsburgh PA and I sympathize with all the locals.

 

4 minutes ago, Lisa SG said:

Passau - Pittsburgh - both at the confluence of three rivers! 

Did not know about Pittsburgh. Wow.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

So, while the Rhine is getting better and better (for now), the Danube is still really struggling. It is a drawn out flooding situation as you have seen on the gauge station map. I will show this for Passau gauge with the two day trend put in:

 

Yesterday I read the official information for skippers notification from the service called "NfB". Yesterday's notification sheet says all gauging stations of the German Federal waterway are above the permitted figure for river traffic (HSW): https://www.elwis.de/DE/dynamisch/Nfb/NfbDetailview:elwis_nfb_search:2024/1358

Additionally at the bottom it says there that it is uncertain when this will likely change, i.e. a change is not going to occur in the next few days. Today's wording is much the same: https://www.elwis.de/DE/dynamisch/Nfb/NfbDetailview:elwis_nfb_search:2024/1371

 

I would love to say "at least it is not raining" but I cannot. There is rain over Bavaria tonight.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

News from Budapest, river bank closure: https://welovebudapest.com/en/article/2024/06/06/budapest-danube-flood-2024-embankments-to-be-closed/

 

notamermaid

 

[SoreArm]

Has Austria lifted the ban on river travel on the Danube? Is there any news on Bratislava and the flooding there? is there river traffic between Budapest and Bucharest?
Our cruise leaves Bucharest June 12, if a boat arrives there by then. Is anyone else in the same boat, so to speak? We greatly appreciate your help. 

[RDVIK2016]

8 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Mist" is not a weather phenomenon in German. 😉

 

8 hours ago, Izengolf said:

Mist, to us Canadians, is a really heavy fog but not quite rain 😊

 

If one mixes German and English meanings of mist can this picture be captioned "Misty Mist"? A German farmer could be pleased with the contributions of his animals to that warm, steamy Mist heap full of fertile additives for the soil of his fields.

RDVIK

 

[LabMom57]

Link to article with picture of Passau flooding. (Scroll down) 

 https://www.euronews.com/login

Edited June 6 by LabMom57
Typo

[notamermaid]

49 minutes ago, SoreArm said:

Has Austria lifted the ban on river travel on the Danube?

The level is still above the permitted level in the graph, i.e. on paper at Linz. I cannot find out what is happening right now in detail, I can only see the Viking Tor moving towards Linz, no barges or other ship. Further downstream more ships are moving so a section of the river must have had the ban lifted. A partial lifting of the ban is also what a German language online newspaper is saying.

 

notamermaid

 

[brian1]

6 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

 

 

If one mixes German and English meanings of mist can this picture be captioned "Misty Mist"? A German farmer could be pleased with the contributions of his animals to that warm, steamy Mist heap full of fertile additives for the soil of his fields.

RDVIK

 

I remember London fog as a kid.We just sell it in cans to tourists now,

[downsmead]

6 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The level is still above the permitted level in the graph, i.e. on paper at Linz. I cannot find out what is happening right now in detail, I can only see the Viking Tor moving towards Linz, no barges or other ship. Further downstream more ships are moving so a section of the river must have had the ban lifted. A partial lifting of the ban is also what a German language online newspaper is saying.

 

notamermaid

 

The Viking Edgir has not moved from Linz for days (~5??) now. We are due to board her in Amsterdam on Wednesday, presume it will be an alternative ship now 😊

Thank you notamermaid for all your very informative posts, I have been following them avidly.

[steamboats]

I can see ships moving upriver between Budapest and Vienna. I also see ships going upriver towards Linz and Melk.

 

steamboats

[AnhaltER1960]

8 hours ago, SoreArm said:

Has Austria lifted the ban on river travel on the Danube?

According to this site the ban in Austria had been lifted in parts, but (Friday morning) not all the way on the Danube: https://www.doris.bmk.gv.at/fahrwasserinformation/streckenverfuegbarkeit

[brian1]

Good news,just received our 7 day prorata refund in our bank account already.It includes £50 food allowance at airport and the 7 day is TOTAL which includes flights.I was not expecting that factored in as we obviously flew there and back.£200 holiday vouchers will be in the post.

[notamermaid]

Thank you for the government website, had forgotten about that one. In Austria they handle the HSW, the highest permitted level for river traffic not as strict as in Germany, so while a gauge can show a level above that line the authorities may close the river at a higher level or open it at a higher level. So the fairway info above is a great resource. I reckon they update as soon as new info becomes available from the hydrologists (department). We can see that right now the border section with Germany is still closed, that is the DE-AT entry at the top. Passau where the three rivers meet is between 2225 and 2226. At 2201 is where the joint Danube ends, i.e. the river is solely in Austria. Likewise, the Danube shared with Slovakia still has a ban.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited June 7 by notamermaid
added info

[papa B me]

We have been given the green light to leave Bratislava on the Uniworld Maria Teresa and are now sailing up river.  Not sure where we will end up.  Couldnt leave the ship today as the captain wanted to be able to leave as soon as allowed.  Will be interesting how the rest of today and tomorrow plays out.  Hoping we have some kind of excursion tomorrow.  It sounds like we are unlikely to make it to Passau so expecting a longer bus tide to Munich for flight home on Sunday.  Today seems to be the first day patience is running thin with some.  Have seen a few leave the ship for alternative transportation home.  Not an ideal trip and disappointing but I am overall happy with Uniworld and dealing with this mess.

[Kenster]

1 hour ago, papa B me said:

We have been given the green light to leave Bratislava on the Uniworld Maria Teresa and are now sailing up river.  Not sure where we will end up.  Couldnt leave the ship today as the captain wanted to be able to leave as soon as allowed.  Will be interesting how the rest of today and tomorrow plays out.  Hoping we have some kind of excursion tomorrow.  It sounds like we are unlikely to make it to Passau so expecting a longer bus tide to Munich for flight home on Sunday.  Today seems to be the first day patience is running thin with some.  Have seen a few leave the ship for alternative transportation home.  Not an ideal trip and disappointing but I am overall happy with Uniworld and dealing with this mess.

Passau was down a meter early yesterday. (Thursday). Hopefully it has continued to recede. I have no idea how far down the wave has made it. 
Good luck on the rest of your cruise. 

[RDVIK2016]

23 hours ago, Izengolf said:

Mist, to us Canadians, is a really heavy fog but not quite rain 😊

8 hours ago, brian1 said:

I remember London fog as a kid.We just sell it in cans to tourists now,

 

That's clever, but can those cans capture the fertile country air (Landluft) aroma of warm Mist heaps? (Here's a tip though: Check the ingredients of cans containing Landluft and avoid any that mention Gülle - that's Mist in a tank without the straw.)

 

Edited June 7 by RDVIK2016
Added another quote for context.

[Yorkieboy1972]

3 hours ago, brian1 said:

Good news,just received our 7 day prorata refund in our bank account already.It includes £50 food allowance at airport and the 7 day is TOTAL which includes flights.I was not expecting that factored in as we obviously flew there and back.£200 holiday vouchers will be in the post.

I know it’s usual for a Yorkshire man to moan but on this occasion I was more than happy with our refund. It’s paid for our impromptu Easy Jet flight from Munich to Manchester, the two nights we’ve just had in the Cotswolds and will also pay for our Holiday in Cyprus in September. All in all, very happy.

[notamermaid]

That Gülle waggon can be quite the aromatic experience when driving in front of you on the country road and you cannot overtake. Right now the clearing-up is taking in place in towns and villages, basically following the water down your street with the high pressure water hose - that unwanted brown sludge needs to got rid of before it becomes mud and dries. It will be a slow process on the German Danube as the river is still very high.

46 minutes ago, Kenster said:

Passau was down a meter early yesterday. (Thursday). Hopefully it has continued to recede.

Let us have a look. It is better but will take several more days to get to a kind of normal:

 

No chance of getting river traffic going in Germany today and it does not look that promising for tomorrow yet either. The map for Bavaria's gauges:

 

Apart from the mud and debris, disease can become a problem. In several districts people are advised to boil their water before use. As a side note: agriculture has been affected a bit as well with harvests impacted. White asparagus with its end of June harvest time limit is a problem and is likely to increase in price.

 

Budapest is on the flood warning 1 and the "Lower Quay" is probably being flooded this afternoon. That is the road close to the embankment but I am not sure if that is exactly where the river cruise ships normally dock. Further downstream I see ships moving at Novi Sad and Giurgiu (for Bucharest). The crest of the wave has not got there yet, it is in Slovakia and Hungary, with the levels rising further downstream. They have gone to flood level 1 or may do so in the next day or two.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Over on the Rhine we are doing the serious cleaning but I admit it is potentially a bit early for that. While the Middle and Lower Rhine valley sections are okay, just slower than normal traffic, the Upper Rhine is continuing to give us, the experts and also me, a bit cause for concern. We will see how the computer keeps calculating during the afternoon and check later in the evening.

 

notamermaid