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

[brian1]

I didn't say earlier but the German rescue guys were professional and a lovely friendly helpful bunch.Mucking in with everything including loading the baggage.Amazing.

[Yorkieboy1972]

22 minutes ago, brian1 said:

I didn't say earlier but the German rescue guys were professional and a lovely friendly helpful bunch.Mucking in with everything including loading the baggage.Amazing.

I was desperately trying to get them to take a donation to an emergency/disaster fund. I even got a translation for Police Benevolent Fund and showed it to a Copper. He said,

 

”All we ask for is Thank You”

 

 

[notamermaid]

According to this article the whole Austrian Danube has a river traffic ban:

Quote: "Der gesamte Verlauf der Donau in Österreich ist wegen Hochwassers für die Schifffahrt gesperrt worden." gesamte means whole.

https://www.antenne.de/nachrichten/bayern/donau-fuer-schifffahrt-gesperrt

 

notamermaid

 

[LabMom57]

Well, just catching up here and I see I missed a lot of relevant information!

We leave on Friday for Prague to spend a few days before our Danube river cruise on the Avalon Envision. We will head to Regensberg on 12 June to embark. I sure hope things improve by then. I still see rain in the long range forecast!

Edited June 4 by LabMom57
date correction

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

I was desperately trying to get them to take a donation to an emergency/disaster fund. I even got a translation for Police Benevolent Fund and showed it to a Copper. He said,

 

”All we ask for is Thank You”

 

 

That is so heartwarming to read.

 

They are very busy in Deggendorf right now with the town mayor addressing the public right now. The peak of the flooding is expected for the early hours of Wednesday. If anyone would like to thank the good people of police, etc. again when things have calmed down a bit, these are the organizers of your evacuation (from an online newspaper): "...Im Kontakt mit der Crew hatte sich der Krisenstab um Einsatzleiter Kreisbrandrat Erwin Wurzer, Landrat Bernd Sibler, ..." The first gentleman is head of the fire brigade. This is the Landrat office: https://www.landkreis-deggendorf.de/landkreis/landrat/bernd-sibler/

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

To expand a little on the report that all of Austria has apparently suspended river traffic (see post #381). This is the situation at the town of Hainburg, the gauge is called Tebnerstraßl (screenshot):

 

To follow along see: https://www.noel.gv.at/wasserstand/#/de/Messstellen/Details/207407/WasserstandPrognose/48Stunden

 

Sadly, this is no short wave and while a little relief should come soon from Germany, the river cannot return to normal levels on the navigable river any time soon. The map with a town on the upper Danube highlighted:

 

This is what happened there and you can see how high it still is and the volume of water the river still carries there:

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

Passau peaked at 9.99 m and is currently dropping (9.10 m at 8 am). Upriver it´s peaking.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

Thank you.

 

Kelheim still looks really bad. The situation will continue to be anything but normal for several days along the German Danube:

 

notamermaid

 

[free101girl]

Yesterday evening around 5 pm, our captain informed us that the Danube is closed to traffic and that our ship (Uniworld River Duchess) will not be leaving Vienna until at least June 12. So we will depart from Vienna when our “cruise” ends on Friday.

 

The passengers who were supposed to be embarking on this ship in Nuremberg on Friday will be doing a bus tour starting in Nuremberg until the 12th, we were told. What a disappointment for them.
 

We were also told that another Uniworld ship that is two days upstream of us is in a small town, in a berth that cannot be reached by buses, so the passengers cannot tour. One that is two days behind us, is now berthed in Bratislava until the traffic closure is lifted.

 

We feel very, very fortunate to be “stuck” in Vienna, which is such a delightful city with good transport connections.

[Canal archive]

These guys a gals from the various different rescue organisations across the world are cut from a different cloth to us mer mortals all hail to them and their endeavours.

[free101girl]

Also wanted to mention that my husband walked along the docks here in Vienna this morning and counted the river cruise ships. 23 are berthed here, of which 11 are Viking. I’m told there are more ships at another dock elsewhere in the city.

[Canal archive]

Tounge in cheek ‘no surprise there then’ mind you this must be worrying for all carriers. 

[Izengolf]

Free101girl, is there any talk of compensation or is this just considered force majeure for the lines and they offer you different excursions? I am interested to hear how all the lines are handling the customer service part.

[steamboats]

Here are two photos of Munich and the Isar river which is currently at 2.69 m and had crested at 3.66 m.

 

The tree on the right side is usually the tip of the Island between the river and the canal on the right side.

 

steamboats 

[free101girl]

41 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

Free101girl, is there any talk of compensation or is this just considered force majeure for the lines and they offer you different excursions? I am interested to hear how all the lines are handling the customer service part.

No compensation has been mentioned. I think it’s fair to consider this force majeure. Probably it’s written into the cruise contract that they can change the excursions and destinations, though I haven’t checked. Under the circumstances, I don’t think there were any better options for our cruise.

 

Now, if we had been forced into a weeklong bus tour in lieu of any cruising, I would be quite unhappy and would have preferred cancellation. However, I understand it’s not uncommon for river cruises to become bus tours. Caveat emptor!

[free101girl]

Just looked at the cruise contract, and as expected: “Itinerary, vessels, hotels, docking locations, ports of call, times and sites visited are subject to change or substitution due to water levels, sailing conditions, site closures and other factors without notice. Any such changes will not result in eligibility for a refund.”

[NCvol24]

20 minutes ago, free101girl said:

No compensation has been mentioned. I think it’s fair to consider this force majeure. Probably it’s written into the cruise contract that they can change the excursions and destinations, though I haven’t checked. Under the circumstances, I don’t think there were any better options for our cruise.

 

Now, if we had been forced into a weeklong bus tour in lieu of any cruising, I would be quite unhappy and would have preferred cancellation. However, I understand it’s not uncommon for river cruises to become bus tours. Caveat emptor!

I think they should give the option to cancel at this point for those of us starting soon. I understand it is a lot of money for them to lose, but it's a lot of money for us too, and how they handle things will make me want to come back or not.

[LabMom57]

58 minutes ago, NCvol24 said:

I think they should give the option to cancel at this point for those of us starting soon. I understand it is a lot of money for them to lose, but it's a lot of money for us too, and how they handle things will make me want to come back or not.

 

Agreed. Our cruise is set to start 12 June and I am not thrilled about the possibility of a bus tour instead of a cruise. While I realize the cruise line cannot change what is happening, I would appreciate an opportunity to rebook, which it does not look like I will have. Probably will not do a river cruise again.

[Lisa SG]

Sailing out of Passau June 15. Well, hopefully. It is our first river cruise. Fortunately we bought trip insurance and have been told we can cancel at any time. Happy to hear of anyones’s experience filing for insurance or dealing with this circumstance. Apparently Viking will warehouse people on the boats as long as authorities will let them. 

[goksucats]

14 minutes ago, LabMom57 said:

 

Agreed. Our cruise is set to start 12 June and I am not thrilled about the possibility of a bus tour instead of a cruise. While I realize the cruise line cannot change what is happening, I would appreciate an opportunity to rebook, which it does not look like I will have. Probably will not do a river cruise again.

We are scheduled to be on the Avalon Envision on June 19th so we are the cruise right after you.  We are to board in Budapest and head back to Vilshofen.  I'll be eager to hear how this goes for you.  I am hopeful that two weeks is enough time for the rivers to return to normal for regular cruising, but of course will be happy to see the area by coach if necessary.  One thing to keep in mind for us is that, unlike most river cruise lines, Avalon is owned by Globus so they  can leverage their ties to them as they are famous for their land-based tours.  I'm certain Globus will put together a great land based itinerary if the river is not passable for you.  Mostly I am hopeful we can stay with the ship at night instead of hotels.  The two biggest issues I've seen from people in the past who have had to move to motorcoach vacations is that the inconvenience of having bags ready to go every morning for pickup outside the hotel room, and the constant packing/unpacking, but just as disappointing often is the food it sounds like.  That the food is often not up to the standard that a Viking/Avalon is producing on board.  Truthfully eating locally sounds far more interesting, but I also don't know what kind of restaurants the cruise lines choose.  If it's constantly "hotel" food then that sounds pretty awful.  

Edited June 5 by goksucats

[Kenster]

1 hour ago, free101girl said:

Just looked at the cruise contract, and as expected: “Itinerary, vessels, hotels, docking locations, ports of call, times and sites visited are subject to change or substitution due to water levels, sailing conditions, site closures and other factors without notice. Any such changes will not result in eligibility for a refund.”

What line is that? 

[CJSANDFS]

Booked on Avalon View starting June 17. If this is going to turn into a bus tour does anyone know how soon Avalon will know and tell us? I can cancel and get a credit which might be preferable. Does anyone experienced in river cruising know how long the Danube takes to go down after a major flood?

[Kenster]

16 minutes ago, LabMom57 said:

 

Agreed. Our cruise is set to start 12 June and I am not thrilled about the possibility of a bus tour instead of a cruise. While I realize the cruise line cannot change what is happening, I would appreciate an opportunity to rebook, which it does not look like I will have. Probably will not do a river cruise again.

Blame your cruise line, not river cruises in general. And try someone else next time. I highly suggest Avalon. We gave our sixth cruise booked with them for the Fall. 

[Kenster]

9 minutes ago, Lisa SG said:

Sailing out of Passau June 15. Well, hopefully. It is our first river cruise. Fortunately we bought trip insurance and have been told we can cancel at any time. Happy to hear of anyones’s experience filing for insurance or dealing with this circumstance. Apparently Viking will warehouse people on the boats as long as authorities will let them. 

That’s definitely a Viking standard operation for any disruption. Low water or high.  Kinda sucks. 

[goksucats]

2 minutes ago, CJSANDFS said:

Booked on Avalon View starting June 17. If this is going to turn into a bus tour does anyone know how soon Avalon will know and tell us? I can cancel and get a credit which might be preferable. Does anyone experienced in river cruising know how long the Danube takes to go down after a major flood?

As I pointed out to Labmom57 above.. she is going to be on Avalon Envision I believe the week before we are.  While we are all disappointed at the possible change of plans, I wouldn't immediately discount Avalon's ability to make this worthwhile.  They are a division of Globus International which many consider to be the premiere land-based tour company.  Unlike any other cruise line, I'd have to believe Avalon/ Globus could create something amazing for us if the river doesn't cooperate.