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

[Kenster]

17 minutes ago, RDVIK2016 said:

CEST 05:45

Avalon Imagery II has left Kelheim - She had been stopped at Regensburg on 29 May on her way to Budapest. Cruise Mapper shows her next itinerary is 4 June from Budapest to 18 Jun Amsterdam and should be in Roth 11 June. Well she will be there. I wonder how the passengers on this B to A itinerary got from Budapest to Kelheim to meet the ship or it that cruise was canceled and Avalon just wants to get the boat to Amsterdam for its next cruise.

 

Avalon Impression is still at Kelheim.

 

I posted about this just a little up thread today. 
The group spent their allotted time in Budapest then were bused to Vienna, skipping Bratislava. They were lodged in Vienna and did their scheduled amount of time there. Yesterday, they were bused to Kelheim where they finally boarded Imagery II. They should now be able to complete their itinerary and end up in Amsterdam as scheduled.  

[steamboats]

@Kenster and @RDVIK2016 actually the proper German term is "Schiffsführer" (pilot) on a river boat and not "Kapitän" (captain). Nevertheless the master is commonly called captain and the other pilots are called officers just to stick with the nautical language.

 

@Canal archive There are hardly any stretches where local pilots (like on ocean vessels) are required. As I said before, you need to be licencend for a certain part of a river and at least one pilot onboard needs that licence. So in case the regular pilots don't have that qualification the ship needs an additional local pilot.

 

Anyway it's never the ship or the company needing a licence it's the persons steering the ship.

 

steamboats 

[1029GMD]

Long time lurker, who followed this thread since the first of the year in anticipation of our first river cruise. Just wanted to say thanks to Notamermaid for work put into this thread along with the regular contributors.

We left Seattle for Budapest at the peak of the current flooding on June 4, being fully aware that our cruise may turn into a bus tour. Our ship Monarch Queen was tied up in Vienna for 4 days on its downstream leg to Budapest where our upstream cruise was to start on June 10. Fortunately she made it to Budapest and we were able to embark as scheduled. 

As far as Budapest was concerned, we traveled on the tram along the banks numerous times and saw just a small section where the river seemed to have very minimal flooding over the embankment. Did not see any other issues while we were in the city.

As I write this, we just exited the Gabcikovo locks before Bratislava with another ship Viva2. We are scheduled to dock in Bratislava around 10am. Obviously the water levels are very high as we look out along the banks but we have no reference point to compare to.

Our destination is Regensburg on June 15. Will report back how far upstream we make it.

[Canal archive]

Steamboats absolutely, on our recent Seine cruise both our Senior and Junior (note I think that’s in France) captains gained their maritime qualification for docking in Honfluer harbour. Although because of his age (and he wasn’t that young so could be because of his years with Captain qualifications) he won’t be able to use that qualification until next year, actually this year now. So Scenic does not need to board a Pilot at Rouen. Mind you at Bordeaux specialist knowledge is required to navigate the Napoleon bridge  Scenic has (hopefully still has) this wonderful young man (English) who has these magic qualifications. It could be only an itty bitty stretch or object in a river that needs them and yes they are few and far between but are there for everyone's safety. 

[SoreArm]

We are in Bucharest for our Viking cruise north to Budapest starting June 13 from Ruse. Any news on river levels between here and Budapest or any predictions on the coming wave?

[Izengolf]

Sorearm, here is a link showing Romania all green still. I have no experience to make a prediction. They show some increasing, a few decreasing, max change listed is 30cm. 

 

https://www.afdj.ro/en/content/danube-water-level

[notamermaid]

Still one relatively short leg out of the Amsterdam to Budapest itineraries (or vice versa) missing. That is not much longer than the river kilometres that would need to be bridged if there was low water around Pfelling. Apart from the lock issues in Austria that is... So, a coach ride is still necessary in between. Any ship docked in Nuremberg or Regensburg now will not be in Passau by tomorrow.

 

Rhine flooding by the way unlikely to affect the itinerary as the Main confluence with the Rhine is accessible.

 

notamermaid

 

[RachelSebs]

13 hours ago, Lovely1234 said:

We are scheduled to sail Nuremburg to Buda on Danube 6/17 despite heavy flooding.  We want to rebook but Scenic is not budging.  Worried about health & safety & stress of itinerary changes.  We will lose 100%.  Insurance says they wont cover.  Any ideas to help us would be appreciated.

Please don’t let this stress you out. You have a week still. I would think all the cruise lines will spend this week shuffling boats around so they can get back on track. Scenic will take care of everything and ensure you have a great time. Relax and enjoy. 

[RDVIK2016]

TUI Isla is the ship that got stuck at a flooded berth in Deggendorf with all the passengers being evacuated and flown home. She finally moved, but just to the industrial area, Deggenau, on the the downstream side of Deggendorf. From what I can gather Isla was supposed to leave on 7 June from Frankfurt for a round trip cruise to Basel and back after eight days. It would be interesting to know if she has issues being addressed at Deggenau and if she makes to Frankfurt for the next planned cruise starting presumably on 15 or 16 June. TUI doesn't have enough boats to do ship swaps, do they?

[notamermaid]

24 minutes ago, RDVIK2016 said:

TUI doesn't have enough boats to do ship swaps, do they?

Not really, only three. Unless they have positioned the Maya well, the Isla will be on her own.

 

Will address the announcements of the authorities in the evening.

 

notamermaid

 

[Yorkieboy1972]

1 hour ago, RDVIK2016 said:

TUI Isla is the ship that got stuck at a flooded berth in Deggendorf with all the passengers being evacuated and flown home. She finally moved, but just to the industrial area, Deggenau, on the the downstream side of Deggendorf. From what I can gather Isla was supposed to leave on 7 June from Frankfurt for a round trip cruise to Basel and back after eight days. It would be interesting to know if she has issues being addressed at Deggenau and if she makes to Frankfurt for the next planned cruise starting presumably on 15 or 16 June. TUI doesn't have enough boats to do ship swaps, do they?

I feel sorry for the Crew and Staff. They’ve been stranded in Deggendorf for well over a week now with, I would imagine,  no chance of getting off until today. There’s only so much deep cleaning they could do and only so many games of Connect 4 and Deck Quoits you can play?

 

Skyla and Maya now seem to be on Magical Mystery Tours of small ports in Hungary and Austria. 
 

It didn’t feel like it at the time but looking back now I think the Isla 140 were actually quite lucky?

Edited June 11 by Yorkieboy1972

[Lionel_Hutz]

Thank you to everybody for contributions to this topic.  Very helpful information.

 

Does anybody have intel on how AMA Waterways/Adventures By Disney has been handling their Danube cruises?

 

We are booked for a Budapest to Vilshofen cruise on Adventures by Disney departing June 22.  No word from the companies on any delays or issues, although that date is coming up pretty quickly.

[Kenster]

4 minutes ago, Lionel_Hutz said:

Thank you to everybody for contributions to this topic.  Very helpful information.

 

Does anybody have intel on how AMA Waterways/Adventures By Disney has been handling their Danube cruises?

 

We are booked for a Budapest to Vilshofen cruise on Adventures by Disney departing June 22.  No word from the companies on any delays or issues, although that date is coming up pretty quickly.

I would expect, barring another major deluge, things will be running quite nicely by the 22th. 
 

Keep an eye on the two week forecast for a few points along your way: Budapest, Vienna, Passau…

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Lionel_Hutz said:

Thank you to everybody for contributions to this topic.  Very helpful information.

 

Does anybody have intel on how AMA Waterways/Adventures By Disney has been handling their Danube cruises?

 

We are booked for a Budapest to Vilshofen cruise on Adventures by Disney departing June 22.  No word from the companies on any delays or issues, although that date is coming up pretty quickly.

Welcome to Cruisecritic.

 

The date is near for you, but river cruise companies can do a lot of adjusting during these coming days and the river looks in better shape that it did a few days ago. It looks as if "we" will get another stretch of river back soon.

 

More info coming later.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

19 hours ago, julieannr1 said:

Sailing from Bucharest to Vienna next week on the Viking Rinda, June 22. Do you think there will be any issues?

Not sure, but generally it appears that the wave of water as it travels down the Danube has lost  some of its severity. After Budapest it all depends on rain and the authorities' reactions in those countries. It is the 11th of June today and the crest of the wave is leaving Hungary. The level will stay high. I am not familiar with the river that far away so will need to leave it at that.

 

As you can read from a current river cruiser, Budapest is coping with the level they have well.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

18 hours ago, Lovely1234 said:

We are scheduled to sail Nuremburg to Buda on Danube 6/17 despite heavy flooding.  We want to rebook but Scenic is not budging.  Worried about health & safety & stress of itinerary changes.  We will lose 100%.  Insurance says they wont cover.  Any ideas to help us would be appreciated.

Welcome to Cruisecritic. On the 17th of June you will leave on your ship on the Main Danube Canal. You are there on a man-made waterway, well-controlled. I could not find any problems mentioned on German news or other resources. You will get to Kelheim and onto the Danube presumably the same night as usually the first port of call is then Regensburg. The river is free to sail there now, so you will most likely be that in that splendid old city when you are scheduled to be. Sailing is a bit slower than usual but let that not worry you. It is just for vigilance. By the 17th that regulation may already have been removed. Things are improving a bit slowly as regards level but fast as regards actual river traffic recovery. Not to worry.

 

Oh - and read on for more information coming up in my next post.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Austria have updated the status of their Danube waterway in the last few hours. Now that looks lovely, green and free, previously there still had been closures among those entries:

 

Note that all others are on green as well and have been for a while. I have just not copied them.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

Edited June 11 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

This leaves part of the German Danube, but first to the level at Budapest:

It did not rise further than what they call "Lower Quay", when apparently that embankment (section) is closed. I could not find out if this just applies to the road or also affects docking locations. So the river will stay high for a bit but the slow further decline is already showing in the forecast.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Lovely1234]

20 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Welcome to Cruisecritic. On the 17th of June you will leave on your ship on the Main Danube Canal. You are there on a man-made waterway, well-controlled. I could not find any problems mentioned on German news or other resources. You will get to Kelheim and onto the Danube presumably the same night as usually the first port of call is then Regensburg. The river is free to sail there now, so you will most likely be that in that splendid old city when you are scheduled to be. Sailing is a bit slower than usual but let that not worry you. It is just for vigilance. By the 17th that regulation may already have been removed. Things are improving a bit slowly as regards level but fast as regards actual river traffic recovery. Not to worry.

 

Oh - and read on for more information coming up

notamermaid

 

We decided to forego trip regardless of water levels.  Concerns include unannounced makeshift changes by cruise company resulting in disappointment and distress, health and safety (mosquitoes, bacteria/mold, risk of more flooding) anxiety.  This site has been most helpful!  Thank you.  

[notamermaid]

4 minutes ago, Lovely1234 said:

We decided to forego trip regardless of water levels.  Concerns include unannounced makeshift changes by cruise company resulting in disappointment and distress, health and safety (mosquitoes, bacteria/mold, risk of more flooding) anxiety.  This site has been most helpful!  Thank you.  

I see. It has been a lot to deal with for you. Hope you find calm and can look forward to happy travels in the near future.

 

notamermaid

 

[Lovely1234]

7 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

I see. It has been a lot to deal with for you. Hope you find calm and can look forward to happy travels in the near future.

 

notamermaid

 

 

7 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

I see. It has been a lot to deal with for you. Hope you find calm and can look forward to happy travels in the near future.

 

notamermaid

 

We are going to Montreal instead.  Leaving Sunday.  No river worries for us!  Dealing with cruise company and weather conditions has been a learning experience.  We will likely book river cruise next year, including "cancel for any reason" insurance if possible.  Thanks for all the helpful posts.

[notamermaid]

On the German Danube that is a waterway for commercial river traffic the authorities have two different masures that they apply at the moment, by that I mean one section is open for traffic, the other is not. The whole river is still high, but the level has gone done enough now. So we can look forward to having the whole river back soon.

 

From Kelheim, where the Main Danube Canal connects to the Danube, to Jochenstein/Passau-Achleiten (border area), the river is a German federal waterway.

 

Right now, as posted before, we have the section from Kelheim (km 2414.7) to above Straubing lock (km 2321.8) open to traffic with a vigilance warning for debris and displaced buoys:

 

The Section from Straubing lock (km 2321.8) to Jochenstein (km 2201.8)/Passau-Achleiten (km 2223.21) is still closed and will be open again when the gauges at Pfelling, Hofkirchen and Passau fall below the highest level permitted level for river traffic (HSW). This sounds better than when I posted about that section not being fit for traffic. Sounds as if safety checks were favourable.

 

 Really promising.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[dlf aust]

Hi All,

 

On Emerald Sky which has been sitting at Engelhartszell downstream of Passau for last 3 days.

 

At 7pm Austria time 3 boats (Viking, Emerald and 1 other) were given the OK to sail downstream toward Linz. Just passed through the first lock all OK (near Sommerberg/Schonleiten @ 22;30).

 

Boats have been moving between Vienna and Linz for today at least (and probably yesterday, if not earlier).

 

Emerald Sky (and 3 other boats) were moored at Engelhartszell since Sunday as the weir-lock between Engelhartszell and Passau was closed (and also bridges at Passau due to strong Danube and River Inn flows, we were there by bus Monday and water levels still high and fast flowing).

 

It would appear that the Danube cruise section from Budapest to Engelhartszell (upstream of Linz, just below Passau) is now open and boats are moving.

 

Emerald Sky and Emerald Star will swap passengers at Melk tomorrow (Wednesday) to bring the boats back onto their original itineraries (at mooring or by bus yet to be advised). Emerald Sky will return upstream towards Passau (but may only get to Engelhartszell atm).

 

Edited June 11 by dlf aust
fix grammer/spelling

[notamermaid]

16 hours ago, 1029GMD said:

Our destination is Regensburg on June 15. Will report back how far upstream we make it.

Welcome to Cruisecritic.

 

From what the authorities' website is saying all of Austria is good to go now and @dlf aust has just confirmed that traffic is moving to and from Engelhartszell. You are probably in Vienna by now. Just under four days to get to Regensburg. Hmm...

 

Pfelling, Hofkirchen and Passau need to be under HSW (highest level permitted for river traffic). There is the assumption by the authorities that this may likely happen by Thursday.

 

The figures as of now, and HSW:

Pfelling 630cm , HSW 620cm

Hofkirchen 507cm, HSW 480cm

Passau (Danube) 759cm, HSW 780cm

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[CJSANDFS]

11 hours ago, Lovely1234 said:

We decided to forego trip regardless of water levels.  Concerns include unannounced makeshift changes by cruise company resulting in disappointment and distress, health and safety (mosquitoes, bacteria/mold, risk of more flooding) anxiety.  This site has been most helpful!  Thank you.  

Likewise, but in my case I have changed the date and now go late October with fingers all crossed. Absolutely no communication from Avalon waterways. Agree with how very helpful this site is.