how often to river level cause a problem

[nbevins]

i know that the rivers can be too high or too low.How many times in past years has this caused problems/I have noticed that rates are a bit lower in august--is this due to possibility of low river levels??

 

Is it more a problem of rivers being too high or can it also be too low??

 

thanks so much

[paul929207]

We went across Europe on a river cruise is 2003. Water was low. It took us 4 hours to get over a sandbar on lower Danube. They said the return cruise would not enter the Danube (from Rhine/Main?danube Canal) if there was not rain soon.

 

Prior year (2002) there was record rainfall & flooding.

[steamboats]

nbevis,

 

I doubt that there are any statistics about that.

 

Yes, high and low water can cause problems. High water mainly in early spring (March/April) and fall, low water mainly during the summer season (August).

 

But as no one can really predict the weather in the meaning of a longterm forecast no one can say whether there might be a problem or not. Rivers can raise and fall within hours.

 

We had major floods in August which should be low water season. In 2007 there was low water in spring as there wasn´t much snow in winter and actually a draught for more than 8 months.

 

High water causes problems because of the bridge clearances and the stronger current. Low water causes problems because of the river depth. There might be even enough water in the channel but the channel can get so small that the ship can´t turn around again. Or there´s a sandbar blocking the channel. Or there´s enough water in the channel but you can´t go ashore as there isn´t enough at the landing.

 

New question: How many times does weather affect an ocean cruise? Like storms/hurricanes which force the ocean going cruise ships to miss a port or reroute the whole cruise. In some ports like Grand Cayman you can´t tender when the waves are higher. Do you stop booking ocean cruises because of that?

 

steamboats

[tiggypooo]

Hi nb:

On my cruise, May 2007 Amsterdam to Vienna, we had an unplanned overnight in Regensberg, because of a notoriously low bridge south of there and high water levels.

We loved our extra time in Regensberg and had a surprise visit to Passau the next day because of it.

The cruiseline went out of their way, to make sure that we were going to have a good time "come Hell or high water" and we all certainly appreciated the effort made.

I think that part of the charm of a river cruise, is having to go with the flow and dealing with whatever comes along to possibly change the trip a bit.

The change in our itinerary was a plus for us. We were not scheduled to stop in Passau on our original itinerary.

I think that for people that are really inflexible, maybe a river cruise isn't the best option.

[jeanlyon]

High water also causes a problem. We nearly had to stay where we were and go by bus to one of our excursions. We got under the bridge with 4 inches to spare.

[yellowrosetx]

I recently returned from a December Danube River Cruise, we weren't able to board our ship in Vienna due to high water keeping it from meeting us, as it was unable to go under a bridge. Gate 1 put us up in a hotel in Vienna, bussed us up river the next day to meet the ship.

 

 

Debbie