Danube water levels 2017 and similar topics

We sailed from Regensberg to Passau last night. Lots of ships parked here in Passau. We are on the Viking Modi. Am hoping that we got past the low part.

That is very good news! Thank you for sharing!

Emerald must have done a ship swap between the sky and sun. Just rec'd this for our Amsterdam - Nuremburg sailing on 7/15/17:

Thank you for making Emerald Waterways part of your travel plans for 2017. We are looking forward to providing you with the ultimate experience of Europe.

Due to earlier low water levels on the upper Danube River we were required to enact a ‘ship swap’ to minimize impacts on our cruise schedules. Guests on our Rhine - Main Discovery River Cruise departing Amsterdam on 15 July, 2017, will now be joining the Emerald Sun, not the Emerald Sky as reflected in their original booking. As the Emerald Sky and the Emerald Sun have the same facilities and levels of service, guests will not be impacted by this change.

Hello,

My husband and I are taking our first River cruise on Avalon's Vista August 8th. The route is Budapest to Amsterdam. Are there still low water levels on the Danube that are affecting the ships cruising?

After a couple of days with agreeable water levels the Danube has fallen again and the gauge at Vilshofen (part of the stretch that shows up as low first, usually) is at 297cm, just below the official point for mean low water level. Which ships and how many are affected is easier to determine with feedback from current cruisers. The river level can change for the better or the worse at short notice (let us say 12 hours) and sailing is decided at "ground level" by the captains, with the company having a say in it as regards operational procedures, like coach or ship swap at this port or that port.

I recommend phoning (if you are getting nervous) your cruise company closer to the date before you leave home and if you have a pre-cruise stay (again, if you want to know beforehand) in the country.

By the way, if the Avalon Vista is 110m long, then she should be fine normally.

notamermaid

After a couple of days with agreeable water levels the Danube has fallen again and the gauge at Vilshofen (part of the stretch that shows up as low first, usually) is at 297cm, just below the official point for mean low water level. Which ships and how many are affected is easier to determine with feedback from current cruisers. The river level can change for the better or the worse at short notice (let us say 12 hours) and sailing is decided at "ground level" by the captains, with the company having a say in it as regards operational procedures, like coach or ship swap at this port or that port.

 

I recommend phoning (if you are getting nervous) your cruise company closer to the date before you leave home and if you have a pre-cruise stay (again, if you want to know beforehand) in the country.

 

 

By the way, if the Avalon Vista is 110m long, then she should be fine normally.

 

notamermaid

Thanks I called Avalon and they wasn't concerned with the low water level on the Danube. I checked online at riveradvicedotcom for the information. The Vista is 135m long and the draft is 122 to 196m.

Hello,

My husband and I are taking our first River cruise on Avalon's Vista August 8th. The route is Budapest to Amsterdam. Are there still low water levels on the Danube that are affecting the ships cruising?

Hello. How exciting for you! We are having a wonderful time on our first River Cruise! The water levels have been iffy however around 9:00 pm a gentle rain began to fall. We arrive in Regensberg tomorrow morning and are hopeful we will be able to sail to Passau.

This is a trip of a lifetime for us and we are enthralled! Enjoy your cruise!

Funtrips300,

Glad you are having a good cruise. I look forward to hearing about any low water levels you encounter between Regensburg and Passau.

Hello. How exciting for you! We are having a wonderful time on our first River Cruise! The water levels have been iffy however around 9:00 pm a gentle rain began to fall. We arrive in Regensberg tomorrow morning and are hopeful we will be able to sail to Passau.

This is a trip of a lifetime for us and we are enthralled! Enjoy your cruise!

Have an amazing cruise

After a couple of days with agreeable water levels the Danube has fallen again and the gauge at Vilshofen (part of the stretch that shows up as low first, usually) is at 297cm, just below the official point for mean low water level. Which ships and how many are affected is easier to determine with feedback from current cruisers. The river level can change for the better or the worse at short notice (let us say 12 hours) and sailing is decided at "ground level" by the captains, with the company having a say in it as regards operational procedures, like coach or ship swap at this port or that port.

 

I recommend phoning (if you are getting nervous) your cruise company closer to the date before you leave home and if you have a pre-cruise stay (again, if you want to know beforehand) in the country.

 

 

By the way, if the Avalon Vista is 110m long, then she should be fine normally.

 

notamermaid

We will be embarking at Nuremberg on July 16 (our first river cruise) on the Viking Atla and will be watching this thread. The Viking site only has information on two July 7 cruises, so this is a better source of information. I never look for trouble, but I would be very disappointed not to get to Krems and Melk. We arrive in Berlin on July 12 and I think rain is in the forecast next week. I hope everyone has a successful cruise!

We just received word we are sailing tonight from regensberg to Passau!! It was announced at dinner and the entire room clapped and cheered. (There was another gentle rain around 8:15 pm as we finished our dinner.) We are having the time of our lives and are only beginning our lovely journey! We are grateful and feel blessed beyond measure. PS even if we were not able to sail from Regensberg to Passau they were going to bus us to Passau, where we would explore the town. If we had needed a ship swap we would have then left from Passau to finish our journey. We have had the most beautiful experiences in Nuremberg, and today in charming Regenberg as well as onboard our ship. After having experienced the beauty of the the past two days and looking forward to what lies ahead, if we knew in advance we would need to be bused to Passau from Regensberg we would still choose to go, hands down! We have been watching the sunset from our ship in regenberg as we listen to the birds and wildlife near the river. Now the lights from the homes are reflecting on the waters of the Danube. We wouldn't be anywhere else!

Hello Funtrips300,

so glad to hear you are having a great time. Passau is a beautiful city I am sure you have enjoyed exploring by now. I hope your journey down the Danube continues without problems. Sunsets on rivers are so often magical, I never need Africa or a sandy beach for that, I always say. :)

Have a great time.

notamermaid

UNESCO World Heritage sites

on the Danube or in the vicinity of it there are several World Heritage sites one being the Danube Delta in Roumania for its outstanding beauty and habitats for many species. One completely different but declared preserving is the old town of Vienna. However, all is not well in Vienna as the committee during its 41st session this month declared Vienna an endangered site. Why? Here is a report by the British The Guardian newspaper: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/oh-vienna-world-heritage-status-threatened-by-high-rise

notamermaid

UNESCO World Heritage sites

 

on the Danube or in the vicinity of it there are several World Heritage sites one being the Danube Delta in Roumania for its outstanding beauty and habitats for many species. One completely different but declared preserving is the old town of Vienna. However, all is not well in Vienna as the committee during its 41st session this month declared Vienna an endangered site. Why? Here is a report by the British The Guardian newspaper: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/06/oh-vienna-world-heritage-status-threatened-by-high-rise

 

notamermaid

Wouldn't this be better in its own thread???

Hello Funtrips300,

 

so glad to hear you are having a great time. Passau is a beautiful city I am sure you have enjoyed exploring by now. I hope your journey down the Danube continues without problems. Sunsets on rivers are so often magical, I never need Africa or a sandy beach for that, I always say. :)

 

 

Have a great time.

 

notamermaid

Thank you notamermaid! Yes, Passau is a very beautiful city. We had a marvelous time on our river cruise seeing the lovely villages and cities along the way. It was the trip of a lifetime for us! 😊

Anyone have any recent experience or updates on the Danube water levels or deviations caused by same? Nuremburg to Budapest.

Was on the phone with my TA. She warned me about water levels. She was't very specific, just said there is a drought there right now. Is she correct about that? I don't leave until 9/4 (first flight) so I guess anything can change between now and then.

I've been following this thread. We leave for our Danube cruise in Oct. Hoping the drought doesn't get to bad.

I've been following this thread. We leave for our Danube cruise in Oct. Hoping the drought doesn't get to bad.

Here's hoping! Fingers crossed!

I am enjoying and following the river information that you have shared! I am trying to get an idea of the Danube river water levels for mid August when we will travel from Nuremberg to Budapest. There is an Rivercruiseinfo app that states the river is high and in good shape, yet Viking states travel changes on the Danube due to low river conditions. Is there any solid information online on river conditions that you know of?

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I am enjoying and following the river information that you have shared! I am trying to get an idea of the Danube river water levels for mid August when we will travel from Nuremberg to Budapest. There is an Rivercruiseinfo app that states the river is high and in good shape, yet Viking states travel changes on the Danube due to low river conditions. Is there any solid information online on river conditions that you know of?

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I think that it's likely that Viking may be doing ship swaps to get ships back where they belong, i.e., a ship that was supposed to be going from Amsterdam to Budapest had to do a ship swap and go back to Amsterdam, so now it needs to do another swap to get back into the right rotation.

I think that it's likely that Viking may be doing ship swaps to get ships back where they belong, i.e., a ship that was supposed to be going from Amsterdam to Budapest had to do a ship swap and go back to Amsterdam, so now it needs to do another swap to get back into the right rotation.

I never thought of that, thank you! I am soon to find out the workings of river cruising.

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It has been raining a lot in the last four days, the Danube in Germany has received a substanitial amount leading to favourable official gauge station markings for the river levels between Regensburg and Passau as well. Perhaps a current cruiser might be happy to report during their sailing how things are going. Would also like to hear from cruisers after their river cruise adventure. Any unusual ports or outings, away from the standard offers?

In the meantime here is the very detailed wikipedia website in English about the Danube: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube

Fun fact: River cruise ships only enter the Danube (or leave it) at the junction with the Main-Danube-Canal at which point the Danube has already made its way through the German countryside and towns for over 300 kilometres. Smaller vessels can actually sail further up the Danube as far as Ulm (which is an interesting town in its own right with the Minster having the highest church spire in world).

notamermaid

Following

We are on Uniworld River Beatrice leaving on June 28 from Budapest to Prague

As I am not familiar with water levels, does it go day by day

Sorry to hear about the changes in your itinerary. I hope the rest of your trip went smoothly. Would love to hear updates

So how was the trip, we are so looking forward to our trip in Oct

With all the hot weather I suspect diversions (and see from Vikings website and a friend who diverted at Passau a few days ago) are starting again along the Danube. I checked with my travel agent and got the response back that Avalon has buses ready for our Sept. 1 Budapest to Amsterdam cruise and not to be concerned. We have trip insurance in case our cruise turned into bus tour (I get very nauseous on long bus rides). Just trying to decide how likely that is. Will try calling Avalon directly today to see if they are sharing any additional information. Thanks for any info people might share on diversions or river levels!