updates on Budadpest to Passau water levels

We are only sailing with Uniworld on the SS Maria Theresa Dec 1-8, 2015 and have been looking at the weather daily and it appears that both Budapest and Passau have been getting more rain over the past few weeks.

Is there anyone currently sailing this stretch of the Danube that can give updates on water levels? I understand that 7 weeks is an eternity as far as water levels go but hoping things are at least trending upwards.

I hope that the water levels improve. I'm sailing Passau to Budapest in Dec. 23rd.

I am also sailing in December. Hoping for the best and preparing for bus rides. It will be Europe and I won't be disappointed if we spend more time on the bus then we originally scheduled.

Currently on Viking Alsvin. The ship was able to reach Budapest on oct 10 and I believe we are the first ship going to sail all the way to amsterdamwithout having to swap ships. We have had at least some rain each day so I expect the troubles may be coming to an end, hopefully.

Actually we have just now seen our first glimpse of sunshine since we got on board! Hooray!

Currently on Viking Alsvin. The ship was able to reach Budapest on oct 10 and I believe we are the first ship going to sail all the way to amsterdamwithout having to swap ships. We have had at least some rain each day so I expect the troubles may be coming to an end, hopefully.

 

Actually we have just now seen our first glimpse of sunshine since we got on board! Hooray!

So happy to hear you made it and you now have some sunshine! :)

DH and I are on the Viking Vidar; right now it looks like we may be able to sail all the way with the Vidar! (crosses fingers, eyes, toes) Enjoying the ship and crew, will post a few comments on a new thread later. Happy cruising everyone!

We are leaving on our our first cruise Nov. 9th on the Viking Modi from Amsterdam to Budapest. I have been concerned about the water levels and found a ship tracking site were you can follow any ship's location.

You can see in real time that there are cruise ships (the Modi included) traveling the Danube, so it looks 'good to go' for now.

If your ship is not in the area, you can check it's draft on the website and look for other ships with the same draft on the river.

Also available as an App for Android and Apple.

http://www.cruiseshipposition.com/

OR

https://www.vesselfinder.com/

Disclaimer- no relations to website, developers, etc, just a 1st time cruiser that likes to be sure

We departed Budapest on Oct 16 and are headed to Amsterdam on the Viking Mimir. We thought we were going to be able to sail all the way but the Danube water levels dropped dramatically between Passau and Nuremberg the day before yesterday. We sailed to Regensburg but could not go further. We turned around and sailed back to Passau overnight because they were afraid the ship would be trapped.

Passengers and crew on the lowest decks report intermittent "dragging bottom" sounds through the night.

We did a ship swap yesterday to the Viking Vili - it required three hour bus ride through the beautiful Jurassic Park (seriously) and the foliage was gorgeous. We lost "free time" in Nuremberg and the included tour and the alternative tour were conducted simulataneously rather than consecutively. Viking handled the transfer almost flawlessly - all cabins were open, the firm pillows we'd requested on the first leg were in place and our bags and new key cards were already in the cabins. We were greeted with sparkling wine and they continued to serve it (for free during the cocktail hour). They are also giving us an alternative tour for free. Yesterday was a very long day!

Will let you know! Waiting for our briefing... Drinking wine in the meantime!

Thank you Cruzzinma. We are to be on the Viking Mimir on Nov. 13 from Amsterdam. Your report helps as it looks like we may start on another ship. Good cruising on the Vili!

Confirmed... We are swapping. Really an appropriate move... Will keep the board posted! More wine! Update... Bussing to Regensburg tomorrow... Swap will be on Monday... More to follow.

Just finished our Passau to Budapest cruise. We encountered no problems with the water levels.

First day of cruising. Everything so far has been first-rate. We'll definitely be able to cruise from Nuremberg through Passau. We may have to swap out to the Atla on Thursday. We're sipping tea on our balcony and enjoying the German countryside.

Absolutely no problems following our ship-swap from the Viking Vidar at Passau to the Viking Lofn at Nuremberg. It was a one-day inconvenience, but Viking has made several overtures to the passengers as compensation. I'll follow with a detailed review when we get State-side.

Anyone currently on the Danube between Budapest and Passau that can give any updates as to whether there has been any rain? Anyone either embarked or disembarked from Budapest? I'm scheduled to leave two weeks from tomorrow from Budapest on Uniworld's SS Maria Theresa.

Yesterday (Sun.) morning I had to leave the boat at 4:20 am :eek: and it was raining. Rained steady all the way to the Munich airport. Don't know if it continued past yesterday.

Roz

Today here in Passau, we had a beautiful sunny day 15° C, forecast is for heavy rain this coming Friday / Saturday. On Sunday temperature will drop to about 0°C.

The Danube in Passau is lower than normal but ships are moving, looking at the levels currently there ships moving between Passau & Vienna (also the other way).

Today here in Passau, we had a beautiful sunny day 15° C, forecast is for heavy rain this coming Friday / Saturday. On Sunday temperature will drop to about 0°C.

 

The Danube in Passau is lower than normal but ships are moving, looking at the levels currently there ships moving between Passau & Vienna (also the other way).

Hope the rain helps! We leave for Nuremberg on Thursday.

We did Budapest to Nuremberg 11/8 - 11/15. Stayed in the Budapest Marriot our first night, and were treated to lunch at a restaurant near the zoo (very nice, elegant, can't recall the name off-hand). We were bussed to Vienna (:() not horrible, but still. We did a ship swap at Vienna to Kelheim (Atla to Jarl). All in all, no complaints, Viking can't control the water levels and with work schedules, even with trip insurance I'd have been at home, so it was our choice to soldier on. I just discovered today that Viking has a page on their site that lists trip disruptions and ship swaps, but it would have been nice to know that earlier. As it was, I was en route when I found out we would not be boarding our boat (or any boat) on the first day.

We did Budapest to Nuremberg 11/8 - 11/15. Stayed in the Budapest Marriot our first night, and were treated to lunch at a restaurant near the zoo (very nice, elegant, can't recall the name off-hand). We were bussed to Vienna (:() not horrible, but still. We did a ship swap at Vienna to Kelheim (Atla to Jarl). All in all, no complaints, Viking can't control the water levels and with work schedules, even with trip insurance I'd have been at home, so it was our choice to soldier on. I just discovered today that Viking has a page on their site that lists trip disruptions and ship swaps, but it would have been nice to know that earlier. As it was, I was en route when I found out we would not be boarding our boat (or any boat) on the first day.

hi, what happened in Kelheim? Did you cruise to Nuremberg? we leave on Thursday for Nuremberg to Budapest on Viking Tor ( supposedly) Did you get a night time cruise of Budapest on another ship?

Hi! No, there was no nighttime cruise of Budapest. It wouldn't have mattered, it was so foggy. We stayed at the Marriott and had a catered meal there. The next morning we had a "panoramic" city tour - bus tour, and again, foggy. Fortunately, we arrived a day early and I had engaged Zoltan Hovath (Rinnet Guide Tours - you can find him on trip advisor). We had 2 days of great touring with him. Saw everything. For instance, on the bus tour, we drove past the "Shoes on the Danube" memorial and viewed from a distance. The day before we had parked and saw it up close. No comparison.

The day of the ship swap, we disembarked, I think in Passau, had a city tour and free time and then took the bus to our next port where we boarded the new ship.

As much as I love Viking, I like to go at least a day early and stay over a day at the end and hire guides myself. We were so tired in Nuremberg, we stayed on the boat because we had a private guide the next day. While we were at the **** Congress building, we saw the Viking bus pull up, park for about 5 minutes and then leave. We were out of our car and walked all over and got a really comprehensive overview. BTW our Nuremberg guide is the #1 Nuremberg tour guide on trip advisor.

As of yesterday (Nov 21st) the Viking Atla sailed from Vienna to Budapest, while the passengers on the Viking Embla (us) in Vienna were told the water was too low to sail to Budapest and were bussed to Budapest. It turns out Viking needed our ship for other bussed passengers in Passau. To say the least all are very upset with Viking's lie to us. To add insult the Viking Atla was docked next to our floating hotel the Viking Lif (if they don't sail are they ships). Also those of us on the shore side of the ship we were only 30 feet from a bar/nightclub, so loud music and patrons until 3am

Hello gwntravel, what a disappointing situation on the last stretch on your cruise. I have posted in the other thread about the Danube. Sorry to add to the upsetting situation. But I do not want to leave anybody thinking we still have low water. We (in Germany) officially do not. Lots of rain in the Danube catchment area and more to come.

I hope, for you gwntravel, when you are at home, that the great memories of your grand European river cruise will soon have the upper hand over the upsetting memories.

Enjoy Budapest. A great city. :):)

notamermaid

Our cruise begins a week from today on Uniworld's Maria Theresa from Budapest to Passau. Received an email today from Uniworld saying their schedule is back to normal and that we should have no problems with water levels for our cruise. Although the water levels are still lower then normal it seems from several other posts in this forum that things are slowly getting back to normal. Here's hoping it stays that way for all the Christmas Cruises.