High water level on the Rhone

We are stuck on the Rhone right now. Today, instead of sailing up the Saone to Macon for our visit to Beaune and the wine country, we had to be bused from Lyon. Stuck with us right now are Viking (we are double rafted with them), with two Swiss boats ahead of us and two Ama boats behind us. Uniworld SS Catherine is scheduled to sail south tomorrow night. We'll know more tomorrow and are hoping for the best.

We are stuck on the Rhone right now. Today, instead of sailing up the Saone to Macon for our visit to Beaune and the wine country, we had to be bused from Lyon. Stuck with us right now are Viking (we are double rafted with them), with two Swiss boats ahead of us and two Ama boats behind us. Uniworld SS Catherine is scheduled to sail south tomorrow night. We'll know more tomorrow and are hoping for the best.

Are they saying why the high water? Are any ships making it through?

In past threads it has been mentioned that some lines boats are able to go under better

Hope you get to continue on

Hi jklc123 what ship are you on?

CA

They are in the River Baroness according to earlier posts. Uniworld !

They are in the River Baroness according to earlier posts. Uniworld !

We are now on the Uniworld SS Catherine. I don't know if any ships have made it through. Viking used the bus route today to Beaune, too.

Roberts 2005: rain for the past several days affected to water level. Flowing a bit fast, too. Clouds today but no rain here since last night. Beautiful sunset tonight -- so great to see a little sun through pink and orange clouds.

This doesn't sound like too big a change (as long as the river is navigable South of Lyon). Macon is 75 km from Lyon. AMA only sails to Belleville, which is just 45 km from Lyon. Then they both do a bus tour in the Beaujolais region for the day. I would rather the ship stayed put in Lyon, so we would have the option of another dinner at one of the fabulous restaurants there!

I would rather the ship stayed put in Lyon, so we would have the option of another dinner at one of the fabulous restaurants there!

Me, too!

We had high water conditions on our Rhone cruise in November that affected the entire itinerary and had us backtracking a bit so as not to miss the excursions on the itinerary.

jklc123, sorry to hear you couldn't make the trip to Burgundy but hopefully you'll depart to the South as scheduled tomorrow. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you; it does seem that the Saone is more susceptible to water level issues than the Rhone... I hope the rest of the cruise goes smoothly for you!

Sad news. Water level still too high so we don't have clearance to sail tonight. We stay in Lyon another day. So, excursions tomorrow are to Vienne , known for Roman ruins, in the morning, by bus of course (40 km), and an afternoon visit to the new Confluence Museum.

Will we ever reach Provence? 😰

Now off to Lyon by night tour in open top buses. Hope it doesn't rain. Had a couple showers this afternoon.

How disappointing! I hope the water recedes quickly so you can get some cruising in.

I wonder if Uniworld will offer anything like a discount on a future cruise? I know they don't have to--they're covered in the fine print--but it would be a nice gesture.

The water seems as high as ever this morning. At least we're starting the day with brilliant sunshine. Maybe I'll get some photos with blue skies.

Local guides/waiters have said that in the many years they've lived in Lyon, this is the only the second time they've seen the water this high. One commented that the water has to go down at least 2 meters for the ships to pass under.

JP: if you read this, we enjoyed our lunch at Le Brasserie le Carnot. Several fellow passengers also ate there on our recommendation and all enjoyed their meals. No one ordered what you had!

Glad to hear that the brasserie was as good as we remembered. Thanks for letting me know. Keeping our fingers crossed for better water levels for the remainder of the trip.

We just got off Viking Rhine Rhapsody on Saturday May 2 and are staying extra days in Paris.

Yesterday and today (May 5 and 6) the Seine in Paris is flooded over the river sidewalks and Batobus hop on hop off has been suspended. Today the water looks even higher.

Not sure if this has any effect of cruises that dock further west along the Seine in Paris. This is unusual I am told.

The latest from the SS Catherine: the ship may be able to sail tomorrow morning. If so, it must do so without pax. We will be bused to Tain L'Hermitage/Tournon for our scheduled walking tours, wine tasting, chocolate factory visit, plus a steam train trip up what is supposed to be a pretty gorge. If the ship sailed, we will very happily board her. If not, it's back on the bus to Lyon.

The captain also said our sister ship SS Antoinette is stuck in place on the Rhine. So it's still day to day. C'est la vie!

The latest from the SS Catherine: the ship may be able to sail tomorrow morning. If so, it must do so without pax. We will be bused to Tain L'Hermitage/Tournon for our scheduled walking tours, wine tasting, chocolate factory visit, plus a steam train trip up what is supposed to be a pretty gorge. If the ship sailed, we will very happily board her. If not, it's back on the bus to Lyon.

 

The captain also said our sister ship SS Antoinette is stuck in place on the Rhine. So it's still day to day. C'est la vie!

Argh! Bon chance! I hope it works well for you.

Unless I'm miscounting, you were supposed to be in Tournon/Tain l'Hermitage today, right? If you get to Tain tomorrow, I guess that means you'll probably skip Viviers entirely.

Would love to hear about your alternative activity and visit for today, at Vienne and at the Confluence Museum. We know nothing about Vienne, and we saw the museum, but didn't go in.

Vienne was a pleasant place. Amazing to see Roman ruins here and there right in the middle of the small town. Most impressive was a temple Augustus had built to honor himself and his wife Livia. We were told it is one of only two such temples still pretty much intact in France. I guess they escaped being dismantled for building material over the years. There is also an amphitheater, an odeon and triumphal arch. A school group was sitting among the ruins, getting their ancient history lesson for the day.

We didn't go to the Confluence Museum--I googled it and found that it is devoted to anthropology, of which we've seen many exhibits before. I'll let you know if I talk to anyone who did go. We did visit the moving, informative French Resistance Museum, which is not far from the docking point. Some pax had the courage to bike back into central Lyon, and of course some used the tram.

Thanks for the info. Sounds like we didn't miss much at the Confluence Museum.

Just looked at a map and saw that Vienne is relatively close to Lyon. Tain l'Hermitage is about 3x the distance! I really hope you only have to make that bus trip one-way. Sending good thoughts to you for low water levels... Hope you're enjoying the trip nonetheless.

Yea!! Uniworld SS Catherine sails south today!! We should be able to cruise the rest of the itinerary. We heard that Viking had passengers switch ships, but I don't know the details. So we're off by bus to Tain L'Hermitage and will rboard her there at 5 pm. So happy!!! 😄

That's great news! Glad to hear it; have a great rest of the cruise.

Unfortunately, this has turned into a bus trip with a floating hotel. After walking tours of Tain L'Hermitage and Tournon, wine tasting (many of us went to the Valrhona chocolate store instead) lunch on our own (DH and I had delicious Italian food with super fresh ingredients for less than the 20€ each Uniworld gave us) and a 50 minute bus ride up a winding road up a mountain gorge to take an hour and a half super uncomfortable steam train ride down the gorge through very pretty scenery. The ship still can't move with passengers aboard so no night time cruising to make up time.

So tomorrow it's off on another hour and a half bus ride to Viviers for the walking tour and organ concert, lunch all together in a place called Vallaurie and all of get to go to the truffle farm, which was originally part of an excursion that had a fee.

We suspect we will end being bused to Avignon Saturday and will miss Arles and Tarascon. The Uniworld staff has kept us informed day by day as the captain assesses the river condition and otherwise has provided the excellent service we expect from them.

In the last week, parts of Europe have received a great deal of rain. While the weather situation is improving, sections of the upper Rhine remain closed to sailing; however, Avalon Waterways anticipates shipping to reopen on the river in the next day or two. We do have cruises currently sailing that have been affected. Our operations team has worked diligently with Captains and Cruise Directors to establish alternate schedules, sightseeing and excursion options for our guests.

If you have any questions about an upcoming cruise, we ask that you call us at 800.372.1761 or email traveleradvisory@globusfamily.com.

Sorry to hear your plans have changed once again. It sounds like the cruise lines are trying their best to make limoncello out of lemons. Thank you to Avalon Waterways for taking the time to post on the bulletin board! :)

Wishing you bon chance with the rest of your cruise/tour.

After reading current posts from the Rhine and Danube, we are grateful that at least our ship has been able to move and we will see most of the ports on our itinerary. We can tell our Cruise Director is under great stress, but she's doing her best to keep our spirits up and added excursions coordinated. We do miss the leisurely cruising, but it could be worse!