Elbe river update 9/26/2016

Currently on the Astrid, but was supposed to be on the Beyla leaving from Prague.

The weather has been cool in morning with pleasant temps in the afternoon. It has also been sunny.

We embarked in Bad Schandau, so our bus ride from Prague was 2 hrs. With a bathroom stop along the way. Boat has 86 people on board with few cancellations.

We are told we will sail tomorrow. Keeping our fingers crossed that river levels remain or get better.

At first when we left Prague water levels looked great, but as we drove you could see how low the water is. Some spots one could see the riverbed.

We are enjoying the trip. Staff is wonderful.

Today we toured Terezin concentration camp. It was a 1.5 hr bus trip since we are at Bad Schandau. Was able to see for the 2nd time the area we would have sailed. Very beautiful.

The Elbe around the Strekov Castle is so low, one could probably walk across it.

Our tour guide mentioned that the Czech government announced today that they are going to intervene with the river (possible dredging) to rectify the problem of continual low water to help the farmers.

We are sailing tomorrow through Saxon Switzerland into Dresden.

Krillsister,

Appreciate the update. We leave States on Wednesday Sep 28th and embark from Berlin on Oct 2nd. We have been following river levels and have hope for enough of a rise to do some cruising. Sounds like you are doing some.

Hello krillsister,

Thank you for reporting from your trip on the Elbe. I will post some river levels in the other thread where I have started them and perhaps people can relate them to your notes from the Astrid and Beyla.

Have a great time.

notamermaid

On Tuesday we sailed on viking Astrid from bad schandau to Dresden. The program director told us that the river depth was around 100cm and the boat needed 90 cm to sail. He indicated there was only 10 cm between the boat and river bed.

We were told we would definitely sail to Wittenberg, but there was uncertainty between Wittenberg and Dessau.

Seems like the water levels are ok closer to Berlin, but I think if the boat can not sail to bad Schandau, viking will use excuse of low water on both ends so there could be a ship swap between Wittenberg and Dresden for future cruises. ( Just my opinion)

Will try to keep the post up to see if we sail past Wittenberg

Hello krillsister,

good to hear the news. So far it has worked out well for your cruise then. This is the water level at Dresden in blue, the forecast in red and the more tentative estimates in red outlined squares: https://www.elwis.de/gewaesserkunde/Wasserstaende/wasserstaendeUebersichtGrafik.html.php?pegelId=70272185-b2b3-4178-96b8-43bea330dcae Moving the mouse over the squares gives you the figures.

notamermaid

Notamermaid,

Thank you for the river level info. We are currently sailing toward Torgau. We were informed that we will make it to Wittenberg.

The captain informed us last night that we will be able to sail all the way. Our cruise worked out for us because we only missed a half day of sailing which resulted in a little longer bus ride for our first tour. The river is low the entire route but we were blessed to have just enough to sail.

New update. No longer sailing to Dessau. Will dock in Wittenberg for an additional night.

krill sister,

sounds like you have had a decent trip. we board in Wittenberg and looks like we will sit there 3 nights then bus to Dresden and sit 4 nights. Not at all what we wanted and our 3rd Viking cruise in a row with problems. maybe our last!!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Aggiepilot,

I hope your trip works out for you as well as ours did. We had sunny days except for 2 with showers. (Last 2 days)

The crew was outstanding. Our chef Bobby was wonderful preparing the most delicious dishes. He even did the breakfasts that were made to order.

Our program director (Brenton) was the best we have had of our 3 river cruises.

Update us if u can

Hello Aggiepilot,

I hope you can make the best of this cruise that is not cruising. Disappointing situation, certainly. Perhaps you were able to witness the celebrations for the reopening of the Schlosskirche on Sunday. Even Queen Margrethe of Denmark attended.

The water level is really up and down, but has risen a little due to the rain over the last two days. Dresden 103 cm, Wittenberg 111 cm, Dessau 95 cm.

Just some info to compare. Both the Viking Beyla and Viking Astrild were designed for the Elbe. So was the CroisiEurope Elbe Princess.

Draught for Viking Beyla and Viking Astrild 0,95m to maximum 1,15m.

Draught for Elbe Princess 0,90m to maximum 1,00m.

The Elbe Princess could theoretically sail into Prague but has not sailed anywhere for two months according to a newspaper article, I could not verify this as CroisiEurope does not publish such news online.

The Viking itineraries never include sailing into Prague, but I am not able to determine how close to Prague the Viking ships could actually sail if the company so wished for an itinerary.

notamermaid

Notamermaid,

The closest Viking sails to Prague is Close to Litomerice. We could not sail from here because there was no water to fill a lock from what we were told. When we drove through the area, (near Strekov Castle) the water level was extremely low. In fact in some areas, there was an island in the middle of the river due to lack of water. Fortunately for us, we were able to leave from Bad Schandau

Thank you, krillsister. I hope you continue to enjoy your time in Germany. But judging from the time frame you have given you be on your way back home. Safe travels.

The Elbe has had some rain and the water level has gone up: Dresden 128cm, Wittenberg 157cm, Dessau 120cm.

notamermaid

When I sailed up-river on the Viking Clara Schumann in April 2010 I think we made it to somewhere near Melnik (the dock was not in any town). Looking at the time stamp on my photos we departed Litomercie about 6pm and arrived at the disembarkation point about 8am the next day. I can not confirm whether we sailed all night but that is my assumption. We had relatively high water (there was flooding 2 weeks before), and our disembarkation point was the one listed in the original schedule (but I no longer have that schedule).

Thom