notamermaid

As of yesterday, sections of the Saar were still closed to river traffic. The sonar ship "Mosel" is still checking the river bed for shallow areas. The authorities have set the depth of the navigation channel at 3 metres. Some spots still have too much sand and gravel and the depth is not guaranteed yet so they keep working. A short video in German: https://www.sr.de/sr/home/nachrichten/panorama/saarschifffahrt_nach_hochwasser_in_teilabschnitten_wieder_frei_100.html The Moselle river is fine as regards level and so thankfully does not contribute to the flooding on the Rhine. notamermaid

We have read that the Viking Kara will remain in Koblenz to receive her new passengers from Strasbourg. And the Emerald Dawn? She is in Mainz, still over 300 kilometres away from Basel. With her in Mainz is the Treasures, now it appears slightly delayed on her way to Budapest. Still, I will follow her path through the wave on the Main and her arrival on the Danube in time hopefully for better conditions over there by then. notamermaid

We have got the Speyer section back for river traffic as well as far as I know, so this leaves only a relatively small part of the German Rhine to return to shipping. If you would like to see lots of water, have a look at the live webcam of the Rhine Falls: It says on the official website that discharge today is over 900m³ per second, the average for summer is 600m³ per second. notamermaid

In a nice turn of events, Maxau gauge has dropped faster than anticipated during the afternoon. If all goes well the graph could show 750cm before midnight. Further upriver, Lake Constance is still signalling official flooding, so is Hauenstein between the mouth of the Aare river and Basel. So we will see high levels in the Upper Rhine valley for a few days. I would call the situation at Maxau "wobbly". We cannot be sure yet how the weekend develops. notamermaid

I remember that one. It was a barge that got stuck and then trying to free itself re-positioned the gravel so to speak. And the Viking ship got stuck. It was in the Upper Rhine valley. notamermaid

As indicated yesterday in my posts, the authorities on the Lower Rhine are treating this flooding as only level 1, that means with little disruption to every day life really. Flooding of agricultural land and some roads along the embankments inaccessible. Not big deal. For context. Cologne gauge (already going down): It stayed under flooding that happens every two years. notamermaid

The situation in Linz day before yesterday: https://de.euronews.com/video/2024/06/06/hochwasser-in-osterreich-donau-pegel-in-linz-uberstieg-sieben-meter Footage from Linz and the town of Schärding on the Inn. And if you happen to be reading this here, are Canadian and were interviewed during your cruise, you may recognize yourself here: https://www.diepresse.com/18536081/gestrandete-schiffe-auf-der-donau-es-ist-ein-mist "Mist" is not a weather phenomenon in German. 😉 The levels in Austria are falling, likewise in Bratislava. There they are back on flood level 1 from 2. The situation will stay difficult but at least the levels are receding slowly. notamermaid

Not sure how much high speed track you will be on - at that speed you will not see much of the landscape. But a six hour train ride I would favour over a flight to CDG any time. I have been told it is a hassle and out of town certainly. Trains can get a bit crowded at times in Germany and 2nd class ICE is not that great sometimes but all in all it should be really pleasant. If you have 1st class tickets, just sit back and relax. 😊 notamermaid

Always good to start breakfast with some good news. 😊 So we have the Rhine Gorge back, and parts of the Upper Rhine (Worms). All still very high but from the authorities' regulations point of view okay. Maxau gauge still too high and the needed 750cm pushed to Friday lunchtime. notamermaid

Yes, that is what happened on the Saar where the flooding was serious, really ferocious. On the Rhine we are having standard to above standard flooding. In the Upper Rhine valley there area some notorious stretches with gravel banks. I can imagine that in the next few days the authorities will be careful. The Middle Rhine valley has fewer of those places, more rock, but sand and gravel always move of course. We will see how it goes. Generally it should be okay, but there is always the issue of low water in autumn when the new deposits come nearer a ship hull. Well that is hopefully for another month and very little of it, touch wood. The sonar ship Hildegard von Bingen: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Peilschiff_Hildegard_von_Bingen.jpeg notamermaid

That can cause problems with the infrastructure for sure and weaken roads. Have had road surfaces collapsing here on the Rhine because of that. Sometimes it really is better to stop pumping in order not to further disturb the balance between river and ground water. It is often safer for old buildings. The problem is of course made worse by the fact that the situation will persist. It is a little better but nowhere near anything resembling a return to river cruising as we know it: On the Rhine things are improving in the Middle Rhine valley and the Lower Rhine is okay, but to be honest the High Rhine and the Upper Rhine valley look a little wobbly and we are not yet where we want to be, i.e. a river that is accessible from Basel to Rotterdam. notamermaid

Welcome to Europe. Soon you will be at "my" river in Basel but I assume the Emerald Dawn will not be. I have not checked, perhaps there is a sister ship up there in or near Basel for you? It is less than 48 hours to go and I am a but surprised Emerald has not said anything yet. One could argue it is enough when the rep picking you up will inform you that you will be taken by coach or the ship is "that one over there instead of the Emerald Dawn" [finger pointing to dock]. Still, a bit odd. So where is she? The Emerald Dawn left Koblenz during the night and is by now probably already in Rüdesheim. Yes, ships are moving in the Rhine Gorge! 😊 notamermaid

Low over the British Isles? Yes, I would appreciate a diversion via the tip of Scandinavia. Thank you. 😊 We had a bit more rain yesterday than I had expected but today it is bright and sunny. Around 20 Celsius. notamermaid

Kaub gauge has fallen below the level of the river traffic ban. On paper this means river traffic could resume in that river section. However, Bingen upstream is still not accessible. notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. Hope someone can help you with the Budapest to Bucharest stretch. Checking the river levels I can see that Budapest is now getting the wave. The forecast suggests a further rise to mild flooding. The wave will start in Serbia soon and on the 10th or 11th be in Bulgaria. However, I cannot tell you how much of an impact this will have. The big question is, where is your ship now and can it be in the embarkation port on the 11th? You can put your ship in the search field at the top: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:15.8/centery:48.3/zoom:9 notamermaid

Sorry, not clear. I meant the water coming from the Upper and Middle Rhine valleys running straight through the Lower Rhine valley without the tributaries from Andernach to the border with the Netherlands contributing more than their normal volume of water. Which means good prospects for river traffic from Andernach to Emmerich. Never thought about testing or read about it. I would say it is normally not necessary as captains know the area and the calculations they need to make as regards depth of the navigation channel and they have very detailed maps as well as radar. On the Saar though, a different river with more serious flooding in May, sonar ships are checking the navigation channel for debris and gravel deposits now before river traffic can fully resume. I do not know if in the current situation any problems have arisen on the Rhine. Strasbourg to Koblenz onto the Viking Kara - that is my definition of a long coach ride for sure. From the video above you can see that the road in the Rhine Gorge is partly submerged. By tomorrow this should be accessible again but I have no guarantee, just a rough estimate. If the roads are still partly blocked you cannot even fully enjoy the castles. Not my idea of a several thousand dollar river cruise, if I may say so. notamermaid

I mentioned docking locations in the Rhine Gorge and Boppard town this morning. The river is down a bit now so more or less back to how this drone flight shows the situation as it was yesterday morning. Some nice footage of the town and you can see the docking problem. At 1:32 you can read "Autofähre", the car ferry. After a short interview about when the road B9 may reopen the drone moves on and shows St. Goar town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH__rKLJmc4 notamermaid

A pity to loose you both from the river cruising realm. I think we all understand. May your land trips be all that you wish for and who knows, there may be a really pleasant short excursion boat ride on the rivers of Europe for you in the future. All the Best. notamermaid

River level update. Koblenz peaked at 575cm this morning. The crest of the wave is now going through Bonn and Cologne. Both look to have a peak below the line for a flood that happens every two years. So no big deal and far away from the line of a river traffic ban. A look further downstream reveals that the situation at Düsseldorf is most likely to be similar. So all good there. With no more tributaries providing higher than normal volumes of water to the Lower Rhine this could turn into a "straight run through" now for the waters. The Meuse is fine but the Dutch authorities are indicating elevated levels around the Ijssel. Not sure if that could have any impact in connection with the wave coming from Germany. Maxau gauge: nice drop, potentially lifting of the river traffic ban earlier on Friday than the authorities had anticipated. At weekend further improvement possible, a bit early to say. Ship docking "madness". I never knew you could get so many river cruise ships into Koblenz. The Emerald Dawn is still there, with the Treasures alongside her. Another rafting couple is made up of the Scenic Crystal and the Emerald Sun. The Viking Alruna and the Viking Kara are the "mad" pair. This morning the Viking Kara joined the Viking Alruna and then had a run to Osterspai! First I thought she would drop passengers off at Braubach for Marksburg Castle but she did not stop there. She just turned around and went back to Koblenz. If anyone has a clue what the point of these two trips to Osterspai were please enlighten me. notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. As regards the river itself, not really. You may find slightly different port times/schedules depending on the direction. Check the description of the itinerary in detail. Usually, exact port times are not published by Viking, though, as they are subject to change at short notice. Check the dates when the Christmas markets open. This will vary from town to town. You can find dates online for almost every port well in advance. notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. I recommend having a look also at the roll calls as some folk prefer to post there. Look for your itinerary via: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/851-viking-river-roll-calls/ notamermaid

Kitzingen on the Main river? That is quite a distance then. Happy to read that you were satisfied with Avalon's performance. Experienced crews can make these ship swaps really seamless. It is a good idea to do them. I give Viking credit for coming up with the idea unless anyone proves to me that a company did it before them. notamermaid

Viking have a policy of not cancelling cruises. They are willing to warehouse you, as you put it. The idea is that you have such a long way from the states and that you will be so thrilled to be in Europe and they provide you with a great experience trying to get you to all the ports if possible by coach if necessary and you will have a great time with them. I do not want to add insult to injury and forgive me if the above sounds a bit sarcastic. It is actually close to what I read in a statement by the company a few years ago. Wish I could remember where. Hope all works out to your satisfaction and you do indeed have a great time as much as is possible. I will extend the wish to all others travelling or about to travel. So much uncertainty at this point and no easy decisions. notamermaid

Thank goodness. We need the good news from the East. Graph for May coming soon. notamermaid

That is the problem in flooding. It is not the "easy-peasy" solution of having a ship upstream of the Rhine gorge and downstream from the Rhine Gorge. That is only about 60km to cover. This flooding extends over 200km. Which brings me to: You are in the UK which makes travel to the continent a bit easier. If Viking says a long coach ride this could mean they will cover the 200odd kilometres by coach. They have done that before. Viking have a policy of not cancelling any river cruise but give the passengers the best experience possible [which may involve a long coach ride - my addition]. Give it a good think and check your insurance policy... If you are flexible you may prefer to go in July. We are not sure yet how the weekend will develop at Maxau... notamermaid