notamermaid

Oooohhh, I am afraid that goes beyond my ability to research. Sorry. Something like this should be on a Swiss website, I am sure. What I know is that Lake Constance is very well filled so there has been snow melt when there should not have been and additional rain, meaning more than the average for December. The ground is saturated and it has been unseasonable warm. However, the high Alps are of course always in snow in autumn and winter so I cannot say anything more about the topic. I must admit that I am a bit worried about January and February. If we do not get lower temperatures and less rain we will see flooding again. The Rhine will remain high and Maxau gauge is still just above the threshold of flood mark I (for navigation). We will get rain just after New Year and the Upper Rhine (around Maxau) may well return to official flooding status then. notamermaid

It really could not be researched, this season has - as I pointed out in the post with the graph - been exceptional. Having followed your experience in these threads, especially in Strasbourg, I will say that how the itinerary was handled under the circumstances was not good enough and occasionally - as in this case in my opinion - a re-routing or brutal end can be more rewarding for a customer. By the way, forgot the mention this a few days ago, re-routing happened with A-Rosa for example. An itinerary of theirs did not even go up the Rhine. The whole river cruise was changed to focus on the Lower Rhine and the Netherlands. Perhaps not what one may want to see but the ship actually sailed proper, everyday, with a good docking location. Call it a "tulip time would have been on the fly turned Christmas market experience" cruise. Or something. Oh, and the Christmas markets and towns along the Main can be very good, too, one does not need to go to the Lowlands... Why not stop at Mainz, Wiesbaden and Frankfurt next time Maxau is blocked off, dear (insert name of river cruise company)? The logistics are not easy but, my goodness, in decent conditions they manage to sail from Amsterdam to Budapest. notamermaid

Budapest was (part)flooded on Thursday, the Netherlands is getting rather wet, we still have danger at dams in Germany, not sure that Cesky Krumlov is safe (high Vltava river, check it out if you are interested) and there is water in the train tunnels in Kent so thousands of people are stranded at St. Pancras in London as Eurotunnel has had to cancel trains. Not a good end to the year. Not complaining really, but I have a cold so have cancelled my New Year's Eve party. Interesting and good news somewhat is coming from KD, the Köln Düsseldorfer excursion boat company. But that will go in a separate thread next year. Soon time to wrap up the river threads and look back at 2023. Now onward, armed with handkerchiefs and ginger tea, I shall welcome 2024. Hope you are all safe, dry and ready to celebrate. notamermaid

Yes, you could almost call him lucky. I am really sorry your holiday turned into what it was. You travelled such a long way to get to Europe and were disappointed. Re-routing through a different airport is somewhat easy when coming from the UK and overall the logistics are a bit easier than for other travellers. Still, I think your itinerary could have been handled better. I hope there is a financial easing of your disappointment coming from the company. And I do not mean a "take our voucher and try again" e-mail... notamermaid

It is still too warm for this time of year in the Rhine valley. Ten degrees Celsius is not normal. So we will continue to see rain rather than snow on already saturated soil. Not good, especially in the Netherlands: https://nltimes.nl/2023/12/29/water-levels-major-rivers-will-rise-early-january The rainy weather will also come to Germany but overall the impact does not look major at Maxau. The outlook towards 3 January has not changed much, if anything a little for the better. notamermaid

Cruisecritic's own Adam Coulter has been on a Christmas market river cruise. 🙂 His first one. Here is his experience. I think you can guess what happened - his cruise was impacted by the high levels of the Rhine: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/just-back-from-tui-skyla-a-christmas-markets-cruise-on-the-rhine I love the gingerbread houses on the ship. notamermaid

This year has proved more than others that there is no way round that. There has been low water, then unusually there was prolonged flooding. There have been accidents as well (a few only thankfully), minor with river cruise ships, barges/lock incidents have impacted travelling more. You, ural guy and everyone else on the Alruna have indeed been a bit lucky. As I wrote, river traffic got close to being banned at Cologne when you were there. Have a great time up there on "my" river and a pleasant journey home. notamermaid

I had not noticed earlier: ural guy is also on the Alruna. notamermaid

The situation on the Elbe is still not good but the wave has gone through Dresden. This is Dresden: The upper reaches of the Vltava are still relatively high, I see level 2 (orange) at Cesky Krumlov. Flood warnings are also issued for the Havel and other rivers feeding the Elbe downstream from Dresden. notamermaid

Thank you for saying hello from your cruise. Good to read that all seems to be running smoothly now. At least up to Budapest. Amadeus, a bit of a more unusual company for North Americans. I reckon your New Year's Eve celebrations will happen in Vienna? Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Market Harborough, never been there. Been around it on the A1(M) and in Oakham and the M1. I see they have a town hall on stilts, I mean pillars, just like Faversham in Kent. I find them fascinating, there are not that many that I know, it seems to be more a British thing. I have never seen one personally in Germany. Perhaps few of them have survived the last two centuries here. notamermaid

Great! I did not know the bookings were open so far in advance. So you are going early in the Christmas market season: https://www.viva-*****/en/reise/adventsreise-nach-prag It is not fully clear to me but it looks from the daily arrival and departure times that the Swiss Ruby sails right into Prague. No coaches involved. Am I right? notamermaid

Here is a question for you past cruisers on the Rhine. I have read today - little more than the headline as the article is behind a we-want-your-data wall/pay wall - a newspaper article about river cruise ships now docking in Nierstein. This had made it into the news as it is a recent phenomenon, i.e. more ships are stopping there than used to. Townspeople think it may have something to do with the recent flooding that as we know disrupted normal itineraries. I wrote about Nierstein quite some time ago in the following link, I included the town in my list of the lesser known places: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2516698-rhine-beyond-the-standard-ports/page/2/ Has anyone docked in Nierstein recently and was it an itinerary change? notamermaid

Time to talk about the weather and the state of the roads to the experts in such conversations that are supposed to be the British. @Canal archive any snow where you are? notamermaid

Sad to read that. Good to hear you are safe. Floods in Northern Germany and along the Elbe still bad but in the last few hours reports have come through that the Elbe at Dresden is not as bad as had been predicted a couple of days ago. notamermaid

Something I forgot to mention. Not sure how many snow photos there are in river cruising brochures... It will likely look all great and romantic but more often than not you are going to encounter icy rain and plain rain rather than snow. Remember that the rivers suitable for river cruising in Europe are mostly below an altitude of 200m and it does not snow much. You could hit the right day and it will truly look magical. Last year in December we in my warm valley had two days of great snow that actually stayed with us for a bit, this year we have had about two hours that vanished within 12 hours. I mean in these last six weeks, so no snow for Christmas markets at all really. There is more snow in January and February. The two highest places in altitude as ports are Nuremberg (on the lower "slope" of the Main Danube Canal) and Regensburg on the Danube (unless you dock in Kelheim which is very unlikely). Regensburg town centre is at 337m above sea level. If you choose the Rhine you may for example dock and find the place rainy but take the excursion into the Black Forest and find yourself in a winter wonderland. notamermaid

Maxau gauge has finally fallen below official flooding status, that important threshold is marked by a blinking letter H on the Baden-Württemberg map and is now off. The only H left on that map is at Wertheim on the Main. We will see the level rise at Maxau again when more rain sets in but that is for next year and for river cruising already out of season (and interest). Emmerich at the border to the Netherlands will fall below flood mark I tomorrow and hopefully when the Lippe has discharged its high volume as well as minor other rivers in the larger tripoint region (Belgium/Netherlands/Germany), the Netherlands will see better conditions, especially along the Ijssel, again. I see that the gauge at Deventer there has already lost a few centimetres. Soon it will be time to look back at December and wrap up the year. As I have hinted at in my post about Worms it was an unusual Christmas market season. notamermaid

Continued good news from Bavaria. The rivers have discharged their high volumes of water to a great extent by now, the Danube is coping well and the levels continue to fall. Pfelling gauge is at 560cm and Passau gauge is at 622cm. Good news for the New Year's Eve festive cruises. I hope all can now sail and people have a great time. notamermaid

Authorities and newspapers have been saying that these levels have been unusual and they certainly have. I had a look at this for the Rhine and posted a graph for Worms. So I wondered how this year, meaning this late autumn and winter ranks on the Danube. I have had a look at annual graphs for Passau and yes this year has been exceptional. If you are disillusioned about Christmas market cruises going as planned do not be. Almost all years have been more favourable over a thirty year period. Sorry, this does of course not help you if you were hit by the weather this year. With a bit more time I will compile the graphs to prove my statement. notamermaid

The more difficult navigation in these high water levels contributed to an accident at Speyer. A river cruise ship tried to dock. The docking did not go well and the ship hit a so-called dolphin at a pier. There is considerable damage to the ship but no one was injured. The name of the ship has not been disclosed. https://www.presseportal.de/blaulicht/pm/117719/5681361 notamermaid

I would shy away from the Paris to Prague one as to get to Trier you need a whole day's coach ride from Paris in which they include Reims according to the brochure - which is a great city - making it a long journey. At the end you have another, not quite so long, coach ride to Prague. Berlin to Prague is basically the same idea: international flight hub with overwhelmingly big city which you can only scratch the surface of and then have a river cruise in between. Mind you, Prague is fabulous. I just cannot rank these, partly because I do not like Viking and would never sail with them. For me as regards feel, towns and river landscape I would go for Budapest to Regensburg. But if I could book the river cruise without the coach extensions (which are part of the actual itinerary in this case) I would go for Paris (Trier port) to Prague (Regensburg? port). I agree. Look at the cities on the internet. Perhaps also think about the culture and language you want to experience. For me, little can top the "home of the Christmas tree" that is Alsace. @Pushka experienced the extremes of weather this year and the major disruptions coming with it. It is something you really need to be aware of when you decide on your cruise, Escaper. It is unlikely to happen to you but it can. notamermaid

Yes, the flooding is now in the Middle to Lower Danube. You can follow along for Hungary here: https://www.pannonris.hu/en/waterway/vizallas notamermaid

I think it has been briefly mentioned before, the Debussy is coming next year. Here are a few details: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/riverside-luxury-cruises-to-launch-third-ship-in-march notamermaid

If you are new to the topic of river levels on the Rhine you may wonder if this type of flooding is normal, especially at this time of year, I mean November and December. It is normal to more unusual, it was an occurrence of every two to five years to nearly every ten years, depending on gauge. What is certainly unusual is the time of year. We do get high volumes of water after downpours and flooding can happen even in summer to a small scale but mostly it is a late winter/early spring occurrence. Here is the graph for Worms that shows 2023 in context of a period of forty years (1981 to 2021): Blue is 2023, red is the maximums, green is the means, black is the lows. You can see the spike in November from which the river could not recover enough and the continued bad weather in December caused the graph to exceed on a couple of days what had been recorded in the forty year period. notamermaid

Passau is doing much better. Level now at 654cm. By tomorrow lunchtime sailing should be a lot easier. notamermaid