smithp7

21 hours ago, CastleCritic said:

for what little good these datapoints are Ive done 5 Europe cruises with no changes due to water levels

 

rhine April 2019

Danube November 2019

Rhine-Main November 2021 (though this one gets an * because the starting point WAS changed due to dredging that happened due to flooding in the spring and THEN somewhat low water caused by sediment that the floods drug along causing some havoc the days right before I arrived but the actual water level was ok)

Seine May 2022

Danube (east) May 2023 (the next week..flooding)

 

Wow you’ve been very lucky!

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The situation has much improved along the Danube in Germany. Passau is at 659cm and will further go down.

 

We have high water now but it is not that long ago that the river was low...

 

I will get a bit more together as regards statistics but have had a look already at one aspect. How many days has the level at Pfelling fallen below the crucial 290cm this year? I have counted a staggering 85 days.

 

That is not the worst year recently by the way. A while ago I did the same for 2018 and stopped counting at 110 days (gets your head dizzy looking at the tables with all the figures). It may be over 120 days.

 

notamermaid

 

Wow that’s amazing. What would you attribute this to? Has it always been this way from time to time?  Someone we took a tour with from Passau blamed some of it on the use of Hydro power plants. Do you think that’s true? It’s very difficult to know the best time to take a cruise on the Danube or the Rhine. We have another river cruise on the Rhine in The beginning of June 2025. Hopefully that will be uneventful:) Thanks, Pat

9 hours ago, smithp7 said:

They will be in Passau on Thursday and they leave for Regensburg that night.There ship is the Viking Alta. Thanks, Pat

Actually, I’m sorry they will be in Passau on Friday and Regensburg on Saturday and leaving the boat on Sunday. So far it looks like they’re doing fine and I am so happy for them! Thanks, Pat

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

I really depends on when they are scheduled to be in Passau and how high the ship is, i.e. the headroom under the bridge.

 

This is the 31 day graph of Pfelling:

 

Passau is at 689cm.

 

notamermaid

 

They will be in Passau on Thursday and they leave for Regensburg that night.There ship is the Viking Alta. Thanks, Pat

6 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Both Kelheim and Regensburg have peaked. The wave is now in the stretch where we saw the low water last month. The graph at Pfelling has gone up strongly:

 

Passau is currently at 672cm.

 

It is getting colder, so snow will now fall in areas above 600m (before it was above 800m to 1000m). But overall the weather will improve, meaning more sunshine and far less precipitation. To give you an idea: Regensburg lies at 337m above sea level.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

Wow that is amazing the difference in the water levels in one month. If I understand this correctly it seems like they may be able to sail through to Regensburg without any issues?

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Passau gauge is at 717cm. The rain in Bavaria is continuing today with tomorrow equally rainy. Wednesday should see a brighter sky again.

 

I have had a look at the river levels in Hungary. There is certainly a big rise in all the graphs but, without being able to relate this to river cruising, the levels do not look critical to me. None that I looked at where reaching a flooding level marking line.

 

notamermaid

 

Hi Notamermaid, Thanks so much for checking on that area. Today they leave for Vienna for 2 days and the weather looks much nicer there. Pat

4 hours ago, reeves35 said:

Yes, it is surprising how much the level changes.  We were on the Danube in August and had to bus from Nuremberg to Passau with a ship change due to low water.  At the same time, there was significant rain in the upper Danube catchments and 2 days after we left, ships were unable to get through Passau due to high water.  The flow was very strong and the captain had difficulty docking in Vienna and sometimes it felt like we were surfing towards Budapest.

Wow, that’s pretty crazy. I didn’t even think about the difficulty in docking because of the strength of the river. There is so much to negotiate. It will be very interesting to see what happens this week with the flooding and if they’re able to make it past Passau. 

6 hours ago, PaulS said:

I hope you will report back on this thread when you learn if your family’s trip will be impacted by the river levels as we begin the same trip in Budapest on Viking in two weeks.

I definitely will…

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I myself would not have any details on river traffic beyond Passau. But a lot of water is coming down their way so they will need to "sail through the wave". The particular problem on their route is the low bridge at Passau which would stop them from getting into Passau to dock and sail onto Regensburg.

 

We currently have the situation that the gauges this morning are showing high figures, putting some areas onto official flooding, either level 1 or 2. Passau has also risen a lot again, current level is 683cm. A further rise is expected. Difficult to judge right now how long the situation will last, i.e. when the peak at Passau will be.

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you so much for this very informative explanation. I will be watching daily to see if anything changes here on the forum. I’ve really enjoyed following you and your excellent informative information. When we were there in October, we were not able to sail beyond Passau  and we were not able to get on the boat in Budapest. It’s so interesting how much it changes. Thanks again, Pat

5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Pfelling has seen a steady rise during today. Passau has temporarily gone down and is now at 630cm.

 

notamermaid

 

I have family that will be getting on a Viking cruise from Budapest to Regensburg tomorrow. What does that mean for them?

8 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Sorry to read about your experience on the Danube.

Trier to Koblenz is on the Moselle, so no low water issues. Koblenz through the Rhine Gorge is the tricky part. From about Rüdesheim it is better and the last stretch is again lock-controlled so no issues there. I would say that is a very nice time to sail for weather and landscape and low water is almost non-existent in that time. A no-brainer really. However, there is the small risk of high water that is tricky when it becomes official flooding. In such a case your ship may not even leave the port. The cruise may be non-existent in the worst case scenario, i.e. when both Moselle and Rhine have flooding at the same time both rivers may have all sailing suspended and that means all ships. That is not likely to happen in May, flooding happens more in February to April, but can never be ruled out completely. Shipping can be halted from just a few hours to several days and never be known more than five days before it starts; see that as a general rule only, it depends on how accurate the computer modelling for the water levels is.

 

From my point of view I would say no but shifting it later into June may be nice as well.

 

Over to others who hopefully will rave about Spring on the Moselle and Rhine.

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you so much for your quick response. It sounds like a beautiful time of year and normally we travel in the fall so I am excited to see the spring into the summer months in Paris, Germany and Switzerland. We will keep our fingers crossed on Weather as always. I follow your information about the Danube and the Rhine on this board  and find it so informative. I want to thank you for all the time that you put into providing this very valuable information.Sincerely, Pat Smith

Hi everyone, we just completed the Romantic Danube from October 7 through the 14th and had low water level so we were not able to go to Budapest or Regensburg, which was a disappointment on both ends. I’m trying to book another river cruise to give it one more try and that would be from Paris to the Swiss Alps on the Rhine. I know you can’t predict water levels. However, I would love input as to how you feel a sailing from May 31 to June 9th 2025.We would be starting in Paris and sailing from Trier to Basel Switzerland. Do you think there is a better month to try and do it? We will be going in 2025.look forward to hearing from others.Thanks, Pat

3 hours ago, jwohio said:

Hi, I'm new to this forum today. Will be on Viking from Budapest to Passau starting 4 Oct. and concerned about water levels and whether we should expect to change ships at any point. What's the experience been with the first part of October on that stretch of the Danube? Thank you!

Hi, I’m on Viking as well from October 7-14 from Budapest to Regensburg. Pat

1 hour ago, Rebel54 said:

This is where we stayed in 2016.  Great host.  Amazing location.  Loved waking up in the morning and enjoying my coffee sitting at the window. 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1151056?source_impression_id=p3_1674320983_CHEEBo0xQ24NxQLO

Taste of Prague:  https://www.tasteofprague.com/

Also if you want to get some AMAZING photos while there...check out:  Johnny's Photo Tours:  https://www.facebook.com/JohnnysPraguePhotoTours

 

https://www.johnnyspraguetours.com/

 

 

Wow thank you so much! I will look into all of these:)

2 hours ago, Rebel54 said:

I've been to Prague about 7 times, going back for visit 8 in August 2024 in to start a Danube cruise with Avalon.  I always add at least 5 days on my own.  Prague is an amazing, beautiful city that is so easy to navigate on your own.  So much to see and do and so easy to walk or arrange tours.  Taste of Prague is an amazing food tour.  If you are into photography, I can recommend a great photographer that does tours.  I found a great AirBnB that overlooks the old square facing one of the churches and right around the corner from the Astronomical clock (can recommend that if you want as well).  We flew in and the AirBnB had a driver that picked us up.

That sounds amazing. We'll be going in October with another couple and I'd love to check out the Airbnb you recommend. I will also check out the taste of Prague as well. Thank, Pat

Hi Everyone, I got three quotes from Trawick, Generali and Nationwide Insurance and I was told that they cover a voucher for our upcoming cruise. We were on the a Viking Ocean cruise with the VIking Orion and they refunded 100% of what we paid. I'm going to book a river cruise with Viking and they don't cover their vouchers with their insurance.  Nationwide has the best price and I'm wondering if anyone has had experience with any of these companies? Thanks for any help with this question. Pat

20 hours ago, smithp7 said:

Hi, we will be doing the same thing in September and I’m trying to figure out the transportation from Regensburg to Prague? We’re doing the  Romantic Danube from Budapest to Regensburg  on September 9th / 16th.  I have seen postings of a private group that will do a stop along the way at Cesky Krumlov . Does anyone know the name of it? This is the link for transportation from Passat to Prague https://www.private-prague-guide.com/passau-cesky-krumlov-prague-tours/ 

We had this booked back during Covid so this is our attempt at trying it again with very dear and close friends. There will be four of us.Thank you For any insight. Pat

I found a link to a company that does that transfer. I hope it helps! https://www.praguetransport.com/services/regensburg-nuremberg-cruise-docks
Pat

On 12/29/2022 at 2:24 PM, TriMomma said:

We are looking at a cruise that ends in Regensburg.   

 

I like the idea of having a little flexibility.  I think they are asking a lot of money for a bus to Prague and hotel for three nights.   I think I could plan my own itinerary for at least that amount of money and see a whole lot more along the way.   

Hi, we will be doing the same thing in September and I’m trying to figure out the transportation from Regensburg to Prague? We’re doing the  Romantic Danube from Budapest to Regensburg  on September 9th / 16th.  I have seen postings of a private group that will do a stop along the way at Cesky Krumlov . Does anyone know the name of it? This is the link for transportation from Passat to Prague https://www.private-prague-guide.com/passau-cesky-krumlov-prague-tours/ 

We had this booked back during Covid so this is our attempt at trying it again with very dear and close friends. There will be four of us.Thank you For any insight. Pat

Thanks Pat. We may forego the opera and perhaps set out on our own - it's just such a late night. I'd like the flexibility of not having any commitments.

Hdcmn - if we choose to go to the opera, we will definately poke each other! �� We are also doing the included tour on Easter and, like you, we plan to just explore from there. Maybe we'll meet up. I'm toying with the idea of a hop-on-hop-off valperetto pass for the day. It seems like there is so much to see. I was in Rome and some Southern cities years (and years) ago but I have never been to Venice and my daughter (18) has never been to Italy.

We took the boat over in the morning to do the included tour and decided to skip that and go off on our own just wandering the city and stop in whatever shops we wanted to or relaxing and getting a bite to eat. I love your idea of the hop on hop off Valperetto pass and let fate take you were it may. We walked back to the boat which was really nice too. We got confused at one point and just asked for directions. The city itself is the prize in my opinion! Enjoy this special moment with your daughter:) Pat

My daughter and I are considering this same excursion our first night in Venice. Has anyone been on this excursion before? Would you recommend it highly? Or should we just wander through the city or St. Mark's that evening? Or just exploring the ship? My concerns are (1) it's the Saturday night of Easter weekend - would that change the crowd level in the streets? and (2) we are flying in from the states that day so we could be exhausted by the evening. Or we could be running on adrenaline - who knows? But I'd hate to embarrass myself falling asleep during the opera! :o

Hi Kentucky Kat, We were in the same situation with the long travel day and if I could do it over again I wouldn’t do the Opera. I would have loved more time to explore the city on my own. You’ll be with a large group so that slows you down and you have to follow their pace. You visit a large private home and you sit in a room where you’ll have 4 different opera singers performing different songs for you and then you walk back to the boat. Save your money and go enjoy the beautiful city at your own pace. Have fun because you don’t have a lot of time in beautiful Venice! Enjoy the cruise😊Pat

wow! I’m not trying to brag, but we are having a great time. Arrived on board today in Venice and the Viking staff had everything set up that it was seamless. Our DV4 cabin is great and has plenty of space for our things. We ate tonight at “the Restraunt” and it was wonderful. All of the reservations for The Italian speciality restraunt are gone, even before we sailed so make sure to make reservations ahead of time. All of the staff are great! You cruise critic members have helped us so much with your knowledge and advice THANK YOU. Viking has a free shuttle to near St Marks Square so an evening there is easy. So far, so great

Hi Stcroixguy, We were on the maiden voyage with Viking Sun out of Venice. We were a V2 cabin so we couldn’t make any dinner reservations ahead of time. Just keep checking everyday on the specialty restaurants and be flexible and you’ll definitely get something. I did that daily and we got 2 nights at the chef table and one at Manfredi’s restaurant. We loved all of them😊Enjoy

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:4924418/mmsi:257179000/vessel:VIKING%20SUN

 

this is the site that was suggested on our World Cruise Roll Call

Wow thank you so much. That is very cool!! Pat

latest post from the Roll Call

 

The Sun is sailing again. Just left port on it’s way to Montenegro (?).

If there were issues, they were fixed quickly.

What sight do you go to find out where the Viking Sun is located? Thanks, Pat

Husband is doing much better and got the go ahead from his doctor yesterday! YAAAAAAAY! Nothing slows him down. We are both looking forward to this fabulous trip.

That's such great news! Hope we get to meet at the meet and mingle. Pat

Many thanks Viking, just looking forward to our cruise on the 4th October, cannot wait to see the new ship.:D:D

Thanks for checking Leesre! We're so excited too:)