gentlemancruiser

Travellovervic I'm so sorry, that is one VERY VERY long day.

Has anyone on the Rhine or Danube sailing with AMA had an updates on changes/cancellations recently? I saw their website travel advisory shows updated Aug 16th but no new information. Flying out next week and getting nervous.

Vilshofen is a pretty little town and very easy to walk.

let's us know how it goes. Sounds like everything is being done minute by minute

Rhine/Moselle at Koblenz doesn't look too bad at the moment https://www.feratel.com/en/webcams/germany/koblenz.html

We had to taken an excursion boat in the Wachau Valley when our river cruise ship wasn't able to make it. Will NEVER do one of those excursion boats again. We were packed onboard like cattle. Top deck was standing room only, no shade anywhere, just standing for 45 minutes was terrible. Indoor lower deck was packed with people eating and if you were stuck there you could only see the river bank. We had to push and shove our way to disembark an Durnstein.

Thanks Steamboats!!! I was trying to explain that earlier.

The length of the vessel is also important in low water because to the many bends/curves become harder to navigate, without hitting bottom. Turning 110m vs 135m vessel is different. When the river become narrow it makes for slower and tight bends.

rain dance !!

AMA will not do a land tour. If you cannot complete your journey on the same ship you will be transferred to another ship to complete your journey.

Agree about Avalon. I'd wanted to do the cable car but we ended up on tour to the Mechanical Museum which was very crowded. One thing with Avalon that I LOVE is the cabin layout, by far the best.

Maybe the Rhine could install one of these for when there is low water

Nuremberg was a very interesting place to visit. The rally grounds & documentation centre were something I'll never forget.

The Panorama is a better ship then the Vista.

Be aware food in Switzerland is much more expensive then North America.

Not too surprised about Viking and Customer Service. They've been operating that way for years.

The PO river is dried up too. Not sure you'll do much cruising there.

this shows some of the lowest sections

The air arrangements are based upon pricing and which route has the lowest fares.

On my favourite trips was the Rhone because we docked in Arles and spent an evening onboard at the spot where Vincent Van Gogh did the painting Stary Night. WOW!!!

A note of caution to you or maybe your agent. We've had 3 of our 5 river cruises disrupted by low water/broken locks/etc. In all cases we've faced "revised" itineraries which have involved missing or revising excursions. There is NO way of really knowing in any great detail the specifics about changes/swaps. It's a day to day thing with rivers/waterways. River cruising is very enjoyable, however it is unpredictable. Best advice "Go with the flow". A Grand European cruise usually involves 3 waterways, the Danube (Budapest to Regensberg), the Main(Regenberg to Mainz) & the Rhine(Mainz near Frankfurt to Amsterdam).

Heathrow, Schiphol, Charles De Gaulle, Frankfurt Main, Dublin are all struggling this summer. Expect delays and issues if you are transiting there. Looks like Brussels is one of the few airports with minimal problems. https://www.traveloffpath.com/best-european-airports-for-avoiding-flight-delays/

How are the water levels of the Rhine from Rudesheim/Mainz to Basel???? We are scheduled to be sailing with AMA from Luxembroug to Basel. I can see a swap required once we reach Koblenz/Lahnstein, but to where for the next ship is what I am worried about.

Komarno has a large dock and area where passengers can easily transfer to coaches. It is rural area which IMHO is NOT a scenic area or drive around there. We did the reverse trip to Vienna and the drive was very boring.

again it depends upon which cruise line. I've been on the top deck with Avalon on the main, however they made us kneel down leaving a couple of locks which was great. 1 crew member watched out for guests while others watched the ship sides.