Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics

Heading north on the Viking Alruna. Left Rudesheim this morning and sailed through the middle Rhine with no problems. Passed many Viking ships going south, including the Viking Tialfi so despite the low water levels, all is well!

Hotter than Bermuda, now that says something. The weather is indeed hot, as forecast, but today I cannot see 32 forecast. It is more 28 to 30, currently (at noon) it is 26 degrees in Mannheim for example. Still it is more than we can usually expect this time of year and while it is nice it does not feel quite right. Well, things are about to change...

Rain is forecast for Friday, widespread rain that makes the experts confident it will raise the water levels from late Saturday onwards. Sounds good. Will it be enough to ensure cruising next week? Who knows. As I write 21 gauging stations on the Rhine in Germany are on low water status - orange in colour on the map I posted some days back. It shows the extent of the drought. This should also change by Sunday but it will not be enough to ease the pain for the logistics companies and barges. A shortage of some raw materials and commodities due to delayed delivery times has been hinted at in the industries and heating oil is going to be more expensive this autumn than last year.

The figures: Maxau 361cm, Kaub 66cm, Koblenz 65cm.

notamermaid

Heading north on the Viking Alruna. Left Rudesheim this morning and sailed through the middle Rhine with no problems. Passed many Viking ships going south, including the Viking Tialfi so despite the low water levels, all is well!

AztecDuo,

our posts have crossed. Glad to read you have made it. Should be plain sailing downstream from there. :) I hope Viking can use the standard dock in Cologne. Here is your ship and you: https://www.bafg.de/DE/06_Info_Service/03_Webcam/webcam_node.html;jsessionid=C52F2D368EDA4C5645922C209EFF6320.live11291

If you go round the corner of Deutsches Eck you can see the Crystal Debussy docked on the Moselle. But I suspect you will be heading to Braubach after lunch.

notamermaid

Edit: On marinetraffic I can see the Viking Baldur in the gorge having just sailed past Braubach. She is doing the passage as well. Great!

Hello Fourmiler,

Notamermaid, I am really enjoying reading all the interesting information you are providing us cruisers, not just the water levels. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, or am I being too personal.

Let's see... I was born and raised in Germany and have lived in the river Rhine area for almost all my life, apart from a short time in London. Which has got the Thames, of course. Cannot get away from large-ish rivers. :D Family ties still connect me with Britain, but not London itself. I work part-time in tourism but in a post unconnected to river cruising. I have sailed on "my" river on various excursion boats since childhood and remember with fondness being on the Goethe paddle wheeler with my grandparents. The Goethe was still a paddle steamer then. In 2013 I went on my first proper river cruise (see my signature) and since then I have been hooked on the subject. Still waiting for the opportunity to go on my second river cruise...

notamermaid

We are currently on the Viking Hild moored in Speyer on our way to Mainz tonight. On Monday night the captain informed us that the water levels are dropping and there is a chance that we might be speeding up the itinerary to beat the drop since the biggest problem is between Mainz and Koblenz. What that actually means we will probably find out tonight. Will let you all know what happens......

Hello Fourmiler,

 

Still waiting for the opportunity to go on my second river cruise...

 

 

notamermaid

If any of the cruise companies had an iota of common sense they would be on here offering you a freebie for all the help you give their passengers. :)

We are currently on the Viking Hild moored in Speyer on our way to Mainz tonight. On Monday night the captain informed us that the water levels are dropping and there is a chance that we might be speeding up the itinerary to beat the drop since the biggest problem is between Mainz and Koblenz. What that actually means we will probably find out tonight. Will let you all know what happens......

Thanks for keeping in touch.

Well done Aztecduo hope you took some wonderful photos to give u a lifetime of memories Apart from the middle Rhine the highlights for me were Heidelberg and Colmar (did the optional tour of the city absolutely charming and quaint like something out of a fairytale )

Being a diehard romantic these 2 places appealed very much to me

apart from the history and tradition

Wannawander hope things go just as smoothly for you and that it doesn't heat up too much as it gets pretty humid

Notamermaid as always thanks for the updates and all the effort you have invested in your research so much interest has been generated and i know that i will be tuning into this thread for a long time to come and learning something new each time

Don't think that i will be jumping on another river cruise after all the stress with this water level issue but as the saying goes"no pain no gain"

Keep up the good work folks!:D

We are currently on the Viking Hild moored in Speyer on our way to Mainz tonight. On Monday night the captain informed us that the water levels are dropping and there is a chance that we might be speeding up the itinerary to beat the drop since the biggest problem is between Mainz and Koblenz. What that actually means we will probably find out tonight. Will let you all know what happens......

Thanks for the info. We will be boarding the Hild Oct 8 in Trier and have been concerned about water levels. Any “must see” or other tips? Hoping you are able to complete the rest of your cruise without interruption.

We are on the Scenic Jewel. We left Bernkastle 45 minutes early as the cruise director indicated we were trying yo get back to the Rhine as early as possible due to low water levels.

Thanks notamermaid. Maybe I was waving when the picture was taken.

On the Viking Mani. Sailing from A to B. Arrived in Strasbourg this morning without any issues. Very hot downtown today with temps of 33 degrees.

On the Viking Mani. Sailing from A to B. Arrived in Strasbourg this morning without any issues. Very hot downtown today with temps of 33 degrees.

So no issues and on the Manu all the way from Amsterdam to Strasbourg?

Tomorrow the Viking Alruna will dock in the New Harbor rather than on the Rhine due to the low river level.

Reporting from the Hild from Zurich to Paris. Currently moored in Speyer leaving for Mainz tonight at 11:30 pm Wednesday Sept 19. Tonight the captain said we are 2-3 inches above the required level to get to Koblenz from Mainz. Should things change for the worse in the night or tomorrow we will spend the morning in Mainz and leave in the afternoon or evening rather than overnight in Mainz and leaving Friday morning. Either way we will cruise the Rhine Gorge , either on schedule or a half day early. He said we will make it to Trier. Rain is forecast for Friday so hopefully that will help those traveling later. My added comments: The Hild has only this itinerary and there can be no ship swaps. Please note this info is only for the Hild on this itinerary on the Rhine and Moselle at this very specific time. There have been no changes of itinerary on this ship this low water level season. We are relieved! Hope this brings some light to the situation.

On the Viking Mani. Sailing from A to B. Arrived in Strasbourg this morning without any issues. Very hot downtown today with temps of 33 degrees.

Happy to hear about the Mani being on schedule. We are supposed to board her on October 5th!

Reporting from the Hild from Zurich to Paris. Currently moored in Speyer leaving for Mainz tonight at 11:30 pm Wednesday Sept 19. Tonight the captain said we are 2-3 inches above the required level to get to Koblenz from Mainz. Should things change for the worse in the night or tomorrow we will spend the morning in Mainz and leave in the afternoon or evening rather than overnight in Mainz and leaving Friday morning. Either way we will cruise the Rhine Gorge , either on schedule or a half day early. He said we will make it to Trier. Rain is forecast for Friday so hopefully that will help those traveling later. My added comments: The Hild has only this itinerary and there can be no ship swaps. Please note this info is only for the Hild on this itinerary on the Rhine and Moselle at this very specific time. There have been no changes of itinerary on this ship this low water level season. We are relieved! Hope this brings some light to the situation.

Great to get a report from the Hild. I was pretty sure ship swaps would not be an option, but thank you for confirming that. We will be going the opposite direction in a few weeks.

Aboard the Scenic Jewel, which was supposed to cruise Rhine Gorge and dock in Rudeshem. We woke up this morning sailing wrong direction on Rhine! No formal info yet. Will keep all informed when they make an announcement.

Aboard the Scenic Jewel, which was supposed to cruise Rhine Gorge and dock in Rudeshem. We woke up this morning sailing wrong direction on Rhine! No formal info yet. Will keep all informed when they make an announcement.

Oh no! Keep us posted.

Aboard the Scenic Jewel, which was supposed to cruise Rhine Gorge and dock in Rudeshem. We woke up this morning sailing wrong direction on Rhine! No formal info yet. Will keep all informed when they make an announcement.

That doesn't sound good, Thanks for thinking of letting us know. hope it turns out well for you. Marine tracking site shows you stopped at Andernach with Basel as your destination on the 24th.

Basel it is for hernstro and the Scenic Jewel! She is on her way towards the gorge. The Viking Hlin got through earlier going downstream. It is a very tight situation. The river levels dropped overnight but are slightly up since then. Currently it looks like this: Maxau 359cm, Kaub 64cm, Koblenz 55cm.

Andernach port? That is interesting. If I have the time I will get back to that subject shortly.

Bye for now.

notamermaid

If you do Andernach, can you share an easy way to get to 'Maria Loch Abbey' from the dock?

Hello xmaser,

There is a regular bus that leaves from "Stadtgraben", the 310. The pdf file is available online. Alternatively contact Andernach-Tourismus.de

Maria Laach is a great place to visit. Abbey and lake are worth seeing but as many regional tourists think so too it can get crowded on Sundays.

notamermaid

Hello xmaser,

 

There is a regular bus that leaves from "Stadtgraben", the 310. The pdf file is available online. Alternatively contact Andernach-Tourismus.de

 

Maria Laach is a great place to visit. Abbey and lake are worth seeing but as many regional tourists think so too it can get crowded on Sundays.

 

notamermaid

We are doing Viking in April - Amterdam to Basel. Can we assume that water levels are not an issue at that time of year? Your insight is welcomed.

mkerner,

low water levels on that route do not happen in April but you can get flooding which can be mild to severe. During severe flooding the authorities close individual sections of the river.

notamermaid