Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics

My wife and I are on Avalon Imagery II, just left Amsterdam this afternoon. The ship left early because it must travel slower on our way to Cologne, due to lower than normal water levels. Hopefully we make it to Basel without issue.

Dennis

My wife and I are on Avalon Imagery II, just left Amsterdam this afternoon. The ship left early because it must travel slower on our way to Cologne, due to lower than normal water levels. Hopefully we make it to Basel without issue.

 

Dennis

Travelw, I would be grateful if you would continue to report on your cruise. We will be on our first river cruise on a similar itinerary departing Amsterdam later this month.

We are in Breisach on day of our Rhine cruise on the Viking Aruna since there was a ship swap. Off to Strasbourg tomorrow. Will keep you posted.

Thank you all for updates....we are praying for rain for you! We are scheduled on the Alruna on Sat, Sept 29. We appreciate all feedback so we know how to prepare.....Safe travels all!

@ notamermaid...I continue my charting! [emoji846]

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Any info on the water levels would be nice My wife and i are going on the Kara on October We are going to be spending 2 days in Basel from Oct 12-14 and than heading to Amsterdam

Thank you notamermaid for your regular update, and to those taking time from their holiday to update those of us still waiting to leave.

We should leave Amsterdam on the 26th on Scenic Jasper which we think won't happen, but we are hoping that a replacement boat will be there and there will be enough water for us to get through.

Good morning from the cloudless Rhine valley. Although the nights are cool now as is to be expected in September, the days warm up quickly and are summery. I have mentioned the hurricane Helene. It is forecast to hit Wales this evening but by then it will be an ex-hurricane. Hopefully some of its force will have gone by then. It will bring us here on the continent very warm weather and no rain at least until Thursday. As I do not work Monday to Friday nine to five I do not get that Monday morning feeling. Instead this morning I looked at the weather and river level forecast and experienced something worse. That feeling of bringing the bad news without being responsible for it. Please do not "shoot the messenger"!

No rain is forecast for the Upper Rhine valley for the next four days, that is Monday to Thursday inclusively, and the temperatures will rise to 29 and in a few areas possibly even 32 degrees over the next three days.

The river levels this morning: Maxau 370cm, Kaub 76cm, Koblenz 67cm. Maxau is fluctuating around its Glw mark (not so good), Kaub is just below its Glw mark (bad), Koblenz is quite a few centimetres below its Glw mark (not good at all). Both Kaub and Koblenz do not have their guaranteed navigation channel depth any more which has a worse effect in Kaub.

This is not good at all but worse is yet to come. With no rain forecast the river level forecast at Maxau is looking worrying. The tentative prediction sees the level falling to 355cm on Saturday (I hope they are wrong). The forecasts for Kaub and Koblenz do not go that far into the future but also there the trend is clear: 65cm and lower at Kaub is possible, Koblenz could see 62cm and lower.

Sorry.

Please bring some water over from the Carolinas. You have got far too much for comfort. Sad footage on the BBC last night. I experienced the hurricane in London in October 1987, the images of that come back vividly when I see fallen trees, like last night. But it was very mild in comparison. We only had the power out for ten hours. It was a bit worse in the coastal areas of England.

Hope you are all safe.

notamermaid

Hi fellow cruisers

Firstly my thoughts are with anyone of you directly or indirectly affected by Florence lets hope she leaves gracefully without inflicting any more heartache and loss.

To sll those doing river cruises in Europe lets hope waterlevels rise for you to sail through.

Just want to share an experience with all those who are currently or going to sail with Viking just so that you will be prepared if you encounter the same situation.

We booked an optional excursion online with Viking before sailing with our credit card .

During the cruise we were told that due to lack of interest that tour was cancelled and refunds would be forthcoming. Upon checking with reception and asking if the refund would be credited back to my credit card i was told " yes you will definitely get a refund".

The day before the cruise ended i received my onboard account and noticed that the refund had been credited to my onboard account and after several expenses for cocktails etc were deducted there was still some surplus left. I had not expected this so back to reception i went and was told that i had to spend the surplus on board before leaving the next day otherwise it would be forfeited because it was part of my onboard account. This was definitely not of my choosing as i assumed the refund would have gone back into the credit card account. As it was an amount of 25 euros or so left i had the choice of kicking up a huge fuss and causing much embarrassment to my partner or just spend the money onboard before leaving which we did .

This was the Lofn. So if any of your Viking tours are cancelled for whatever reason whether it is change of itinerary or lack of numbers dont be hesitant to check specifically how you will be refunded.

We enjoyed all hospitality and organisational aspects of our Viking trip but there were some precruise issues caused by Viking Australia and the abovementioned issue which have served as an eyeopener if we ever book to sail with Viking again.

Reading some of the other reviews with other companies I would like to think that Viking is not unique in its shortcomings and that is why we bloggers have to share all the pros and cons of our experiences .

Thank you notamermaid for your goldmine of information ...i still read your reviews and i m sure your fan club is growing daily

Thank you for all the updates. We fly into Amsterdam this Sat., September 22 to board the Avalon Tanquility II. This is our first river cruise and we appreciate all the info everyone has been sharing.

Oh my that is not good news but will persevere!

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.

If you're traveling on Avalon in the near future, you may want to look at my extended message (#412) on the Danube water levels thread, describing the fairly dramatic adjustment to the itinerary on Avalon's 9/21 scheduled cruise from AMS to Budapest. In short, rather than cruising up the Rhine and Main Rivers, we're going to be riding on a bus for 6 days, with hotel stops along the way, before finally joining our ship in Passau. My post describes the options that passengers are being offered because of this change. Although this apparently is caused primarily by water levels on the upper Danube, I infer that Avalon may also have a shortage of ships in the Rhine basin, because they're not trying a ship swap for us.

We are on Imagery II currently in Cologne. Before dinner tonight the captain had a meeting with everyone on the ship to inform us that the ship could not go any further than Koblenz, because of low water levels in the Rhine gorge. We will see all the sites by bus and smaller boats in the gorge area. All excursions will take place. We are transferring to Avalon Tranquility II at Strasbourg to finish our trip to Basel. Not what we wanted, but we will not miss any of the sites, so that is good.

Dennis

Thanks Travel for the update. Certainly could impact us on the Viking Alruna. Left Strasbourg last night and arrived at Mannheim early this morning. The ship will stop in Bernstein to pick up those on the morning Heidelberg tour. Next is Rudesheim this evening but they don't list a departure time for Koblenz. Fingers crossed.

Must have auto correct on? Sorry for the spelling mysteries.

Must have auto correct on? Sorry for the spelling mysteries.

Don't worry.

People are thankful for all the information they can get.

We are scheduled to leave Amsterdam and go to basil on 9/22 on Avalon Tranquility II. We have not received any changes to our schedule at this time. Leaving Friday so we are hoping to get our trip in.

AztecDuo,

hope all goes well tomorrow. If the Alruna cannot make it I am sure Viking will already have a coach or - preferably - an excursion boat for you ready, i.e. booked the Alruna's passengers to be on it. The Viking Tialfi - the one that had an accident - is already in the Rhine gorge which is a good sign. Her mishap in Ludwighafen was obviously minor and a bit of paint in the winter dock is perhaps all that is needed to keep her in perfect shape. My guess.

TravelW,

you have sadly been caught out by the latest drop in water levels. The company/captain know of course how many crucial centimetres are missing to ensure a safe passage. Good to read that they are able to hire an excursion boat so have a great time in Koblenz and along the castle stretch!

jbeuks,

I read your post on the Danube thread. It is nice that Avalon is able to provide a ship for the Rhine gorge. Six days on a coach is certainly not a substitute for all that missed cruising on the Rhine and the Main and I could understand it if many passengers took Avalon's offer of cancellation. I hope that the hotels are good and that you can enjoy your time on the boat from Passau.

notamermaid

Any news on the Artistry II? I think she's supposed to be in Cologne tomorrow. Not sure if her draft is shorter than Imagery II. Thinking she might end up with the same fate and be on busses.

It is a little windier than expected in the Rhine valley and clouds have developed over the Vosges mountains and the Black Forest area. Isolated strong showers are coming down there currently with some rain making it into the valley. This is not widespread rain and will likely have little impact on the river levels. Perhaps a couple of centimetres. Well, sometimes this is all that is needed ...

The levels are currently stagnating a bit, but are still forecast to go down over the next three days: Maxau 366cm, Kaub 77cm, Koblenz 67cm.

Just in case you have not looked into the Vosges mountains yet: it is the range that you see from Strasbourg and Colmar to the west. The region contains the source of the Moselle and is in my opinion very nice. If you have been on a river cruise on the Rhine before you might have had an excursion to Riquewihr. That place is a typical wine village of the region for example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vosges

notamermaid

The levels are currently stagnating a bit, but are still forecast to go down over the next three days: Maxau 366cm, Kaub 77cm, Koblenz 67cm.

I've subscribed to this thread to catch up on the latest Rhine news since it's too early to hear anything yet from Viking on the status of our October 5th cruise. I really appreciate the frequent updates you've provided, notamermaid, and also will thank others who have shared info on their cruises.

I do have a possibly dumb question. What is the significance of the three points you have been reporting on? Are these the shallowest parts of the Rhine? Is there a level at which we can assume that cruises will cancel as opposed to the lines implementing ship swaps? Sorry if you've already answered this - I just found this thread in the past week! Thanks again!

azbirdmom,

that is a good question, as without context the figures certainly seem arbitrary. The three are some of the many gauges along the river measuring the level. I post these as Maxau is in the Upper Rhine valley and reacts to the weather in Switzerland and the rain in the mountains surrounding the valley. It is a good indicator, also as a prediction is regularly published online, for the water levels. Maxau can also be low in its own right but mainly warns us of what will happen in Kaub and Koblenz later. Kaub is in the Rhine gorge where the shallowest part of the river is as regards the navigation channel. Koblenz is just beyond the Rhine gorge and mainly completes the picture (but can also be low in its own right). Sometimes ships can sail in Maxau and in Koblenz but anything in between might be tricky. This depends on the ship. I hope this makes it clearer.

Which brings me to your question of cancellations. It really depends on itinerary, ship, company, etc. Logistics can be a problem, i.e. getting a ship to where it is supposed to be in the right time frame. Essentially we do not know what companies might do until a couple of days before the cruise starts, unless a cruise lines decides early or changes the itinerary towards a "safe passage area" like Crystal has done. Sometimes decisions at even shorter notice need to be made. See a couple of cruisers' experiences above.

It is important to note that on the Rhine river there is no "cut-off point" at which the river is closed. Captains and companies decide what is safe and doable.

Perhaps the answer I gave to toseaornottosea is helpful: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2593050&page=22 post #427. Or please read my little "lesson on navigation" in posts #221 and #237.

Edit: I thought I might post a photo of such a gauge and found the gauge at Speyer with three good photos of two different levels: http://www.wsa-ma.wsv.de/wasserstrassen/hydrologie_pegel/pegelinfo/pegeldaten/speyer/index.html Currently the level is a little lower than 235cm as in the photo, so you would see even more rocks exposed if you took a photo.

Have a great cruise.

notamermaid

Thank you so much for the detailed response. The gauge is pretty impressive too, much better than someone having to walk out each day with a measuring device. :) Looking forward to hearing about rain in the days / weeks to come!

I am also glad I found this message board. I have done several cruise’s but this is our first river cruise. We are going from B-A on October 14-21 so I have been watching the river levels the last few weeks. Jerry

Good afternoon from a Rhine valley bathed in sunshine (again). The sky is so bright with few clouds that a few areas of Rhineland-Palatinate are getting up to 12 hours of sunshine a day. Which is remarkable as we are close to Equinox and we can only get up to 12 hours and (about) 8 minutes of official daylight from sunrise to sunset anyway. It is very warm and the coming week will see temperature rise to 32 degrees in the warmest part of the valley. Now that is too much for mid-September...

 

notamermaid

You’re hotter than us living in Bermuda. Crazy.

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