Water levels on the Danube?

[Doris Banting]

We will be cruising the Danube in two weeks. Can anyone tell me if there are any concerns with the water levels?

[tassietravellers]

We will be cruising the Danube in two weeks. Can anyone tell me if there are any concerns with the water levels?

 

 

We will be in 3 weeks, waiting to read any replies you might get, I did contact our cruise company and they did say it all seemed good at the moment :)

[ingo_e]

Here is the german danube: http://www.rivercruiseinfo.com/content/river-levels-danube

 

There was i little high water peak downstream of Passau a few days ago due to thunderstorms and heavy rain in the alps. At the moment everything is back to normal, but you can see, how fast it may change..

[Riversedge]

On our recent trip on the Danube the water level went up 3 feet in one day. It's hard to predict ahead of time what the water level will be in the future because it can rise rapidly.

[mame10ST]

We will be in 3 weeks, waiting to read any replies you might get, I did contact our cruise company and they did say it all seemed good at the moment

[newfirsttimer]

As the OP stated, no one has any control over the water levels on any of the European rivers. They can rise or fall rapidly. When choosing a cruise line, one of the questions that needs to be asked is, how frequently they have to use buses for their 'cruises' due to high or low water levels, what their experience has been with their ships getting through when others cannot. There are risks associated with any travelling and water levels is the major one, I feel, for river cruising in Europe. You take the cruise so don't have to live out of a suitcase while enjoying the sites of interior Europe, however, Mother Nature does not always co-operate and often the only option is the proverbial bus tour. Not the fault of the cruise line, just a travel risk for any of us. Just ensure you have done your homework and know what plans your cruise line have in the event of unusual water levels. Let's hope that there are no issues this year and everyone gets to enjoy the river cruise they dreamed of and paid for. Happy travels to all.

[goleta]

We will be cruising the Danube in two weeks. Can anyone tell me if there are any concerns with the water levels?

 

We got back yesterday and had one area on the Danube with low water. We had to travel 9km per hour and were delayed getting into Melk by several hours. It rained the other day and not sure yesterday as we left around noon in light rain from Prague.

[friendlycruiser59]

Dont worry - plenty of water in the Danube for now. Its late fall, winter cruisers that need to think about that.

[ingo_e]

Dont worry - plenty of water in the Danube for now. Its late fall, winter cruisers that need to think about that.

 

This time of the year the problem is not low water, but short term high water peaks that block the passage at the low bridges (Eiserne Brücke e.g.) downstream of Regensburg.

[goleta]

This time of the year the problem is not low water, but short term high water peaks that block the passage at the low bridges (Eiserne Brücke e.g.) downstream of Regensburg.

 

So true. We have a photo of our captian with head down and a few inches to spare! This was last week near Regensburg. Amazing as we had low water as well!

[UKBayern]

Its late fall, winter cruisers that need to think about that.

 

That is not true either. Rain or snow can fall all year round, we also have dry spells for weeks on end, both in summer and winter.

[MMDown Under]

Received the following in an email today from my friend, who is currently cruising on Scenic Crystal -

 

There was some talk a couple of days ago about us being transferred to the Scenic Ruby. Apparently the Danube is really low at Passau but what they decided to do was sail the ship while we were all on the tours to either Salzberg or Cesky Krumlov (4 coaches of us) and go through the lock while nearly empty. Then instead of the bus dropping us off at Passau, we were driven about 30 minutes further to Vilshofen and met up with the ship after it had been through the locks. The guide we had today at Regensburg said it was most unusual to see sand banks on the side of the river as the water was so low. It is school holidays here at the moment so there are children swimming from the sand banks.

[tassietravellers]

Water levels are getting very low..we were meant to sail tonight for Regensburg, but have stayed here in Passau, there are now 5 ships here, well there were an hour or so ago when we walked back..could be more now, presuming they weren't all meant to be here..will see how things are tomorrow. :-)

[abredt]

We are due to go Passau to Budapest in 2 weeks.

 

Is the water low beyond Passau to the east?

cb

[steamboats]

Yes, currently there is a low water situation all along the Danube river.

 

steamboats

[Train Riders]

Thanks for the update Steamboats, could you please keep them comeing . We leave next week for 10 days in Turkey then cruise from Bucharest to Amsterdam with a 7 day lay over in Budapest. It could be a very long bus tour instead of a luxury river cruise that we had planned for. Oh well a trip to Marklin will fix the blues when we get to Germany after the cruise.

 

Train Riders in Oz

[ingo_e]

FYI: Straubing is back to 169cm, which should be enough for most ships..

 

http://www.rivercruiseinfo.com/content/river-levels-danube

[newfirsttimer]

Is there a low end number where it would be impossible for ships to get through? Is 150 cm too low? What is the normal water level on the Danube?

[newfirsttimer]

Ingo e:

Am I correct in my understanding that you provide tours in Nuremberg for the Scenic ships? As it stands the Emerald is scheduled there on Sept 24th and two tours are offered, the WWII sites with the Documentation Center OR Nuremberg's past and then meeting with local students. I have seen the WWII sites from my AMA cruise last year so was leaning towards the other tour. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks

[ingo_e]

Is there a low end number where it would be impossible for ships to get through? Is 150 cm too low? What is the normal water level on the Danube?

 

It depends on each station when warnings are issued, as the water level is not the total level, but the level above a certain minimum.. Hey Steamboats, can you explain the GLW? ;)

 

Am I correct in my understanding that you provide tours in Nuremberg for the Scenic ships? As it stands the Emerald is scheduled there on Sept 24th and two tours are offered, the WWII sites with the Documentation Center OR Nuremberg's past and then meeting with local students. I have seen the WWII sites from my AMA cruise last year so was leaning towards the other tour. Do you have any recommendations? Thanks

 

Usually I recommend the ww2 tour, as it is unique. The 'problem' for Nuremberg and its medieval tours is that the city is surrounded by Bamberg and Regensburg - both are on the UNESCO list, while Nurembergs old town is more or less just a pretty accurate reconstruction. But as you have seen the Ralley Grounds and Courtroom 600, go on the medieval tour (also Scenic does not enter Courtroom 600).

[newfirsttimer]

Thanks for your input on Nuremberg. The AMA tour was at the end of a very long bus ride from Prague, I was tired and cranky and did not enjoy the lengthy in depth patter about the WWII sites and we did not go near the documentation center at all. We did spend about 90 minutes walking around the old town square area but not on a guided tour.

[tassietravellers]

Usually I recommend the ww2 tour, as it is unique. The 'problem' for Nuremberg and its medieval tours is that the city is surrounded by Bamberg and Regensburg - both are on the UNESCO list, while Nurembergs old town is more or less just a pretty accurate reconstruction. But as you have seen the Ralley Grounds and Courtroom 600, go on the medieval tour (also Scenic does not enter Courtroom 600).

 

We went to the documentation centre and ralley grounds yesterday..extremely interesting could easily have spent a half a day there, Deb

[Beadcrafter]

Hi, Does anyone know if the water level on the Danube is likely to be more of a problem in July or October? We are debating between two travel times.