April Rhine River Cruise, Flooding an issue?

[jvr123]

I wasn't sure where to post this question. We are about to book an April 5th Viking Basel to Amsterdam cruise and I am starting to panic that we might have issues with being able to navigate the Rhine at that time of year. Our local paper recently had an article about a Viking cruise this year in which the passengers never even got to go on the ship; transported completely by bus! Is it unwise to plan a trip at this time of year?

[jacksonnh]

Buy trip insurance with the "cancel for any reason without a penalty" option. Read the T and C and make sure you don't need a "covered" reason to cancel in order to get your money back.

Most policies bought through the cruise line will give you a credit on another cruise

[janmcn]

If you're worried about high or low water, you shouldn't be looking at a river cruise. It can happen at any time. We were beginning to get high water on our Danube-Main-Rhine this last week, but the rains let up and things settled down. But they did warn us that it "could" happen that we might not fit under a bridge, etc...We also had a lock strike that MIGHT have affected us...it didn't.

River cruises are subject to more "ifs" than ocean cruises...lock strikes happen, high, low water...etc...

Just go with it if you want to go...and, as the previous poster suggested, have travel insurance with a cancel for any reason clause (usually you have to buy that at the time you make your first payment on your cruise.)

[jvr123]

Thanks jacksonnh and janmcn. I came to the same conclusion that any time of year is a risk with a river cruise. We've done many ocean cruises and now that there are no kids wanted to branch out. Cancel for any reason insurance only applies if you cancel before you go on your trip. In the article I mentioned, the couple were not informed ahead of time that there were any issues. I've read in reviews where passengers may be bussed part of the way or transfer ships but in this case, they were bussed the whole way and had no recourse since Viking has a disclaimer about acts of nature. I guess we take our chances and hope for the best!

[peterdkiwi]

We watched the high river level issues in much detail this year as we were sailing the Rhine in July. The Rhine did get high but did not get affected like the Danube did.

That being said we have booked the Danube for July 2014. What I did learn from the many 100's of listing on CC, is that some cruise companies looked after their customers extremely well in difficult conditions, while other treated customer shockingly and I would strongly advise not to take the chance with them. Them being Viking and Scenic

[mathladyca]

People who worry about if, ands or but should really not travel. Acts of nature and violence can happen anytime and anywhere in the world. Travelers should be the adventurous type, yes? I am still hoping to get to Baghdad before I die!

[philmar]

hello my friend and i are sailingthis trip our first river cruise and are really looking forward to it.We have booked 2 days in Basel prior to the cruise.We are sailing with viking helvetia.

[Shana51]

To philmar.

As was stated earlier..the rivers are unpredictable and can change daily even hourly. To alleviate any fears of high/low water let me tell you of my past adventure. In 2012, August was the hottest month in Europe..temps in high 90's. I was on a Tauck cruise from Bucharest to Budapest. On embarkation day at the hotel, the Tauck tour Director (ttd) asked who wants to go on a day trip to Black Sea before boarding?..complimentary ! About 30 of us said yes. The Tauck buses were waiting out front...our big luggage was taken directly to the boat, we kept our day paks. The rest of the passengers headed on a city tour of Bucharest and we left for the Black Sea. Nice drive along the river..as we got close to the Sea, the water was very low in the river..saw 2 riverboats stuck on sand bars. Ttd said those cruises were cancelled and the passengers were sent home. I began to bite my nails..oh, oh. Enjoyed a wonderful day at the sea, were given a nice lunch then it was time to get to the boat. The boat was going to come about half way down to pick us up, but the captain wisely decided not to try as there was only about 3 meters of water. He started to head north to get to deeper water and we were to catch up . By dinner time he was still going north and we reached Bucharest again. The ttd had been on the phone and arranged a dinner stop for us to wait till the boat found a suitable dock. We were taken to the outskirts of the city on a lovely small waterway..banquet tables were set out by waters edge, misting fans kept us cool and fabulous food. The ttd was constantly on the phone with our captain. He found a dock and we left about 8pm to meet the boat. Got there at 11pm. All the crew and the captain met us on the dock with wet towels and drinks. Our cabin keys were handed out. Got to our cabin and the steward had hung up some clothes and partially unpacked. He left our jammies on the pillow!..bless his heart. The rest of the cruise had no issues. I guess the moral of the story is..don't worry about what you can't control. Traveling is an adventure, enjoy it. I am doing Amsterdam to Basel in July 2014 again on Tauck.

[notamermaid]

Hello Shana51,

 

Thank you for sharing that experience. It shows how an experienced crew and cruise operator can handle such situations well.

 

Prior to my river cruise in April last year I checked the weather reports but not river levels, I just assumed they would be ok just like at home at the time on the Rhine. I was right, the Danube was fine. But I have learned from the dreadful floods last year that the two rivers are not affected by weather and the snow thawing in the Alp mountains in the same way. A lesson learnt even for a relative "local" like me!

 

Let us hope for a calm season with average weather conditions and share information if anything unusual does occur.

 

notamermaid

 

While some US states experience a very cold spell and Britain is suffering with rain, flooding and high winds, Germany is having a very mild start into 2014 indeed!

[philmar]

thankyou for your reply like you we will roll with whatever mother nature throws at us.and enjoyit as part of the adventure.We are surving 3o below and are recovering from a big ice storm which left thousands without power for 8 days so we are ready for whatever.thankyou again

[jpalbny]

We just signed up for Basel to Amsterdam on SS Antoinette (Uniworld) March 30 - April 6. Guess we'll find out... Can't wait to see the Rhine!

[M&T]

My husband and I are on Viking Basel to Amsterdam sailing April 6. Once we get to Amsterdam, we will spend several days in Brugge then Amsterdam. We are hoping for the averages to be normal because we want peak tulip time.

[marco]

It's probably too early to even "guestimate" as it's contingent on how much snow they get during the winter (and spring snow melt) and how much spring rains they get.

[seabirds]

We have cruised both the Rhine and Mosel without any problems. The Mosel was beautiful. We were able to get off the boat and stay for a day or more and pick up the next boat to continue on our cruise.

[Losingcontrol36]

We took a KD boat in May 2011 from Bacharach to St Goar and the Rhine River water levels were low.

[notamermaid]

Hello,

 

we are enjoying a beautiful warm weekend on the Rhine! The ice cream parlours where full of people enjoying their first ice-cream in Spring sunshine.

 

While last year we had winter weather right up to Easter, this year Spring is coming earlier. The mild winter with little or no snow means the Rhine water level is a low average for March right now. As of today no problems there for the first river cruises at the end of March in sight.

 

Can't wait to see the first ships docking at Koblenz on my next shopping trip there. :D

 

notamermaid

[M&T]

Notamermaid, I am wondering what to do in Koblenz. Sounds as if you might be able to give me some ideas of what to see or do.

 

Also, is there a website to check on river levels? Thanks.

[notamermaid]

Hello,

 

happy to help.

 

Notamermaid, I am wondering what to do in Koblenz. Sounds as if you might be able to give me some ideas of what to see or do.

 

Also, is there a website to check on river levels? Thanks.

 

There is helpful website that another Germany-based person has posted. Cannot remember it right now. It may have been in one of the threads that deal with last year's flooding on the Danube.

 

As regards Koblenz: it is not my favourite town on your itinerary, but there is lots to see. I will post this in a thread in the river ports section. Could take a day or two.

 

notamermaid

[M&T]

Thanks. I will check there in a couple of days.

[Harrieta]

Hello,

 

we are enjoying a beautiful warm weekend on the Rhine! The ice cream parlours where full of people enjoying their first ice-cream in Spring sunshine.

 

While last year we had winter weather right up to Easter, this year Spring is coming earlier. The mild winter with little or no snow means the Rhine water level is a low average for March right now. As of today no problems there for the first river cruises at the end of March in sight.

 

Can't wait to see the first ships docking at Koblenz on my next shopping trip there. :D

 

notamermaid

Thanks for the update. We will be cruising from Amsterdam to Basel on the Amadante leaving on the 16th of this month so I hope that the good weather holds out for us!

[jpalbny]

3 weeks from today we'll board the ship in Basel! I think it's the second run of the season for SS Antoinette (first run 23 March from Amsterdam to Basel).

 

Glad to hear about the nice weather you're experiencing - but hopefully the lack of snow will not have too much of a negative effect on the water availability this summer. Looking forward to experiencing the nice weather for ourselves - upstate New York is still quite unpleasant.

 

Regarding the website for water levels - was that posted by ingo_e? He has a river cruising app that gives water levels, and a website http://www.rivercruiseinfo.com - though the website itself doesn't have the water levels; they are only on the app IIRC.

[notamermaid]

Yes, thank you, I meant ingo_e and that website. There is another website, which more up-to-date information. Will get back to finding that shortly.

 

notamermaid

[M&T]

Ok. Thanks. Our cruise is sailing from Basel April 6.

[beverlyjack]

For an excellent web site on river conditions in Europe, see http://rivercruiseinfo.com/. It is posted by Ingo Eigen, a local/river guide from Nuremburg, in the heart of the Rhine, Main and Danube river systems. He guides for many of the river cruise lines. It is also available as an APP for phones and tablets from that site. It is a great collection of river info for most of Europe, Russia being the exception. It is the most comprehensive site on the river conditions that I have found.

[ingo_e]

Regarding the website for water levels - was that posted by ingo_e? He has a river cruising app that gives water levels, and a website http://www.rivercruiseinfo.com - though the website itself doesn't have the water levels; they are only on the app IIRC.

 

Hi,

 

actually I got the waterlevels, for each river is a Tab: http://rivercruiseinfo.com/content/rivers?ri_id=1 (would be the rhine), if you click on unfold you'll get a lot of nice graphs and can also have a look at historical waterlevels (going to do some major upgrades on that this spring :) )