Rhine - water levels and similar topics 2015

[Mark_T]

So, does Viking offer any refunds or credits for trips that went this wrong?

 

Best approach is to contact Viking directly after the cruise, the link is in all the posts they make on this board.

 

Those who have engaged directly with them seem to be generally satisfied with the outcome, but go into it knowing that when the cause is the weather they have no obligation to provide a refund or credit but that doesn't mean that they won't.

[notamermaid]

Happy to report back that the water level in Maxau has fallen below the official marking. I do not know how fast this will happen but looks like ships will be allowed by the authorities to sail on soon.

 

No problems in the Middle Rhine valley, levels falling here as well.

 

notamermaid

[Mark_T]

Happy to report back that the water level in Maxau has fallen below the official marking. I do not know how fast this will happen but looks like ships will be allowed by the authorities to sail on soon.

 

No problems in the Middle Rhine valley, levels falling here as well.

 

That is great news.

 

Hopefully that will just leave the problems of ships being in the wrong place which means we may see a few last minute changes from the larger cruise lines and a few start/end changes for the smaller ones.

[vandrefalk]

Looks like more rain is predicted for next week -- hope it all subsides before we board Uniworld in Amsterdam on May 24!

Vandrefalk

[Viking Cruises]

The Gefjon passengers are now in Mainz. Announcements of plans changed several times the last day on the ship. We were finally bused to Oberwesel, had a hour and a half tour of the middle Rhein with a rushed lunch , and then bused to Mainz. We were going to tour Luxembourg, but now are touring Trier. At least the Paris weather is looking up.

Look, I can be as flexible as the next person and I am definitely not blaming the staff for any of this. But I paid a lot of money to cruise through Europe, not live on a houseboat. And it especially hurt watching 2 longboats cruise down the middle Rhein as we were supposed to have done. Seeing Freiberg or Baden Baden was not what I wanted to do on this trip celebrating our 40 th wedding anniversary.

So, does Viking offer any refunds or credits for trips that went this wrong?

 

Dear Fafnar,

 

We are sorry to hear the water levels are affecting your trip. Please contact us at tellus@vikingcruises.com so that we may put you in touch with a Customer Relations representative to discuss this in further detail. We look forward to hearing from you.

 

Best,

Viking Cruises

[Viking Cruises]

We just returned from Viking's "France's Finest". First half of cruise was on the Neptune and the second half on the Delling. We had no problems on the first half of the cruise going North and South on the Seine. However last Friday the rains started and we were on the Rhone going South to Avignon. We ended up getting stuck in Vienne on Saturday May 2nd for the remainder of the cruise. While the water levels are high most ships are still able to navigate the bridges. The MAIN problem as explained by our Captain is the French authorities closed all the locks due to the high rate of river flow. As such no one was going anywhere. Viking did everthing they could including bussing us to several sites for off ship excursions. We drove by several locks and I can fully understand why they were closed. Alongside each lock is a dam and the water rushing over that dam was creating the most unbelievable turbulent rapids. Any ship exiting a lock would have immediatley been slammed by this water. The potential damage to the ship and the lock was clearly evident and none of us, regardless of our disappointment about the cruise, would want to enter that water.

 

I'd like to make a second post of the flooding problem and our experience with Viking. This is our fourth cruise with Viking but the first in which we experienced a cruise interruption due to flooding.

 

Personally I feel Viking handled the situation as best they could. Viking has absolutely no control over whether they can continue the cruise. I've seen some comments on this string that I heard on our ship. Some people want a definite answer/status and any moment about what is going on. It just doesn't work that way and to expect otherwise is unrealistic. I'm quite confident some will complain that the sun rose in the East again. The Viking staff on the ship NEVER misled us in any way. They went out of their way to say that when they know something definite they will tell us. They even made it perfectly clear to do otherwise would be misleading and contribute to the frustration. Several passengers tried to get them to make specific committments but they weren't going to do that. Each evening we were briefed personally by the ship's Captain.

 

What compounded our specific situation is that when we were in Lyon on Friday, May 1st and as everyone knows all of Europe is shut down. We ended up stuck in Vienne on Saturday. Then you have the weekend which adds to the difficulty. Again, for some, they didn't care. I had become friends with the Cruise Director as we shared an enjoyment of photography and he assured me, and everyone else, that everyone at Viking Corporate was aware of this situation and they were working on several contingencies based on river situation.

 

On Saturday and Sunday we had our normal scheduled excursions. On Monday they coordinated busses to take us South to Avignon so we could at least do our scheduled excursion had we been there. Yes, it involved a four hour round trip bus ride but they made it happen. They also created a second, unplanned, excursion in Vienne for those who didn't want to take the long bus ride. Monday evening the staff briefed the entire ship that Viking HQ had arranged for hotel rooms for all of us in Avignon where there cruise was scheduled to end anyway. We ended up having to pack our bags one night early. We bussed down to Avignon Tuesday morning and they arranged for nice lunch in town and our final scheduled Avignon excursion that afternoon. In the evening they took us to our hotels (nice ones) where they arranged dinne. There were Viking staff on every bus and staying at every hotel. It was incredibly coordinated.

 

Trust me; I'm not saying I wasn't disappointed we couldn't have completed the cruise as scheduled. We were very disappointed, but Viking, and all River cruise firms, are VERY clear that they are subject to the whims of Mother Nature.

 

Just for the record, I'm not an employee of Viking but I'm still a dedicated fan of Viking especially seeing how they handled this very unfortunate situation.

 

Dear mtlycrew1,

 

We are sorry to hear that the inclement weather, resulting in high water levels has impacted your trip. We understand your disappointment and appreciate your positive outlook despite these unplanned setbacks. We thank you for your feedback and hope that you will reach out to us at tellus@vikingcruises.com should you wish to share more of your experience with us. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Best,

Viking Cruises

[JVilleGal]

And so it begins!

[notamermaid]

Hello everyone,

 

happy to report back that things are looking o.k., sort of stable, in the South of Germany. Fingers crossed the warm weather will not lead to massive thunderstorms with rain. Do not want to say more there at the moment as Switzerland still has some issues with the smaller rivers. Many of those drain into the Rhine.

 

The Middle Rhine valley has warm weather and splendid sunshine, water levels high-ish but fine.

 

notamermaid

[franski]

Notamermaid -

 

I realize you are situated in the area of the Rhine, but have you heard anything about the Elbe?

 

We leave next week, and am wondering if I should prepare myself for extended busing...

 

Thanks so much.

 

Fran

[Francis M]

Notamermaid -

 

I realize you are situated in the area of the Rhine, but have you heard anything about the Elbe?

 

We leave next week, and am wondering if I should prepare myself for extended busing...

 

Thanks so much.

 

Fran

 

Here's a link to the Elbe river levels. http://www.wetteronline.de/pegelstand/elbe?gid=10249

if anything seems to be running a little low. I do not know what levels begin to create issues.

Hoping for a great cruise for you,

FM

[ingo_e]

The Elbe is a bit low (for this season), but still fine compared to the overall median :)

[DrivesLikeMario]

Good to see Viking addressing these issues head-on. Kudos to them as well as Avalon, who was very prompt in updating passengers. :)

 

So, if the water levels are this high in the spring time, does anyone want to venture a guess that the levels will still be at a good level in August instead of too low?

[ingo_e]

If I learned anything from working as a guide for 8 years in the river cruise industry now, I would never bet money on water levels. In 99% of the cases they are fine and no issues, but things might change in 2-3 days. And a high (-er than average) level now does not mean anything for what might be the situation in 2 weeks, not to mention August..

[notamermaid]

Agreed, ingo_e,

 

no betting on water levels... the only thing I can confidently say is that within the next week there will not be any low water issues in the Middle Rhine valley as I know how much the level would have to fall. Beyond that, I would like to think positive and assume that the current situation is favorable to water levels in August, but knowing "my" river I will not do so.

 

To everyone, remember, low water issues put the responsibility and the decision to sail in the captain's hands (unless there is no water at all, of course), whereas high water issues make the authorities close the river. The captain's decision is in that case only in connection with low bridges and similar concerns.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Just a quick message:

 

the Rhine river water levels have gone done over the whole last week. Meaning it can rain quite a bit before any issues with high water will reappear. Unfortunately, for cruisers that prefer very warm weather in Spring, rain and lower temperatures forecast for the coming week.

 

Moselle also fine.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Weather has certainly brightened up and got much warmer since my last post.

 

30 degrees Celsius are forecast for today (Thursday, Corpus Christi and therefore a public holiday with shops closed around here), tommorrow (Friday) we will possibly feel 34 degrees Celsius in the Middle Rhine valley. That is hot for this time of year. Saturday will therefore probably end in thunderstorms and rain.

 

Paris will be in the weather high pressure area as well, as reported by the BBC, also probably experiencing 30 degrees.

 

Use sun blockers on deck and enjoy your cruise wherever you are! :)

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

The thunderstorms on that weekend were severe!

 

Right now the weather in the Rhine valley is pleasant with around 71 Fahrenheit, sunshine and it is a tiny bit windy. Temperatures due to drop a little over the weekend with rain also forecast.

 

Water level fine.

 

notamermaid

[2bichonsmom]

How are water levels looking? We sail on Friday on Viking Mani from Basel to Amsterdam. Just wondering

[RDC1]

How are water levels looking? We sail on Friday on Viking Mani from Basel to Amsterdam. Just wondering

 

Just got off of the Kara after the same route. Water levels were fine. No problems.

[Bellarose]

2bichonsmom,

 

We sail next Friday, July 3rd.

 

Emily

[2bichonsmom]

Great! Please tell me about trip on Kara! Hope weather continues this way. Sooo hot here this week. Looking forward to cooler weather.

[notamermaid]

We have had a couple of unpleasant and cold days with quite a bit of rain, making the water level rise. Which is good for the hot days coming up and the hopefully pleasant July.

 

Temperatures in the Rhine valley are forecast to rise to around 26 degrees tomorrow with a slightly rainier day on Saturday. Actually, enjoy the pleasant temperatures as the middle of next week will see temperatures rise to 30 degrees which often makes the towns a bit stuffy, when there isn't a slight wind blowing.

 

Beer gardens will be full with locals! :D

 

What I would give to enjoy the sunset on a river cruise ship's sun deck with a cocktail served by a butler in uniform. Cannot imagine that being any better in the Carribean.

 

Happy cruising.

 

notamermaid

[DrivesLikeMario]

I've got the main cities of the Rhine in my weather app and I'm amazed at how hot it can get in some of them - 95 degrees? Really? I thought it would be much cooler, like in the 70's and 80's. Even Zurich is showing 91 degrees. Is this normal? Does it get hotter than this?

[JVilleGal]

I've got the main cities of the Rhine in my weather app and I'm amazed at how hot it can get in some of them - 95 degrees? Really? I thought it would be much cooler, like in the 70's and 80's. Even Zurich is showing 91 degrees. Is this normal? Does it get hotter than this?

 

Well was a 108 in Jacksonville Oregon yesterday and that sure as ---- is not normal!

[notamermaid]

95 is not uncommon during a hot spell. It is not so likely in the hilly regions but in the warm valleys of the Rhine and Moselle certainly usually happens more or less every year for a few days in June, July or August. Or in every one of those month a few days, can happen. It changes from year to year.

 

It can get hotter than this. 100 is certainly possible. But that does not happen every year in my area. I have experienced it even hotter than that though. Cannot remember when.

 

notamermaid

Edited June 27, 2015 by notamermaid