Rhine - water levels and similar topics 2015

[G.M.T.]

Any long term prediction of Rhine River levels for Nov 25 - Dec 6? I was worried but now I am beginning to......

 

You have more chance in picking the winning lottery numbers than predicting the river levels in 3 to 4 weeks.

 

Weather forecasting is only good upto about 7 days, and at the moment it is not looking good.

[hugueys]

Thanks anyways! First river cruise and whatever happens, it will be wonderful. I will follow all your reports. Thank you so much for keeping all of us worriers updated. We just need to learn how to let go.

[G.M.T.]

Thanks anyways! First river cruise and whatever happens, it will be wonderful. I will follow all your reports. Thank you so much for keeping all of us worriers updated. We just need to learn how to let go.

 

The Rhine situation is better than the Danube or Elbe. This year most cruise lines seem to have got their acts together with regards to low river levels than a couple of years ago.

 

Which cruise line will you be on?

 

At least from the 25th. November the Christmas Markets will be open.;)

[hugueys]

GCT.... first river cruise, I hope I made a good choice.

[notamermaid]

Temperatures in the Moselle and Rhine valleys reached more than 20 degrees yesterday. It is extreme and there is talk of "warmest since ...", "temperature record broken ..."., etc.

 

Normally I would be wearing gloves in the mornings by now. Have not done a single days since Early Spring.

 

Trees are still quite full with leaves in yellows and reds around here when they should be more barren by now. First real storms might come next week. Might...

 

Cannot imagine drinking Glühwein in three weeks time with these temperatures.

 

notamermaid

[G.M.T.]

Why not start a new trend "Iced Glühwein".;)

[notamermaid]

Hello G.M.T.,

 

it might come to that, who knows, perhaps an enterprising vendor has thought of it already. :D

 

I decided to wear my thinner jacket into town yesterday and was nevertheless sweating. People are walking around in "cool autumn weather jackets" in disbelief and then take them off or at least unbutton them.

 

It feels weird seeing weather reports of 23 degrees. :eek:

 

It rained, well drizzled, during the evening on Friday and into Saturday but it just made it feel muggy and has not eased the low water situation.

 

A car ferry connecting Lorch and Niederheimbach, two small towns in the castle stretch, has stopped running due to the low water level. An unsual occurence. Other ferries are still in operation though.

 

The valley around where I live is bathed in bright sunshine. Beautiful.

 

notamermaid

[arima22]

We're currently in Koblenz. Captain said that we barely made it through a low water section between Mainz and Koblenz, 15cm clearance. Our ship captain reduced draft by not taking on full fuel and water supplies. Rhein water level is still falling. We've been told by various sources that German authorities have restricted cargo ships from carrying a full load to reduce draught, they may halt passenger ship traffic.

[xpcdoojk]

We are on the Avalon Visionary heading to that same stretch tomorrow. Two days ago, we were told we would not make it without rain. We had small amounts of rain, and we heading there now... Should be in the Rhine shortly. The Tour director said we would make it but we may be late to Rudeisheim tomorrow, and even later to Boppard tomorrow afternoon. That said we should make it.

 

Despite what my TA said, when we reach Remich we are not going to Metz but Luxembourg City... which is a pain. We are renting a car, and a 2-1/2 car rental out of LC is $300 more than Metz, so we will have a train rider to Metz. This is Thursday.

 

jc

[mouse84]

We were on the Rhine Oct 29 - Nov 5, Basel to Amsterdam on the AMACello. Our captain warned us that the water levels were much lower than he'd like to see them. "Good weather for all of my vacationers means bad news about the level of the river."

 

As we sailed through the "enchanted gorge", you could definitely tell how low water levels were. Our cruise manager commented about how close we were to one of the castles & how she'd never been quite that close to it before. (It was one of the ones that was built on an island in the river.)

 

As we got closer to Amsterdam, we could tell they were taking their time navigating the waters. The captain commented that he ran aground twice while docking in Cologne, but none of us could tell if/when he actually did.

 

All of that being said, we were able to make the complete journey. I hope that the area gets some much needed rain (even though someone's vacation will have to endure it) so that the ships can continue to travel!

[Host Jazzbeau]

We were on the Rhine Oct 29 - Nov 5, Basel to Amsterdam on the AMACello. Our captain warned us that the water levels were much lower than he'd like to see them. "Good weather for all of my vacationers means bad news about the level of the river."

 

As we sailed through the "enchanted gorge", you could definitely tell how low water levels were. Our cruise manager commented about how close we were to one of the castles & how she'd never been quite that close to it before. (It was one of the ones that was built on an island in the river.)

 

As we got closer to Amsterdam, we could tell they were taking their time navigating the waters. The captain commented that he ran aground twice while docking in Cologne, but none of us could tell if/when he actually did.

 

All of that being said, we were able to make the complete journey. I hope that the area gets some much needed rain (even though someone's vacation will have to endure it) so that the ships can continue to travel!

 

Making it through on your own ship is so much better than a ship swap and infinitely better than a "bus trip"! And so far this year I believe that every AMA ship has made it all the way through.

[JVilleGal]

My Avalon ship in Mid September made it from Amsterdam to Budapest!

[notamermaid]

Hello arima22,

 

We're currently in Koblenz. Captain said that we barely made it through a low water section between Mainz and Koblenz, 15cm clearance. Our ship captain reduced draft by not taking on full fuel and water supplies. Rhein water level is still falling. We've been told by various sources that German authorities have restricted cargo ships from carrying a full load to reduce draught, they may halt passenger ship traffic.

 

15cm clearance is spot on with what I calculated ships cruise ships might have from what I read in the water authorities report on Friday! No easy conditions for the captains despite radar.

 

You and I are of course referring to the castle stretch everyone wants to see for very good reasons. :):) Unfortunately it is also the bottle neck with the worst conditions for navigation.

 

I hope you were able to fully enjoy the landscape nevertheless.

 

A lot of barges are now only loaded at around a third of their capacity resulting in a possible price increase for oil (heating oil supplies for the winter) in Switzerland due to the higher transport costs from Rotterdam. I.e. more barges are needed to transport the same amount of oil.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

A band of rain has swept over the West and South of Germany this morning and has brought some rain to the Elbe region. The rain has now reached the Czech Republic. Again, the Rhine valley here is in bright sunshine now.

 

Will need to wait a couple of hours to see if there has been any impact on the water level. I doubt it has given the river any more than two inches.

 

Koblenz is at 56cm right now.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Koblenz is at 51cm now.

 

I am lost for words.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Hope I am allowed to link to this local news story and photo:

 

http://www.swr.de/landesschau-aktuell/rp/bildergalerie/-/id=13831106/did=13831192/gp1=16430768/gp2=16430840/nid=13831106/vv=gallery/1cw3ktg/index.html

 

It is the castle in the river. Pfalzgrafenstein. In normal conditions you can almost only see the bits of the islands where the trees grow. The sandbanks and some of the breakers are covered with water. Photo of 5 November.

 

notamermaid

[G.M.T.]

 

I am lost for words.

 

notamermaid

 

I thought hell would freeze over before that happened.:D

[gwntravel]

Currently on the Viking Skirnir enroute from Amsterdam to Budapest. As of tonight (Nov 10, at 19:00 local) we were told we can not make it past Cologne, so we will spend an extra day in Cologne. Then river travel on smaller boats to see the castles on the Rhine and then a bus ride to Mainz to ship swap to a new boat. The cruise has been great so far and it is nice they have arranged 'little boats' so we do not miss the castles. I will update as we know more

[Poconolady]

Currently on the Viking Skirnir enroute from Amsterdam to Budapest. As of tonight (Nov 10, at 19:00 local) we were told we can not make it past Cologne, so we will spend an extra day in Cologne. Then river travel on smaller boats to see the castles on the Rhine and then a bus ride to Mainz to ship swap to a new boat. The cruise has been great so far and it is nice they have arranged 'little boats' so we do not miss the castles. I will update as we know more

 

 

When you get onto the Main can you please report on the river conditions between Frankfurt and Nuremberg? Ship swaps, additional bussing etc. we are supposed to be on the Viking Var sailing between those cities at the end of the month. From the looks of things (if they don't change) then I am concerned that our boat won't make it from the route it is sailing now between Budapest and Nuremberg.

[Mark_T]

From the looks of things (if they don't change) then I am concerned that our boat won't make it from the route it is sailing now between Budapest and Nuremberg.

 

One benefit from having so many near identical ships is if one is stuck the wrong side of a blockage it usually means there is a sister ship stuck on the other side.

 

So if the Var can't get to your starting point there is usually another ship that can.

[rcaruso]

Just got into Amsterdam, were to be on the Viking Mimir on Friday. That ship is sitting in Vienna and still have not received a message from Viking about which ship we will sail on. I will keep posting as more is known.

[notamermaid]

Hello gwntravel,

 

you are stuck in Cologne on the right day (or wrong day - I leave the judgement to you for later this evening) to experience the height of "Rheinischer Frohsinn". That is Rhenish joyful nature combined with merryment.

 

It is 11.11., the eleventh of November is the start of the Carnival season.

 

Good to hear that Viking has arranged a charter - it will probably be one of the KD (Köln-Düsseldorfer) fleet - to get you through the castle stretch.

 

https://www.k-d.com/en/kd-fleet/

 

notamermaid

[mouse84]

notamermaid - Re the link you posted: We went through that stretch on Nov 2. That's the castle our cruise manager mentioned she'd never been that close to/see that much land around. There were green buoys through the entire gorge marking where it was too shallow. I can only imagine how stressful it was for the captain and his sailing crew.

[rcaruso]

Just got Viking email, they have indicated we will depart Amsterdam on the Eistla. They did indicate they thought one ship swap, we will see how it goes!!

[Kenster]

Just got into Amsterdam, were to be on the Viking Mimir on Friday. That ship is sitting in Vienna and still have not received a message from Viking about which ship we will sail on. I will keep posting as more is known.

 

Yeah, judging by all the posts, Viking is not very forthcoming, or honest about, the information people are seeking regarding their cruises. They can't do anything about the river levels but the way they are handling this is very telling. They're getting lambasted on the Viking Facebook page.