Rare notamermaid Posted August 30, 2017 Author #101 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Hello walker1, yes, it appears the Danube is getting low. There is mention of low water levels on an excursion boat website and a few official gauges are reporting low water levels. How that translates directly into the situation on the river I do not know. The section between Regensburg and Passau is the critical one. It is a good idea to phone Avalon to see if they can give you up-to-date information on your upcoming cruise. I hope everything will work out fine and you have a great trip. notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted August 30, 2017 #102 Share Posted August 30, 2017 With all the hot weather I suspect diversions (and see from Vikings website and a friend who diverted at Passau a few days ago) are starting again along the Danube. I checked with my travel agent and got the response back that Avalon has buses ready for our Sept. 1 Budapest to Amsterdam cruise and not to be concerned. We have trip insurance in case our cruise turned into bus tour (I get very nauseous on long bus rides). Just trying to decide how likely that is. Will try calling Avalon directly today to see if they are sharing any additional information. Thanks for any info people might share on diversions or river levels! Viking web site shows Romantic Danube (my trip) affected on the 9/1 sailing. I'm ** 9/8 ** so I'm sure we will have the same problem. I leave on Monday afternoon. I have received NO notification from Viking about their plans to deal with the low water level. All I can see is their very brief notice on their website. I have reached out to my TA asking for more information. My trip is supposed to start Prague, then Nuremberg, then Regensburg etc. I read somewhere that Regensburg to Passau is a problem area. Is the ship just going to sit somewhere and the buses take us back and forth? Some of these cities are an hour or more away from each other. That can be a lot of back and forth running around. Will we go back to the ship after being on the buses all day? I hope there is a bathroom on those buses, haha. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare notamermaid Posted August 30, 2017 Author #103 Share Posted August 30, 2017 zitsky, there might be to and fro on busses or you might swap the ship. Viking will decide at short notice. It can be a bit daunting but most cruisers have been o.k. with it judging from past reports. From what I have heard and seen on photos, Viking uses very modern busses. They have toilets onboard, has been reported. A toilet stop every two hours is legally required. Hope all goes well. notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted August 30, 2017 #104 Share Posted August 30, 2017 zitsky, there might be to and fro on busses or you might swap the ship. Viking will decide at short notice. It can be a bit daunting but most cruisers have been o.k. with it judging from past reports. From what I have heard and seen on photos, Viking uses very modern busses. They have toilets onboard, has been reported. A toilet stop every two hours is legally required. Hope all goes well. notamermaid Ok thanks. My TA is trying to get me excited about buses. Think of the scenery you'll see! Right. Sigh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker1 Posted August 30, 2017 #105 Share Posted August 30, 2017 (edited) Hello walker1, yes, it appears the Danube is getting low. There is mention of low water levels on an excursion boat website and a few official gauges are reporting low water levels. How that translates directly into the situation on the river I do not know. The section between Regensburg and Passau is the critical one. It is a good idea to phone Avalon to see if they can give you up-to-date information on your upcoming cruise. I hope everything will work out fine and you have a great trip. notamermaid Thanks so much for the info. It helps to know more. Will be calling Avalon tomorrow but I expect we will be going ahead under those circumstances. Edited August 30, 2017 by walker1 Posted too soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawduck Posted August 31, 2017 #106 Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) With all the hot weather I suspect diversions (and see from Vikings website and a friend who diverted at Passau a few days ago) are starting again along the Danube. I checked with my travel agent and got the response back that Avalon has buses ready for our Sept. 1 Budapest to Amsterdam cruise and not to be concerned. We have trip insurance in case our cruise turned into bus tour (I get very nauseous on long bus rides). Just trying to decide how likely that is. Will try calling Avalon directly today to see if they are sharing any additional information. Thanks for any info people might share on diversions or river levels! If they are still accommodating you by bus or similar, I HIGHLY doubt normal (i.e. not cancel for any reason) trip insurance will do anything for you. It would be like a couple of missed ports on an ocean cruise. It's not a cancellation. Edited August 31, 2017 by lawduck Clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted August 31, 2017 #107 Share Posted August 31, 2017 If they are still accommodating you by bus or similar, I HIGHLY doubt normal (i.e. not cancel for any reason) trip insurance will do anything for you. It would be like a couple of missed ports on an ocean cruise. It's not a cancellation. The question we're all wondering about is how many ports are skipped... yes we might get a city tour by bus, but when do we get off the ship with all our bags and when do we get on the next ship? (You wouldn't happen to be a grad of the UofO law school would you?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare notamermaid Posted August 31, 2017 Author #108 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Nuremberg is still on the Main Danube Canal, Regensburg is in the affected area, Passau is at the end of it. No other towns inbetween the two are normally visited on a river cruise. Not sure what the situation is like in Austria. I do not think they will skip Regensburg, leaving out ports is a last resort. Even if you have to go by coach Nuremberg to Passau is only three hours (if you did not stop in Regensburg that is). A poster last year described the ship swap in detail but I do not remember who. By the way, it has been raining in Bavaria, also along the rivers feeding the Danube so things could get a little better, perhaps the crucial centimetres you need for sailing. Rain is also forecast for tomorrow and the day after. The gauge at Regensburg is a few centimetres higher than this morning, now at 196 cm. notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted August 31, 2017 #109 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Thanks. You know a lot about water for someone who's not a mermaid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare notamermaid Posted September 1, 2017 Author #110 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Thanks. You know a lot about water for someone who's not a mermaid. I have always lived closed to a large-ish river and have too much time on my hands compared to other people. A dangerous combination for a river cruise site. :D ;) Well, it has been raining quite a bit in Bavaria and it shows in the water levels: Regensburg is now at 258cm. notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted September 1, 2017 #111 Share Posted September 1, 2017 I have always lived closed to a large-ish river and have too much time on my hands compared to other people. A dangerous combination for a river cruise site. :D ;) Well, it has been raining quite a bit in Bavaria and it shows in the water levels: Regensburg is now at 258cm. notamermaid Can you help us understand what that means? Is that amount of rain a lot better or just a little? What is normal? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
massedtuck Posted September 2, 2017 #112 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Just to let folks know what is happening on the Danube. I'm currently on the Avalon Luminary and we are stuck in Vilshoven. We couldn't get from Passau to Regensburg due to low water. It started to rain, and now we can' t proceed due to HIGH water. So the offer today was a bus to Nuremberg-3 hours each way for an hour or so walking tour and some free time. Very few elected to go foward, since tomorrow we have 4 and 1/2 hour bus ride to Prague. For those coming on a Danube trip soon, seems like conditions change rapidly. Hope this info helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker1 Posted September 2, 2017 #113 Share Posted September 2, 2017 (edited) Thanks for the update. Massive amounts of rain in the Alps. Never imagined we would have to cope with high water this trip. Edited September 2, 2017 by walker1 Wrong word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare notamermaid Posted September 2, 2017 Author #114 Share Posted September 2, 2017 Thank you massedtuck, Just a quick note to say that I am positively puzzled by this. Flooding does not happen that quickly from low water status. The gauges are not officially on flooding status and the river as such is not closed. There must be more than meets the eye, I suspect, a low bridge?? But the level has definitely risen sharply and will rise further. It is pouring down outside my window (on the Rhine) as well while I am writing this. notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawduck Posted September 4, 2017 #115 Share Posted September 4, 2017 (You wouldn't happen to be a grad of the UofO law school would you?) I would indeed. (y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark_T Posted September 4, 2017 #116 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Just a quick note to say that I am positively puzzled by this. Flooding does not happen that quickly from low water status. The gauges are not officially on flooding status and the river as such is not closed. There must be more than meets the eye, I suspect, a low bridge?? But the level has definitely risen sharply and will rise further. It looks like the ship made it to Deggendorf yesterday and from there is heading back to Budapest. Not sure what the problem was, it is a strange one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare notamermaid Posted September 4, 2017 Author #117 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Agreed, Mark_T, there is a bridge in Passau that is notorious for ships trying to pass under it during flooding. More than one ship has hit it in the last few years. There is even talk of raising it. That would be a major undertaking of course, it is not small. But apparently the ship made it. Just to show the current status: http://www.hnd.bayern.de/warnungen?id=275&warnungstyp=lkr That is the official German-wide notice board for flooding. I have chosen the section Bavaria with Passau highlighted giving you the info on the right saying "Entwarnung", meaning the flooding one status has been stopped and returned to normal status, same goes for the area of Regensburg. Only Deggendorf has got a flood warning one (of the places that concern river cruisers) which is forecast to return to normal in two days. Floodwarning one is not critical, it is a common occurence that happens almost every year, normally in Spring (generally speaking). notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADrews Posted September 4, 2017 #118 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Sorry that I cannot ease your mind about the river levels, that is weather for you. We returned from our Romantic Danube cruise on 8/26. I worried like a fanatic before we left that it would become a bus trip, but it was smooth sailing. The only busses we rode were for tours, from and to the airport, and getting from Prague to Nuremberg. There were 25 locks but you didn't realized you were in them most of the time. I'll pray for rain! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted September 4, 2017 #119 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Sorry that I cannot ease your mind about the river levels, that is weather for you. We returned from our Romantic Danube cruise on 8/26. I worried like a fanatic before we left that it would become a bus trip, but it was smooth sailing. The only busses we rode were for tours, from and to the airport, and getting from Prague to Nuremberg. There were 25 locks but you didn't realized you were in them most of the time. I'll pray for rain! Sent from my iPhone using Forums ADrews, I'm leaving for that trip today. Were the bathrooms open on the buses, especially between Prague to Nuremberg? How often were the rest stops on the way to Nuremberg? I pray for bathrooms! :') Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ADrews Posted September 4, 2017 #120 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Zitsky, hey I get the bathroom concerns! Yes there are bathrooms in the busses. They are a little tight space wise. We made one bathroom/food stop from Prague to Nuremberg. It was not a bad ride at all maybe 2 hours long and very scenic. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norvig Posted September 4, 2017 #121 Share Posted September 4, 2017 Zitsky , we depart from Budapest on 23/9 for the Romantic Danube cruise. I am looking forward to your report especially on the water levels. I wish you a great cruise with water levels being agreeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker1 Posted September 6, 2017 #122 Share Posted September 6, 2017 (edited) Sitting at Passau now for 5 hours "for a lock". A friend tells me the river is closed passed Passau towards Regensburg. Rained very hard today! Just started moving 20 minutes after I posted. Squeezed under the Passau bridges! Edited September 6, 2017 by walker1 Change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norvig Posted September 6, 2017 #123 Share Posted September 6, 2017 Not sounding too good Walker. I hope you can proceed with your cruise asap. I am assuming you are heading towards Regensburg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norvig Posted September 7, 2017 #124 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Sitting at Passau now for 5 hours "for a lock". A friend tells me the river is closed passed Passau towards Regensburg. Rained very hard today! Just started moving 20 minutes after I posted. Squeezed under the Passau bridges! Great news. Hope it is smooth sailing the rest of your cruise. Anxious to hear from Zitsky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare notamermaid Posted September 7, 2017 Author #125 Share Posted September 7, 2017 Hello walker1, good to hear you made it under those bridges. Things are looking a little better now. No flood warnings for any areas there. Isolated incidents excepted. No flooding status and no river closure at Deggendorf. It can only have been a short stretch somewhere between Regensburg and Passau. Might even be open again by now. Hopefully. It is raining today in the region, hardly any rain forecast for tomorrow, but more for Saturday and Sunday. notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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