Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

I understand your concern. There are indeed fewer cruises in November, which is reflected in the moorings that one can look up on the internet. This is Koblenz for example: https://www.koblenz-touristik.de/fileadmin/Mediendatenbank/PDF/Belegungsplaene_Hotelschiffe/Belegungslan_2018.pdf

You can see that in the last week of November the moorings increase in number again. One word of warning: I do not know when this list will be updated, accuracy is to be taken with a pinch of salt after a couple of days. For your info, the Viking ships do not appear in the list as the landing stage of theirs is not managed by Koblenz harbour.

 

As for the passable or impassable parts of the river, we cannot know that yet. What is certain at the moment is that we will have to wait for tons of rain to put everyone's mind at rest. That is not in the vicinity, neither the rain nor the rest.

 

AmaWaterways is the company I have read the least complaints about in this situation here on CC. As I do not follow other social media I cannot say what it is like there.

 

I keep thinking the next week will be better, then that week arrives, etc. It is not really getting better. I have expressed my concern to a dear person about the Christmas market cruises since a few days ago. Sorry to be brutally honest. While 3 December is some time away still it makes sense to start thinking about an impact. I would not have said so a week ago, but I can see the first cruises that coincide with the start of the Christmas markets on the Rhine (22 November) being affected. Definitely by slowed down sailing but perhaps worse, at least for the 135m ships. As always it will depend on ship, company and where the ship is when at what river level.

 

I cannot speak for any cruise company but as we have seen in the past companies do not usually utter early what will happen. Crystal with their amended cruises have done some good work IMO and APT has been very good with info for their customers on the other side of the globe. For 3 December AmaWaterways certainly cannot give you any info yet, apart from an early warning which at this point does not make much sense, I think. But closer to the date, especially if you are leaving early for Europe, do contact AmaWaterways to hear would they think could be in store for you. Do not fret alone at home, get in touch with your TA and/or the company to calm your nerves. I hope that helps.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by notamermaid
grammar

[DaveinCharlotte]

22 hours ago, ural guy said:

Vantage River Voyager:  Day 6, Finally aboard in Koblenz...

 

Glad to hear you're finally back on board.  This should mean the long bus rides are finally over.  If you happen to pick up any intel regarding what fate lies in wait for the passengers on the next cruise (VH118), please let us know.

[hbr777]

All this worrying over the water, and whether or not the ship will GO is not worth it. I thinking worrying about this crap has pretty much destroyed any happy anticipation for this trip. Part of it is it is my group of 12 - including two family members who have not traveled to Europe - and worrying about what I might have to pull together at the last minute. Like you notamermaid, I keep thinking the rain will come. And it doesn't. I know there are much greater concerns than my stupid cruise, but I cannot believe how much this is stressing me out. Thanks for listening :)

[Jaydub99]

Given the weather forecast I'm expecting the worst for our 24 Nov Avalon cruise from A to B which will likely include unplanned buses, hotels & ship swaps. However I expect Avalon will be shepherding us around and the most difficult things I should have to worry about are putting my suitcase outside my door in the morning and deciding which schnitzel to have for dinner, so we should be ok. If the cruise is cancelled (or if we are given an option to cancel and take it) we'll do the trip by train and book hotels along the way.  Trains are frequent & comfortable and there are a dozen hotels within 100m of all the stations. Maybe we should have planned a train trip in the first place....!

[notamermaid]

24 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

All this worrying over the water, and whether or not the ship will GO is not worth it. I thinking worrying about this crap has pretty much destroyed any happy anticipation for this trip. Part of it is it is my group of 12 - including two family members who have not traveled to Europe - and worrying about what I might have to pull together at the last minute. Like you notamermaid, I keep thinking the rain will come. And it doesn't. I know there are much greater concerns than my stupid cruise, but I cannot believe how much this is stressing me out. Thanks for listening 🙂

Oh, yes, I had forgotten, you are the leader of a group. Even more stress, with people depending on you. For those who have not been to Europe it will certainly be a change of scene. But it is a comfortable change of scene I would say. Not the jungle, or the desert. Central Europe is fine, good infrastructure, trains in all the main tourist places, usually modern, comfy coaches. And many, many people speak at least adequate English. It is not an outlandish place. I am sure they will love the places that get to see.

 

And: of course, happy to listen, I feel really sorry for you lot out there.

 

notamermaid

 

[Rusty3]

hbr777 ... I could not agree with you more. We decided the complexity and uncertainty of our long-booked river cruise (scheduled for 11/5 from Amsterdam to Budapest) was too much worry. Crystal made a late offer to cancel that was very fair, so we took it. It all seemed like a "no win" situation. The weather/climate change issues are the root cause, but the amount of hours invested in planning the whole trip, etc....  wears one down when faced with unsatisfactory options and trying to find a way to make it feel good. 

As soon as we took the cancellation option we felt blue about missing our trip ... so we booked a 10 cruise to Cuba .. leaving this Saturday ... not the same, but we had all those "available days" to fill. 

 

Good luck with your decision!! 

 

[notamermaid]

22 minutes ago, Jaydub99 said:

Given the weather forecast I'm expecting the worst for our 24 Nov Avalon cruise from A to B which will likely include unplanned buses, hotels & ship swaps. However I expect Avalon will be shepherding us around and the most difficult things I should have to worry about are putting my suitcase outside my door in the morning and deciding which schnitzel to have for dinner, so we should be ok. If the cruise is cancelled (or if we are given an option to cancel and take it) we'll do the trip by train and book hotels along the way.  Trains are frequent & comfortable and there are a dozen hotels within 100m of all the stations. Maybe we should have planned a train trip in the first place....!

I hope all goes well, 24 November, hmm, still have hope for at least just minor disruptions, no more. Laid back you do sound, good, keep it up if you can. The Rhine valley is such a major thoroughfare, trains are indeed frequent, usually fast and comfortable (they fail a little on those two last points occasionally). And the ticket machines are in several languages...

 

Unfortunately, few excursion boats sail in winter, but major towns do have specials on during Christmas time, so the odd river cruisers turned into train travellers could catch the occasional magical evening round trip.

 

I had forgotten this but KD does offer a limited daily service in the Rhine gorge. Sorry for not thinking to post this earlier:

Do check with them before setting out for a special trip, as they may encounter problems during this drought.

 

 

But I really hope none of you will have to contemplate going for that train/boat option.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by notamermaid

[Mark_T]

Only a couple of days left until we start our mystery cruise with APT from Amsterdam to who knows where... 🙂

 

It looks to me as though there has been some consolidation, there should have been cruises starting from Amsterdam and Budapest tomorrow, but the ships at the Budapest end remain moored in Linz, and at the Amsterdam end the ship that should have been boarding passengers tomorrow is currently heading for Armhem...

[Jaydub99]

41 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

I hope all goes well, 24 November, hmm, still have hope for at least just minor disruptions, no more. Laid back you do sound, good, keep it up if you can. The Rhine valley is such a major thoroughfare, trains are indeed frequent, usually fast and comfortable (they fail a little on those two last points occasionally). And the ticket machines are in several languages...

 

Thanks for the good wishes! I do appreciate all of your post and info - very useful. I used to live near Offenburg and I am pretty comfortable navigating the area and making our way to Zurich for our departure flight. However, the other couple travelling with us has never been to Europe so we all thought a river cruise would be a good way to introduce them. No worries tho - one way or another, they'll see the Rhine valley!!

[pully8]

We share the concerns about uncertainty around our next cruise. We have travelled on trains in Europe and stayed in hotels and enjoyed the experience, however we chose a river cruise because we wanted to avoid bus travel, packing and unpacking. A train trip would be much cheaper than a premium river cruise and using trains in winter for an extended period would not be our preference, spring/autumn would be ideal.

Nevertheless we are committed and like others will make the best of it.   

Appreciate the first hand reports and will continue to follow.

[CILCIANRQTS]

Boarding in Basel tomorrow on the Viking Idi.

Will send daily updates.

Had excursion today with folks just off Viking.

It sounded like they were bussed from Strasbourg to Heidelberg, then back, then up to Cologne!

In any event, they were happy with Viking and their cruise.

They spent all nights on ships, so that’s very good for us, as we have  the drink package.

I’ve found that bourbon can ease a multitude of travel issues!

More after our first night briefing tomorrow.

 

Upon further review, this makes no sense, so why don’t I just share what WE experience.

Edited November 8, 2018 by CILCIANRQTS

[gadugger]

4 hours ago, hbr777 said:

All this worrying over the water, and whether or not the ship will GO is not worth it. I thinking worrying about this crap has pretty much destroyed any happy anticipation for this trip. Part of it is it is my group of 12 - including two family members who have not traveled to Europe - and worrying about what I might have to pull together at the last minute. Like you notamermaid, I keep thinking the rain will come. And it doesn't. I know there are much greater concerns than my stupid cruise, but I cannot believe how much this is stressing me out. Thanks for listening 🙂

Like Bill Clinton, "I feel your pain", though yours likely exceeds mine. My wife and I are on the AMAPRIMA from A to B Nov. 17-24 and have paid connections from Basel to Paris for a week. AMA won't indicate whether a changed itinerary will still get us to Basel on time. If not, I assume (and we all know what that means) that AMA would take care of getting us to Paris. This is our first river cruse and I didn't know I had to specify that I wanted a river cruise that had river water with it  🙂 Should have ordered cruise control.  🙂

 

Seriously, does anybody know if a credit is offered for a future cruise because of major itinerary alterations, can the credit be combined with other offers (e.g. free air)? Is there an expected range of possible credits, e.g. 30 to 40%? Expiring minds want to know.  🙂 

[nickbevoz]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Oh, yes, I had forgotten, you are the leader of a group. Even more stress, with people depending on you. For those who have not been to Europe it will certainly be a change of scene. But it is a comfortable change of scene I would say. Not the jungle, or the desert. Central Europe is fine, good infrastructure, trains in all the main tourist places, usually modern, comfy coaches. And many, many people speak at least adequate English. It is not an outlandish place. I am sure they will love the places that get to see.

 

And: of course, happy to listen, I feel really sorry for you lot out there.

 

notamermaid

 

We are on the same cruise as hbr777 but two weeks later - AmaKristina from Basel to Amsterdam.  We are regular travellers to Europe and can adjust our plans as we have experience and we have time in Europe both before and after the cruise and we will have a Eurail pass that helps particularly with the international longer train trips.

 

there is little to do now but wait and pray.  We had US friends on a recent AMA cruise from A to B via the Moselle and AMA gave them a future cruise credit and also put them on a revised cruise through Holland and into Belgium - which they liked.

 

for us, we do want to do the planned cruise or some alternate itinerary if possible but we really don’t like the idea of 5 out of 7 days being in hotels with long bus trips.  We would rather get from B to A ourselves by train and stop at a couple of Rhine towns for a couple of days each along the way.  We have done it before and enjoyed it.

 

A personal note - your posts are VERY appreciated.  Thank you!

Edited November 8, 2018 by nstarrenburg

[hbr777]

12 minutes ago, nstarrenburg said:

We are on the same cruise as hbr777 but two weeks later - AmaKristina from Basel to Amsterdam.  We are regular travellers to Europe and can adjust our plans as we have experience and we have time in Europe both before and after the cruise and we will have a Eurail pass that helps particularly with the international longer train trips.

 

there is little to do now but wait and pray.  We had US friends on a recent AMA cruise from A to B via the Moselle and AMA gave them a future cruise credit and also put them on a revised cruise through Holland and into Belgium - which they liked.

 

for us, we do want to do the planned cruise or some alternate itinerary if possible but we really don’t like the idea of 5 out of 7 days being in hotels with long bus trips.  We would rather get from B to A ourselves by train and stop at a couple of Rhine towns for a couple of days each along the way.  We have done it before and enjoyed it.

 

A personal note - your posts are VERY appreciated.  Thank you!

We are similar to you. We have gone to the Christmas markets several times, and we chose a pricey cruise (pricey compared to how we usually travel!) for the ease in transportation and luxury.  If this turns into a bus tour, I will be unhappy to say the least. And a revised cruise through Holland and Belgium is a very poor substitute since it is not a region known for Christmas markets. A bus tour and being ferried back and forth is not a cruise - it's a trudge. And I would think a credit for a future cruise would be in order.

Edited November 8, 2018 by hbr777

[notamermaid]

hbr777,

 

I think you are right about Holland and Belgium and the Christmas markets. I cannot imagine a cruise not taking in at least Cologne. Brussels Christmas market is great and I am not saying Dutch ones are not good but it is not what one wanted to see. After all, the Alsace region claims to be the home of the Christmas tree tradition. To be precise the first known written record of a Christmas tree is in the library of Selestat, near Colmar: https://noel.tourisme-alsace.com/en/222004799-The-oldest-written-mention-of-the-Christmas-tree.html

 

notamermaid

 

[ural guy]

Pics from yesterday's bike ride.  The signposting for the bike routes is outstanding, with distances to towns labeled to the 1/10 of a kilometer.

 

Today there is a walking tour of Koblenz, then we finally sail up the Mosel at 1300.   I think I will go out on another bike ride, along the Mosel this time.

[madda]

Just now, madda said:

 

We did the Amsterdam to Basel cruise in 2015 and loved cruising the Mosel, it is beautiful - enjoy your cruise.

[notamermaid]

Today has started like yesterday. I am looking at a sunny valley. With bright colours and mild temperatures it feels like October.

 

The river levels: Maxau 332cm, Kaub 38cm, Koblenz 37cm. Kaub is forecast to fall to 35cm.

 

I have had another look at a German precipitation forecast. According to that map the rain over the next few days will oddly leave out sections of the area where we want to see rain. As if complete cloud cover and rain over Germany is just not planned by Mother Nature. Saturday will give a good sprinkling over much of the valley in Germany, parts of France and Switzerland. Is is sweeping in from the West. But just one day will not replenish what we have lost again in the past week. The map for tomorrow looks like it has been cut into. Absolutely no rain will make it past a line, which means while it is likely to rain in the Rhine valley the Danube upper valley just 80 kilometres away might not see a drop.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[jpalbny]

Wow, ural guy. That region is beautiful! We visited a few years ago, but in September before the fall colors had taken hold. And you had sunshine, but we had rain and clouds - not that many on this board would complain about that trade right now...

[ural guy]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Today has started like yesterday. I am looking at a sunny valley. With bright colours and mild temperatures it feels like October.

 

The river levels: Maxau 332cm, Kaub 38cm, Koblenz 37cm. Kaub is forecast to fall to 35cm.

 

I have had another look at a German precipitation forecast. According to that map the rain over the next few days will oddly leave out sections of the area where we want to see rain. As if complete cloud cover and rain over Germany is just not planned by Mother Nature. Saturday will give a good sprinkling over much of the valley in Germany, parts of France and Switzerland. Is is sweeping in from the West. But just one day will not replenish what we have lost again in the past week. The map for tomorrow looks like it has been cut into. Absolutely no rain will make it past a line, which means while it is likely to rain in the Rhine valley the Danube upper valley just 80 kilometres away might not see a drop.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Here is the fog along the Mosel ridge this morning, with all the vines showing a pretty yellow.

[G.M.T.]

35 minutes ago, ural guy said:

Here is the fog along the Mosel ridge this morning, with all the vines showing a pretty yellow.

No Eiswein  (Ice Wine) this year. Heard on the news this morning, in the state of Hesse (Frankurt and Wiesbaden) they are picking strawberries. What a crazy world!

 

Thank you for the wonderful photos and trip reports, I can enjoy a holiday and it doesn't cost me a cent.

Edited November 9, 2018 by G.M.T.

[notamermaid]

Mark_T,

 

I think you will be leaving soon for your cruise. Have a safe trip. I hope your ship will be in Amsterdam and you can have a good start to your sailing.

 

You might have guessed, the SS Antoinette did indeed return North. She is currently underway towards Cologne.

 

The Viking Hild ferried back to Koblenz from Braubach and had a short docking in Andernach. She is now underway again with destination Trier given on marinetraffic.

 

I am sure the passengers will love the Moselle. If the rest of the river is as beautiful as the stretch that ural-guy has photographed they are in for a treat.

 

But as we have seen, the Rhine has great colours, too. And the Moselle is just round the corner at Koblenz.

 

Enjoy.

 

notamermaid

 

[FuelScience]

Ural Guy,

Thanks for these gorgeous photos. I'll be on the Moselle in April, and they make me even more eager to be there!

[Mark_T]

33 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Mark_T,

 

I think you will be leaving soon for your cruise. Have a safe trip. I hope your ship will be in Amsterdam and you can have a good start to your sailing...

 

 

No problems there, AmaVenita just moved to the nice spot by Amsterdam Centraal, so she is ready and waiting.

 

I'll try to find out what has happened to the 3 other cruises that APT should have been running between Amsterdam and Budapest starting today and tomorrow as none of the other ships are in the right place so it is possible we've all been consolidated onto one ship due to people cancelling...

 

 

[FuelScience]

Looks like Teeming's leased Johann Strauss (110 m) made it through the gorge going south. Marinetraffic.com shows her approaching Mainz.