Viking Danube Nov 2018 -water levels?

[NPaul]

We're (6 of us) are supposed to take off later this week for a week on with Viking down the Danube from Nuremberg to Budapest. This is our second cruise with Viking and we loved the first. However, we are all concerned about all the posts regarding the low water levels, the canceled excursions and how much time it seems people spent on a bus versus on the river. Has anyone returned recently from a Danube river cruise lately and how was it? Thanks. 

[Liza j]

Our friends just got back from the 15 day Amsterdam to Budapest cruise. The rivers are very low and in Amsterdam they had a hotel and also Budapest. They did say it was a pain with the bussing and packing and unpacking in hotels. The trip itself they said was wonderful, food was good and service was great they didnt let that ruin their vacation. We are going in Sept. 2019 and would like to know is this a bad year or is this something that happens all the time.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 minute ago, Liza j said:

Our friends just got back from the 15 day Amsterdam to Budapest cruise. The rivers are very low and in Amsterdam they had a hotel and also Budapest. They did say it was a pain with the bussing and packing and unpacking in hotels. The trip itself they said was wonderful, food was good and service was great they didnt let that ruin their vacation. We are going in Sept. 2019 and would like to know is this a bad year or is this something that happens all the time.

 

This year is unprecedented.  There have been years with floods before, and there has been low water before (but never as low as this).  So this is a bad year and not something that happens all the time.  But nobody knows what Sept. 2019 will be like either.

[CasaM]

We just returned from the Nov 7-14 Viking cruise from Passau to Budapest.  Passau to Vienna went as planned....then we were told the ship could sail no further.  The next day we were bussed to Bratislava (hour and 20 min each way) and had our tour. 

 

The following day, we packed our luggage and had the bags outside our room by 7:30, then boarded the bus at 8:30 for the 3 hour trip to Budapest.  We were put on a Viking ship that was docked in Budapest and had already finished it's year.  We had lunch on the ship and then proceeded at 2:00pm for the tour of Budapest.  So basically you miss a half day in Budapest and all extra excursions were cancelled.

 

So, the final verdict for us was that it was not ideal, but the river has been low for months now and there is nothing the cruise line can do about that.  The weather was milder than normal, but very foggy. Our day at the Gotweig Abbey you couldn't see any of the views or even buildings unless you were right next to them.

[Liza j]

Thank you Jazz Beau