Danube water levels 2023 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[ohiolovescrusing]

On way from Passau to Regensburg. Will be slow overnight due to water levels but they hope all goes well.  Plan to stop b4 Regensburg and do buses for 45 min.  Then hopefully boat goes very slowly and meets us there to continue on.  We r happy if goes to plan. Would hate to switch ships but will go with flow…Onward to Amsterdam…

[reeves35]

2 hours ago, ohiolovescrusing said:

On way from Passau to Regensburg. Will be slow overnight due to water levels but they hope all goes well.  Plan to stop b4 Regensburg and do buses for 45 min.  Then hopefully boat goes very slowly and meets us there to continue on.  We r happy if goes to plan. Would hate to switch ships but will go with flow…Onward to Amsterdam…

We did a ship swap last month due to low water between Nuremberg and Regensburg and, whilst a minor disruption, it wasn't really that bad.  

 

We had to pack up obviously and tag our bags but then the crew organised our luggage to be loaded onto our busses and we did our scheduled tour of Nuremberg.  Then, instead of returning to the ship after lunch and cruising to Regensburg, we travelled the 200km to Passau by coach, including a stop for a coffee at chocolate factory along the way and boarded our new ship, Travelmarvel Polaris. 

 

The ships were identical so, whilst we enjoyed a free welcome drink in the lounge, our luggage was taken to our cabin and then we unpacked everything in exactly the same spot it had been on Vega.

 

Of course, we had a new crew but they were still excellent.  The cruise director and the 2 onboard entertainers came with us though.

 

Obviously, we missed Regensburg but we got to spend an unscheduled full day in Passau including a walking tour and it was a fascinating city. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by reeves35

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge still "wobbly". Now at 287cm which is not brilliant but the small rise overnight was all that some ships will have needed. Potential to reach the 290cm and more is still there but the forecast now shows no figures over 300cm. Pfelling has got a "mind of its own" so we need to take the forecast with a big pinch of salt.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On a different topic. Over in the Rhine thread @Canal archive mentioned a fun trip to a small town outside of Vienna. Vienna is perhaps best known for coffee and cake and Wiener Schnitzel but is also a big wine producer. Not in the centre of town of course but the Austrian capital is so large that it includes vineyards in the districts. It is interesting to look at this and I will get back to the topic. Throw in your comments any time. Also on other food and drink. By the way, had a Sacher Torte baked by a baker near Koblenz the other day. Not sure if it was close to the original but it was very good. 🍰  🍷 🥩

 

notamermaid

 

[ohiolovescrusing]

17 hours ago, ohiolovescrusing said:

On way from Passau to Regensburg. Will be slow overnight due to water levels but they hope all goes well.  Plan to stop b4 Regensburg and do buses for 45 min.  Then hopefully boat goes very slowly and meets us there to continue on.  We r happy if goes to plan. Would hate to switch ships but will go with flow…Onward to Amsterdam…

We made it through!  Woken up several times by scraping the bottom overnight (as they predicted) but all went smoothly.  Now we are on way to Nuremberg after nice time in Regensburg. 

[notamermaid]

Big pinch of salt was a good idea. After a rise during the night (297cm) the level at Pfelling gauge is back to 288cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[TomSwift]

We go on our first river cruise the beginning of October. I may be misreading the prior posts, but most seem to deal with the Danube north of Vilshaufen. We are embarking from Vilshaufen and going to Budapest. Does anybody know what the water levels are in that stretch? If prior posts deal with this section of the river, sorry but I'm not familiar with the Danube and this part of Europe. As I said, it is our first river cruise. Thanks for any information.

[island lady]

Boarded Viking Vidar yesterday, doing the Bucharest to Amsterdam Euro Sojourn.  Asked an officer about ship switching due to lower levels and he felt pretty confident we won't have to.  I hope he is right...I overpacked...so I was not looking forward to packing up again mid cruise.  😉 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2023 by island lady

[Izengolf]

Boarded in Budapest last night and no mention of not making it past Passau and on to Regensburg. Asked the captain (7th generation river captain and 23 years with Uniworld) and he said we will be fine. 🤞

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

Boarded in Budapest last night and no mention of not making it past Passau and on to Regensburg. Asked the captain (7th generation river captain and 23 years with Uniworld) and he said we will be fine. 🤞

 

Thanks!  Same thing we are hoping for the next 3 weeks.  🙂  Currently just starting our trip up river from down here in Russe Bulgaria.  

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge has dropped to 282cm. Of course, captains know their ships with all the little intricate details of how they behave in low water. Sounds all promising and good. Cooler weather and some rain coming.

 

11 hours ago, TomSwift said:

We go on our first river cruise the beginning of October.

Welcome to Cruisecritic. You are right that we mention almost only the stretch between Straubing and Vilshofen as that is where the low water levels happen first. From Vilshofen to Budapest we have the situation that the Danube is either regulated by locks or deeper than further upstream. Budapest can be low but this does not happen as frequently as upstream from Vilshofen. You can read a few pages back in this thread where we have posted a few more details but the short version is: your cruise will most likely not be impacted by low water levels.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Izengolf]

We just had our tour talk and sign ups for Regensburg and Nuremberg. This would have been the time to make alternate arrangements if they didn't think the ship could pass Pfelling on Sunday night. 

[TomSwift]

Thanks for all of the helpful, interesting, and hopeful information about the water levels from Vilshofen to Budapest so far. I will keep watching the thread, and will report on our findings once we board.

[steamboats]

BTW it´s raining all day long here in the South... and this should last on for tomorrow.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, steamboats said:

BTW it´s raining all day long here in the South... and this should last on for tomorrow.

 

steamboats

It is raining a lot here along the Rhine as well. The heaviest rain along the Danube was actually over the Isar river and the Alps during late afternoon which does not do much for Pfelling but it should still be a good amount for the river before Pfelling (the Lech river also comes from the Alps for example). The other band of rain is feeding the Upper Danube and tributaries and is sweeping in the right direction. Current situation:

.

 

Pfelling gauge has dropped to 265cm. This is definitely temporary with all the water coming... Forecast suggests a fast rise and a figure of more than 310cm by tomorrow evening.

 

notamermaid

 

[Daisi]

Our cruise on Avalon Envision is ending in Passau. They are stopping in Engelhartszell, then Passeau. No rain except for a few drops this morning, but at least it’s cooler.

[notamermaid]

Time to have a look at what the rain did to the river around Pfelling. Yes, it was enough rain, figure is 304cm.

 

Weather calming down, most showers now in the North of Germany. Tomorrow should be pleasant with the temperatures due to rise again and latest day after tomorrow hitting 20 Celsius in Bavaria again.

 

notamermaid

 

[island lady]

Sooo happy to hear the levels are up again.  Currently docked on Vidar (with about 7 other cruise vessels rafted on) in Belgrade.  

 

Raining off and on all day.  

 

I hate to jinx myself, but I think we will make it without packing and unpacking again for the next 2+ weeks!  

[notamermaid]

As forecast, the weather has improved and this is what this early evening just after the autumnal equinox looks like in Bavaria:

 

Pfelling gauge has risen well and is now at 334cm. But this appears to be the plateau.

 

Weather forecast for tomorrow morning says there could be mists with these even turning to light fog in the river valleys and the visibility may be as low as 150m. Great for atmospheric photos!

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

I suspected it - but did not want to post the level forecast last night as it has been not accurate enough in the past. Yes, Pfelling gauge has fallen, and fast. It is now at 304cm. The forecast suggested 310cm for lunchtime. So the river runs below that figure already. Tomorrow 300cm as the forecast says or even less seeing that the river is close to that already?

 

If you are on the river I hope you have been enjoying the early hours of this morning and can bathe in the sunshine of this (in the list) cloudless sky:

 

 

 

 

☀️🙂

 

notamermaid

 

[Izengolf]

We cruised through Pfelling last night and arrived to a gorgeous day in Regensburg! All the towns have been absolutely lovely, the people who live here are very lucky. 

[island lady]

Still cloudy, dreary, and was spitting rain way down here in Croatia.  But is clearing up now.  We had quite the thunderstorm last night.  Heading up river again tonight...with fingers crossed.  

[notamermaid]

48 minutes ago, island lady said:

Still cloudy, dreary, and was spitting rain way down here in Croatia.  But is clearing up now. 

Looks as if the rain is through now and the majority of Europe is under the influence of this high pressure weather. Should continue until well into Wednesday when clouds will come to the continent via Brittany, turning into the Netherlands and then sweeping East into Germany. Rain along the Rhine the night into Thursday. Probably reaching the Danube Thursday afternoon.

 

notamermaid

 

[Izengolf]

The captain is announcing as I type that we will NOT go from Regensburg to Nuremberg tonight as planned but will instead return to Passau due to low water at Pfelling that is continuing to get lower from the 2ft of clearance they had last night. We will still have a full day of sailing as planned but this direction can have the sundeck open 👍

 

Edited September 25, 2023 by Izengolf
Typo

[notamermaid]

21 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

The captain is announcing as I type that we will NOT go from Regensburg to Nuremberg tonight as planned but will instead return to Passau due to low water at Pfelling that is continuing to get lower from the 2ft of clearance they had last night. We will still have a full day of sailing as planned but this direction can have the sundeck open 👍

 

Yes, bad luck. Pfelling has already dropped to 298cm - faster than I had feared. So you are going through Pfelling twice and the captain wants to make sure his ship is back at Passau before it gets too low and I suppose could ruin the next sailing? Picking up the next passengers at Passau rather than Nuremberg or Regensburg I mean.

 

notamermaid