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

[CastleCritic]

2 minutes ago, Mucciano1 said:

Board in Budapest on Oct. 6th and head to Regensburg.  Does anybody know how far they believe we will make it on the boat?

Vilshofen or Passau depending on dock availability and how the cruise line wants to do it.

Edited October 2, 2023 by CastleCritic

[island lady]

Indeed, as soon as our CD here on Viking Vidar said "important announcement coming"...I knew.  But I was expecting it anyway from what I have been following.  

 

We were turning around at Vilshofen after picking up the tour pax even before he made the announcement.  I mentioned to others around us "Get ready to pack up".   They were totally dumbfounded and could only talk loudly about "Why are turning around??!!!".   Sigh.  

 

Paying attention here to CC and our fabulous Notamermaid definitely keeps you prepared.  😉  Currently rafted onto another Viking ship that is disembarking with their luggage now.  Our transfer is tomorrow.  

[deec]

Island lady we must be on the same ship!

[island lady]

1 hour ago, deec said:

Island lady we must be on the same ship!

 

Yes, we are.  🙂 

 

From the picture on your avatar...I think I saw you today.   But felt silly to walk up and ask..."are you deec"?    Oh well, if that lady is not you...hope she does not mind my asking. 

 

BTW...born and raised "Michigander" here.  Moved to Florida in 1981.  

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, deec said:

Island lady we must be on the same ship!

 

13 minutes ago, island lady said:

Yes, we are.  🙂 

Now that is fun. 🙂

 

3 hours ago, island lady said:

We were turning around at Vilshofen after picking up the tour pax even before he made the announcement.  I mentioned to others around us "Get ready to pack up".   They were totally dumbfounded and could only talk loudly about "Why are turning around??!!!".   Sigh.  

Such a pity when passengers are struck by this as they are oblivious to the possibility. Mind you, I had no idea how river cruising works, I just knew "my" river so was relaxed about and prepared for the Danube.

 

And thank you for your kind words.

 

Viking mentions potential problems in the small print but not sure where, it may just be on the UK website I saw this? European companies tend to have it in "larger print" than Viking. Full admission, I did not read all of the small print before I sailed, nor after. As I said I was relaxed about it all just worried about the quality of the food that they would serve me. 😁

 

Public holiday today in Germany. Weather not the best but overcast sky and drizzle helps the Danube.

 

Pfelling gauge at 255cm.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

[deec]

I bet it’s me.  We stayed on boat today

[island lady]

26 minutes ago, deec said:

I bet it’s me.  We stayed on boat today

 

Yes, it was you.  😉  So nice to meet you...finally.  🤗

[Canal archive]

🤝 oh well done 🫶

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge at 252cm. Rain covered my valley for a couple of hours and moved on to the Danube basin where it appears that the clouds went over the whole Danube and almost converged with more clouds coming over the Isar river to Passau having covered the Bavarian forest and then during the evening raining over the Czech Republic including the Elbe basin. So a good amount for all rivers but if I have understood the forecast correctly this is it for this week in the South.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge at 260cm and forecast to rise.

 

notamermaid

 

[island lady]

21 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Pfelling gauge at 260cm and forecast to rise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Thanks...sigh...too late for us.  😞  

 

Our 4 hour bus ride from hell to transfer from Passau to Nuremburg, included our bus choice having no A/C and an 80 lady pile up at McDonalds to use the small toilet facility.  Ugh...

 

We were not lucky with levels on this cruise.  Drats.  Oh well, win some..lose some.  That's life.  

[Canal archive]

Thank you island lady you must be grinding your teeth inwardly but you are showing the most amazing attitude, I hope it does not put you off as usually river cruising becomes one of the most compulsive of habits. 🫶

[island lady]

3 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Thank you island lady you must be grinding your teeth inwardly but you are showing the most amazing attitude, I hope it does not put you off as usually river cruising becomes one of the most compulsive of habits. 🫶

 

LOL...thanks!  I could complain more about the downside of some parts of life...but who would listen?  😄  Not worth it.  

 

Actually we are also branching out to the Viking Ocean ships, and probably will be one of our favorites...the Expedition ships.  🙂   Trying to cover it all while we can!  

[Mucciano1]

We arrive on Friday, October 6th in Budapest, we then travel to Regensburg.  Have the levels gone up enough to complete this section of the river without bussing?

[Canal archive]

Good thinking we are beginning to realise that we must be very choosy where we travel to.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Mucciano1 said:

We arrive on Friday, October 6th in Budapest, we then travel to Regensburg.  Have the levels gone up enough to complete this section of the river without bussing?

No. Pfelling gauge down to 262cm after a small wave.

 

notamermaid

 

[Mucciano1]

Any idea what section we will have to be bussed?

[notamermaid]

For the Grand European it is this, like island lady did:

 

Or the shorter version Vilshofen to Regensburg.

 

2 hours ago, Mucciano1 said:

Any idea what section we will have to be bussed?

Budapest to Regensburg may mean you disembark in Passau or Vilshofen and doing a day trip to Regensburg or arrange the flights or arrange transport to Prague. These are details that I cannot know and that will be decided by your river cruise line when you get close to Passau.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[rcaruso]

8 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Thanks...sigh...too late for us.  😞  

 

Our 4 hour bus ride from hell to transfer from Passau to Nuremburg, included our bus choice having no A/C and an 80 lady pile up at McDonalds to use the small toilet facility.  Ugh...

 

We were not lucky with levels on this cruise.  Drats.  Oh well, win some..lose some.  That's life.  

Yup we did the exact same thing in July.  Half way through they got the air working, we were in the middle of the bus and not bothered by it.  The McDonalds!  What do I say, yes we had the same 80 lady pile up, but the espresso was good and the lady making the espresso drinks was fast.  I did mention to our Program Director that it would be nice to be in a more German place.  She said they all charged to use the bathroom, so they picked McDonalds----oh well......

[Izengolf]

Our drive from Passau to Prague through the Bavarian and Bohemian forests was gorgeous! No complaints from anyone. Our busses were staggered by 30 minutes and the gas station had enough restrooms there wasn't a lineup. Either that or we naturally spread ourselves out between the facilities and food 😃

[notamermaid]

McDonald's??? One can certainly do better than that but I get it about the money. There are more regionally-operated facilities near motorways (often tricky as regards time and number of ladies toilets) or one can go to the "Serways" places. These have coffee, a McDonalds or a Burger King and a kiosk or small restaurant, etc. The Serways facilities usually operate like this: a company - mostly this one https://www.sanifair.com/guestarea

- operates the toilets and the voucher you redeem at the shop/restaurant according to the operating partners' conditions. You get clean toilets and there are several cubicles which reduces waiting time. Drawback is that one can linger in the shop to choose an item or wait for the coffee that will get you the (part) money from your voucher back. You do not need to redeem the voucher, that means the toilet is not cheap but I find the price reasonable for what they provide. This is what Google gives you when you put in the German word Raststätten:

 

Not much really. There are websites that specifically give you ideas off the beaten track but I have not looked at those for ages. I have done that in Britain and found a few great places between 1 and 5 miles off the motorway.

 

If I may be so bold - I have copied this from  @reeves35 's review: "The afternoon was spent travelling the 200km to Passau by coach going around the low water near Regensberg. There was a stop at the Seidl chocolate factory for a coffee and toilet break about halfway." If that means the toilet break was right at the chocolate factory give me that place over Serways any day.

 

 

notamermaid

 

[rcaruso]

7 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

McDonald's??? One can certainly do better than that but I get it about the money. There are more regionally-operated facilities near motorways (often tricky as regards time and number of ladies toilets) or one can go to the "Serways" places. These have coffee, a McDonalds or a Burger King and a kiosk or small restaurant, etc. The Serways facilities usually operate like this: a company - mostly this one https://www.sanifair.com/guestarea

- operates the toilets and the voucher you redeem at the shop/restaurant according to the operating partners' conditions. You get clean toilets and there are several cubicles which reduces waiting time. Drawback is that one can linger in the shop to choose an item or wait for the coffee that will get you the (part) money from your voucher back. You do not need to redeem the voucher, that means the toilet is not cheap but I find the price reasonable for what they provide. This is what Google gives you when you put in the German word Raststätten:

 

Not much really. There are websites that specifically give you ideas off the beaten track but I have not looked at those for ages. I have done that in Britain and found a few great places between 1 and 5 miles off the motorway.

 

If I may be so bold - I have copied this from  @reeves35 's review: "The afternoon was spent travelling the 200km to Passau by coach going around the low water near Regensberg. There was a stop at the Seidl chocolate factory for a coffee and toilet break about halfway." If that means the toilet break was right at the chocolate factory give me that place over Serways any day.

 

 

notamermaid

 

Wow, anything would be better than Mc Donalds.  We travel to Germany to enjoy different foods/experiences not Mc Donalds.  Except for the espresso, which we don't have in US, it was very much American.  I don't eat at Mc Donalds at home and I certainly don't want to eat there in Germany.

 

[notamermaid]

I will be busy in the next few days so not sure how much I will post. Situation tonight is as follows. Pfelling gauge at 259cm. The trend is for minimally higher levels, probably not exceeding 270cm. Sunny weather over the weekend. No rain forecast at Regensburg. Screenshot from German website:

 

See here https://www.br.de/wetter/action/5_tage_prognose.do?regio=Oberpfalz&plz=10776

I do not know how often this is updated.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

3 minutes ago, rcaruso said:

I don't eat at Mc Donalds at home and I certainly don't want to eat there in Germany.

Not ideal I admit, it is just the money aspect that makes it bearable I would say. The Serways on that motorway stretch has a North and a South building. This is North, which does not have a McDonald's but a bistro restaurant. All the facilities are mentioned here: https://www.serways.de/standorte/bayerischer-wald-nord/

Certainly more European/German...

This one is actually at Bogen near Pfelling so a bit too close to Passau for a stop perhaps. Still, if one "meanders" on the coach through the Bavarian Forest for a bit this could work out nicely.

 

notamermaid

 

[reeves35]

10 hours ago, rcaruso said:

Yup we did the exact same thing in July.  Half way through they got the air working, we were in the middle of the bus and not bothered by it.  The McDonalds!  What do I say, yes we had the same 80 lady pile up, but the espresso was good and the lady making the espresso drinks was fast.  I did mention to our Program Director that it would be nice to be in a more German place.  She said they all charged to use the bathroom, so they picked McDonalds----oh well......

During our ship swap between Nuremberg and Passau, our bus stop was at the Seidl Chocolate Factory near Regensburg.  The toilets were free and there was an opportunity to buy from their store or grab a fairly good coffee.  It sounds preferable to Macca's.