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

[RDVIK2016]

21 hours ago, TLex said:

I’m with my wife.  What do you think? 
 

🤣

 

twomarkets. Naměsti Republiki (and the Palladium and Kotva Department Store), Naměsti Stàromětske in Old Town.  In the blizzard.  Happy Happy, Joy Joy! 
 

I was in this trip for the bier. SHE is in it for the shopping!!! 😆

 

Well, we’ve been happily married for three years. However, we’ve been married 27.  So much for delayed 25th anniversary cruises!

 

thank you for the “Bon Voyage” in Czechia.  
 

BR,

 

T Lex

T Lex

It's not often that I see any Czech, complete with the diacritical marks on Cruise Critic. Are you from a Czech community in Texas? 

 

Praha did not get hit with the snow as badly as southeast Bavaria did it?  You'll be able to determine that on the road to Regensburg and cruise downstream from there. At least my Third Division Fußball team in Regensburg was able to play their game today.  Games were cancelled in Munich yesterday where almost all transport shut down. Schneechaos!!  Snow Chaos they called it. 

RDVIK

[notamermaid]

9 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Otto Versand is still in business? It's been a long time since Otto and Quelle widely distributed their Sears-Roebuck style catalogs.  

Yes, Otto Versand is doing okay, Quelle was insolvent but came back into business with the rights to the name going to another big player. Too complicated to do into details, but Quelle still exists, just not how it used to. There are no shops or pick up places. I do not think any catalogues of note are produced, mind you I did have one from Otto a while ago. But a small one. For British folk there is an easy comparison - think of Argos.

 

Pilsner Urquell - yes, that's it. I think it is distributed around here in the Rhineland with me as well.

 

But there is plenty of beer to choose from locally along the Danube. Although, some Austrian white wine should not be ignored in my opinion.

 

River levels are okay.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

[RDVIK2016]

13 hours ago, notamermaid said:

 

Pilsner Urquell - yes, that's it. I think it is distributed around here in the Rhineland with me as well.

 

But there is plenty of beer to choose from locally along the Danube. Although, some Austrian white wine should not be ignored in my opinion.

...

notamermaid

Bier from the Weltenburg Abbey upstream from Regensburg (especially a dark beer) or the Hacklberg Brewery in Passau come to mind.  They make some really good wines in Austria, but one of the best experiences is just relaxing at a Heurigen wine tavern with an inexpensive Grüner Veltliner Spritzer. 

[notamermaid]

8 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

one of the best experiences is just relaxing at a Heurigen wine tavern with an inexpensive Grüner Veltliner Spritzer

Yes, that sounds good. I had the opportunity to do so during my river cruise. We were docked in Wien Nussdorf, itself an old wine village. Fellow passengers travelled to a village by coach, but my cruise companion and me skipped that one, we were a bit tired and have experienced something similar before - you know, we live here on the Rhine with the nearest tavern in easy driving distance and we have been to Austria on land trips.

 

It is great to see another aspect of Vienna apart from the city so a "Heurigen" evening is sure to be fun in that respect.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[RDVIK2016]

14 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Yes, that sounds good. I had the opportunity to do so during my river cruise. We were docked in Wien Nussdorf, itself an old wine village. Fellow passengers travelled to a village by coach, but my cruise companion and me skipped that one, we were a bit tired and have experienced something similar before - you know, we live here on the Rhine with the nearest tavern in easy driving distance and we have been to Austria on land trips.

 

It is great to see another aspect of Vienna apart from the city so a "Heurigen" evening is sure to be fun in that respect.

notamermaid

Notamermaid,

Yes if docked in Nussdorf it is just a short drive to several Heuriger. Our boats have docked much farther downstream, but I have a Viennese friend, a former classmate/foreign exchange student, who took us to his favorite Heuriger in Neustift. Another couple went along and when the other lady asked the waitress where the wine was from, thinking it was some fancy wine from the Wachau or some such, the waitress just pointed to the vineyard on the hill across the road. Such a nice tradition - and so Gemütlich there - all the more so when with someone like my friend who reminds one of Peter Alexander.

VG

RDVIK

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Peter Alexander

"Peter the Great" of show business. My words. So iconic. Men like that are rare, these days even more than when I was young.

 

I wonder if any of his films have been translated into English?

 

notamermaid

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

In contrast to the Rhine where we have a ship blocking the channel in the Rhine Gorge (expected to be freed soon) things seem quiet on the Danube, at least West of Budapest. Chaotic snow conditions in some areas excepted.

 

Wet weather is coming so we need to expect a rise of the water levels. This will be on the 10th or 11th.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The blockage on the Rhine has gone but we are now expecting flooding as there is a sudden, strong thaw and rain is also forecast. For the Danube things are looking a bit more relaxed for now, the temperatures are lower than in the West but will be above zero. A rise in water levels will be inevitable but it looks as if the Rhine valley will feel the brunt of it. For the Danube and Main we will see. The problem areas are Bamberg to Nuremberg and to the Southwest in the Upper Danube valley.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Let us have a look at how the Danube did at Pfelling in November:

Heavy rain over Germany lead to a sharp rise also on the Danube and eventually put the river over the marker for river traffic being allowed. It was only for a short time. The level fell, but overall remained high and above the statistical mean. From now 472cm we could see the river rise quite high again. But before that becomes a problem usually the bridge at Passau will be the bigger obstacle again for river cruise ships.

On this map you can see the Danube basin and Lake Constance. The Lake and some of the area around it drains into the Rhine. Stripes is pre-warning, orange is flood warning:

Note that around Nuremberg is the Main Danube Canal which gives it excess water mostly to the Danube.

 

The rises are expected to start late on Sunday mainly along the tributaries of the Danube and then continue to start on Monday at the gauges downstream from around Ingolstadt.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[twototravel]

Danube at Regensburg will be affected by melting snow. Our cruise ship is leaving tonight instead of tomorrow night. We were told levels are expected to rise and cause issues with all the Xmas market cruise ships. We are sailing to Kilheim and will dock there and be bussed back to Regensburg for our tours. We will then proceed for the rest of the cruise without issue (only locks from then on). 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, twototravel said:

Danube at Regensburg will be affected by melting snow.

Yes, the levels are rising. Regensburg is forecast to reach flood mark I tomorrow. This is the current map, yellow is flood mark I, orange is II, red is III:

 

notamermaid

 

[mrsjetson28]

Dec 11: Stuck in Passau on Scenic Opal. Being bused to all excursions. No ETA on moving the ship. Hate the buses 😞

[notamermaid]

11 minutes ago, mrsjetson28 said:

Dec 11: Stuck in Passau on Scenic Opal. Being bused to all excursions. No ETA on moving the ship. Hate the buses 😞

Sorry to read that. Yes levels are rising and I am afraid the Vils joining at Vilshofen has contributed to the volume of water at Passau already. Passau has made a jump and is at 683cm. Level to rise to over 700cm by this evening.

 

It looks like we will not see ships going under the infamous bridge for a few days.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Passau has risen to 704cm and is now on flooding level 1.

 

notamermaid

 

[rachiem]

40 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Passau has risen to 704cm and is now on flooding level 1.

 

notamermaid

 

We are due in that area in 5 days...fingers crossed it reduces 

[wrl001]

Sitting on boat a Passau. Avalon ship transferred its passengers this morning. 

[wrp96]

We are upstream at Straubing on AMA waiting to hear what we will do.   Talking to our cruise manager it is very likely we will do the same as Avalon (they were rafted with us here in Straubing and in fact their luggage is still being loaded into trucks here).

[notamermaid]

Passau gauge has climbed to 755cm. High volumes of water to come from tributaries still and the Danube is carrying a lot of water from its upper reaches still. The situation now:

 

Some tributaries are high but do not show up as being on their respective flood mark I (yet).

 

notamermaid

 

[Ockatty]

6 hours ago, wrl001 said:

Sitting on boat a Passau. Avalon ship transferred its passengers this morning. 

We are due to board Envision on Friday and are now changed to the View. Are they transferring in Passai?

[wrl001]

Up to the Captain and cruise line.  Seems like all the boats are stuck somewhere. 

[Stickman1990]

On 12/11/2023 at 9:36 PM, mrsjetson28 said:

Dec 11: Stuck in Passau on Scenic Opal. Being bused to all excursions. No ETA on moving the ship. Hate the buses 😞

I think we have friends on your cruise - they’ve advised the cruise has ended a week early and they’re flying home 

 

A very unfortunate end to a long awaited holiday for everyone

[notamermaid]

The problem at Passau is the Luitpold Bridge which is one of the bridges with the least headroom along the whole Danube. Current water level is 742cm. At 780cm river traffic will be suspended.

 

Pfelling gauge is at 666cm. According to the authorities in Bavaria river traffic is suspended there at 620cm.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by notamermaid

[RDVIK2016]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The problem at Passau is the Luitpold Bridge which is one of the bridges with the least headroom along the whole Danube. Current water level is 742cm. At 780cm river traffic will be suspended.

 

Pfelling gauge is at 666cm. According to the authorities in Bavaria river traffic is suspended there at 620cm.

 

notamermaid

 

Notamermaid,

The railroad bridges at Deggendorf and Bogen are even more problematic than the Luitpoldbrücke at Passau are they not? While still downstream from Passau in 2016 going from Budapest to Nürnberg the had been a lot of rain upstream and I asked one of the pilots/helmsmen of our ship which bridges he thought might cause us a problem and he said the one at Bogen was what they were watching most closely. (Looks to me like the one at Deggendorf would be even worse as it has a slightly lower passage height / Durchfahrtshöhe). It was fun talking to that pilot. My German was better than his and, as he was a Slovak, his Czech was much better than mine, but we got along well, especially when we tried to talk about some internationally famous Slovak ice hockey players. It is so gratifying to find common interests with people from all over. 

RDVIK

[twototravel]

We are in the Monarch Queen. Still cruising but making adjustments in ports. Left Nuremburg last night and now heading to Bamberg. We will disembark for touring and ship will continue and pick us up in Hassfurt. Next stop will then be Schweinfurt, which was a last minute addition. Not sure what will happen next. Wurtzburg then Frankfurt would be our final to ports.

[mrsjetson28]

Yes, asked to leave the ship today, a week early. And no assistance with flights, hotels, etc. Simply kicked out. Feel worse for the crew, who thought they had 3 more weeks of pay. Not handled by the company in any decent way.