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

[notamermaid]

13 minutes ago, mountaineer82 said:

I suppose that the accident was late enough at night that few passengers were out of their cabins when it happened, and since it was the last night of the cruise, there wasn't much time for talking about it before they disembarked. 

That is a good point. From what I understand it was the equivalent of "parking the car badly in a narrow parking bay", so all in all not something that would make headlines.

 

notamermaid

 

[brosen1]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

I am not familiar with the countries beyond Austria. Generally speaking, the current and the conditions change in flooding so this affects all ships and for safety, also for protecting the embankments as I have read, a ban on traffic in very high water makes sense.

 

We're leaving Friday for the Bucharest - Budapest cruise.  Does anyone know if there's any problems with water levels in Romania to Hungary?  Thanks

[notamermaid]

16 hours ago, reeves35 said:

I know it'd be here somewhere but can you remind me what the typical allowable range is between too high and too low?

I promised to get back to you with the levels. In flooding there is a ban on river traffic when the Pfelling  gauge is at 620cm, at Passau gauge it is the level of 780cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The level at Passau has risen quite a bit again, the gauge now reads 673cm. The peak is expected for late this afternoon at over 700cm but most likely below 725cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[CastleCritic]

On 5/16/2023 at 9:24 AM, brosen1 said:

 

We're leaving Friday for the Bucharest - Budapest cruise.  Does anyone know if there's any problems with water levels in Romania to Hungary?  Thanks

For what little its worth I can find nothing on anything either way. But the AMABella (with Viking Kadlin behind and Excellence Empress ahead of them) is currently heading back to Budapest from Bulgaria.  I would suspect however that if the issue is upstream that the extra water would arrive in Budapest later in the week.

 

Keep in mind there are *2* locks on the Danube on that stretch and they are between Serbia and Romania (Iron Gates I and II) that free flowing stretch could be both a blessing and curse here.

Edited May 17, 2023 by CastleCritic

[notamermaid]

The river peaked at Passau gauge at 706cm. Level now is 642cm. The level will go down now most likely slowly as there is still quite a bit of water coming from the tributaries. The Isar for example is on flood mark I close to its mouth.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The river has returned to good levels all round (in Germany). The weather has been warm, really warm, this has led to weather warnings for thunderstorms for this afternoon in Passau and many districts Southwest of the Danube, closer to the mountains, i.e. the lower Alpine regions. Most of that water will eventually get to the Danube. It is not yet clear in the forecast if this will lead to high water levels. For today and tomorrow it does not look substantial. Passau gauge reads 566cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[MA_Cruiser]

Glad I stumbled upon this thread.  Two weeks until our first river cruise.. on AmaSonata.

[brosen1]

Right now we're on the Viking Ullur in Bulgaria. Water levels are excellent as is the weather. 

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, brosen1 said:

Right now we're on the Viking Ullur in Bulgaria. Water levels are excellent as is the weather. 

Thank you. Good to read. I am intrigued, why have you got a German saying on a sign in your avatar, if I may ask?

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Danube at Passau showed a tiny wave yesterday, after all the rain. The level there is now 572cm. No rain coming and the weather will be sunny and warm over Whitsuntide.  Upstream at Pfelling will most likely stay at good levels over 400cm, giving no rise for concerns that the level could drop too fast. Computer modelling for next week looks pleasant (this is not available for Pfelling or Passau but available for Kelheim).

 

Whit Monday is a public holiday in Austria, Germany and Hungary. You can check other countries here: https://www.feiertagskalender.ch/feiertag.php?geo=0&jahr=2023&klasse=5&ft_id=35&hl=en

 

notamermaid

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by notamermaid
added link

[brosen1]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

am intrigued, why have you got a German saying on a sign in your avatar, if I may ask?

 

My name is Rosen. We were on the Viking Paris to Zurich cruise last year when I saw the sign for a festival in Zurich that said Ohne Dornen keine Rosen. Without thorns there are no roses. So appropriate!

[brosen1]

Or to rephrase, Rosens are thorny!

[Canal archive]

A roses rarest essence lives in its thorns. French saying about roses and their thorns.

 

Enjoy your cruise. b Rosen 1

Edited May 27, 2023 by Canal archive

[Daisi]

Thanks for the link @notamermaid, I had one bookmarked, but it didn't work anymore. Glad to see that there are no holidays on our cruise, except for the day we leave, which won't matter. Phew! 🙂

 

[notamermaid]

Linz in Austria has a webcam overlooking the river which shows one docking location for river cruise ships very well: https://www.linztourismus.at/freizeit/reise-planen/service/webcam/

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Things are looking rather splendid along the Bavarian Danube. Pfelling gauge is at 394cm. A steady flow of water is to come from the Upper Danube in the next few days. The temperatures are high, it is very warm for several days. How the river levels will develop towards the end of the week is not clear yet, the warm temperatures may lead to short thunderstorms. For now it looks to be a perfect time to be on the river!

 

notamermaid

 

[tamadig2001]

I stumbled on this thread a couple of days ago and I'm so glad I did. This is truly a wealth of information not only on water levels of the Danube but also on so many aspects of river cruising. I have learned a lot thanks to everyone's input, particularly notamermaid with her regular updates. My husband and I and two other couples will be cruising the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest on the Avalon Passion from September 16 to 26. This will be our fifth river cruise, two of which were on the Rhine and the Danube in the fall and we never had issues with water levels. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that our coming cruise will not be adversely impacted, and I'll be following this thread closely over the next few months. Once again, thank you everyone and keep the info coming!

 

Monica

[BGW1]

After a failed attempt to cruise from Passau to the black sea last year (low water levels) we are trying again this year.

We will be on the Arosa Flora at the end of June so a little earlier than last year and hopefully the water levels will be kinder 🙂

This thread looks like a great resource to keep tabs on the situation.

Brian.

[Canal archive]

Fingers crossed enjoy your cruise.

[brosen1]

18 hours ago, tamadig2001 said:

I stumbled on this thread a couple of days ago and I'm so glad I did. This is truly a wealth of information not only on water levels of the Danube but also on so many aspects of river cruising. I have learned a lot thanks to everyone's input, particularly notamermaid with her regular updates. My husband and I and two other couples will be cruising the Danube from Budapest to Bucharest on the Avalon Passion from September 16 to 26. This will be our fifth river cruise, two of which were on the Rhine and the Danube in the fall and we never had issues with water levels. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that our coming cruise will not be adversely impacted, and I'll be following this thread closely over the next few months. Once again, thank you everyone and keep the info coming!

 

Monica

We just arrived in Budapest from Bucharest. The weather was great, although it often rained when we got back to the ship. Water levels were high, up to the river banks, but never a problem. Hope you have a great trip. 

[notamermaid]

18 hours ago, tamadig2001 said:

Once again, thank you everyone and keep the info coming!

We will try our best, river levels summary for May coming soon. brosen1 has already been very helpful in replying to you from beyond Budapest, which I am completely unfamiliar with.

 

Perhaps I can add to this with a graph:

The Danube at Mohács was brought close to alert level, other stations' graphs further downstream look similar or reaching the first alert level.

 

September will of course be a month where levels are more likely to be low instead of high. But fingers crossed you will find the river to be perfectly around the mean.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, BGW1 said:

We will be on the Arosa Flora at the end of June so a little earlier than last year and hopefully the water levels will be kinder 🙂

Welcome to Cruisecritic. A-Rosa is a more unusual company for English-speaking folks. That is a Passau return trip, isn't it? Bi-lingual I reckon, too.

 

End of June sounds a good time. By the way, if you feel like reading a bit more on river cruising in general (perhaps you already are a seasoned cruiser though) have a look at our host jazzbeau's pinned threads at the top.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[BGW1]

11 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Welcome to Cruisecritic. A-Rosa is a more unusual company for English-speaking folks. That is a Passau return trip, isn't it? Bi-lingual I reckon, too.

 

End of June sounds a good time. By the way, if you feel like reading a bit more on river cruising in general (perhaps you already are a seasoned cruiser though) have a look at our host jazzbeau's pinned threads at the top.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks notamermaid,

Yes, Arosa are a little off beat for english speaking tourists but the Flora is badged as an "international" vessel and a lot of the crew have some english, however, my partner is German so it makes life a little easier 🙂 and I have also been studying German for the last year.

It is a return trip and although we only got as far as hungary last year the company could not have done more to make our time aboard a fantastic experience.

They were also more than generous with their compensation package given that they still completed their contract for the cruise.

We actually own a motor cruiser which we keep over here on the river shannon, but we wanted to do something special last year.

Super exited to be doing it again this year again.

Brian

[notamermaid]

10 hours ago, BGW1 said:

It is a return trip and although we only got as far as hungary last year the company could not have done more to make our time aboard a fantastic experience.

So you can practice your German and get help if needed. Great. So you did sail but only got to Hungary. Glad to read it was a great experience on board.

10 hours ago, BGW1 said:

They were also more than generous with their compensation package given that they still completed their contract for the cruise.

Our consumer rights laws are pretty goo with this. It may well be that A-Rosa needed to do a refund (I am not familiar with details of travel laws/rights), but they may of course gone beyond that to make you a happy return customer.

 

Shannon and self-drive boats - legendary almost, something Germans are eager to do and I certainly would like to see the Shannon. Have not made it to Ireland so far, just waved to the island from the Isle of Anglesey.

 

notamermaid