Danube water levels 2024 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[RDVIK2016]

6 hours ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

It wasn’t ribs, they got a barge and made 2 trips with passengers and 1 with passengers and luggage. It really was a massive undertaking using many people who should have been and probably wanted to be helping with the job of saving their town.

Hello, @Yorkieboy1972 and thank you for the commentary and photos from your adventure. Where did you disembark from the barge?

[RDVIK2016]

9 hours ago, steamboats said:

 

 

As @notamermaid said we do have limited train service in Munich. The tracks to Nuremberg are sort of flooded and trains are currently rerouted via Regensburg. The tracks to Stuttgart are blocked as well as to Switzerland. Even the Autobahn to Nuremberg is closed for 50 km due to flooding.

 

steamboats 

Well, that's a couple more of bullets my wife and I dodged. We drove the A9 from Nuremberg to Munich on May 16 so we beat that flooding near Ingolstadt. A couple of weeks earlier we had taken the train from Prague as far as Cham in Germany, the second stop after the border from Czechia. The attached photo shows a big crowd of young folks who were coming home from a Metalfest rock concert in Pilsen this past weekend who had to get off the train in Furth im Wald, the first stop in Germany, and wait for busses to get them around the flooded tracks.

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, DocHifi said:

Instead, because of what we have learned on our own, we now know that when we arrive at Munich we will be put up in a hotel overnight and will learn where we will be going tomorrow to meet up with the Jarl.

So your brother knows where the ship will be because he was able to talk to a Viking guide on the ground in Germany, but they could not inform you in the US where the ship will be? I do wonder why the communication does not go from ground personnel to office personnel in the US. Besides that, you are already missing part of your cruise by now, i.e. you know you will, and if you had been informed that this massive interruption was going to happen you may have preferred  - if it was not for meeting your brother - not to fly to Europe. That is not good communication.

 

I feel sorry for those oblivious to this because they are just not informed by the company.

 

People tend to say here on CC that the crew and staff on Viking ships are great so I am sure they will make up for this. Hope all goes well.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

11 minutes ago, RDVIK2016 said:

Well, that's a couple more of bullets my wife and I dodged.

I went on my river cruise on the Danube in April 2013. Then my ship the Belvedere had an accident in May. Then in June the flooding hit and no ships sailed.

 

Exactly eleven years later the river looks more or less as it did then. And everyone was talking of a hundred year flood then.

 

You saw lovely places in May, nice to read about this. I would like to see the Bavarian Forest again. I was there in 2012.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[RDVIK2016]

19 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

 

You saw lovely places in May, nice to read about this. I would like to see the Bavarian Forest again. I was there in 2012.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

In my post #208 on this forum I shared a couple of photos of a man-made lake that serves as a flood control project for the Chamb, a tributary of the Regen, and mentioned that part of the project was to provide an additional flood plain area contain potential floodwaters. It did its job this time. There was some limited flooding - as of the railroad tracks between Furth im Wald and Cham, but that was because of other smaller streams that empty in to the Chamb downstream of the dam.  The linked article (sorry for the limited text due to a paywall) describes the situation and provides a photo of the planned floodwater storage area.   https://www.idowa.de/regionen/cham/furth-im-wald/further-stausee-erreicht-rekordpegel-3774074.html

Edited June 3 by RDVIK2016
Added screenshot from IDOWA.de

[notamermaid]

The rescue operation for the TUI Isla: https://www.idowa.de/regionen/deggendorf/deggendorf/passagierschiff-auf-der-donau-bei-deggendorf-evakuiert-3773450.html

 

There is a severe weather warning for an area near the Alps, that is more water for the Danube. It will come via the Inn mostly. The Inn is still high but has been falling a bit. Hopefully the rivers in that region will not rise much again as the Inn joins the Danube at Passau.

 

Passau gauge at 906cm and rising:

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

@DocHifi that's exactly the type of communication and customer service Viking is known for. That's why I was surprised you got that e-mail.

 

@Yorkieboy1972 you have experienced the worst a river cruise can be. Don't give up on it. It can be much better. But those are the risks you can have on a river cruise. I had many cruises rerouted, shortened or got stuck in some weird place. Anyway I will still go on a river cruise. Nobody can change the weather. My biggest complaint is that - despite Social Media and the internet - the river cruise companies still haven't learned to communicate with their customers - neither those onboard nor those waiting to go on their vacation. O.k. some have... 

 

Even when a river cruise company can't change the weather the passengers feel much better when then captain explains the situation and options and why he decided to do so.

 

steamboats 

 

[steamboats]

@DocHifi I realized that all Viking ships were rapidly going downriver from their high water mooring places into the direction of Vienna. Austria closed the Danube river for all kind of traffic from Linz upriver to the German border. So they tried to get their ships out as soon as possible.

 

BTW Passau is at 9.59 m and is supposed to crest today at about 10 m. The record of 2013 was 12.89 m. 2002 it was 10.81 m. Now the square in front of the city hall is flooded.

 

steamboats

[brian1]

Messing about on the river.

[DocHifi]

I wish to ammend my previous comments regarding Viking. Now I want to express outrage at this company and their lack of communication. Last evening we finally arrived in Munich around 10:30pm. A Viking rep was waiting for us at the airport. She had waited at the airport for 5 hours yesterday without being told by Viking that we were delayed and not arriving that day. She only discovered this after seeing all passengers in the luggage area retrieve their luggage and exit the airport. When no passengers were left and she had seen no suitcases with a Viking tag at the carousel, she surmised that we had not arrived. Again, no communication from Viking to their own rep that she did not need to waste her time waiting at the airport for passengers that were not going to arrive that day! The next day she insitgated a phone call to Viking and learned that we were arriving that day but was given no indication of what time, so when we did finally arrive she had been waiting at the airport for four hours.

I find it outrageous that Viking would not only fail to communicate with us, but would also leave their own rep in the lurch. 

We are now being bussed 5.5 hours from Munich to Vienna to finally meet up with our longboat, the Jarl. So we have missed the first two days of our itinerary and the first three locations on our itinerary with no idea what is in store for the remainder.

Blue skies and a good weather forecast for the next 5 days are a welcome boost for our weary spirits.

Edited June 4 by DocHifi

[Canal archive]

DocHiFi - thank you, what an horrific experience - I really suspect we won’t see that on the world wide Viking advertising. I sincerely hope you get some happiness from your holiday Good luck!

[Yorkieboy1972]

One of the passengers on the TUI Isla had a drone with him. This is where she was berthed in Deggendorf.

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, steamboats said:

Austria closed the Danube river for all kind of traffic from Linz upriver to the German border.

I was wondering if this may happen. Thank you for confirming.

 

The Rhine is busy with ships and it looks to be a scramble for a few ships to get where they want to be.

 

Incidentally, if you happen to be on the Main you may not get onto the Rhine, because a) a low bridge on the Main may be in your way and/or b) the Rhine is closed to traffic at Mainz. Both Mainz and Bingen are now also at navigational flood mark II.

 

More info coming in the Rhine thread later.

 

The TUI Isla making it to Frankfurt by Saturday looks less and less likely. While the Main is not flooding right now, the river is nevertheless high and headroom under the low bridges reduced. Could be tight. And the Danube is still bringing much water from the upper reaches. Kelheim is still rising.

 

notamermaid

 

[Yorkieboy1972]

28 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

I was wondering if this may happen. Thank you for confirming.

 

The Rhine is busy with ships and it looks to be a scramble for a few ships to get where they want to be.

 

Incidentally, if you happen to be on the Main you may not get onto the Rhine, because a) a low bridge on the Main may be in your way and/or b) the Rhine is closed to traffic at Mainz. Both Mainz and Bingen are now also at navigational flood mark II.

 

More info coming in the Rhine thread later.

 

The TUI Isla making it to Frankfurt by Saturday looks less and less likely. While the Main is not flooding right now, the river is nevertheless high and headroom under the low bridges reduced. Could be tight. And the Danube is still bringing much water from the upper reaches. Kelheim is still rising.

 

notamermaid

 

If there’s any truth to the rumour we heard yesterday then the Isla getting to Frankfurt may face another obstacle. Keep your eye on your local news to see if she actually moves.

 

i wont repeat the rumour as I really don’t know if it’s true but if it is I’m sure it will appear on your local wires and you’ll then fully understand my comment.

[steamboats]

@notamermaid I just read the Rhine river is closed from Mainz upriver (Middle and Upper Rhine river).

 

Passau might have hit the 10 m mark in the meantime. The last level was 9.97 m at 12:45 pm.

 

steamboats

 

 

[notamermaid]

25 minutes ago, steamboats said:

I just read the Rhine river is closed from Mainz upriver (Middle and Upper Rhine river).

Yes, looks to be up to Bingen now. Posted it in the Rhine thread. More water unfortunately coming from Basel again, will keep an eye on that.

 

The Danube now:

 

I see that the Isar is also quite high in Munich still.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited June 4 by notamermaid

[BethanyInKC]

Horrible to read about all of the issues on the Danube! Any updates on the lower Danube? I’m booked on Avalon Impression, Bucharest to Belgrade, sailing 6/14. Just saw that the prior cruise on that ship (Budapest to Bucharest, sailing 6/7) was cancelled yesterday. Sounds like most issues are in Germany & Austria, but also fully understand the “domino effect” that happens throughout the system when such issues occur.

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, DocHifi said:

I find it outrageous that Viking would not only fail to communicate with us, but would also leave their own rep in the lurch. 

I think Viking need some more office staff - or a better app for smartphones or something. Poor performance. What annoys me about this and other such stories is that Viking manages to shift their large fleet around Europe at ease but cannot keep track of the passengers enough, I mean you do not need to send e-mails every two hours but this is here is not good. And Viking should have learnt more from the 2018 drought communications disaster. All in all I would say they have but who knows, some staff may not have been in the company yet six years ago...

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

38 minutes ago, BethanyInKC said:

Any updates on the lower Danube?

As I am not familiar with the river there and there is a language divide I rarely read anything. Our "lady on the ground" in Romania may know more.

 

I know that Budapest level has been rising a lot by now and this will continue:

https://www.danubeportal.com/de/waterLevel/detailsTest/HUBUD00001G001516465

 

I do not know how the authorities will react to this but from what I see Budapest has a HSW line, which is an indicator of an official level for a river traffic ban that authorities can implement.

 

notamermaid

 

[Izengolf]

So far the news is covering the flooding in Germany but I cannot find any mention of future impact here. This link for water levels in Romania actually shows all green and quite a few gauges have been decreasing so I would hope that means the Lower Danube will have the capacity to deal with the incoming wave as it moves towards the Black Sea (but have no experience to know 😊). I will watch for news of trouble and post if it comes up. 

https://www.afdj.ro/en/content/danube-water-level

Edited June 4 by Izengolf
Link added

[notamermaid]

6 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

So far the news is covering the flooding in Germany but I cannot find any mention of future impact here.

Thank you. Our lady in Romania is very fast. 😊

 

notamermaid

 

[DocHifi]

Finally. Don't know if we'll move but at least we are on the boat

Edited June 4 by DocHifi

[steamboats]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

I see that the Isar is also quite high in Munich still.

 

Yes, there was another wave coming through. But the level is dropping already and we´re almost down to Level 1.

 

steamboats

[BethanyInKC]

1 hour ago, Izengolf said:

So far the news is covering the flooding in Germany but I cannot find any mention of future impact here. This link for water levels in Romania actually shows all green and quite a few gauges have been decreasing so I would hope that means the Lower Danube will have the capacity to deal with the incoming wave as it moves towards the Black Sea (but have no experience to know 😊). I will watch for news of trouble and post if it comes up. 

https://www.afdj.ro/en/content/danube-water-level

thanks so much!

[Kenster]

7 hours ago, Canal archive said:

DocHiFi - thank you, what an horrific experience - I really suspect we won’t see that on the world wide Viking advertising. I sincerely hope you get some happiness from your holiday Good luck!

Viking is notorious for poor communication during disruption. 
Disinformation and outright fabrication is a trademark.