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

[brian1]

15 hours ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

I feel sorry for the Crew and Staff. They’ve been stranded in Deggendorf for well over a week now with, I would imagine,  no chance of getting off until today. There’s only so much deep cleaning they could do and only so many games of Connect 4 and Deck Quoits you can play?

 

Skyla and Maya now seem to be on Magical Mystery Tours of small ports in Hungary and Austria. 
 

It didn’t feel like it at the time but looking back now I think the Isla 140 were actually quite lucky?

I heard from the horses mouth yesterday that Jean the CD has been busy.She has personally been handling and processing all the refunds.

[dlf aust]

From what the authorities' website is saying all of Austria is good to go now and @dlf aust has just confirmed that traffic is moving to and from Engelhartszell. 

 

On Emerald Sky (swapping back to Emerald Star at Melk today to correct itineraries). Completed the full trip from Engelhartszell to Melk last night (12 hours steaming). The Viking boat with us was Viking Modi.

 

** quite a few of the long-ships moored up in Linz. Perhaps at present only the "regular" sized boats (100-200 pax, 2 & 3 deckers) are able to run to Engelhartszell (ie. Emerald Star and Emerald Sky, Viking Modi/Alta, Tauck boats like Espirit etc).

 

** commercial traffic is limited upstream of Linz and still lot of industrial barges moored up.

Edited June 12 by dlf aust

[notamermaid]

Pfelling and Passau are now below the threshold. That leaves Hofkirchen to drop its level and it looks sooo slow.

 

3 hours ago, dlf aust said:

** commercial traffic is limited upstream of Linz and still lot of industrial barges moored up.

I read that there is a depth limitation at a lock approach due to an incident and the high water is still causing problems with the navigation channel. Not sure if it is connected to the limitation you mention. There is certainly a lot not right yet with the Danube. And a lot of water is still coming from Germany. But the situation has eased. Another 24 hours and we will see a further good improvement.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Yorkieboy1972]

4 hours ago, brian1 said:

I heard from the horses mouth yesterday that Jean the CD has been busy.She has personally been handling and processing all the refunds.

Why can’t I get the name Jack Torrance out of my head?

 

I do hope that she’s done them right and that we won’t face a clawback.

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid we must all raise a glass to you for your tour de force during this water-logging experience, thank you for explaining and putting it all in straightforward language.

[Lazirus65]

Received an email today from Viking regarding our 19th June sailing from Amsterdam to Bucharest. They are swapping boats we will now be on the Viking Lif instead of the Viking Lofn.

[LabMom57]

10 hours ago, CJSANDFS said:

Likewise, but in my case I have changed the date and now go late October with fingers all crossed. Absolutely no communication from Avalon waterways. Agree with how very helpful this site is.

 

Ditto. We canceled our Avalon cruise set to leave Vilshofen on June 12th. The information provided here has been invaluable to our peace of mind. Thank you to @notamermaid and everyone who contributed on this thread!

[steamboats]

Here's our Isar river. You can compare to last weeks photo. It's still on the higher side but gone down significantly. You can see the peak of the island again.

 

steamboats 

[Mike R 2018]

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Notamermaid we must all raise a glass to you for your tour de force during this water-logging experience, thank you for explaining and putting it all in straightforward language.

We did so in 2019 on the Lofn and shall do the same next month on the Var.  She is an invaluable resource to those of us cruising European rivers!  OK, we may raise more than just one glass in her honor :-).

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

You can see the peak of the island again.

The water looks a little less brown as well, less current I guess. Which island is that? I am not so familiar with the topography, it has been a long time since I was there. Do you have boats or floats on the river around there? That would be a nice pre-cruise or post-cruise time on the water.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Lazirus65 said:

Received an email today from Viking regarding our 19th June sailing from Amsterdam to Bucharest. They are swapping boats we will now be on the Viking Lif instead of the Viking Lofn.

Ah, yes the ships are at the "wrong ends" as per their original itineraries. Long journey through Europe for you, How many countries is that, eight?

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

@Canal archive Thank you. It has been quite an "interesting" time. We have had many great contributions from on land and on river from people. I especially appreciate the time passengers take out of their valuable time sailing - if they have been able to - and enjoying the sights to give us an update. It has also helped me to learn. Some new websites suggested by others and my own research has been very helpful to understand the river in Austria better.

 

I do admit that my brain is getting a little tired. Looking forward to Hofkirchen gauge dropping and allowing sailing. Latest update from the authorities says they expect the long awaited level for during the night.

 

notamermaid

 

[Lovely1234]

Just now, Lovely1234 said:

11 hours ago, CJSANDFS said:

Likewise, but in my case I have changed the date and now go late October with fingers all crossed. Absolutely no communication from Avalon waterways. Agree with how very helpful this site is.

Good for you.  Were you able to rebook without penalty?  scenic wont allow rebooking or future credit, so we lose our money.  insurance says they wont cover.

[Lovely1234]

Just now, Lovely1234 said:

1 hour ago, LabMom57 said:

 

Ditto. We canceled our Avalon cruise set to leave Vilshofen on June 12th. The information provided here has been invaluable to our peace of mind. Thank you to @notamermaid and everyone who contributed on this thread!

Were you able to rebook or receive a credit for future travel?  Vacation to a flood ravaged area in the process of cleanup is not my idea of a relaxing experience.  The supply chain has been interrupted, and structural stability along the river is being evaluated by engineers according to news reports.  Just because the boats are allowed to sail, doesnt mean they should be at this time.  Our hope for rebooking option on Scenic looks highly unlikely given the "welcome aboard" email I received today.

[steamboats]

51 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

The water looks a little less brown as well, less current I guess. Which island is that? I am not so familiar with the topography, it has been a long time since I was there. Do you have boats or floats on the river around there? That would be a nice pre-cruise or post-cruise time on the water.

 

The island is called Schwindinsel. The part above the bridge is better known, the Praterinsel.

 

No, there are no boats on the Isar river. It's not navigable. Upriver in the region of Bad Tölz the wooden rafts start downriver to the South of Munich. There's an area called Floßlände where the rafts stop and are dismantled.

 

steamboats 

[CJSANDFS]

20 minutes ago, Lovely1234 said:

Good for you.  Were you able to rebook without penalty?  scenic wont allow rebooking or future credit, so we lose our money.  insurance says they wont cover.

Avalon offered insurance for A$95 to be able to cancel for any reason. 30 days out and you got a refund and cancelling up to 24 hours before sailing you could rebook. October is cheaper than June so I have a better cabin (they say). My panic was my airfare which had to be cancelled 48 hours before flying to get a refund minus A$400 and  as I had booked extra nights in Prague I couldn't wait until the last minute to cancel the cruise. I'm sure the Germans have everything well organised but after floods here, NSW, you wouldn't want to go anywhere near the flooded towns

 Very messy.

[c-leg5]

On 6/11/2024 at 1:20 PM, Lovely1234 said:

We decided to forego trip regardless of water levels.  Concerns include unannounced makeshift changes by cruise company resulting in disappointment and distress, health and safety (mosquitoes, bacteria/mold, risk of more flooding) anxiety.  This site has been most helpful!  Thank you.  

Until your cruise is officially cancelled or rearranged you will not be compensated by the cruise line or the insurance company unless you purchased a cancel for any reason policy since it is still scheduled.
 

While the cruise is still officially scheduled there is no reason for compensation. 
 

whilst you may feel better (more settled) cancelling in advance I don’t see any point in canceling since you will miss out on any compensation that may/may not be offered. You still have a week to go. Even if you plan to go somewhere else I would have left it. 

[Lazirus65]

1 hour ago, notamermaid said:

Ah, yes the ships are at the "wrong ends" as per their original itineraries. Long journey through Europe for you, How many countries is that, eight?

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you and yes it will be eight countries over 23 days 

[Lovely1234]

24 minutes ago, CJSANDFS said:

Avalon offered insurance for A$95 to be able to cancel for any reason. 30 days out and you got a refund and cancelling up to 24 hours before sailing you could rebook. October is cheaper than June so I have a better cabin (they say). My panic was my airfare which had to be cancelled 48 hours before flying to get a refund minus A$400 and  as I had booked extra nights in Prague I couldn't wait until the last minute to cancel the cruise. I'm sure the Germans have everything well organised but after floods here, NSW, you wouldn't want to go anywhere near the flooded towns

 Very messy.

Next time, Avalon!!  if we had booked them we would be happy

[durberville]

3 hours ago, Lazirus65 said:

Received an email today from Viking regarding our 19th June sailing from Amsterdam to Bucharest. They are swapping boats we will now be on the Viking Lif instead of the Viking Lofn.

I’m expecting the same with our June 24th Viking sailing from Trier to Basel. Our boat and its sister seem to be moving in opposite directions from what I think were their original schedules. Understandable given the recent logistical issues and doesn’t really matter to us as the boats are identical. 

Edited June 12 by durberville
Typos!

[Lovely1234]

totally agree. we did not cancel with scenic.  requested rebook in sept when flooding cleanup has hopefully progressed.  sounds from other posts like we should have gone with avalon, as their insurance was better than what we were offered

[LabMom57]

45 minutes ago, Lovely1234 said:

Were you able to rebook or receive a credit for future travel?  Vacation to a flood ravaged area in the process of cleanup is not my idea of a relaxing experience.  The supply chain has been interrupted, and structural stability along the river is being evaluated by engineers according to news reports.  Just because the boats are allowed to sail, doesnt mean they should be at this time.  Our hope for rebooking option on Scenic looks highly unlikely given the "welcome aboard" email I received today.

 

@Lovely1234 We were booked on Avalon and purchased the insurance they offered. It was good insurance that allowed us to cancel for any reason, which we did. We received 20% of the fare back directly from Avalon per their contract. The rest was submitted to the insurance company. They will send us a travel certificate for the rest of the amount (at least that's our understanding).

Edited June 12 by LabMom57

[notamermaid]

33 minutes ago, Lovely1234 said:

The supply chain has been interrupted, and structural stability along the river is being evaluated by engineers according to news reports.

There is of course that aspect. News reports sometimes give a let us say narrow perspective but it is correct that there has been structural damage and evaluation in a few places. But apart from a few streets in a few places all evacuated people are back or going back soon to their homes. Clearing up happens as soon as the water recedes so all areas in town centres and important infrastructure will be okay to fine in a few days time. Engineering works are being carried out and will be in the next weeks. That is true.

 

Let us put Regensburg in perspective. This is the Wurstküchl flooded, youtube says the video was taken/uploaded six days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZA2z27Tlz4

 

On 6 June the level at Regensburg was on flood level 4. It is on flood level, err, nothing now:

 

Note that this is the gauge, not the river where you sail, i.e. this is just to put into perspective what you may read in news outlets or watch in short dramatic videos.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[c-leg5]

6 minutes ago, Lovely1234 said:

totally agree. we did not cancel with scenic.  requested rebook in sept when flooding cleanup has hopefully progressed.  sounds from other posts like we should have gone with avalon, as their insurance was better than what we were offered

Anyone can purchase cancel for any reason at a price, be it through the cruise line or independently.

[notamermaid]

The TUI Isla has moved and is in, errhmmm, Deggenau, next to Deggendorf. She has moved from the excursion boat landing stage to the harbour:

 

Eagerly awaiting the go-ahead for river traffic? Or logistics for the next itinerary?

 

Hofkirchen at 488cm, 8cm to go.

 

notamermaid