The Elbe river 2024 - not just water levels

[Microman123]

On 4/15/2024 at 4:21 AM, notamermaid said:

Seeing that we have had dry days here, this is a very valid question. I am being to see a slight problem that hopefully will not turn into a real problem. The level at Dresden shows a fast drop (20cm) which suggests that the authorities in the Czech Republic may be retaining water now. No way for me to find out, but the dry water has drained water out of the Elbe basin. The level is now 107cm. The weather has changed and rain is coming into Europe. A band of moderate to heavy rain is sweeping over southern Germany East-North East so today getting into the Czech Republic. Water for the Vltava and the Elbe and a good sign.

 

notamermaid

 

Is there a May update, please?

[notamermaid]

45 minutes ago, Microman123 said:

Is there a May update, please?

Coming up, thank you for the reminder.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

It is May, time to have a look at how the river did in April. This is Dresden gauge:

 

The month started on a good level, but went down gradually till we saw a level in the middle of the month that is a bit on the low side but at Dresden still okay while further upstream the situation was already not so favourable. Then rain set in and gave the river a boost. AnhalterER1960 reported about this on 19 April. Since then the level has gone down again and we again see the 110cm at the end of the month. That is not a good sign for May. The gauge is now at 98cm. Let us hope the rain that has been sweeping over Europe will be enough for the Czech authorities to let more water through. It has been raining in Ústí nad Labem today.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

On 5/3/2024 at 7:53 PM, notamermaid said:

That is not a good sign for May.

 

Indeed, I do not wish our Czech neighbours any bad. But it urgently needs one or two days of heavy rain there.

CroisiEurope are already in trouble and cannot sail the "open" Elbe; they sail only on the canal between Berlin and Magdeburg and in between the locks in the Czech Republic. In between there is a lot of bussing.

Viking are still sailing on schedule, no signs of trouble yet. But without rain this may not last too long.

[curmudgeon98]

My impression (from talking to the crew) is that the CroisiEurope boats are actually shallower draft than the Viking boats, but that at this time of year (through summer) they shift to keeping one boat for shorter cruises in the upper rivers in Czeckia, and use the other for cruises closer to the Baltic such as Hamburg->Berlin.

[notamermaid]

CroisiEurope have adapted their itineraries so that river cruises are not so reliant on the levels being good between Bad Schandau and Magdeburg. There do not seem to be any river cruises in that section in summer, at least not in the German catalogue. Which would be in line with what the crew have stated.

 

The river has risen. Dresden gauge is now at 119cm.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[AnhaltER1960]

On 5/7/2024 at 1:20 AM, curmudgeon98 said:

My impression (from talking to the crew) is that the CroisiEurope boats are actually shallower draft than the Viking boats, but that at this time of year (through summer) they shift to keeping one boat for shorter cruises in the upper rivers in Czeckia, and use the other for cruises closer to the Baltic such as Hamburg->Berlin.

The ships ElbePrincesse and ElbePrincesse 2 of Croisi Europe and Viking Astrild/Beyla do have similar draft, give and take an inch. The difference is the itinerary. While CroisiEurope sail all the way from Berlin into Prague, Viking sail only from Wittenberg to Decin and do Berlin-Wittenberg and Decin-Prague by bus. So the Croisi schedule is more attractive, but also riskier in low water situations, like now. Croisi-s ships are stuck in the canal near Magdeburg and the lock-controlled part of the Elbe respectively and they have to do a lot of bussing in between.
Their summer schedule indeed avoids sailing the Elbe in summer and go on some canals in northern Germany instead, but we are by no standards in summer already.

[Cg52]

We are currently on the Astrilde on the Elbe and all is wonderful with the water levels. And the weather is amazing.

[notamermaid]

Thank you for saying hello from your cruise.

25 minutes ago, Cg52 said:

And the weather is amazing.

It is great in so many places, we are having splendid spring weather on the Rhine, too.

 

For those keeping record: Dresden gauge is at 126cm.

 

Have a splendid time in the East of my country.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

Of the popular rivers in Europe the Elbe is our "Sorgenkind" right now, the child we need to worry about. So let us have a look. Dresden gauge is down to 98cm and the next 48 hours do not indicate a noticeable improvement.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

Now while parts of Germany in the west have too much water, flood at the Saar, the Elbe is getting critically low. Dresden reading is down to 81 cm, which is deep in the trouble zone. However, the Viking Beyla today left Wittenberg, as scheduled, to her upriver cruise. Hopefully some of the rain which inundated parts of southern and western Germany will make it into the Bohemian Basin, which would give relief to the Elbe. If not, it will not be far ahead, that also Viking will have to switch on the bus mode.

[Microman123]

5 hours ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

Now while parts of Germany in the west have too much water, flood at the Saar, the Elbe is getting critically low. Dresden reading is down to 81 cm, which is deep in the trouble zone. However, the Viking Beyla today left Wittenberg, as scheduled, to her upriver cruise. Hopefully some of the rain which inundated parts of southern and western Germany will make it into the Bohemian Basin, which would give relief to the Elbe. If not, it will not be far ahead, that also Viking will have to switch on the bus mode.

It seems the Viking Astrild is docked in Dresden a day earlier than its itinerary had indicated (according to Cruisemapper). I couldn't determine whether it actually made it all the way to Decin for a cruise that was supposed to start yesterday, with Elbe sailing to Bad Shandau today and Dresden tomorrow. Does this mean that Viking has started using the boat as a stationary hotel for bus trips already?

[Cg52]

13 minutes ago, Microman123 said:

It seems the Viking Astrild is docked in Dresden a day earlier than its itinerary had indicated (according to Cruisemapper). I couldn't determine whether it actually made it all the way to Decin for a cruise that was supposed to start yesterday, with Elbe sailing to Bad Shandau today and Dresden tomorrow. Does this mean that Viking has started using the boat as a stationary hotel for bus trips already?

We were on last week and all was fine.

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

Hopefully some of the rain which inundated parts of southern and western Germany will make it into the Bohemian Basin, which would give relief to the Elbe.

The "proper" rain is indeed strangely absent from the East and the Czech Republic but it is cloudy with some rain now. I doubt it will be enough for long term relief. The authorities' graph of the gauge at Decin shows the line close to official drought.

 

Dresden gauge is at 94cm, the Czechs may have let a little water through. A rise to 100cm is expected during the night.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

19 hours ago, Microman123 said:

It seems the Viking Astrild is docked in Dresden a day earlier than its itinerary had indicated (according to Cruisemapper). I couldn't determine whether it actually made it all the way to Decin for a cruise that was supposed to start yesterday, with Elbe sailing to Bad Shandau today and Dresden tomorrow. Does this mean that Viking has started using the boat as a stationary hotel for bus trips already?

Not yet. Boatel mode means one ship berthed in Dresden, another one in Wittenberg. But since the Beyla is underway upriver, the Astrild will also move eventually downriver to Wittenberg (two ships in Dresden would not make sense). They might have skipped the Decin to Dresden part though - I dont have any information on that.

 

@Cg52 Indeed, last week is was all fine. But last week was last week.....

[notamermaid]

So much can change within a week and indeed on the Danube it is possible to get from a relatively low level to flooding in three days. We have just seen the wave at the Saar and Moselle rivers that has much disrupted shipping of all types. We have a weather pattern that brings little rain to the Elbe - it is again indicated to happen like that tomorrow into Wednesday - so let us have a look. We are in the realm of levels on the Elbe that means the German river sections rely on the Czechs to release enough water to keep shipping going at ease. This is what has happened in the last 31 days:

 

Things are looking a bit better at 105cm so I guess ships are moving okay. If the Elbe basin does get little rain again I cannot see this improving.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

[AnhaltER1960]

On 4/21/2024 at 6:48 PM, deec said:

Has anyone kept track from the last couple of years of how often the Viking ships can not complete the itinerary?

Apparently not, as you would have gotten an answer by now. And I am not sure, if Viking Basel will give you an answer, even, if you ask.... However, I felt challenged by that question. But it needed some time and some deep diving into my digital memory including the Elbe threads of past years. Still I am not able to give a cruise-sharp, even week-sharp answer. But a rough idea:

 

2016 was the year, when Viking have introduced their Elbe-"Longships" Astrild and Beyla, which still sail the Elbe now. Specifically designed for that river an a draft of around 85cm, so much shallower than the ships they had on the Elbe before, the Viking Schumann and Viking Fontane. And, what happened ? While the Beyla and the Astrild could sail all year, the Fontane and Schumann saw their cruises in September/October cancelled due to low water. Everything done right ?

 

In 2017 Viking withdrew the Fontane and Schumann and changed the itinerary. No more sailing from Magdeburg to Melnik, but only sailing from Wittenberg to Decin, cutting some 50/70 miles on either end.  So (roughly) the same amount of cruises offered with fewer ships. 2017 also saw big celebrations in Germany - 500 years of the reformation. And the Elbe cooperated smoothly, no disruptions.

 

(continued in part II)

[AnhaltER1960]

On 4/21/2024 at 6:48 PM, deec said:

Has anyone kept track from the last couple of years of how often the Viking ships can not complete the itinerary?

(part II)

 

2018 turned out to become a dismal year - disruptions from June with cruises converted into bus tours. Later all sailings from August until the end of the season in November had been completely cancelled, all due to low water.

 

2019 started fine, but bad news started in Mid-June and lasted until beginning of October. In between bus tours due to low water.

 

2020 did not see any sailing at all, but that was not the river's fault... Water levels would have allowed sailing all year. 

 

For 2021 Viking have proactively changed their plans and did not offer sailings from July to September, but a boatel+bus trip instead during those months. All those plans had been scapped by a small virus (maybe also by reluctant customers). Viking finally started operations in October and sailed until Xmas. Again, the water levels would have allowed sailings for most of the year, maybe even throughout the year.

 

2022 saw a lot of water and a lot of sailings with the exception of roundabout two weeks in June. There werent any cruises scheduled between mid-July until mid-September.

 

Also in 2023 Viking had planned to suspend sailings between mid-July and mid-September. This was not enough - low water from mid-June until end of September forced Viking into bus mode a couple of weeks before and after the planned break.

Edited Tuesday at 08:02 AM by AnhaltER1960

[deec]

thank you so very much for your research!!!  We really would like to do this itinerary BUT are reluctant to pay Viking prices for a bus tour.  Your research has confirmed that perhaps the Elbe is not the way to experience this beautiful part of Germany.

[AnhaltER1960]

7 hours ago, deec said:

thank you so very much for your research!!!  We really would like to do this itinerary BUT are reluctant to pay Viking prices for a bus tour.  Your research has confirmed that perhaps the Elbe is not the way to experience this beautiful part of Germany.

Sail in May and go away 🙂

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, deec said:

thank you so very much for your research!!!  We really would like to do this itinerary BUT are reluctant to pay Viking prices for a bus tour.  Your research has confirmed that perhaps the Elbe is not the way to experience this beautiful part of Germany.

You could always jump ship and company and sail with CroisiEurope or Viva Cruises. But even with those companies it is not a guarantee, just a lower price (I think) and a different experience, i.e. more European. The Elbe is a trickier river with more uncertainty than others and Viking as well as the other companies have adapted to that. Still, as one can see from AnhalterER1960's excellent research, a river cruise on the free-flowing Elbe is not guaranteed to run even with the specially designed ships and the summer gaps. May is overall a good month though.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

Just an update: It has rained in Bohemia and there is some wave coming down the Elbe. Will be seen tomorrow in Dresden with the gauge rising by a foot or two. So the next cruises will be safe to sail.

[notamermaid]

Thank you, you beat me to it.

 

Much of the water is as you say coming from Bohemia; I read that the Berounka river is high (Bohemian Forest) so that water will be in Prague soon and feed the Vltava and Elbe nicely.

 

I belatedly read on schiffe-und-kreuzfahrten.de that the cruise on the Elbe of the Katharina von Bora (nicko cruises) from 20th to 27th April was cancelled due to low water. The ship is considerably smaller than the two Viking ships but apparently is stated as having the bigger draft.

 

notamermaid