River Cruises Disrupted by High Water in Europe

Cruise Critic Article: River Cruises Disrupted by High Water in Europe

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6345

Now we'll see what the different cruise lines learned in 2013. Some treated their passengers very well; others not well at all. Did they learn their lesson?

There are already reports coming in on other threads. . . aye aye aye. . .so sorry for those involved.

Now we'll see what the different cruise lines learned in 2013. Some treated their passengers very well; others not well at all. Did they learn their lesson?

Just what I was thinking--it will be very instructive.

What a bummer for all those folks, though. Too bad.

I hope the water levels don't reach what they were two years ago. when many cruises wound up with bus tours instead of river cruises. There were tons of complaints, particularly against Scenic and Viking.

I am watching carefully! We are sailing on the Antionette on May 24th. Getting a little nervous! Sure hope the waterer recedes and the rain stops.

Hello 4774Papa,

I hope the water levels don't reach what they were two years ago. when many cruises wound up with bus tours instead of river cruises. There were tons of complaints, particularly against Scenic and Viking.

very unlikely! The flooding two years ago reached a level which classified it as a "Jahrhundertflut" meaning this only happens once in a hundred years (statistically). And only on the Danube. On the Rhine it was only exceptionally high.

notamermaid

Hello 4774Papa,

 

 

 

very unlikely! The flooding two years ago reached a level which classified it as a "Jahrhundertflut" meaning this only happens once in a hundred years (statistically). And only on the Danube. On the Rhine it was only exceptionally high.

 

notamermaid

What is the current status of the Danube and using your crystal ball, what does it look like in the future.

Thank you for keeping all of us up to date

Jane

It's probably a good time to post this link to the really useful river depth charts- originally posted by Notamermaid I think.

http://www.wetteronline.de/pegelstaende?gid=10838

If you pass your mouse over the red or green blocks you'll see they are all linked to monitoring stations along Germany's rivers. Red means the river is above normal, green = below normal and the little yellow blocks signify at normal river depth.

To find the really useful chart find a city along your route and click on it. You will be taken to a second page. Once there, click the tab Flussverlauf Now you can see all of the monitoring stations along that river within Germany. The first column (Tendenz) shows the trend of the river at each station - up, down or stable. Abweichung vom mittel shows in graphic form the variation from average. The next 2 columns show the average ( mittel ) and current ( aktuell ) river depth in centimeters. The final column gives you the date and time of the reading for each station.

Hope this helps some of you keep tabs on things before your trips. BTW - conditions appear to be improving fairly quickly from the way this chart looked earlier this week.

tschuss,

FM

Thanks for the website. We are currently awaiting a flight to zurich to hopefully begin a 2nd avalon river cruise, our 8th river cruise. First time we have been required to vacate our ship despite having experienced high water previously. So 2nights in a hotel bused from vernon to paris organised by avalon. For the next cruise we have been instructed via email from our travel agent to travel to zurich meeting point fromparis where we will be told about our cruise .we really can do nothing else but wait for more info on the day. We hope for a positive outcome for all. Keeping people informed with accurate info in a timely manner is critical. Best wishes to all affected.

When is the best time to travel THE RIVERS so as not to worry about high or low waters?????

When is the best time to travel THE RIVERS so as not to worry about high or low waters?????

We usually go in late August and have never had a problem, but that's not a guarantee.

When is the best time to travel THE RIVERS so as not to worry about high or low waters?????

To be honest I really don't think there is any time of year when you can be assured that there will never be a problem, this is just part of the joy of river cruising.

You can minimize the risks or high water by traveling in the summer months and the risk of low water is lower early/late in the year, but the risk of high or low is always with us...

Can anyone update us on the status of the river levels today? Specifically interested in the Rhine river cruises and Viking's management of this situation.

Hello crewsgirl,

Can anyone update us on the status of the river levels today? Specifically interested in the Rhine river cruises and Viking's management of this situation.

please have a look at this thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=46529473#post46529473

notamermaid

To be honest I really don't think there is any time of year when you can be assured that there will never be a problem, this is just part of the joy of river cruising.

 

You can minimize the risks or high water by traveling in the summer months and the risk of low water is lower early/late in the year, but the risk of high or low is always with us...

The last sentence could not be applied to Passau on the Danube, the last 5 highest flood levels have been:

March 1

June 1

July 1

August 2

I agree G.M.T.,

the Danube water levels have been even more unpredictable than the Rhine water levels in recent years. I count four dates, is one date a double one?

notamermaid

The last sentence could not be applied to Passau on the Danube, the last 5 highest flood levels have been:

 

March 1

June 1

July 1

August 2

Not entirely inconsistent, I'm talking about frequency, but you make the point well that there really is no time of the year that is 100% safe from high or low water.

Now we'll see what the different cruise lines learned in 2013. Some treated their passengers very well; others not well at all. Did they learn their lesson?

Thanks for this question. I was one of the passengers stuck in this mess. We were on the Viking Gefjon, a new ship only on it's second cruise. We sat docked at Kehl/Strasbourg for 5 nights. We were then bused for an hour and a half boat tour of the Rhein, where we saw several Viking cruises going past, like we were supposed to have done. Then bused to Mainz, spent the night, bused to Trier for quick tour and then bused to Paris for the end of the trip. Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed in the trip. A bus tour of Freiberg does not make up for a cruise down the Rhein. A bus tour of Baden Baden is not at all like a tour of the Moselle valley. This was supposed to be a dream cruise vacation for a significant wedding anniversary. Instead, it turned out to be a Viking nightmare.

Can we expect any sort of refund/credit from Viking or are we just out of luck? ( to put it politely)

Can we expect any sort of refund/credit from Viking or are we just out of luck? ( to put it politely)

Based on last time around it seemed that those who contacted Viking and negotiated directly did end up at least somewhat satisfied with the outcome so I'd go right ahead and get in touch:

TellUs@vikingcruises.com

Now we'll see what the different cruise lines learned in 2013. Some treated their passengers very well; others not well at all. Did they learn their lesson?

 

Thanks for this question. I was one of the passengers stuck in this mess. We were on the Viking Gefjon, a new ship only on it's second cruise. We sat docked at Kehl/Strasbourg for 5 nights. We were then bused for an hour and a half boat tour of the Rhein, where we saw several Viking cruises going past, like we were supposed to have done. Then bused to Mainz, spent the night, bused to Trier for quick tour and then bused to Paris for the end of the trip. Needless to say, we were extremely disappointed in the trip. A bus tour of Freiberg does not make up for a cruise down the Rhein. A bus tour of Baden Baden is not at all like a tour of the Moselle valley. This was supposed to be a dream cruise vacation for a significant wedding anniversary. Instead, it turned out to be a Viking nightmare.

 

Can we expect any sort of refund/credit from Viking or are we just out of luck? ( to put it politely)

I read a lot of those complaints two years ago. It seemed that Scenic and Viking were hit the most for not compensating their customers. Other cruise lines either cancelled the cruise or gave refunds or credit on future cruises.

Note although the company involved was owned by Scenic it was Emerald Waterways that the complaints where about. I didn't want to start this again and we have still not heard any outcome.

CA

Based on last time around it seemed that those who contacted Viking and negotiated directly did end up at least somewhat satisfied with the outcome so I'd go right ahead and get in touch:

 

TellUs@vikingcruises.com

You are correct. People come on line here and complain; but do not go back to the cruiseline themselves. I know many people who were compensated by Viking only because they did go to TellUs@vikingcruises.com

The last sentence could not be applied to Passau on the Danube, the last 5 highest flood levels have been:

 

March 1

June 1

July 1

August 2

Our Danube River cruise begins June 1st this year in Vilshofen - you really have me worried as I am bringing a small group with me.

I keep looking at the chart that was provided on this board and the red blocks have been staying the same.

Someone please let me know if any ships are traveling on the Danube....please

Thanks you

Note although the company involved was owned by Scenic it was Emerald Waterways that the complaints where about. I didn't want to start this again and we have still not heard any outcome.

CA

Actually it was Evergreen, another subsidiary of Scenic. Emerald didn't exist then.