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Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics


notamermaid
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Aah, that one. Thank you, I had only read the headline before when it showed up in results. To clarify for the cruisers: yes, the river is "sort of closed" for the ships because the low level is not restricted to the Rhine gorge. I have focussed on Kaub and its area as the navigation channel is the shallowest there. However, within the sector that falls under the administration of the water board in Mannheim, where currently a lot of ships reach their limits going upstream, the levels have partly fallen under the respective GlW. When doing the math it works out that the river cruise ships with the deepest draft cannot sail. This applies to the free-flowing section. When looking upstream this means up to the lock at Iffezheim. Basel to Iffezheim is fine which is no help to river cruise ships of course, really.

 

I shall get back to that subject of the navigation channel with a helpful pdf file to visualize it in the next few days.

 

notamermaid

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Johng75370, my husband and i are also taking our first Crystal river cruise leaving home on Sunday morning. Our itinerary has been changed due to river levels as well.

We are currently flying to Basel on Saturday/Sunday where we were to board the Crystal Debussy. 3 days ago we received an email informing us that our itinerary had been changed. Today we finally received our air info from Crystal to fly us from Basel to Frankfurt and then they will bus us to Koblenz and the ship.

 

We have not heard anything about new excursions other than an email saying they were diligently preparing for excursions in the 4 new ports we are now scheduled to visit between Koblenz and Amsterdam. They said we would receive information about our new excursion choices once we were aboard.

 

I have been very upset this week not knowing how we were going to get from Basel to Koblenz, but today we have our transfers. Although it took a few days for them to communicate with us about our upcoming cruise, they seem to be on top of things now.

 

I am sure there are many anxious cruisers waiting for information from cruise lines who are scrambling to provide an enjoyable experience for their clients.

 

Now seeing how many ships have been impacted it's no surprise Crystal is scrambling. I heard from our TA (not Crystal directly) that once onboard there will be new excursions announced.

 

KittyKat - hope you have a great journey, despite the changes!

Notamermaid - thanks for the helpful info and great perspective!

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Enjoy following the updates ad appreciate them. We sail on Avalon Affinity leaving Basel on Aug 19 (to Amsterdam).

 

Will monitor and see how things look next few days. I think Avalon has a good track record due to short draft on boats but obviously all can be affected at some time.

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magbol99,

 

 

Avalon Waterways has both 110m and 135m ships on European rivers. The Avalon Affinity is the smaller size: https://www.avalonwaterways.com/River-Cruise-Ships/

 

 

johng75370,

 

 

happy to help. Regarding your concerns about Crystal having changed the itinerary of your upcoming cruise on the Crystal Bach, here is my more detailed answer. As I have mentioned to Kittykat52 the drive from Frankfurt airport to Koblenz should not be too bad, depending on traffic. Modern coaches - and I am sure Crystal will try to use the best available - are pleasant to sit in. Hopefully they will drive through the valley, not on the motorway. They should do the scenic route! That way you can see some of the castles you will miss on the amended itinerary as you do not sail this stretch of river. Crystal changing the entire trip to a Moselle river cruise is both daring and a great move. Let me explain... Crystal has never sailed the Moselle as you pointed out, but they announced that they will sail the Moselle in the 2019 season on the Crystal Bach. You are actually the chosen ones trying out the company's plans for the Moselle. It might not be brilliant this year, but hey - you can give them lots of feedback and feel really important. ;) Not to worry, they will follow a tried and tested pattern of towns and probably excursions next year, so it is not something outlandish they are testing on you (if that is what they are "intending"). And quite frankly IMHO, downstream from Düsseldorf the Rhine loses some of its appeal, so of the two of you Crystal cruisers, at the moment I would say Kittykat52 has drawn the shorter straw. Apart from the fact that problems with low water cannot arise on the Moselle. Here is the thread on the Moselle - perhaps you still have a few calm moments for reading up on the beautiful river: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2353480

 

Hope this helps to calm your nerves a bit.

 

 

Oh yes, it did rain heavily this afternoon with very strong winds indeed in the Middle Rhine valley.

 

notamermaid

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Hi there.anxious cruiser here,.just wondering if Crystal offered you any alternatives to travelling, such as rescheduling ot cancelling with a refund? We are travelling on Viking Rhine river beginning of Sept on our first cruise so not sure what to expect from such a significan change to plan.

 

Hello eal7, aka "anxious cruiser". Crystal took its time getting back to us after sending an email late Friday night about our cruise being drastically changed, and then we could not get any information until Monday. Yesterday, Wednesday, we were finally informed that we were to travel to our intended departure city, Basel, and Crystal would either pay up to $1,000 per person to make changes on our own or choose to let them make our air from Basel to Frankfurt and then transfer us to the ship at no cost to us. Since we were so close to departure day from South Carolina, we chose the second option and then after waiting a total of 5 days, we finally received our new flight info from Basel back to Feankfurt and our Motorcoach transfer to the Debussy in Koblenz. After reading the comments from notamermaid, I really wish they had rescheduled or diverted us to the Moselle as they have done with the Crystal Bach.

 

I think Crystal is also offering another $800 per couple for compensation for missing the ports from Basel to Koblenz which, in my opinion, is ludicrous since we will be missing the reason we chose the Rhine, the castles.

 

I will post an update next week concerning how Crystal handled the changes and if we receive any other compensations. By the way, It was my intent to book our next cruise while on board this River cruise: the Crystal Serenity from Barcelona to Venice in September 2019. We will see . . .

 

Good luck to all of you sailing next week. The weather is going crazy. We have had record rainfall and heat in South Carolina, and the fires and drought in California are devastating. I also heard on the news last night that fires were burning in various European countries as well. In the big picture, our problems seem petty.

 

Thank you all for this great site and invaluable information. It really helps to know that we are not alone.

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Bon Voyage KittyKat! As we're about to leave No. California with hazy skies everywhere from a nearby fire "the size of Los Angeles" (!!), you're right in keeping the bigger picture in perspective.

 

Like you, I'll try to post what the resolution to all these changes are once we find out on board. I'm very disappointed in how Crystal communicates; they've not offered any "compensation" for the complete change of plans and no fore-knowledge of what we'll be doing next week. It's a bit unsettling to head off into the unknown! They said they will offer $250 pp for a "future cruise", but if we decide not to cruise again with Crystal this gesture is meaningless. We don't do river cruises (this is first), and for ocean cruises we've got other lines we're more loyal to. Despite Crystal looking disorganized and poor at communication right now, we're expecting that the onboard experience will quickly improve our view.

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Short report on yesterday's weather events. A heavy-laden band of clouds brought us rain and hail with violent storms in the Rhine valley. The Middle Rhine and Lower Rhine were more affected than the Upper Rhine. It appears from the radar images that the Vosges mountains took a lot of the rain away from the French section of the Rhine making more water drain into the Moselle than the Rhine itself. Hesse with Frankfurt was later affected with the airport closed for half an hour. Earlier clouds had brought more rain to areas downstream from Cologne. Cologne gauging station reacted with one of the biggest rises in water level. Unless the Black Forest and the Neckar can bring some of the rain they got into the Rhine and smaller tributaries contribute as well, the rises are short-lived.

 

 

Outlook for Maxau for next week is for levels fluctuating downward, yet not reaching down to the lowest they were on 6 August. Overall currently very little change for the better now and for the next six days. Unless it rains again heavily... Some rain is forecast for Monday.

 

 

Who knows, it might just be the extra ten centimetres your ship needs.

 

 

Edit: an article on the severe weather in Germany: https://www.dw.com/en/after-the-drought-the-storm-german-weather-chaos-continues/a-45030361 But parts of France were hit even harder.

 

 

notamermaid

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KittyKat52 Thank you so much for replying! I have been trying to find out how the CL's are handling the situation, as this is our first cruise ever and have nothing to compare it to. I do understand there are bigger issue afoot, however this is the only one I have any influence over so it is the one I am trying my best to understand. I hope you enjoy your trip even with all the changes made and it seems as Crystal is trying to help.

 

Bon Voyage and thank you again for answering my question!

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I've been watching this thread for a few days now. This'll be our first cruise, and I'm somewhat worried it won't be anything like what I envisioned because the boats may not be floating. We'll be headed from amsterdam-basel the 19th-26th, and I'm crossing my fingers the river will be up a couple cm by then.

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I've been watching this thread for a few days now. This'll be our first cruise, and I'm somewhat worried it won't be anything like what I envisioned because the boats may not be floating. We'll be headed from amsterdam-basel the 19th-26th, and I'm crossing my fingers the river will be up a couple cm by then.

 

We are also cruising Amsterdam to Basel on Viking the 19-26th and am also concerned. Have contacted travel agent with no information as of yet.

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We just set sail from Amsterdam about 30 minutes ago on Viking Mani. In the briefing this evening nothing was said about changes in itinerary. I will be happy to post if there is a change. It rained quite heavily most of today in Amsterdam and a number of good showers yesterday as well.

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We are also cruising Amsterdam to Basel on Viking the 19-26th and am also concerned. Have contacted travel agent with no information as of yet.

 

9 days is far too far in the future for any reliable predictions unfortunately.

 

Even 2 or 3 days can make a significant difference either way.

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Hello Mark_T,

 

 

you are very right. 9 days is further away than any experts' predictions on the Rhine. 2 to 3 days is a forecast, after that they issue predictions 7 days out maximum. Those graphs always have an inbuilt variability. A significant change can happen within 48 hours which is happening right now. The three river levels I normally post for reference:

 

 

Maxau 383cm - a downward trend again after that area reacted to the heavy rainfall two days

 

 

Kaub 80cm - a nice rise, bringing the gauge above the GlW figure of 78cm for now (that is important for the navigation channel)

 

 

Koblenz 71cm - still fluctuating under the GlW figure of 78cm but a rise during the day is possible

 

 

That is all still too low, though, to make our minds feel at ease. Hopefully the slightly cooler temperatures and more rainfall on Monday will do the trick.

 

 

johng75370,

 

 

safe travels. As I posted a couple of days ago, I am sure you will love the Moselle.

 

 

Kittykat52,

 

 

I am sure Crystal has put some great excursions put together for you. I did not mean to upset you, the Rhine has great vistas downstream from Koblenz and castles, too. They do not match the Rhine gorge, of course. Looking forward to hearing your reports about Crystal's amendments, perhaps in the new thread that deals with the topic of river cruise companies' reactions to the low water situation.

 

 

Safe travels.

 

 

notamermaid

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We just set sail from Amsterdam about 30 minutes ago on Viking Mani. In the briefing this evening nothing was said about changes in itinerary. I will be happy to post if there is a change. It rained quite heavily most of today in Amsterdam and a number of good showers yesterday as well.

i would be interested to hear about your progress! enjoy your journey.

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histiomom,

 

 

looking forward to your reports. Have a great (uninterrupted) cruise. marinetraffic currently shows that the Viking Ingvi has made it through the gorge and will be approaching Koblenz soon. The Viking Idi is in the gorge going upstream and should reappear on the radar at its correct spot in a few hours at Rüdesheim. Positions are often not picked up in some areas along the gorge.

 

 

So what does it look like around the narrow stretches in the famous castle section? I found a nice short report on the current situation from the perspective of the vessels. Quite literally... A reporter of the German (license) TV channel ZDF went into the gorge and onto a barge. This is her report of 9 August from the narrow point at St. Goar. 00:12 is the Lorelei rock, 00:56 the two ships on the right have to wait till the container ship has passed through the narrows, 02:09 shows the castle in the river at Kaub called (Pfalzgrafenstein), 02:59 shows her visit to the ministry in Mainz and the interview where it is explained that the regional governments want to lobby for the federal government to invest in deepening the navigation channel of the Rhine. https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/zdf-mittagsmagazin/videos/wetter-geringe-pegelstanede-am-rhein-100.html

 

 

If you have any questions about the video, ask away.

 

 

notamermaid

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Kittykat52,

 

 

I am sure Crystal has put some great excursions put together for you. I did not mean to upset you, the Rhine has great vistas downstream from Koblenz and castles, too. They do not match the Rhine gorge, of course. Looking forward to hearing your reports about Crystal's amendments, perhaps in the new thread that deals with the topic of river cruise companies' reactions to the low water situation.

 

 

Safe travels.

 

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you for reassuring me that we will still have interesting scenery from Koblenz to Amsterdam on the Crystal Debussy 😊.

 

We begin the first leg of our air tomorrow morning and will arrive in Basel Monday morning and then on to Frankfurt and the ship. ETA on board by 5 p.m. if travel progresses smoothly.

 

I will post once onboard concerning how Crystal handles our itinerary changes.

 

Which thread would be best for my posts on board? I have really enjoyed all of your help, notamermaid. I will miss your comments if I have to move to another thread!

😿

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The Avalon Artistry II has been in the Linz area for a week now. Not sure if it’s stuck due to low levels or based on their schedule changes getting through locks. We are supposed to embark on it on the 25th in Amsterdam, but I expect our itinerary to change to Frankfurt and we’ll tootle around the Moselle. But I hope the ship gets off the Danube. Does anyone have any intel on this? Just curious how it all works. No matter what happens I think the trip will be awesome!:cool:

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I will be on the uniworld Antoinette September 9th. This will be my first river cruise so not sure what to expect if the ship can’t make it to Basel where we are flying home from. Will uniworld give us a heads up about any change in itinerary or is the ship able to navigate shallow water ?

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Smooth cruising so far. Planned excursion stops in Rotterdam and Kinderdijk this morning plus an unexpected stop at Gorinchem due to an unfortunate medical event. Entered the Rhine from the Waal about an hour ago. Sailing overnight to stop in Cologne tomorrow. No discussion of any changes to itinerary.

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Hello vino100,

 

The SS Antoinette is a IMHO beautiful ship of long length with a draft given as 1.6m. If she cannot sail to Basel you will hear when onboard and Uniworld will make sure that you reach Basel by coach I assume. This would be standard procedure. If you need further assistance or would like to discuss such a scenario before you leave for Europe, you could always send Uniworld an email.

 

There is of course the possibility that Uniworld decides proactively to amend the itinerary (see posts further above) but for that your cruise is too far into the future.

 

notamermaid

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Hello vino100,

 

The SS Antoinette is a IMHO beautiful ship of long length with a draft given as 1.6m. If she cannot sail to Basel you will hear when onboard and Uniworld will make sure that you reach Basel by coach I assume. This would be standard procedure. If you need further assistance or would like to discuss such a scenario before you leave for Europe, you could always send Uniworld an email.

 

There is of course the possibility that Uniworld decides proactively to amend the itinerary (see posts further above) but for that your cruise is too far into the future.

 

notamermaid

Notamermaid you are so appreciated. Your knowledge is so helpful to all of us newbies to river cruising.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that my cruise is not in a bus ! We are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary and splurged on a suite. Not sure I would want to spend that much for a bus tour.

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Smooth cruising so far. Planned excursion stops in Rotterdam and Kinderdijk this morning plus an unexpected stop at Gorinchem due to an unfortunate medical event. Entered the Rhine from the Waal about an hour ago. Sailing overnight to stop in Cologne tomorrow. No discussion of any changes to itinerary.

Thank you so much! Our cruise isn't until the beginning of October. I know things can change but it's great to get this info.

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