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Danube River water levels


listaLolis
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I am taking a Viking Romantic Danube River Cruise I n late Sept.and I am having a hard time finding out what the level of the River is. I understand that in June sailings were affected by low water levels and passengers were taken by bus to several stops. Anyone know what the status has been for late August and right now?

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We cruised the Danube late July with Avalon, water level were high then, talking to the Captain he said level can go from low to high and reverse in under a week, even from day to day levels can change and stop many ships. Viking is the most affected as there boats have deeper draft and are also higher. We saw many Viking boats rafted up 3 deep at various parts of the river, not in towns, just waiting for river levels to drop so the could get under bridges. Apparently this is very common for Viking according to our captain.

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You can check water levels on German rivers on this website recommended by Notamermaid. http://www.wetteronline.de/pegelstaende?gid=SAC

 

It’s in German but the graphics are good. The map gives you the deviation from the mean water level (Flusspegel or Pegel or Pegelstand in the German language). Green is below average, red above. The longer the green/red markers the lower/higher the river.

 

Hover your cursor above the green or red markers to find the names of cities and rivers.

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  • 11 months later...

Came back from our Viking Nuremberg to Budapest cruise yesterday. We were supposed to board in Erlangen, cruise to Budapest, cruise to Regensburg, etc. Instead, we took a three hour bus ride from Nuremberg to the Viking ship in Volshofen. The next day, we took a three hour ride back to Nuremburg to do our tour and a three hour trip back to the boat. Next day, we took a hour and a half bus ride to Regensburg and a hour and a half ride back. We also could not cruise into Budapest and bused an hour an a half back and forth for our tour and an hour and a half back to fly out of the country. All told, we spend about 18 hours on the bus and only cruised to 2 of the 6 ports we were expecting. All during this time, Viking did NOTHING to compensate us for these difficulties. It was amazing how deaf they were to our complaints telling us to call customer service when we got home. Viking has a ship leaving Nuremberg and Budapest everyday so they are completely aware of the river situation but they didn't tell us anything until the last minute. :mad:

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Came back from our Viking Nuremberg to Budapest cruise yesterday. We were supposed to board in Erlangen, cruise to Budapest, cruise to Regensburg, etc. Instead, we took a three hour bus ride from Nuremberg to the Viking ship in Volshofen. The next day, we took a three hour ride back to Nuremburg to do our tour and a three hour trip back to the boat. Next day, we took a hour and a half bus ride to Regensburg and a hour and a half ride back. We also could not cruise into Budapest and bused an hour an a half back and forth for our tour and an hour and a half back to fly out of the country. All told, we spend about 18 hours on the bus and only cruised to 2 of the 6 ports we were expecting. All during this time, Viking did NOTHING to compensate us for these difficulties. It was amazing how deaf they were to our complaints telling us to call customer service when we got home. Viking has a ship leaving Nuremberg and Budapest everyday so they are completely aware of the river situation but they didn't tell us anything until the last minute. :mad:

 

KKbiker,

 

So sorry for your misfortune with Viking and the low water levels. Similar stories regarding these type of issues with Viking and their Customer Service or "lack of" have been written about on these Boards all too many times over the years.

 

Travelers are happy when the water levels are good but your story happens more often then people realize.

 

Prime example why I personally would never cruise with Viking. Their Longships have a deeper draft then many other popular river cruise lines and more frequently encounter issues when water levels are low.

Travelers beware…. Do your research before booking an expensive river cruise that ends up being a very disappointing and expensive Bus Tour.:(

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sorry to hear. Budapest has been off limits for a few days, low water so other ships have also been effected.

 

no one likes bus rides given the premium price of river cruising and this year seems to be particularly bad.

 

communication must improve and be clear and timely. so often it is last minute and not satisfactory. it seems the decisions are made by others somewhere and those on site are tasked to tell the passengers, albeit sometimes letters are prepared and distributed.

 

people understand changes maybe required but it is the implementation and communication that are sadly lacking.

do one likes to be treated like a fool.

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A week ago we got off a 16 day Grand Circle River Cruise sailing from Amsterdam to Vienna on the Main, Rhine and Danube. The Danube was low and there was concern. However it rained, and rained in the right spots so the ship was able to get through. The captain said there was only 2.5 feet of water between the bottom of the boat and the river bed. Things can change quickly. My sister-in-law was on a Viking River Cruise a week before us...and they did not get through. Their ship sat in port for 4 days and the guests went by bus daily to the appointed cities. On day 4 they transferred to another ship and sailed for 3. Things change with the river continually and you will not know till you are there. Good luck. Hope the water levels are good for you at your appointed time to sail.

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We are on Uniworld's River Ambassador sailing from Vienna to Nuremburg. We have already had our schedule changed even though we only boarded yesterday. We visited Vienna this morning by coach. Our boat sailed up river without us then we were bussed to Durnstein, boarded our boat which then immediately sailed at top speed. We are sailing through the night to reach Passau by 10am or thereabouts tomorrow. We have missed a stop in Melk or Weissenkirchen tomorrow. The shallow part of the river is just south of Passau and it is receding fast. Uniworld are trying

to make the best of a bad job. They gave us 20€ each for lunch today and are arranging different trips in different places for us. They also got a Mozart concert party on board this afternoon as people missed a concert in Vienna this evening. They also waived the charge on an optional paid excursion today. We can't fight Mother Nature but maybe some companies treat their customers better than others?

Edited by margbem
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We're on Viking now Budapest to Nuremberg and tonight it became official we are not getting into Regensburg or Nuremberg by boat. This really stinks We're docking in Passau for the next 3 days and they are taking us to Regensburg by bus (90 min each way) tomorrow and then to Nuremberg (3 1/2 hrs each way) on Wed then if that isn't enough, they think people are going to go back to Nuremberg (another 3 1/2 hrs ) by bus on Thurs unless you have a flight from Nuremberg before 7:30 am at which case they will put you up in a hotel. We lost Budapest by river, now Regensburg and Nuremberg turning out to be more of a bus tour than a boat tour.

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Again from the River Ambassador, Vienna to Nuremberg. We got to Passau OK, had our walking tour whilst the boat sailed without us up river to Vilshofen where we boarded and the boat set off again immediately. We then sailed all afternoon and through the night, passing the shallow part of the river about 3am yesterday (Wednesday) morning. We have been moored at a tiny landing stage at Bach an der Donau since yesterday morning and have been taken to a palace and an abbey near Regensburg to make up for missing Melk abbey and a palace in Vienna.

Whilst moored here we have only seen one other river cruiser pass us, just this morning, an Ama boat.

Again, Uniworld are trying their best to make the best of a bad situation and at least we are getting somewhere by river, albeit having to miss out a couple of our scheduled stops. There was a downpour near Regensburg yesterday afternoon but the river is still very low indeed in places.

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Again from the River Ambassador, Vienna to Nuremberg. We got to Passau OK, had our walking tour whilst the boat sailed without us up river to Vilshofen where we boarded and the boat set off again immediately. We then sailed all afternoon and through the night, passing the shallow part of the river about 3am yesterday (Wednesday) morning. We have been moored at a tiny landing stage at Bach an der Donau since yesterday morning and have been taken to a palace and an abbey near Regensburg to make up for missing Melk abbey and a palace in Vienna.

Whilst moored here we have only seen one other river cruiser pass us, just this morning, an Ama boat.

Again, Uniworld are trying their best to make the best of a bad situation and at least we are getting somewhere by river, albeit having to miss out a couple of our scheduled stops. There was a downpour near Regensburg yesterday afternoon but the river is still very low indeed in places.

 

Thanks for the update!

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We are sailing from Budapest to Amsterdam, set to begin on Sept. 14. Has the unrest with the migrants caused any cruisers problems? Just wanting to be prepared if necessary.:confused:

Thanks

 

Probably best to start your own thread. This one is about water levels on the Danube not Budapest.

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We are sailing from Budapest to Amsterdam, set to begin on Sept. 14. Has the unrest with the migrants caused any cruisers problems? Just wanting to be prepared if necessary.:confused:

Thanks

 

 

We spent 3 days in Budapest (Sept 5-8) and we did not see or encounter any of the refugees. Fellow passengers on the Avalon Vista did meet some in a laundromat and said they were very pleasant, they'd been travelling by train and foot from Syria and we're going to be starting going to off to Germany in a few days.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Came back from our Viking Nuremberg to Budapest cruise yesterday. We were supposed to board in Erlangen, cruise to Budapest, cruise to Regensburg, etc. Instead, we took a three hour bus ride from Nuremberg to the Viking ship in Volshofen. The next day, we took a three hour ride back to Nuremburg to do our tour and a three hour trip back to the boat. Next day, we took a hour and a half bus ride to Regensburg and a hour and a half ride back. We also could not cruise into Budapest and bused an hour an a half back and forth for our tour and an hour and a half back to fly out of the country. All told, we spend about 18 hours on the bus and only cruised to 2 of the 6 ports we were expecting. All during this time, Viking did NOTHING to compensate us for these difficulties. It was amazing how deaf they were to our complaints telling us to call customer service when we got home. Viking has a ship leaving Nuremberg and Budapest everyday so they are completely aware of the river situation but they didn't tell us anything until the last minute. :mad:

 

 

We had very much the same experience on our Nuremberg to Budapest "cruise". Two days cruising, five days bussing. Calling customer service resulted in an offer for a discount on a future cruise...hah, I would never sail with Viking again!

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