What happens when the River is Low?

This thread had me concerned so I contacted Scenic. We are on it next week, Budapest to Amsterdam and they said my ship is on its way to Budapest and has not encountered any issue and they don't anticipate any on the reverse trip.

I´m pretty sure that a call center whereever it may be located (Australia at its best) knows everything about the river conditions in Europe :'):')!

Others received the same answers from other river cruise companies (US based) and we locals could instantly tell you that they don´t have a clue at all.

steamboats

The water levels could be much worse, as is the case in England:

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-44869566

Thank you so much for this update, pete_coach!

We will see when we get there next Wednesday I guess. :)

This is purely a marketing ploy to stop passengers asking awkward questions. Have you asked Scenic what their contingency plans are if traffic is stopped on the Danube, i.e. bussing, ship swap etc?

 

You will hit the shallows above Passau in about 10 - 14 days, no one can predict that far in advance, even if they have polished their Crystal Ball (this is not a sister ship to Crystal Mozart).

Yes, Scenic has a River Cruise Guarantee that will accommodates any issues that interrupts or interferes with the cruise.

We depart Budapest next Thursday.

I´m pretty sure that a call center whereever it may be located (Australia at its best) knows everything about the river conditions in Europe :'):')!

 

Others received the same answers from other river cruise companies (US based) and we locals could instantly tell you that they don´t have a clue at all.

 

steamboats

Sarcasm noted.

The call center is in Vancouver Canada for Canadian traveler. I am fairly certain that the are in communications with the ships and controllers.

This thread had me concerned so I contacted Scenic. We are on it next week, Budapest to Amsterdam and they said my ship is on its way to Budapest and has not encountered any issue and they don't anticipate any on the reverse trip.

Which ship will you be on?

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Correction:

 

 

 

We are told that the blockage due to the accident was cleared by June 30-July 1. The current blockage is due to low water downstream of the Main-Danube Canal, which obviously can only happen due to low water entering from the headwaters. The Inn River, which enters the Danube at Passau, appeared to have plenty of water, more than the Danube. But that is obviously a different catchment area than the Danube.

 

We are told as of today the stretch between Regensburg and the Main-Danube Canal is still impassible due to low water.

Impassable? Not exactly. We just came off of Avalon Artistry II and came through just fine from Nuremburg to Regensburg to Vienna. Not to say there was not a little concern. The CD told us of the low water and that they were working on contingencies, including busing us from Regensburg straight to Vienna where we would be housed in a five star hotel for the duration and given day trips for sight seeing. BUT, the captain was willing to go for it. So, they gave us all a free "optional excursion" out of Regensburg on an excursion boat up through the Danube Gorge and to an old monastery which sports the oldest brewery in Europe. That, of course, included a pint of their finest brew. We spent the afternoon in Regensburg, (we were given cash for a lunch in town) then met the ship at a remote dock along the river.

In Regensburg, we met people off a Viking ship that had been grounded for three days, so far, at Passau. They were doing bus trips everywhere and going back to the ship each night, spending several hours on the bus every day. They were not at all happy and said that most everyone on the ship was quite upset. They had been promised that, due to low water, they would be bused to an upriver Viking ship. That didn't happen, though. There were ships stranded all along the river around Passau and people on those ships were shocked to see us sail in.

All Avalon ships, up to that point, were getting though, due to their modern construction with shallow draft. However, I guess we just lucked out because I heard the Avalon ship, one day behind us, couldn't get through and the pax had to be bused between ships.

In October 2016 we faced the same issue but our Avalon ship made it through the same stretch just fine while other ships were stranded.

A very good reason to consider Avalon for your next cruise.

This thread had me concerned so I contacted Scenic. We are on it next week, Budapest to Amsterdam and they said my ship is on its way to Budapest and has not encountered any issue and they don't anticipate any on the reverse trip.

Take that with a grain of Salt. There is no way to predict what will be happening tomorrow, much less 7 to 14 days from now. But I can tell you we saw Scenic ships, along with several Viking, AMA, and others. stranded along the river as we sailed through.

Your ship may well be on it's way to Budapest, but from where? It's highly unlikely that it's coming from far upriver on the Danube.

Thank you for your report, Kenster! When exactly did you get off of your ship?

I have been trying to track several ships on the Nuremburg to Budapest itinerary for the past several days (not sure how exact the tracking sites are). There seems to be some movement at times, but many ships seem to not be moving. I haven't seen any movement between Nuremberg and Regensberg for many days. The Viking "Updates on Current Sailings" seems to indicate there have been no issues after July 14. Are you saying you HAVE seen issues after July 14?

We are supposed to be on the Viking Gullveig (Romantic Danube) leaving from Nuremburg July 28. Any update on the current situation on the Danube/Danube Main Canal between Nuremburg and Passau? Any news as to how cruise lines are handling things?

Viking passengers we met in Regensburg had been bused there. Their ship had been stuck in Passau for three days at that point. The next day they were being bused all the way to Nuremberg to catch their flights home. They were not happy at all with the way Viking had handled things. On the day before we met them, they had been bused from Passau to Nuremburg for their included sightseeing, then bused back to Passau. About three hours each way on the motorcoach. Two days later they were going all the way back to Nuremburg to catch their flights. Most people on board, according to these people, thought that Viking could have bused them to Nuremberg the day prior to departure and put them in a hotel for the night, rather than one more long bus trip. They had been promised a ship swap, which, while not ideal, would have been much better than having your cruise turn into a full blown bus trip.

Problems arise. It's how the cruise line deals with it that makes such a difference.

Which ship will you be on?

 

 

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Jasper.

We just got the dreaded "the rivers too low so you will trade ships midway" letter from Viking for our Elbe trip next week. At least they didn't wait until we were leaving to tell us.

We just got the dreaded "the rivers too low so you will trade ships midway" letter from Viking for our Elbe trip next week. At least they didn't wait until we were leaving to tell us.

Glad to see that Viking is stepping up and being forthcoming with information. They got a real drubbing in the past for not only lack of communication but for actual deception.

Sarcasm noted.

 

The call center is in Vancouver Canada for Canadian traveler. I am fairly certain that the are in communications with the ships and controllers.

I´m fairly certain that there is no communication with the ships... and that those people answering the calls have never seen any European river or river cruise ship in person. Those are sales people. They have no clue about river navigation.

steamboats

We just got the dreaded "the rivers too low so you will trade ships midway" letter from Viking for our Elbe trip next week. At least they didn't wait until we were leaving to tell us.

The Elbe river is so low that you won´t be cruising at all. The ships will stay in port and you will go by bus. You will switch inbetween to get closer to the other part of the river and do your bus excursions there.

There´s an extreme low on the Elbe river and that´s what happened during those lows in the last years.

steamboats

Jasper.

I just checked on Vesselfinder.com and according to them the Jasper is in Vienna, so they should have no problem getting to Budapest to start your cruise on time.

You’re not completely out of the woods though. Looking at Scenic’s 2018 brochure it appears that Jasper is currently doing Gems of the Danube, which begins in Nuremberg. However with the low water the current cruise could have easily begun in Passau.

Scenic Jasper is a newer river ship and my understanding is that they designed her with a shallow draft to improve ability to deal with low water. Hopefully by the time you get there the water will be deep enough for you to get through.

Please let us know how it goes.

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I just checked on Vesselfinder.com and according to them the Jasper is in Vienna, so they should have no problem getting to Budapest to start your cruise on time.

 

You’re not completely out of the woods though. Looking at Scenic’s 2018 brochure it appears that Jasper is currently doing Gems of the Danube, which begins in Nuremberg. However with the low water the current cruise could have easily begun in Passau.

 

Scenic Jasper is a newer river ship and my understanding is that they designed her with a shallow draft to improve ability to deal with low water. Hopefully by the time you get there the water will be deep enough for you to get through.

 

Please let us know how it goes.

 

 

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Thank You, I hope you are right.

We are on the Scenic Jewels of Europe, Budapest to Amsterdam next week.

Does anyone know whether ships are moving from Passau to Nuremberg (and vice versa)? I checked Vesselfinder and it looks like ships are clustered at Passau and also Linz, but I don't know how accurate this is.

If you know, which ships (other than, likely, Avalon) are getting through?

Many thanks.

I spoke with Scenic this morning and our Gems of the Danube trip starting in Nuremberg Thursday had not been impacted yet but they're monitoring. The service manager said he suspects that conditions may improve (enough qualifiers?) and we would be able to leave from Nuremberg. That said, he didn't sound certain at all. He took all my information and gave me his direct line - very helpful. If we are impacted, he said they will likely bus us to an embarkation point between Regensberg and Passau to start. I suspect the details of how they manage will depend on the cruise line and trip.

Here's a recap of what happened on my recent Viking Romantic Danube on the Jarl and Atla

Sunday 1:00pm Embark Viking Jarl in Nuremberg

Monday 8:30am Jarl leaves Nuremberg 12:30pm Technical stop in Roth

Tuesday 8:00am Jarl arrives in Regensburg 6:45pm Jarl departs Regensburg

Wednesday 12:01am Jarl arrives in Straubing

Thursday 9:30am Passengers disembark Jarl for 3.5 hr bus ride to Ybbs to meet Viking Atla 1:30pm Embark Viking Atla in Ybbs 3:00pm Atla arrives in Pochlarn, tour to Gottweig Abbey leaves, luggage arrives from Jarl 4:00-6:00 Wachau Valley cruising 6:00pm Technical Stop in Krems - Gottweig guests return to Atla

Friday 12:01am Atla arrives Vienna 8:00pm Atla departs Vienna 10:30pm Technical stop in Freudeneau to pick up guest from Mozart concert

Saturday 9:00am Technical stop in Esztergom to drop off passengers for Budapest tours 12:30pm Atla arrives Budapest

Does anyone know whether ships are moving from Passau to Nuremberg (and vice versa)? I checked Vesselfinder and it looks like ships are clustered at Passau and also Linz, but I don't know how accurate this is.

The narrows are close to Straubing which is upriver from Passau and downriver from Regensburg. I´d say currently no ships are getting through.

There´s been a little bit of water as we had rain all over the weekend here in Munich. But there wasn´t a drop North of the Danube river.

Nuremberg is on the Canal which has a constant body of water.

steamboats

I spoke with Scenic this morning and our Gems of the Danube trip starting in Nuremberg Thursday had not been impacted yet but they're monitoring. The service manager said he suspects that conditions may improve (enough qualifiers?) and we would be able to leave from Nuremberg. That said, he didn't sound certain at all. He took all my information and gave me his direct line - very helpful. If we are impacted, he said they will likely bus us to an embarkation point between Regensberg and Passau to start. I suspect the details of how they manage will depend on the cruise line and trip.

I doubt that anyone answering the phone is monitoring the weather forecast for Germany. We do expect a heatwave this week with highs up to 35/37°C. I currently have a thunderstorm in Munich and we had rain all over the weekend. Our local river (Isar which is merging with the Danube river) is on regular stage now. But no rain for weeks North of the Danube river and nothing at all in the forecast.

For me it´s pretty unlikely that there will be a major change during the next few days... at least not for the good...

steamboats

We are in Prague RIGHT NOW. We are on our pre-cruise, but many with us in the hotel are post-cruise. Some had to switch ships...BUT at least on one ship, people have reported they were stuck in Passau, docked in an ugly, inconvenient industrial area for three days and were bused for several hours each day to their tours. Those folks all seem a bit angry...

Do you have any information on which Cruse Line the unhappy travelers were on?

Do you have any information on which Cruse Line the unhappy travelers were on?

It was Viking...but that is because the hotel we were in was the one Viking uses in Prague...so it was filled with people on various Viking cruises.

Our understanding is that virtually every cruise line is having similar issues—the river is low for everyone. Most people on Viking have one advantage... and that is that Viking runs such a large number of ships that they have some flexibility in switching ships around.

BTW, as for us, despite Viking sending us an advance email that they were going to switch they Aegir for the Embla since they couldn’t get it to Budapest, in fact, it turned out they did...and we are on the Aegir right now, docked at Vidin, Bulgaria. We have had absolutely no problem on our trip...but, of course, we are only cruising the portion from Budapest to Bucharest. HOWEVER, there are some passengers on board with us who have been on the Aegir starting from Amsterdam, so, they have been able to take it the full length of the Danube somehow...should mean good news for a lot of folks...

We are currently on Scenic Gems of Danube Amber. Could not get to Reggensburg so was bused there after tours in Salzburg and Cesky. Not ideal and had to switch ships now on Scenic Jade. Bus took us 4 hours from Cesky due to driver getting lost. Will add more later.

Does anyone know if the Rhône level is ok? Leaving from Arles to sail north in two weeks.

Thanks.

I just got home on Monday night from cruising on Avalon Expression .... Budapest to Prague.

When we got to our hotel in Budapest there was a "M & G " with the Cruise Director.

We had already been informed before leaving that we would spend one night on the Avalon Panorama leaving Budapest and get on the original ship the next day . She then said that we would all be compensated $200 pp to our charge card and currency used when booking this cruise.

We were supposed to have the day sailing but because of low water levels we would be stopping in Pratislava and have a free tour and lunch on them. We then boarded buses to Vienna and boarded our original ship there and spent the night in Vienna.

We had the whole day in Vienna which was nice and didn't leave till 10:30 that night.

Then because of very low water and all the ships stuck in Passau we instead went to Linz Austria and they gave us free tours to either Cesky Krumlov or Salzburg. Those that had pre-paid got cash refunds.

spent the next day in Passau .

Because the water levels were so low we couldn't get to Nuremburg. They bused us to Regensburg and we were given free lunch vouchers. The people that weren't doing the extra days in Prague were going to be bused to Nuremberg and put up in the Le Meridien Grand Hotel with dinner / breakfast included..

We stayed the night in Passau and then were bused to Prague for our 3 day stay there.

All in all I think that Avalon did a great job in keeping us informed and keeping the low river impact to a minimum. They had a meeting every night just before dinner to let us know what was going to happen the next day.

I didn't hear a lot of complaining from fellow passengers. All we really missed was the day of cruising but I think the $200 pp refund was more than enough compensation. There were 10 of us traveling and we all thought the whole package that Avalon offers was "top notch" They were pro-active and we didn't get stuck in Passau with 50 other ships and had a lovely day in Linz instead. Those tours they gave us were all around Euro's pp so that was much appreciated.

I wouldn't hesitate to suggest or book another Avalon cruise. In fact we were all talking about maybe next yr.