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Lock strikes announced in Germany

steamboats

By steamboats,
in River Cruising

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ingo_e

ingo_e

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Ok, I was on tours.. Ships (which were supposed to be in Nuremberg) were stuck at Regensburg, Bamberg and close to Würzburg. At this moment I can just confirm, the strike is from Tuesday - Thursday. Marinetraffic.com shows movements along the Koblenz lock (Moselle) and Iffezheim (Rhine). So it looks as if only the Bavarians are striking against the locks at this moment.

 

Btw, if the weather does not change, we are getting low water issues on the german rivers (esp. the Danube) as well.. just check the levels on my site or my app :/

 

After my tours this morning I'll post an update later today.

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davidrw

davidrw

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Ok, I was on tours.. Ships (which were supposed to be in Nuremberg) were stuck at Regensburg, Bamberg and close to Würzburg. At this moment I can just confirm, the strike is from Tuesday - Thursday. Marinetraffic.com shows movements along the Koblenz lock (Moselle) and Iffezheim (Rhine). So it looks as if only the Bavarians are striking against the locks at this moment.

 

Btw, if the weather does not change, we are getting low water issues on the german rivers (esp. the Danube) as well.. just check the levels on my site or my app :/

 

After my tours this morning I'll post an update later today.

 

If this continues it will be a real problem for the cruise industry.

I was stuck last week, however the strike was only for 2 days (which means 3 days of disruption) and I was on a 14 day cruise. If 3 day strikes continue and are predictable it will be 4 days of disruption which is probably too much and the companies will bus between ships parked at either end of the locks (ie the Rhine at one end and somewhere in Austria at the other end) & the 'cruisers' wil miss out the Main which is a lovely river and end up on long coach rides and hotels. It may even make sense for Itineraries to be changed to miss out large chunks of Bavaria and spend longer on the Rhine and the Danube. I feel that I was lucky and that Avalon had a very good alternative for us, the lunchs on the excursions turned out exceptionaly well.

 

To the point that Ingo made about water levels - they looked reasonably high to the uneducated eye, however we had 14 days of uninterupted sun !!

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cruzemaven

cruzemaven

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Ok, I was on tours.. Ships (which were supposed to be in Nuremberg) were stuck at Regensburg, Bamberg and close to Würzburg. At this moment I can just confirm, the strike is from Tuesday - Thursday. Marinetraffic.com shows movements along the Koblenz lock (Moselle) and Iffezheim (Rhine). So it looks as if only the Bavarians are striking against the locks at this moment.

 

Btw, if the weather does not change, we are getting low water issues on the german rivers (esp. the Danube) as well.. just check the levels on my site or my app :/

 

After my tours this morning I'll post an update later today.

 

If we are sailing from Budapest to Nuremberg (where we disembark for Prague), how far up the Danube will we be able to go before the strike at the locks stop our progress? Our itinerary includes Vienna, Melk, Linz, Passau, Regensburg and Nuremberg. Appreciate any information you may have...would like to get an idea on how disrupted our trip will be. thanks

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REBCRUISER

REBCRUISER

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There seem to be no new news this morning on the waterway strikes, specifically for Bavaria. Keep in mind that the changing strike schedule is in the interests of the striking union and its members because it creates the maximum disruption due to its uncertainties, which in turn provides the greatest pressure on the government negotiators.

Viking provided a daily news page during the floods and lock repairs, providing their latest state of plans for individual cruises. But not this time with the strikes. Too bad.

We're supposed to be on the Viking VAR boarding Budapest this Sunday, heading for Amsterdam. But the VAR was still on the Rhein. My best guess on their plans is as follows:

Viking plans to bus between the Bavarian borders of the Main and Danube rivers, probably working their tours from Nuernberg. Ships will be scheduled to pick up passengers near the borders of Bavaria to continue the cruises. All that if the strikes continue and will only affect Bavarian rivers/canals.

For those who don't know that area, driving times from Nuernberg are not that long: about one hour each to Regensburg and Wuerzburg.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but I thought you'd like to know. I took out trip insurance and have been monitoring the situation as best as I could, in case I might want to "pull the trigger".

Roland

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burrma

burrma

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There seem to be no new news this morning on the waterway strikes, specifically for Bavaria. Keep in mind that the changing strike schedule is in the interests of the striking union and its members because it creates the maximum disruption due to its uncertainties, which in turn provides the greatest pressure on the government negotiators.

Viking provided a daily news page during the floods and lock repairs, providing their latest state of plans for individual cruises. But not this time with the strikes. Too bad.

We're supposed to be on the Viking VAR boarding Budapest this Sunday, heading for Amsterdam. But the VAR was still on the Rhein. My best guess on their plans is as follows:

Viking plans to bus between the Bavarian borders of the Main and Danube rivers, probably working their tours from Nuernberg. Ships will be scheduled to pick up passengers near the borders of Bavaria to continue the cruises. All that if the strikes continue and will only affect Bavarian rivers/canals.

For those who don't know that area, driving times from Nuernberg are not that long: about one hour each to Regensburg and Wuerzburg.

Sorry for being so long-winded, but I thought you'd like to know. I took out trip insurance and have been monitoring the situation as best as I could, in case I might want to "pull the trigger".

Roland

 

Glad to read what's happening; do think Viking should contact you soon.

Keep us posted.

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ingo_e

ingo_e

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There seem to be no new news this morning on the waterway strikes, specifically for Bavaria.Keep in mind that the changing strike schedule is in the interests of the striking union and its members because it creates the maximum disruption due to its uncertainties, which in turn provides the greatest pressure on the government negotiators.

 

Strike is still on, I am monitoring the situation (marinetraffic, internal news, german newspapers). For the last three days, all I could do was updating the http://www.rivercruiseinfo.com/content/strike-germany-locks-are-blocked chart headline - because nothing changed.

 

My best guess on their plans is as follows: Viking plans to bus between the Bavarian borders of the Main and Danube rivers, probably working their tours from Nuernberg. Ships will be scheduled to pick up passengers near the borders of Bavaria to continue the cruises. All that if the strikes continue and will only affect Bavarian rivers/canals. For those who don't know that area, driving times from Nuernberg are not that long: about one hour each to Regensburg and Wuerzburg.

 

The "borders" of the strike area would be Aschaffenburg to Passau (each is about 2h - 2.5h away from Nuremberg). So far it looks as if the cruise lines are going to rush the ships as far as possible through the canals & rivers in bavaria when there is a "no strike day". When stalled, the ships are used as a base for tours. This way is much cheaper than using hotels (btw, doubtfull that anyone could get that many hotel rooms at this moment). But you are right, many ships are absolutely not where they should be.. So if they got totally behind their schedule, ships are switched - Scenic tours did this on Wednesday..

 

I think AMA, Uniworld, Avalon, Viking, Grand Circle and all the others do should contact Ver.di and ask the union leaders, how much the bribe, eehhh 'donation', would be for cruises to use the locks and raise it together? ;)

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acruise4me

acruise4me

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Does anyone know where the Forseti is now? We're supposed to board in Amsterdam on Saturday. I called to inquire from Viking about the strike and was told it is not affecting sailing. That doesn't sound right by what others are reporting.

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steamboats Great Review Rare

steamboats

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If we are sailing from Budapest to Nuremberg (where we disembark for Prague), how far up the Danube will we be able to go before the strike at the locks stop our progress? Our itinerary includes Vienna, Melk, Linz, Passau, Regensburg and Nuremberg. Appreciate any information you may have...would like to get an idea on how disrupted our trip will be. thanks

 

Jochstein is the first lock in Germany. As it is sort of "right at the border" between Austria and Germany you won´t get any farther than Linz. The next lock is right above the landing of Passau. So if you´re lucky to get through Jochstein you can make it up to Passau. There are more locks on the way to Regensburg. After Regensburg there are also locks especially on the Canal part.

 

steamboats

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davidrw

davidrw

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Maybe (Most likely?) Bavaria Goes in Strike Again on tuesday to thursday..

 

Well if Bavaria is not bothered about it's tourist industry it is going the right way about it.

 

During a number of my town visits, the majority of the groups were from the various ships and at one a guide said that tourism had really expanded since the RMD canal was built.

 

The cruise companies must be suffering financially this year and may well have to look for other itineraries !!

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FinelyRetired

FinelyRetired

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Well if Bavaria is not bothered about it's tourist industry it is going the right way about it.

 

During a number of my town visits, the majority of the groups were from the various ships and at one a guide said that tourism had really expanded since the RMD canal was built.

 

The cruise companies must be suffering financially this year and may well have to look for other itineraries !!

 

No doubt river-based tourism is suffering. But when you think about it, that impact is pretty localized to the populations along those rivers? I'm wondering about shipping? What's the cargo back & forth there? Anybody know? If it's something everybody uses like food or fuel....in a week or two wouldn't prices begin to rise and maybe then the citizens of every surrounding country will be impacted & mightily PO'd?

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G.M.T.

G.M.T.

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No doubt river-based tourism is suffering. But when you think about it, that impact is pretty localized to the populations along those rivers? I'm wondering about shipping? What's the cargo back & forth there? Anybody know? If it's something everybody uses like food or fuel....in a week or two wouldn't prices begin to rise and maybe then the citizens of every surrounding country will be impacted & mightily PO'd?

 

On the Danube all river cargo is bulk e.g. sand, shingle, fuel oil (diesel), cars, chemicals, wheat. There is not and will not be any impact on food supplies as they are all delivered by road, fuel is delivered by pipeline then by road.

 

The cargo boats are badly hit, it costs them about €2000 a day when theyare idle / laid up.

 

Ron

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FinelyRetired

FinelyRetired

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On the Danube all river cargo is bulk e.g. sand, shingle, fuel oil (diesel), cars, chemicals, wheat. There is not and will not be any impact on food supplies as they are all delivered by road, fuel is delivered by pipeline then by road.

 

The cargo boats are badly hit, it costs them about €2000 a day when theyare idle / laid up.

 

Ron

Ron:

 

Thanks for the info. On top of the flood, a most difficult situation for your area. Hope it is resolved soon.

 

Martha

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davidrw

davidrw

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Does anyone know how long the recent strike was.

 

The first strike was from 06:00 on Tuesday 9th to 06:00 on Thursday 11th ( ie 2 days)

 

Was the recent one really 3 days ?

 

Thanks

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ingo_e

ingo_e

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The First week Started on Monday: industrial Canals in NRW. Tuesday Bavaria + iffezheim (?), thursday Koblenz at the moselle. The Southern States Started to work Again on Friday, while NRW kept on Striking Until sunday.

 

This (2nd) week: only Bavaria went back on from tuesday to thursday.

 

Lets See what Happens in two days.. Will Write more when i am back on the Train tonight.. Grandma's Birthday is more important than Verdi :)

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Cruzin Terri

Cruzin Terri

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We are currently on the Tauck MS Treasures. We're on our way to Amsterdam from Budapest. We've been sailing ahead of schedule with some coachingto try to get out of the strike zone and almost made it. Being dropped off in one port and boarding in another. However today we are stuck in Zeil au Main (just past Bamberg). We were bussed to Bamberg this morning and were supposed to board elsewhere but the ship was unable to move due to the strike. Many Viking passengers in Bamberg also. They are stuck in Nuremberg and were bussed from there.

 

Next possible time we may be able to move is 10:00 pm this evening.

 

Terri

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burrma

burrma

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We are currently on the Tauck MS Treasures. We're on our way to Amsterdam from Budapest. We've been sailing ahead of schedule with some coachingto try to get out of the strike zone and almost made it. Being dropped off in one port and boarding in another. However today we are stuck in Zeil au Main (just past Bamberg). We were bussed to Bamberg this morning and were supposed to board elsewhere but the ship was unable to move due to the strike. Many Viking passengers in Bamberg also. They are stuck in Nuremberg and were bussed from there.

 

Next possible time we may be able to move is 10:00 pm this evening.

 

Terri

Appreciated you keeping us posted

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