Low Waters Divert Danube and Elbe Cruises

[sippican]

Raining cats and dogs in Passau. We arrived 2 1/2 hours later than scheduled due to delay at lock. I would predict that low water on the Danube will not be a problem in the immediate future. Sun dance please :D

[Worldcrzr]

We will be arriving in Passau shortly. No problems with the river levels. I do see some buoys along our route which helps guide us to the deepest waters. It did rain overnight and is forecast for today in Passau. Not raining right now but overcast. We are moving along quite rapidly so our arrival time should be about 9:00 am.

[steamboats]

Bouys are always marking the channel - high, low or regular water level...

 

BTW it´s the same on US rivers. The only difference is: the colors are reverse! For the US rivers it´s "right red return", so red bouys are on the right side going upriver. It´s the other way round on the Danube river (meaning the red ones are on the left side going upriver).

 

steamboats

Edited July 10, 2014 by steamboats

[Worldcrzr]

Bouys are always marking the channel - high, low or regular water level...

 

BTW it´s the same on US rivers. The only difference is: the colors are reverse! For the US rivers it´s "right red return", so red bouys are on the right side going upriver. It´s the other way round on the Danube river (meaning the red ones are on the left side going upriver).

 

steamboats

 

We are on our way now toward Budapest. We had a pleasant rain free day in Passau, attended the organ concert at St Michael's Cathedral and had a wonderful chocolate latte with Bailey's in it. We have seen many different buoys and thought they only showed the route. Thanks for the clarification.

[G.M.T.]

We are on our way now toward Budapest. We had a pleasant rain free day in Passau, attended the organ concert at St Michael's Cathedral and had a wonderful chocolate latte with Bailey's in it.

 

This afternoon we were in the other Passau Cathedral (showing friends around) St. Stephen's Cathedral.;)

[Worldcrzr]

This afternoon we were in the other Passau Cathedral (showing friends around) St. Stephen's Cathedral.;)

 

I apologize for making the mistake of calling your beautiful cathedral by the wrong name. I won't post again on this trip. Another friend on our cruise posted the same error on his Facebook page and in checking, one of our tour documents gave the wrong name so we both apologize.

Edited July 11, 2014 by Worldcrzr

[wwinfl91]

Please continue to post.Everyone makes mistakes and anyone who says they don't is a mistake.

 

We are going to be on a similar cruise later this month and are interested in everyone's experience and especially info about the river conditions.

 

Thanks

[G.M.T.]

I apologize for making the mistake of calling your beautiful cathedral by the wrong name. I won't post again on this trip. Another friend on our cruise posted the same error on his Facebook page and in checking, one of our tour documents gave the wrong name so we both apologize.

 

Please don't stop posting, your experiences are being very helpful for other future cruisers. I just mentioned the name change in case some started looking for it. The main thing is that you saw the church and enjoyed it.

 

Have a great cruise.

[ural guy]

Just completed AMS-Budapest on Viking Jarl Tuesday. We were lucky that we had no major impacts from lack of water, just a reduction in speed at times. Wouldn't have noticed if we hadn't been told. Very lucky on our part.

 

On a general note, the cruise was exceptional. The crew we had was great. Friendly, great work ethic, etc. I really enjoyed talking to them about where they were from, and heard great stories from Slovaks, Serbs, Bulgarians, etc. I purchased a map of the Balkans so they could show me where they grew up, and I could also pick their brains for future independent travel. It helped that my 2 college age daughters were with me...I don't think the crews get too many passengers that are in their age bracket. If you're tied up in Krems, Austria, make sure to try out the playground right next to the dock. It has a great zip line. Watching some of the passengers and crew letting off steam and having fun was great. Wine seemed to enhance the experience.

 

I have only done independant and Uncle Sam sponsered Army deployments previously, so I was leery about being 'trapped' on a ship. My concerns were misplaced, and we were totally spoiled. Expensive, but for a treat it was worth it for us.

[good4us]

We did this cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam and had a 3 day bus cruise followed by 11 days on the ship. Be well aware though, that the top deck on the ship is closed for most of the cruise due to bridges, definitely a big detractor from the experience.

[Tom3nj18]

When did you go on this cruise as current cruise people are experiencing good travel conditions

 

 

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[crm911]

We did this cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam and had a 3 day bus cruise followed by 11 days on the ship. Be well aware though, that the top deck on the ship is closed for most of the cruise due to bridges, definitely a big detractor from the experience.

 

Helps to mention the dates and cruise line, else it serves as a pointer to what can happen to some. We completed AMS-BUD on Evergreen Tours/Emerald Waterways (Emerald Sky) with only 3-4 days without roof access and no bus "cruise". 21 June to 5 July 2014.

[nana541]

Sadly the CC App does not show the Topic line so if you put it there (IMHO a very reasonable place to out it) then those if us on smart phones using CC App do NOT see whatever is in the Topic Line :(

 

Wish CC would fix this annoying issue.

 

 

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[wwinfl91]

Please keep posting info on cruises that are going between Amsterdam and Budapest or the opposite. We are flying over to Prague on 7/22 and boarding the ship in Budapest on 7/26.

 

I'm still not sure which ship. It was originally the Idi but I'm not sure that is still the one we are on.

 

Have a great next cruise.

[gentlemancruiser]

The Elbe is still low, family just returned from thier trip, here's an except from thier email.

 

Had a phone call 11 hours before we left home to say we would be embarking the Viking Schumann at Decin, not Melnik as per schedule. So missed part of the cruise. In total we actually sailed for 15 hours. We changed ships and had to pack our suitcases midweek, out of our cabins by 7.30a.m. and picked up the Theodore Fontane

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for the information. I don't think we are on the Elbe but it might help someone else is getting ready for that trip.

 

Have a better next cruise.

[notamermaid]

The problems with shipping i.e. navigation on the Elbe where up in court yesterday. There is a discussion going on at the moment about what to do with the river. This is called the "Elbe-Ausbau", meaning alterations to the navigation channel with or without locks, etc. Very controversial, especially as regards environmental issues.

 

notamermaid

[steamboats]

Regarding the Elbe river that´s only the stretch from Hamburg to the North Sea (which is already navigable for blue water vessels). The part navigated by the river cruise ships won´t be deepened.

 

steamboats

[wwinfl91]

Got this from Viking today. Evidently they are still trying to get their Longships back into correct positions. Hopefully the low water isn't still a problem.

 

Thank you for choosing Viking Cruises for your upcoming Grand European Tour cruise. We would like to alert you of a necessary change that has been made to your itinerary due to the recent low river level between Regensburg and Passau on the Danube River.

 

Upon arriving in Budapest, you will be welcomed aboard sister ship Viking Skadi, as Viking Lif is currently unable to reach the city in time for departure. Like Viking Lif, Viking Skadi is a new, state-of-the-art Longship, featuring all the same comforts and style as the rest of the Viking Longship fleet. She also has a warm and welcoming staff who will be delighted to have you as our guest.

 

Please accept our apologies for alerting you of these changes so close to your departure date. Our Switzerland-based nautical and operations teams monitor river levels very closely and make changes only if and when no feasible alternative can be found. At this time we do not anticipate any other significant adjustments to your schedule.

 

Hopefully they are right about this being the only adjustment to our schedule.

Edited July 18, 2014 by wwinfl91

[wwinfl91]

Well low water is definitely not a problem on the Danube. We are on Viking Skadi and are docked south of Passau when we should be in Regensburg. Currently the Danube is in flood and we and other river boats can't get under the bridges because the water is too high. They have cleared the top deck, lowered the railing up there and lowered the bridge but we are still too high. We are waiting on an announcement from our cruise director on what they are planning for today.

 

Yesterday we stopped in Linz so some problem with the propellers or the pods could be repaired there. We were then bused 90 minutes to Passau which was where we were supposed have docked. Without that delay we would have at least been docked somewhere further north and west and would have additional tour options.

 

So far I'm not impressed with Viking's communication skills as information seems to be closely guarded and only after asking questions to a variety of ship's personnel are you able to find out what is going on.

 

Wish us luck oft today and the rest of the cruise.

 

 

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[annabell.4006]

hi I have just retuned from a 23 day trip on the Viking Aegir "European Sojourn" the ship which either ran aground, the cooling system sucked up something, the electrics failed, it was mechanical, it was computer etc etc..

Yes you are right Viking never can tell the truth.

Lots of talk about making plans , but they never come out and say ladies and gents this is the problem.

Hopefully you will have a much better experience than what we had on our trip.