Low Waters Divert Danube and Elbe Cruises

[ewizabeff]

Uniworld posted a very informative, transparent message on their Facebook page today. I'm looking forward to my first cruise with them in September, even if it's affected by water levels.

 

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Currently the water level on the Danube River is low, particularly between Regensburg, Germany and Passau, Germany. This has caused minor sailing delays for the current sailings of the River Ambassador and River Duchess; however, we are pleased that both ships are back on schedule without missing any of their regularly scheduled sightseeing excursions.

 

We also have the River Empress and River Princess in the area, and in order to ensure the continued smooth operation of both those cruise programs, we are going to switch our guests from one ship to the other tomorrow. The ships have the identical stateroom layout, so room assignments will remain the same, and the cruises will then continue as planned. The guests onboard the River Empress and River Princess have been advised of the change.

 

Looking ahead to the July 2 River Empress sailing and the July 5 River Princess sailing, the cruises will begin on the opposite ship and will change back to the original ship mid-cruise. Again, as the stateroom layout is the same there will be no changes to stateroom assignments. We expect the cruises to be able to complete their respective programs in their entirety. We are now beginning the process of contacting everyone on those sailings to advise them of the change of ship.

 

All of our other ships are currently operating normally; however, as water levels can rise and fall rapidly, we are continuing to monitor the situation closely and will post further updates as information becomes available. As always, the safety and security of guests, crew and vessels are our top priorities.

 

Thank you very much to all our guests affected by this situation for your patience and understanding. We truly appreciate it.

[purduemom1]

I wonder how AMA ships are doing. Nothing on their Facebook page or their website. Maybe a rep will check in here and let us know?

[crm911]

I am on Evergreen's Emerald Sky in Bamberg sitting next to APT's AMAVerde, whose pax are packing up. They will stay a night here and tomorrow be bused to Nuremberg and transfer to the AMAbella. The latter's pax will be transferred to the former at the same time. My photo of the AMAVerde below before it docked.

 

 

No announcement from Emerald Sky about our fate. Being a fairly new ship, we hope it has a shallower draft.

Edited June 27, 2014 by crm911
Added image.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Here is the latest news summary posted on Cruise Critic:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5892

 

Updates re Viking, Scenic, Avalon, Uniworld and Riviera. Still no official announcement from AMA or others.

[CPT Trips]

I am on Evergreen's Emerald Sky in Bamberg sitting next to APT's AMAVerde, whose pax are packing up. They will stay a night here and tomorrow be bused to Nuremberg and transfer to the AMAbella. The latter's pax will be transferred to the former at the same time. My photo of the AMAVerde below before it docked.

 

 

No announcement from Emerald Sky about our fate. Being a fairly new ship, we hope it has a shallower draft.

 

Aren't Bamberg and Nuremberg both on the Canal? Low water between the two seems unlikely. Why the pax swap?

[steamboats]

Yes, Bamberg and Nuremberg are both on the canal.

 

Only the Straubing area on the Danube river is affected by the low water. This is a longer stretch with no locks and dams. Politicians, environmentalists and others are debating for decades about how to "tame" the Danube river in that area (or whether at all...).

 

steamboats

[Crochet Queen]

We are currently onboard the AMAVerde with APT, leaving Bamberg a few hours ago and heading to Nuremberg early Saturday morning. We were informed this morning that our excursions in Nuremberg will go ahead as planned, with the exception we will pack tonight & our suitcases will be collected & transferred to the AMABella & be in our cabins when we arrive in Visholvin, late Saturday afternoon.

 

It is anticipated that no further problems will occur & the passengers currently on AMABella will be transferred to our ship at the same time. We have been informed that excursions will continue as usual and we have been booked into a restaurant in Nuremberg for lunch tomorrow, at APT's expense, prior to our transfer.

 

It is unfortunate that this has occurred, however, out of anyone's control & it looks like we will avoid the coach tour/hotel scenario.

 

Looking forward to the next week of river cruising!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[CaroleSS]

Yes, Bamberg and Nuremberg are both on the canal.

 

Only the Straubing area on the Danube river is affected by the low water. This is a longer stretch with no locks and dams. Politicians, environmentalists and others are debating for decades about how to "tame" the Danube river in that area (or whether at all...).

 

steamboats

 

Don't they know you aren't supposed to fool with Mother Nature?!?!?!? <crack of lightning and sound of thunder> :eek:

Edited June 27, 2014 by CaroleSS

[KLRDUKS]

AMA has posted a message on Facebook that none of the ships "they operate" are effected by the low water issues. That probably means that the APT operated AMA boats might be.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

Edited June 27, 2014 by KLRDUKS

[crm911]

Emerald Sky is under way right now on the canal to Nuremberg and the captain and cruise director did a fantastic job explaining the situation and how the draft of our ship can be varied between 1.8 m to 2.1 m with the use of ballast. We had bumped the bottom in some locks earlier, so the captain explained that was owing to the lack of water.

 

Regensburg is going to be the next decision point, but there is some prospect of rain, which is the best news in the circumstances. Fingers crossed.

[purduemom1]

Thanks to CRM911 and Crochet Queen for your updates.

 

I am a bit unclear about the relationship between AMA and APT. I know that APT operates land tours in AU and NZ. Does APT lease the AMA owned ship a and then staff them or is AMA the line of choice for APT offered river cruises with AMA providing all the staff and crew?

[Stratheden]

Thanks to CRM911 and Crochet Queen for your updates.

 

I am a bit unclear about the relationship between AMA and APT. I know that APT operates land tours in AU and NZ. Does APT lease the AMA owned ship a and then staff them or is AMA the line of choice for APT offered river cruises with AMA providing all the staff and crew?

 

This is from the APT Website.

 

Our Fleet of River Ships

 

Through its co-ownership of AmaWaterways, the APT Group has invested in the building of luxury river ships in Europe, taking our fleet to 11 ships in 2013 with the launch of ms AmaVida on Portugal’s Duoro River and the ms AmaPrima on the Rhine/Danube. The fleet also comprises of the ms Amacerto, ms Amaverde, ms Amabella, ms Amalyra, ms Amadolce, ms Amadante, ms Amacello, ms Amalegro and ms Amadagio. With APT, however, it's not just about Europe's newest and most impressive fleet, it's about providing the perfect complement to their ever increasing range of European holidays. This is why APT partner AmaWaterways, the world's foremost Europe river cruise experts. Renowned for their innovative, award-winning ships, personalised service and signature features not found aboard any other cruise line, APT and AmaWaterways offer an array of unparalleled cruise options on the legendary rivers of Europe.

[CPT Trips]

Yes, Bamberg and Nuremberg are both on the canal.

 

Only the Straubing area on the Danube river is affected by the low water. This is a longer stretch with no locks and dams. Politicians, environmentalists and others are debating for decades about how to "tame" the Danube river in that area (or whether at all...).

 

steamboats

 

So maybe the cruise line has reasons other than Canal depth for wanting to make the change. Do the two ships involved have different drafts making one better on the shallow Danube?

Edited June 28, 2014 by CPT Trips

[sippican]

This is from the APT Website.

 

Our Fleet of River Ships

 

Through its co-ownership of AmaWaterways, the APT Group has invested in the building of luxury river ships in Europe, taking our fleet to 11 ships in 2013 with the launch of ms AmaVida on Portugal’s Duoro River and the ms AmaPrima on the Rhine/Danube. The fleet also comprises of the ms Amacerto, ms Amaverde, ms Amabella, ms Amalyra, ms Amadolce, ms Amadante, ms Amacello, ms Amalegro and ms Amadagio. With APT, however, it's not just about Europe's newest and most impressive fleet, it's about providing the perfect complement to their ever increasing range of European holidays. This is why APT partner AmaWaterways, the world's foremost Europe river cruise experts. Renowned for their innovative, award-winning ships, personalised service and signature features not found aboard any other cruise line, APT and AmaWaterways offer an array of unparalleled cruise options on the legendary rivers of Europe.

 

This information is still a bit confusing to me. So is Amawaterways part of the APT group? Somehow I thought APT was a separate entity that operated tours through AMA.

[Stratheden]

This information is still a bit confusing to me. So is Amawaterways part of the APT group? Somehow I thought APT was a separate entity that operated tours through AMA.

 

Sorry I don't know anymore than what I posted from their website.

[Host Jazzbeau]

So maybe the cruise line has reasons other than Canal depth for wanting to make the change. Do the two ships involved have different drafts making one better on the shallow Danube?

 

AMAbella and AMAverdi are sister ships. Same length and width, number of passengers, built 1 year apart. [Draft is never quoted on cruise lines' websites -- maybe after this year they will start adding that info!] That's why they can do the cabin-to-cabin swap.

[Host Jazzbeau]

This information is still a bit confusing to me. So is Amawaterways part of the APT group? Somehow I thought APT was a separate entity that operated tours through AMA.

 

Yes, it seems to be deliberately vague. It does fit with my impression, however, which is that AMA builds and operates the ships and APT charters certain voyages on many of the routes. If you go to the AMA website, for instance, you will notice that the Rhone cruises have many gaps [which must be APT charters] -- at first it seems strange because many of the cruises go from North to South [so how does the ship get back to Lyon??? -- obviously as an APT charter].

[purduemom1]

This information is still a bit confusing to me. So is Amawaterways part of the APT group? Somehow I thought APT was a separate entity that operated tours through AMA.

 

It sounds to me that APT owns part of AMA. Here's another observation. I looked at the 2014 Romantic Danube sailings on the AMA web site. All of them go from Prague (Vilshofen) to Budapest and they don't show any going the reverse. There is also a date gap between cruises. Checking the APT site, their Danube cruises go from Budapest to Vilshofen. I will admit that it is difficult to really fit the dates together as I was unable to find specific dates on APT's site and they have different names for the cruises. I could only go by the starting and ending cities for this year. So maybe that is how these 2 companies share their jointly owned ships?

[purduemom1]

Yes, it seems to be deliberately vague. It does fit with my impression, however, which is that AMA builds and operates the ships and APT charters certain voyages on many of the routes. If you go to the AMA website, for instance, you will notice that the Rhone cruises have many gaps [which must be APT charters] -- at first it seems strange because many of the cruises go from North to South [so how does the ship get back to Lyon??? -- obviously as an APT charter].

 

Host Jazzbeau, I was typing while you were posting but we apparently came to the same conclusion:)

[H2Otstr]

We did the Black Sea voyage with AMA last year and half the ship were people from APT.

[TasKaz]

It sounds to me that APT owns part of AMA. Here's another observation. I looked at the 2014 Romantic Danube sailings on the AMA web site. All of them go from Prague (Vilshofen) to Budapest and they don't show any going the reverse. There is also a date gap between cruises. Checking the APT site, their Danube cruises go from Budapest to Vilshofen. I will admit that it is difficult to really fit the dates together as I was unable to find specific dates on APT's site and they have different names for the cruises. I could only go by the starting and ending cities for this year. So maybe that is how these 2 companies share their jointly owned ships?

 

 

This is also how it appears to me after checking the AMA website against that of APT's for the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise a few weeks ago.Gaps in AMA's dates appear to be those that APT have.

[purduemom1]

We did the Black Sea voyage with AMA last year and half the ship were people from APT.

 

Interesting. I see that the APT river cruises are all inclusive, meaning tips too. Just curious if the included tips extend to local guides or just the ship's screw.

[crm911]

We are approaching Nuremberg and the canal level is about 30-40 cm (1-1.5 ft) lower than the high water line, so it could make the difference for some ships.

[Crochet Queen]

Interesting. I see that the APT river cruises are all inclusive, meaning tips too. Just curious if the included tips extend to local guides or just the ship's screw.

 

Yes purduemom, APT is all inclusive, even local guides. You do not need to spend another cent on their tours. To us that is very important as you know exactly what the trip will cost, excepting of course, the shopping you do at ports :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[steamboats]

So maybe the cruise line has reasons other than Canal depth for wanting to make the change. Do the two ships involved have different drafts making one better on the shallow Danube?

 

A reason I could imagine is that they need to swap ships to get the ships to a certain point and back to their normal schedule (unless they want to mess up the whole year´s schedule).

 

steamboats