Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics

[nickbevoz]

5 hours ago, hbr777 said:

Letter from AmaWaterways about our 12/3 sailing Basel to Amsterdam. Option B is essentially a bus tour through the low countries. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. From an email, Ama said some of that might be on a train.

 

hbr777

 

Thanks for posting....

 

We are doing the exact same cruise two weeks after you.

 

i would love to contact you directly so we could get info and tips as you take the trip we will be doing.  It seems the private message option is not working here.  If you are ok to do so, my email is....

 

my username - add a “b” between the first “n” and “s” @gmail.com

Edited November 19, 2018 by nstarrenburg

[Philandher]

9 hours ago, Olivera said:

Hi departing from Zurich. Have you had any update re cruise ?

We sail from Basel on the Opal on 12th December, I'm waiting for a realistic reply from our TA & Scenic.

[notamermaid]

Yesterday's conversation concerning the Amadeus Silver, where she is now and if she will be there for the cruise, has reminded me of an article in German about river cruise ships' docking situation in this time of crisis. The Amadeus Silver is resting in a harbour outside of Frankfurt, by the way. And that is exactly the thing. Where do you put all the ships that are not needed or cannot sail? Docking sites cost money. Well, apparently not all of them. I cannot speak for the winter months in harbours, that is a different situation but, during the season where do you go, if you have a week or so till your next cruise? One option is a town called Offenbach on the Main. River cruise companies prefer that place to Frankfurt as Offenbach does not cost anything compared to Frankfurt. Ships have facilities there for maintance and get the odd "lick of paint" and a good clean to get them ready for the Christmas market cruises.

 

The suburb of Rauental on the Moselle, belonging to Koblenz, is currently used by the River Voyager, a spot where ships have been put temporarily while awaiting their next itinerary before. Some ships might even be in their winter harbour already. On marinetraffic have a look at Cologne Niehl harbour (North of Cologne) where you can see many blue dots. I suspect some of those ships will not go on a Christmas market cruise.

 

Catching up with a few posts:

 

gadugger,

good to read you made it to your ship in time. It was a bit of a mental marathon for you... Time to sit back and relax. Have a great cruise.

 

Mark_T,

thank you for keeping us informed from your cruise and the photos. A minor change for you again, but it sounds like a good one. Enjoy dinner tonight at Namedy castle. Nice that they took you to Drachenfels castle. Up on that hill, or rather looking up at that hill, is where it all started in earnest. The "pop star" of Romantic literature George Lord Byron and his verse on the castl'd crag of Drachenfels where the dawn of Rhine travels and "mass tourism" in Europe. Drachenfels castle is an old ruin but the attraction these days is also the late 19th century castle building: https://www.schloss-drachenburg.de/index.php/en/

 

jazzbeau,

the regulations cited do indeed only apply to EU citizens. We are fortunate in having had courts that ruled favourably in the past about missed attractions on holidays. In these times of low water, although non of it is due to any fault of the river cruise companies, there is a kind of "obligation" to provide the holiday and if they cannot deliver the product, many passengers depending on context and severity of the disruption are entitled to receive money back. But I cannot go into details.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited November 19, 2018 by notamermaid
added info

[notamermaid]

Onto river levels. Things are getting just that little bit worse on the Rhine. While it has snowed a bit in Passau and other parts of Bavaria, the Rhine valley has been drier today so far. A bit of rain and the odd snowflake will make it to the valley. But very little and scattered. Nothing to speak of really, yet. It is cold.

 

The levels have dropped a bit again, as forecast. Maxau 318cm, Kaub 29cm, Koblenz 31cm. For the next few days, a slight further drop is possible, but overall stagnation is in the forecast. The rain/snow that is forecast for this week is not reflected in the graph yet. It will reach, if at all, Kaub after Wednesday. Rain in the catchment area will become more on Friday. The precipitation forecast for Saturday is looking a bit more promising, with Sunday also looking like a good day. Bear in mind this is all bit of a drop in the ocean - okay, three drops - but better than none at all. And I think I am now ready for a bit of snow.

 

With the situation as it presents itself at the moment one does not need a Crystal ball to see that the problems will stay with us into the Christmas market cruises. The question is just how much of a problem will it still be?

 

A previous poster has mentioned that on their cruise it was said that the Rhine needs two months of rain to get the situation back to normal. I dare not say that is right or wrong. It seems a little bit of a pessimistic view to me, but then, I am not a captain and what is meant with "normal"? 100cm at Kaub is still not normal, especially for barge cruising regarded as too low economically speaking and below of what we normally have in November/December. For river cruisers 70cm is very low for ships but can be enough for some 135m ships and sailing the itinerary as intended. I hope we will get there soon. (Sad look on my face, frustration, child stamping her feet crying "I want" etc. - computer geeks should try and create an emoji for that).

 

notamermaid

 

[dalekwho]

12 hours ago, sjde said:

I still don't have specifics on what is happening with our cruise early next week but we did receive clarification of their policy in an email sent to us-

 

"We do not give full or partial refunds for cancellations due to water-levels or other bad weather issues. Realize that there would be no river cruises in Europe if at every turn the cruise line gave a full refund if guests were not able to sail their purchased itinerary at the last minute or desired to cancel due to possible sailing or weather issues. 

 

As a company we have a fiscal responsibility to our employees and contractors that we cannot just send home or cancel a ship’s sailing at the last minute nor can we sustain a business model of handing out refunds for things out of our control. 

 

Again, this type of risk (6 - 10% chance) is not for everyone and if you would like to avoid the risk, we recommend guests purchasing “Cancel For Any Reason” insurance coverage (noting standard Travel Insurance does not cover low or high water-level issues). "

 

Well we did purchase trip insurance but not Cancel for any Reason!

 

I wonder if the business model includes losing customers for good, and their families, friends and neighbors and people they talk to, text or message.

 

Oh well, not a good situation for anyone (except maybe tour buses and docks in Belgium :)).

[notamermaid]

14 minutes ago, dalekwho said:

 

I wonder if the business model includes losing customers for good, and their families, friends and neighbors and people they talk to, text or message.

 

Oh well, not a good situation for anyone (except maybe tour buses and docks in Belgium :)).

 

Excursion boats are making the odd euro or two, as well. I mean those that are chartered to take cruisers through the Rhine gorge.

 

I was a bit shocked by the tone of that email, dalekwho. While they are entitled to their opinion and business model, I regard neither tone nor message as appropriate. The company is certainly fortunate not to fall under EU regulations.

 

notamermaid

 

[peasmith]

Have been following the updates over the past week or so and keeping an eye on Viking's website.  We are joining the Mani on the 14th December in Amsterdam and hope by then that either snow fall or rain improves the Rhine.  We have done ten river cruises with Viking and all those cruises have gone ahead as planned so up until now have been very lucky - fingers crossed it won't be our first ship swap cruise.

[hbr777]

13 hours ago, katz said:

When did you receive yours?  I see that you live in NC.  We are up the road in VA. I talked to AMA over two weeks ago.  The rep said the docs would be mailed at the end of that week.  I talked to another rep yesterday, she didn’t have a clue when we would get them.  She said they might come in an email. She said just show up and not to worry about it.  Gee, thanks for the advice!!

 

We leave next Monday for a few days in Frankfurt, then the precruise. I am getting nervous!!

 

I just checked the forecasts and there is some rain in the future.  Fingers crossed!!

Yes, I got them on Sunday. They have all the original excursions listed, which we KNOW will not happen. 

[hbr777]

8 hours ago, nstarrenburg said:

hbr777

 

Thanks for posting....

 

We are doing the exact same cruise two weeks after you.

 

i would love to contact you directly so we could get info and tips as you take the trip we will be doing.  It seems the private message option is not working here.  If you are ok to do so, my email is....

 

my username - add a “b” between the first “n” and “s” @gmail.com

I sent you an email.

[katz]

Thank you for your reply.  I received our documents, by email, this morning.

Now, I just need to get through Thanksgiving and stress over water levels😀😢

See you on board. 

[hbr777]

11 minutes ago, katz said:

Thank you for your reply.  I received our documents, by email, this morning.

Now, I just need to get through Thanksgiving and stress over water levels😀😢

See you on board. 

See you on board! I am preparing for the worst, which would be cruising the short distance from Basel to Strasbourg. Being docked in Strasbourg for 3 days and doing day trips.  At least Strasbourg is wonderful, with really nice towns around it.  Then being bussed to meet another skip and then sailing through the boring Netherlands and Belgium (Amsterdam, Gouda, Ultrecht, and Antwerp), skipping the Rhine along the pretty part (sad face). Ending up in Amsterdam. This is my worst case scenario lol.

[jo-b]

26 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

See you on board! I am preparing for the worst, which would be cruising the short distance from Basel to Strasbourg. Being docked in Strasbourg for 3 days and doing day trips.  At least Strasbourg is wonderful, with really nice towns around it.  Then being bussed to meet another skip and then sailing through the boring Netherlands and Belgium (Amsterdam, Gouda, Ultrecht, and Antwerp), skipping the Rhine along the pretty part (sad face). Ending up in Amsterdam. This is my worst case scenario lol.

 

Be fair, they may not be moving far at the moment but they are smarter than a skip 

 

and let me be a warning to you, we came back from our cruise on 8 October and I am still reading this thread every day!! 

 

Enjoy your adventure. 

[Valley Girl of VA]

This is what AMA is telling me today (in response to an email) for my cruise on 12/8 Basel to Amsterdam

 

First off, I would like to say that I understand and appreciate your concern. This is not something we are used to, and we are doing our best to manage each sailing. 

As for itinerary, we do not have something set in place yet for your embarkation, but what we have been doing so far with these low water sailings is either a cruise that is round-trip Amsterdam, or Dusseldorf to Amsterdam.  You should be cruising for at least six nights, with one potential hotel night to get you from Basel to the port. We will do our best to stick to the original itinerary, but it is quite difficult with these low waters. As for compensation, that is determined post-cruise, or possibly when your travel agent receives the change letter.

 

Please keep in mind that we don’t have definite answers until about 3-4 days prior to sailing, when the port authorities let us know when and where we can sail.

[Mark_T]

Our amazing journey continues. 

 

Some of you may recognise the photo below for everyone else we are of course at Namedy enjoying the gracious hospitality of Princess Heidi. 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2018 by Mark_T

[Mark_T]

Forgot to mention, it was confirmed this evening that we will be attending the boys choir event in Vienna and using the Imperator train for the transfer from Vienna to Budapest. Also we have an evening dinner cruise in Budapest. 

 

APT have really delivered for us in very difficult circumstances. 

[sjde]

My worst case scenario is that we won’t even be on the ship at  all -that it’ll be all bus and hotel or be cancelled. 

[nickbevoz]

3 hours ago, hbr777 said:

I sent you an email.

Has not arrived yet....

 

send it to the following?

 

nbstarrenburg

AT

gmail.com

[hbr777]

35 minutes ago, nstarrenburg said:

Has not arrived yet....

 

send it to the following?

 

nbstarrenburg

AT

gmail.com

Yup. That's what I sent. I just resent it. Let me know if you don't get it.

[nickbevoz]

18 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

Yup. That's what I sent. I just resent it. Let me know if you don't get it.

Nothing yet....

 

I did get one from Jane S sailing on 8 December but I assume that is not you.

 

nick

[Valley Girl of VA]

1 hour ago, nstarrenburg said:

Nothing yet....

 

I did get one from Jane S sailing on 8 December but I assume that is not you.

 

nick

Nope, that was me - not her!

 

[pully8]

4 hours ago, Mark_T said:

Forgot to mention, it was confirmed this evening that we will be attending the boys choir event in Vienna and using the Imperator train for the transfer from Vienna to Budapest. Also we have an evening dinner cruise in Budapest. 

 

APT have really delivered for us in very difficult circumstances. 

Thanks for the update. Have they told which hotels in Vienna and Budapest?

[Intlxpatr]

20 hours ago, Tfaith said:

I was told there will be no changes to our original stops, just the method we get to them may require some extra bussing! I promise to leave our cabin in great shape for you!! 

We heard from Tauck today, actually my husband called and they were in the process of calling clients. They assured us that all the destinations on the original itinerary will be covered, so that concern is allayed. There will be some coach travel (sigh) but we also like that Tauck will take care of all the transfer of luggage and that our crews will come with us (like cruise director, I am guessing) which provides some nice continuity. All nights will be on board. We DO know our cabin number :-) and will be sure to leave it immaculate for you :-) Again, thank you for your original post.

[Tfaith]

So so relieved to have the information confirmed!! We leave Wednesday to spend time with friends in Zurich so that would be why we were contacted sooner.  308 will also be immaculate! And thank you again for the feedback!! We are a family of 8 celebrating our daughters beating cancer. Twice. Much to celebrate! Safe travels and enjoy whatever happens! 

[hbr777]

4 hours ago, nstarrenburg said:

Nothing yet....

 

I did get one from Jane S sailing on 8 December but I assume that is not you.

 

nick

I just resent it. Check your spam, Nick?

[deMila]

22 hours ago, katz said:

When did you receive yours?  I see that you live in NC.  We are up the road in VA. I talked to AMA over two weeks ago.  The rep said the docs would be mailed at the end of that week.  I talked to another rep yesterday, she didn’t have a clue when we would get them.  She said they might come in an email. She said just show up and not to worry about it.  Gee, thanks for the advice!!

 

We leave next Monday for a few days in Frankfurt, then the precruise. I am getting nervous!!

 

I just checked the forecasts and there is some rain in the future.  Fingers crossed!!