Danube water levels 2018 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[shwonline]

3 hours ago, shwonline said:

Amalea has sailed past Esztergom. Amaviola is sailing the other direction from Budapest and is approaching Vac. Keep hope alive!

 

Amalea made it to Budapest, and Amaviola is now past Esztergom going the other direction. I have no idea if they have passengers, but this is a hopeful sign.

[pully8]

Sounds promising indeed. 

[jklc123]

Just received our documents for the Uniworld "Enchanting Christmas and New Year's Cruise," Passau to Budapest. No notification of possible problems due to low water, but a bit early as yet to know for sure, of course. There are some changes from the brochure itinerary, including the addition of "Christmas Market in the Quarry" as a choice in Passau, as well as previously advertised Romantic Bavarian Winter-walk," both for an additional charge (we will chose one as we have OBC.) Anyone familiar with either of these? In Vienna, added city tour with visit to Musikverein. In Budapest, choice of Parliament House visit instead of Opera House visit. An optional excursion to Etyek for champagne tasting has been eliminated. Along with everyone else on this forum, we're watching the water levels and cold weather. And getting very excited!

[G.M.T.]

5 hours ago, jklc123 said:

Just received our documents for the Uniworld "Enchanting Christmas and New Year's Cruise," Passau to Budapest. No notification of possible problems due to low water, but a bit early as yet to know for sure, of course. There are some changes from the brochure itinerary, including the addition of "Christmas Market in the Quarry" as a choice in Passau, as well as previously advertised Romantic Bavarian Winter-walk," both for an additional charge (we will chose one as we have OBC.) Anyone familiar with either of these? In Vienna, added city tour with visit to Musikverein. In Budapest, choice of Parliament House visit instead of Opera House visit. An optional excursion to Etyek for champagne tasting has been eliminated. Along with everyone else on this forum, we're watching the water levels and cold weather. And getting very excited!

I know of two Christmas Markets in a quarry in the near from Passau.

 

The first one is in a museum based on a former granit quarry in Hauzenberg, open every weekend in the Advent season, Thurday to Donnerstag. Can recommend it, we go every year:

 

https://granitzentrum.de/granitweihnacht/impressionen/

 

https://granitzentrum.de/fileadmin/user_upload/03_granitweihnacht/Bilder_Artikel/Flyer_Granitweihnacht_2018.pdf

 

The other market is in Büchlberg, but this is only open 7th. - 9th. December.

 

http://www.weihnachtsmarkt-deutschland.de/buechlberg-steinbruch-weihnachtsmarkt.html

 

Both Christmas Mayrkets are about 40 minutes north of Passau.

 

The Romantic Bavarian Winter-walk, could mean anything, I've no idea.

 

The Market in Hauzenberg:

 

[G.M.T.]

The river levels are low again, nothing moving between Passau and Regensburg.

 

Snowed overnight, nice background for our village Christmas Market this afternoon.

 

The outlook is very bright, not sunny but for the Danube levels. Sunday evening through to Wednesday morning, heavy rain fall is forecasted, then light to moderate rainfall until next Sunday. If this does happen I would say from late Tuesday the river should be passable and with the follow up rain the river levels should be maintained at a level for ships to pass the Danube shallow.

 

I hope this "Christmas Present" is delivered this time.

 

I'll have my first glühwein this afternoon, I'll toast all river cruisers that they have at least a handsbreadth of water under the keel.

[seahags]

28 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

The river levels are low again, nothing moving between Passau and Regensburg.

 

Snowed overnight, nice background for our village Christmas Market this afternoon.

 

The outlook is very bright, not sunny but for the Danube levels. Sunday evening through to Wednesday morning, heavy rain fall is forecasted, then light to moderate rainfall until next Sunday. If this does happen I would say from late Tuesday the river should be passable and with the follow up rain the river levels should be maintained at a level for ships to pass the Danube shallow.

 

I hope this "Christmas Present" is delivered this time.

 

I'll have my first glühwein this afternoon, I'll toast all river cruisers that they have at least a handsbreadth of water under the keel.

G.M.T. you are the best!  We SO appreciate all of your banter and real-time information.  We leave the US in about ten days, but don't sail the S.S. Beatrice until 22/12 from Nuremberg to Budapest.  We see much rain forecast, but like your comments on the long range forecast for the Danube, ours here in Delaware, US aren't too reliable either!  At any rate, very happy to see your comments...keep 'em coming, and enjoy that first gluhwein (sorry I don't have an umlaut)!🎄

 

eileen

[Luvwillow]

1 hour ago, G.M.T. said:

The river levels are low again, nothing moving between Passau and Regensburg.

 

Snowed overnight, nice background for our village Christmas Market this afternoon.

 

The outlook is very bright, not sunny but for the Danube levels. Sunday evening through to Wednesday morning, heavy rain fall is forecasted, then light to moderate rainfall until next Sunday. If this does happen I would say from late Tuesday the river should be passable and with the follow up rain the river levels should be maintained at a level for ships to pass the Danube shallow.

 

I hope this "Christmas Present" is delivered this time.

 

I'll have my first glühwein this afternoon, I'll toast all river cruisers that they have at least a handsbreadth of water under the keel.

Thank you for your reports. It has given me hope that we may actually have a cruise. We leave for Nuremberg on December 7th to board the Tauck MS Savor on the  9th for a 7 day cruise to Vienna. I have been following this forum for several weeks wondering if one of my dream river cruises would occur. Looks good right now.  I am staying positive!

 

 

 

 

[JAG64]

On 11/28/2018 at 4:35 AM, peregrino said:

 

Hi JAG64, we are on the "cruise" after yours, supposedly from Amsterdam to Budapest. 

We expect that we will get the mirror image of what happens to your cruise, unless it suddenly and unexpectedly "buckets down" in the headwaters of the Rhine.  BIG buckets!!!

Do you know if you will see Cologne or the Rhine Gorge at all?  If the water levels rise, will they change the back-end of your trip to include the Moselle, for example?

Thanks in advance for any info that you can provide.

Hi Peregrino, 

currently in the small fishing village of Brunisse and heading to Ghent tomorrow. We are doing an 11 night cruise from Amsterdam to Amsterdam after one night at Kempinski in Budapest, train to Vienna and two nights there and then flight to Amsterdam. We do a 90 minute bus trip to Cologne around 6/12 for the day but no cruising other than this trip. It’s not bad but no Magnificent Europe. AMA Venita beautiful boat and staff and food excellent. Unfortunately, for me, nothing like I would have had I’m sure and remain disappointed. Making the most of it!

Edited December 1, 2018 by JAG64

[pully8]

JAG64 thanks for reporting back on your APT/AMA cruise. yes we agree the on board APT/AMA experience is a good one. The train trip sounded long and much of it was in the dark because of the shorter hours of daylight.

How were the meals in the hotel stays managed? 

We are still waiting for information about our cruise, our TA said we might know soon but APT could not be clear about when.

We really do not want a 11 day cruise around the Netherlands/Belgium in mid winter, we have done that a few times in spring and enjoyed it to see the gardens, tulips, Bruges and other pretty places.

Just have to wait for what they might offer. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. 

[JAG64]

2 hours ago, pully8 said:

JAG64 thanks for reporting back on your APT/AMA cruise. yes we agree the on board APT/AMA experience is a good one. The train trip sounded long and much of it was in the dark because of the shorter hours of daylight.

How were the meals in the hotel stays managed? 

We are still waiting for information about our cruise, our TA said we might know soon but APT could not be clear about when.

We really do not want a 11 day cruise around the Netherlands/Belgium in mid winter, we have done that a few times in spring and enjoyed it to see the gardens, tulips, Bruges and other pretty places.

Just have to wait for what they might offer. Enjoy the rest of your cruise. 

Hi pully8

we had dinner on a river cruise on our one night in Budapest and buffet breakfast the next morning. Buffet dinner in Vienna after train trip there, buffet breakfast and money given back to get your own lunch and then dinner at a restaurant with apt and then onto concert at city palace. Organised well. Yes, certainly not my ideal cruise at all but trying to make the best of it but probably better than busing along the Danube. It is certainly cold, rainy and windy but I’m sure Magnificent Europe would have possibly had the same weather but much more appeal. Hope you get positive news. 

[steverhodes]

6 hours ago, G.M.T. said:

The river levels are low again, nothing moving between Passau and Regensburg.

 

Snowed overnight, nice background for our village Christmas Market this afternoon.

 

The outlook is very bright, not sunny but for the Danube levels. Sunday evening through to Wednesday morning, heavy rain fall is forecasted, then light to moderate rainfall until next Sunday. If this does happen I would say from late Tuesday the river should be passable and with the follow up rain the river levels should be maintained at a level for ships to pass the Danube shallow.

 

I hope this "Christmas Present" is delivered this time.

 

I'll have my first glühwein this afternoon, I'll toast all river cruisers that they have at least a handsbreadth of water under the keel.

We are going Passau to Budapest starting this coming Wed, Dec. 5. Right now the part from Vienna to Budapest is not passable. And guess if it will be on December 10?

[quesam]

5 hours ago, Luvwillow said:

 

 

5 hours ago, Luvwillow said:

Thank you for your reports. It has given me hope that we may actually have a cruise. We leave for Nuremberg on December 7th to board the Tauck MS Savor on the  9th for a 7 day cruise to Vienna. I have been following this forum for several weeks wondering if one of my dream river cruises would occur. Looks good right now.  I am staying positive!

 

 

 

 

Luvwillow we seem to be the only ones on CC sailing with Tauck. Have you heard anything from Tauck?  I’m leaving on the 4th for Frankfurt then on to Rothenburg arriving in Nuremburg on the 7th. Hopefully by then we will know what is happening. I've been praying for raining for the past two months. Maybe my prayers will be answered. Thanks GMT for your reports it’s been great having a front seat perspective to the river level.

Edited December 1, 2018 by quesam
Duplicate entry

[Luvwillow]

Suzy, Yesterday I received an email from my TA with a letter from Tauck attached. They wrote about the same as is on the Travel Alert on their website. Apologized for not able to give more information but looked forward to welcoming us on the cruise. 

I have been tracking the two riverboats. The MS Joy is in Nuremberg now and the MS Savor, my boat, is past Linz and heading to Vienna last time I checked earlier this morning. Sunday December 2nd starts the Christmas cruises from both cities. I will be watching how they progress. I am sure Tauck will notify my TA with any major changes to my trip. I am staying positive that we will enjoy a wonderful time.

Diane

[G.M.T.]

8 hours ago, seahags said:

G.M.T. you are the best!  We SO appreciate all of your banter and real-time information.  We leave the US in about ten days, but don't sail the S.S. Beatrice until 22/12 from Nuremberg to Budapest.  We see much rain forecast, but like your comments on the long range forecast for the Danube, ours here in Delaware, US aren't too reliable either!  At any rate, very happy to see your comments...keep 'em coming, and enjoy that first gluhwein (sorry I don't have an umlaut)!🎄

 

eileen

Eileen, thank you for the kind words.

 

I had an umlaut, but had it removed, hoping the same for dear MiL.

 

PS. If you don't have an umlaut, just shove an "e" in as in gluehwein.

Edited December 1, 2018 by G.M.T.

[G.M.T.]

7 hours ago, Luvwillow said:

Thank you for your reports. It has given me hope that we may actually have a cruise. We leave for Nuremberg on December 7th to board the Tauck MS Savor on the  9th for a 7 day cruise to Vienna. I have been following this forum for several weeks wondering if one of my dream river cruises would occur. Looks good right now.  I am staying positive!

 

 

 

 

The worst thing that could happen is that you could be bused from Nuremberg to Passau, 2.5 hour drive. Passau to Vienna should not be any problem, it is also the most scenic section of the Danube.

 

Whatever happens have a great cruise.

[G.M.T.]

2 hours ago, steverhodes said:

We are going Passau to Budapest starting this coming Wed, Dec. 5. Right now the part from Vienna to Budapest is not passable. And guess if it will be on December 10?

Wednesday 5th. looks good (if the floods arrive as promised) you could probably surf all the way.

 

Even if the rain is not enough to alleviate the situation near Budapest, it should be enough to get within 1 hour drive of Budapest.

[jklc123]

Danke , G.M.T.  Very helpful.

[quesam]

7 hours ago, Luvwillow said:

Suzy, Yesterday I received an email from my TA with a letter from Tauck attached. They wrote about the same as is on the Travel Alert on their website. Apologized for not able to give more information but looked forward to welcoming us on the cruise. 

I have been tracking the two riverboats. The MS Joy is in Nuremberg now and the MS Savor, my boat, is past Linz and heading to Vienna last time I checked earlier this morning. Sunday December 2nd starts the Christmas cruises from both cities. I will be watching how they progress. I am sure Tauck will notify my TA with any major changes to my trip. I am staying positive that we will enjoy a wonderful time.

Diane

Looking forward to meeting you. We are staying at the Sheraton by the rail station for 2 days prior to boarding the Savor or Joy depending on whichever one in in Nuremburg. I’m hoping it rains until the the 7th then stops. I’m having enough problems trying to figure out what to pack without having to throw a raincoat into the mix.  Safe travels. 

Susy

[steamboats]

Those WGs on the radio said something about rain all morning.... Hmm, looking out of my window I can see that the street is a little wet but no real rain. It´s supposed to be rainy tomorrow too.

 

But so far I can´t see the amount of rain which is needed to get the rivers constantly up again.

 

steamboats

[bubbulz]

On 12/1/2018 at 5:38 PM, steverhodes said:

We are going Passau to Budapest starting this coming Wed, Dec. 5. Right now the part from Vienna to Budapest is not passable. And guess if it will be on December 10?

 

I'm certainly no expert, but we've been in Budapest since the middle of last week and are now in Vienna on the SS Maria Theresa. Temps are pretty consistently at freezing or below, so even if there is precipitation it is not likely to be in the form of any amount of measurable rain. Between Passau and Vienna should be fine, but my 'guess' is that you'll be looking at land transit to Budapest.

[steverhodes]

51 minutes ago, bubbulz said:

 

I'm certainly no expert, but we've been in Budapest since the middle of last week and are now in Vienna on the SS Maria Theresa. Temps are pretty consistently at freezing or below, so even if there is precipitation it is not likely to be in the form of any amount of measurable rain. Between Passau and Vienna should be fine, but my 'guess' is that you'll be looking at land transit to Budapest.

We actually hope we will be bussed from Vienna to Budapest since that adds an addition day in Vienna. 

[G.M.T.]

Guess what, it is raining as predicted. The Danube levels are rising, we will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, but it is looking good.

 

Rain, on and off forecatsed until next weekend.

 

First glühwein (white) is probably well on it's way to the Black Sea, hopefully helping the situation around Budapest.

[seahags]

8 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

Guess what, it is raining as predicted. The Danube levels are rising, we will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, but it is looking good.

 

Rain, on and off forecatsed until next weekend.

 

First glühwein (white) is probably well on it's way to the Black Sea, hopefully helping the situation around Budapest.

WONDERFUL NEWS...we might actually make it from Vienna to Budapest!  Keep that gluhwein flowing!!!🎄🍷

[quesam]

47 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

Guess what, it is raining as predicted. The Danube levels are rising, we will have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, but it is looking good.

 

Rain, on and off forecatsed until next weekend.

 

First glühwein (white) is probably well on it's way to the Black Sea, hopefully helping the situation around Budapest.

Thank you for making my day. Leaving Tuesday for Frankfurt then on Saturday board MS Savor in Nuremburg. 

[Bizmark'sMom]

What fantastic news!  Leaving tomorrow for Vienna, and boarding on the 7th for the cruise to Nuremberg.