Danube water levels 2023 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[ColterBay23]

Hello, I am new to this forum and appreciate all of your most helpful information. We are cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest 8/29 and glad to see the water levels

are improving, not just for our cruise but for all who depend on the rivers and water. What are your temps like lately? Hopefully EU is cooling off. 
Thank you 🌻

[notamermaid]

Welcome to Cruisecritic.

31 minutes ago, ColterBay23 said:

What are your temps like lately? Hopefully EU is cooling off. 

It is actually a little on the cool side for July in Germany. No summer heat at all right now.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[Kristelle]

2 hours ago, ColterBay23 said:

Hello, I am new to this forum and appreciate all of your most helpful information. We are cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest 8/29 and glad to see the water levels

are improving, not just for our cruise but for all who depend on the rivers and water. What are your temps like lately? Hopefully EU is cooling off. 
Thank you 🌻

 

Hi there - you are doing same trip as us, Amsterdam to Budapest, we are going about a week after you, starting in Amsterdam on 6th Sept, with Scenic

 

which company are you travelling with?

[ColterBay23]

9 minutes ago, Kristelle said:

 

Hi there - you are doing same trip as us, Amsterdam to Budapest, we are going about a week after you, starting in Amsterdam on 6th Sept, with Scenic

 

which company are you travelling with?

We are going with Viking River Cruise. Have a great trip!

[reeves35]

18 minutes ago, Kristelle said:

 

Hi there - you are doing same trip as us, Amsterdam to Budapest, we are going about a week after you, starting in Amsterdam on 6th Sept, with Scenic

 

which company are you travelling with?

Same cruise itinerary as us too but we are departing Amsterdam on 18/8 with Travelmarvel.

[ColterBay23]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Welcome to Cruisecritic.

It is actually a little on the cool side for July in Germany. No summer heat at all right now.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

Glad it’s been cooler there. Thank you we are excited for this adventure! 

[ColterBay23]

1 hour ago, reeves35 said:

Same cruise itinerary as us too but we are departing Amsterdam on 18/8 with Travelmarvel.

Travelmarvel looks like a really good cruise trip. We’ll look into this in the future. 
I have special situation with my diet, VRC is very helpful here (I’ll tip well). 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Belated welcome to Cruise Critic and the River Cruising Forum, @ColterBay23

 

It hasn't come up in these first few posts, but often it's easier for folks to give tailored answers if you add some hint of where you live in your profile.  Even just the country is helpful, but a state will really help if you ask questions about e.g. airfare.

[notamermaid]

Pfelling gauge at 389cm. Very good.

 

notamermaid

 

[ColterBay23]

On 7/31/2023 at 8:52 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

Belated welcome to Cruise Critic and the River Cruising Forum, @ColterBay23

 

It hasn't come up in these first few posts, but often it's easier for folks to give tailored answers if you add some hint of where you live in your profile.  Even just the country is helpful, but a state will really help if you ask questions about e.g. airfare.

Thank you for the welcome Jazzbeau. For the record I’m in the USA and looking forward to visiting EU soon. 

[rcaruso]

Big thank you to Notamermaid for monitoring river levels.  We just got back from our wonderful Grand European from Budapest to Amsterdam.  Yes, we had to change ships, and a day later the river had recovered and now is fine. No norovirus on the Gefjon or the Ve.  By end of cruise there were a few people with colds, nothing major.  We did have an ambulance show up one day, due to a passenger passing out, but all was good and no one went to hospital. The ride from Passau to Nuremberg was very uneventful--three hours or less with one stop to use the facilities (although bus had emergency toilet).  I did not like going to McDonalds (which was our stop), they did have a McCafe so could get espresso drinks (three bathroom stalls only for women).  I later spoke to program director and McDonalds had free toilets versus another place that charged .70.  We then had lunch on new ship and our rooms were ready.  Easy transition.  We also went from hot in Budapest to rainy and almost coolish for some folks by the end.  Since we live in hot as ____. Texas we enjoyed the cooler weather.  In all we had a great trip and by transferring to the Ve met members of the staff that were on last years cruise, so for us we really felt at home.  The Gefjon had a lovely crew too and Heiner, the hotel manager was delightful.

[notamermaid]

It is August, time to have a look at what the river did at Pfelling:

The river started on a low, too low for some ships. The level struggled to recover and on the 10th dropped to a figure that is very low for this time of year. Shortly after that we see the graph jump and that level back over 300cm created a window of opportunity for all ships to sail the shallow stretch. We have read that at least some ships were able to use this short "high". The level dropped again but not as low as before. Still, again this necessitated ship swaps. A minor rise was very short. Again we see the level fall below the line of RNW at 290cm. This 290cm happens to be the level at which the river cruise ships with the deepest draft start having problems sailing. Heavy rain in the whole catchment area of the Upper Danube in Germany meant that the level at Pfelling recovered very quickly after that. So much so that the rest of the month saw comfortable sailing. Additional rain has helped to keep the level well over 300cm, too and as you can see the graph is showing the level around the long term mean (MW).

 

notamermaid

 

[azcruise]

19 hours ago, notamermaid said:

It is August, time to have a look at what the river did at Pfelling:.

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you @notamermaid. We leave Amsterdam on 10 August, on our way to Budapest on Scenic. This morning we received an email from Scenic saying that due to low water levels in the Upper Danube, we will be getting on the Scenic Jewel in Amsterdam instead of the Jade. Not sure what will happen when we get to the Upper Danube, but will enjoy ourselves no matter!

 

[Falcone63]

Day 9 on the scenic Jade (was supposed to be Jewel - ship swap previous sailing) from Amsterdam to Budapest.  Water levels be very good, no disruptions or changes.  Raining and cool but has been holding off for most of our tours.  Today was the sunniest day in Rengensburg.  More rain and cool days ahead so should minimize disruptions for travellers.  

[Canal archive]

Vessels just got out of position both Jewel & Jade were refurbished in 2019.

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, azcruise said:

Not sure what will happen when we get to the Upper Danube, but will enjoy ourselves no matter!

That's the spirit. The Grand European is an amazing journey. As Canal archive says the ships are out of position, so the last swap was the swap to put the ships on opposite ends of the continent to where they should be and the company did not have to switch them back as the river's levels rose.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Falcone63 said:

Day 9 on the scenic Jade (was supposed to be Jewel - ship swap previous sailing) from Amsterdam to Budapest.

Welcome to Cruisecritic. Thank you for reporting from your cruise. Indeed, the weather is not really summery and unsettled days still lie ahead.

 

Pfelling at 383cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, azcruise said:

we will be getting on the Scenic Jewel in Amsterdam instead of the Jade.

The ships are identical, so you should have the same cabin and everything else should be as you were expecting.

[Kristelle]

8 hours ago, azcruise said:

Thank you @notamermaid. We leave Amsterdam on 10 August, on our way to Budapest on Scenic. This morning we received an email from Scenic saying that due to low water levels in the Upper Danube, we will be getting on the Scenic Jewel in Amsterdam instead of the Jade. Not sure what will happen when we get to the Upper Danube, but will enjoy ourselves no matter!

 

 

 

Scenic Jade is the ship we are booked on for September (unless the reverse happens to us and we end up on Jewel ☺️)  on same trip Amsterdam t o  Budapest.

 

Would love to hear  any feedback along your tip - about the ship, the excursions,the food, anything.

 

 

[notamermaid]

Talking of the Scenic Jade. The fabulous people on Binnenschifferforum have spotted the Jade at Regensburg on the 3rd. Perhaps someone recognizes themselves on the ship: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?63236-Scenic-Jade-KFGS-02335641&p=461058#post461058

 

Pfelling at 367cm.

 

notamermaid

 

[braemar12]

As I very much enjoyed my river cruise in April cruising the Danube between Passau and Budapest, I have taken the plunge and have booked the full Danube cruise on the Amadeus Brilliant which will go from Passau all the way to the Danube Delta and back to Passau. Does anyone have any feedback on must see attractions in Belgrade, Vidin, St Gheorge, Rouse, Svishtov, Novi Sad and Vukovar? Also is it worth going to see Bucharest and Constanta which is offered as an option from one of the Romanian ports?

 

Thanks.

[Daisi]

@braemar12, if you don't mind me making a suggestion, copy & paste your post into a new post. You will probably get a better response, as things can get buried in this thread. Most cruisers checking in here stop in Budapest. 

 

Good luck with your cruise, it sounds interesting.

[CastleCritic]

Glad to see the river getting back to normal

 

 

Edited August 5, 2023 by CastleCritic

[Izengolf]

Braemar12 - I live in Romania and the short answer is Bucharest yes, Constanța no.

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, braemar12 said:

I have taken the plunge and have booked the full Danube cruise on the Amadeus Brilliant which will go from Passau all the way to the Danube Delta and back to Passau.

Great! Passau return is a typical cruise offered on the German market - hence Amadeus doing this. Is that a 14-night cruise?

 

notamermaid