Danube water levels 2024 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[brian1]

25 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Ouch Brian 1 hope all goes well fingers double crossed.

Thanks,let's see how TUI react to the decision to gamble,carry on and get stranded.AFAIK no other boat is in this predicament.The financial incentive to get to Frankfurt by friday to pick up the next cruise may have something to do with it.Do the resident experts here think the levels will go down to allow this.

[Canal archive]

Wha hay what a choice go for it or not? Exciting maybe if you’re up to it! Do keep us in the loop. Our Captain once asked the passengers do they follow him or stay put, we all to a man & woman said follow him okay a few low water scrapes overnight but nothing serious. It was a case of working barge - us - working barge overnight these guys certainly know what their vessels are capable of. They’ve got their qualifications for a reason.

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, brian1 said:

Just had news we are evacuating TUI Isla today by emergency ribs and being bussed to Munich airport.Out of sight out of mind,lol.

Take care and honestly, it is better that you be will off the ship and out of the area. People have been urged not to travel to most of Bavaria. Munich has a much reduced train service, etc.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, brian1 said:

The financial incentive to get to Frankfurt by friday to pick up the next cruise may have something to do with it.Do the resident experts here think the levels will go down to allow this.

Not sure, I would have to speculate, but it is a long way to Frankfurt in a slow vessel...

 

notamermaid

 

[steamboats]

3 hours ago, brian1 said:

Just had news we are evacuating TUI Isla today by emergency ribs and being bussed to Munich airport.Out of sight out of mind,lol.

 

You´ve booked a river cruise. Now you get an expedition cruise ;-).

 

As @notamermaid said we do have limited train service in Munich. The tracks to Nuremberg are sort of flooded and trains are currently rerouted via Regensburg. The tracks to Stuttgart are blocked as well as to Switzerland. Even the Autobahn to Nuremberg is closed for 50 km due to flooding.

 

Deggendorf is close to A92 which is going directly to Munich airport. So you should be fine regarding this.

 

I´d say it might be possible to get the boat to Frankfurt by Friday. The Danube river is supposed to crest by Tuesday. But then it´s still a matter of how fast the water will drop. And even with no stops it´s more a 3 day trip from Deggendorf to Frankfurt maybe longer. The Canal and the Main river are fine. But I´d say it´s a pretty close call...

 

steamboats 

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, steamboats said:

You´ve booked a river cruise. Now you get an expedition cruise ;-).

And they have made the headlines! "Frankenpost" says that a river cruise ship is being evacuated at Deggendorf: https://www.frankenpost.de/inhalt.unwetter-passagierschiff-auf-der-donau-evakuiert.3ff50bc5-fda1-476b-9a71-40fbb910af9e.html

 

Speaking of money: Depending on how many emergency services are involved (it says boats in the article) this will cost TUI more than a dinner's worth for all the passengers. And one wonders what insurance agencies may make of it. Just saying...

 

Deggendorf is now in a state of emergency, so best to be out of there as soon as possible.

 

 

Flood warning level 4, gauge at 697cm and rising.

 

From Kelheim to Vilshofen all gauges are on level 4. The Isar at Plattling briefly scraped level 4 yesterday.

 

 

Passau gauge is on level 3, 834cm and rising.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Canal archive]

This is a really difficult situation and needs expertise to sort it. How many on the rivers have been here! Fingers crossed and hope that their training covers all eventualities. Cool heads are definitely required.  Water and panic definitely do not mix. Although all of the maritime crews I’ve been involved with in various places across the world I would bet my life on.

[Izengolf]

YorkieBoy72, this turned into the trip of a lifetime but I sincerely hope TUI make it right for all the passengers on your cruise.

[Yorkieboy1972]

24 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

YorkieBoy72, this turned into the trip of a lifetime but I sincerely hope TUI make it right for all the passengers on your cruise.

TUI certainly have lot to answer for. They had to evacuate a ship at speed yet found the time to cover the TUI signs and names on the ship.

[Chewbecca]

Will they take all your luggage off on the ribs too or just people? What a nightmare. 

 

Here in Linz on the Avalon View, we thought we were staying put but now have to move downriver because the tow path that we exit the ship onto is expected to flood overnight. The ship staff appear to be handling things admirably. 

[free101girl]

4 minutes ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

TUI certainly have lot to answer for. They had to evacuate a ship at speed yet found the time to cover the TUI signs and names on the ship.

Unbelievable. Certainly TUI won’t be on my list for any future holidays. Best wishes to the passengers on that ill-fated sailing!

 

We are on Uniworld River Duchess, docked in Vienna indefinitely. We were originally scheduled to be in Krems today, Passau on Tuesday and Regensburg on Wednesday, ending in Nuremberg on Friday.

 

I must say, if we have to be stuck somewhere, Vienna is a lovely option, and I am not upset at all about spending more time here. My only minor quandry is rearranging our transfer to Prague on Friday, as no one is sure where this cruise will end, and we did not book Uniworld’s post-cruise package. We had booked a private car transfer from Nuremberg to Prague, which I cancelled yesterday, as it’s fairly obvious we won’t end there.
 

Fortunately we are experienced and independent travelers, so I’m sure we’ll work it out.

[Yorkieboy1972]

3 minutes ago, Chewbecca said:

Will they take all your luggage off on the ribs too or just people? What a nightmare. 

 

Here in Linz on the Avalon View, we thought we were staying put but now have to move downriver because the tow path that we exit the ship onto is expected to flood overnight. The ship staff appear to be handling things admirably. 

It wasn’t ribs, they got a barge and made 2 trips with passengers and 1 with passengers and luggage. It really was a massive undertaking using many people who should have been and probably wanted to be helping with the job of saving their town.

[free101girl]

2 minutes ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

It wasn’t ribs, they got a barge and made 2 trips with passengers and 1 with passengers and luggage. It really was a massive undertaking using many people who should have been and probably wanted to be helping with the job of saving their town.

Terrible. How ridiculous that they’ve made you go through all that mess.

[steamboats]

25 minutes ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

TUI certainly have lot to answer for. They had to evacuate a ship at speed yet found the time to cover the TUI signs and names on the ship.

 

Sorry, I had to giggle... Police and fire fighters asked to put out a white sheet in case someone needs help. So when I saw your photo I was immediately thinking of this and not that TUI is covering the ship´s name.

 

The head of county administration said to BR online that everyone would have been able to stay onboard but it would have been caused difficulties in a case of medical emergency onboard. 

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

Passau has reached the Level 4 stage. But it´s still looking fine. The square in front of the town hall is not yet flooded.

 

steamboats

[Yorkieboy1972]

I’d just like to say a big thank you to Notamermaid and Steamboats and others for all the info. over the last few days. I’ve learned so much, so quick.

 

I’m wondering if the blissful ignorance of others on the ship might have been better for my sanity🤪

 

As I’m sure you can appreciate I won’t be rushing to book another River Cruise.

 

All the best.

[Izengolf]

20 minutes ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

As I’m sure you can appreciate I won’t be rushing to book another River Cruise.

Will TUI give you a credit towards Marella? That would be a way to really test your fate against water and weather 😃

[c-leg5]

32 minutes ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

I’d just like to say a big thank you to Notamermaid and Steamboats and others for all the info. over the last few days. I’ve learned so much, so quick.

 

I’m wondering if the blissful ignorance of others on the ship might have been better for my sanity🤪

 

As I’m sure you can appreciate I won’t be rushing to book another River Cruise.

 

All the best.

Was this your first cruise - river or ocean?

[Yorkieboy1972]

27 minutes ago, c-leg5 said:

Was this your first cruise - river or ocean?

No, we’ve done a sea cruise before but we’re a bit Goldilocks with duration. 7 nights is too short, 14 nights too long and 11 nights is just right which is why we chose this cruise.

[c-leg5]

8 minutes ago, Yorkieboy1972 said:

No, we’ve done a sea cruise before but we’re a bit Goldilocks with duration. 7 nights is too short, 14 nights too long and 11 nights is just right which is why we chose this cruise.

Was it predominantly Brits on board and what was the general mood under the circumstances? 
 

Is everyone being transferred to UK with onward flights from there if necessary?

[goksucats]

We are booked on Avalon Envision Danube Symphony with 2 Night Extension in Munich (Westbound) starting in Budapest June 19th and ending in Munich June 26th (exiting ship in Vilshofen).  Hopeful that there isn't aren't any significant evacuations or issues for the poor locals living through this between now and then and that it stops raining. Looks like there is a chance for rain in Munich every day for the next 10 days so trying to prepare myself for the worst.  We went ahead and bought train tickets to get us from Munich to Paris at the end of this trip and then staying in Paris a few days afterwards as well.  I've been to Europe but this will be my daughter's first time. She is 16.  Been trying to follow along and appreciate all of the information.  

[notamermaid]

@Yorkieboy1972 Before we loose sight - my pleasure to help. Hope you and @brian1 have more pleasure and less of an adventure on your future travels. Safe journey home everyone.

 

notamermaid

 

PS: a bit short on time right now, so will be back later tonight, folks.

 

 

 

[DocHifi]

We are supposed to be on Viking Jarl from Regensburg to Budapest. 4 days before flying to Europe we received an email from Viking saying our departure had been moved from Regensburg to Passau. I posted about this earlier in this thread.

Since then: our flight was delayed over 9 hours and a different airplane was required due to mechanical issues. We reached Amsterdam one day late and were put up in a hotel overnight as Delta/KLM was unable to get us to our destination (Munich) until today. We are just now boarding a plane for Paris where we will have a layover before heading to Munich.

During this time there have been exactly ZERO communications from Viking beyond that initial email four days before start of flights.

I want to stress this point: no communication from Viking about status of cruise ship port, potential port changes, problems with the river, problems with our itinerary.

The way we have learned what is happening on the ground is from three sources: this forum, a phone call to an officer on the Jarl, and my brother, who is also supposed to join us on the Jarl but arrived in Munich 2 days earlier than us. 

Phone calls to Viking emergency service yielded no actionable information, telling us to simply check in when we actually reached Munich. They did not offer up any indication of trouble ahead unless pressed and asked very direct questions, and answers to direct questions about itinerary changes due to rising river levels can be summed us as "we don't know and cannot say". Now let me say that every call to Viking was received by a real person who seemed to do their best to help us in this obviously difficult and ever changing situation, so I am not attempting to assign blame on things out of Vikings control. Yet it is unacceptable to receive no communication insitgated by Viking during this entire time.

My brother was able to take a walking tour today of Regensburg with Viking guides (I believe) and then he was placed on a bus to meet the Jarl at Linz. After being on the bus for some time he was then told that they were not going to Linz but to Ybbs Austria, but they were not sure if they would be staying over night there. A bit later he was then told they might end up in Vienna tonite but won't know until they get to the boat.  

Keep in mind that if we had not been paying attention to what was happening on the river due to rain, and making further inquires from this forum we would have been blissfully ignorant of the issues and would have been expecting to land in Munich and be bussed to Passau to resume our Viking itinerary.

Instead, because of what we have learned on our own, we now know that when we arrive at Munich we will be put up in a hotel overnight and will learn where we will be going tomorrow to meet up with the Jarl.

No emails, no texts, no communication whatsoever initiated by Viking about this major change of plans.

As of this writing we will have missed two full days of our itinerary (Regensburg and Passau) and it appears Krems is also likely a bust. 

We can see on cruisemapper.com that the Jarl is well on its way to Vienna, so my expectation tomorrow is to learn that the Jarl has been docked in Vienna for the remainder of the itinerary. That is a guess, and as someone else said in a previous post, there could be worse places to be stuck for multiple days. 

The purpose of this lengthy post is not to disparage Viking's efforts to deal with what is truly a bad situation, but to be clear about where we believe they have let us down with lack of communication, lack of transparency about the situation, and failure to properly set expectations.

I cannot image being other passengers on this cruise who are being surprised by this information as they learn it as they are on some bus or finally on the ship...if they ever get on the ship.

 

 

Edited June 3 by DocHifi

[brian1]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

@Yorkieboy1972 Before we loose sight - my pleasure to help. Hope you and @brian1 have more pleasure and less of an adventure on your future travels. Safe journey home everyone.

 

notamermaid

 

PS: a bit short on time right now, so will be back later tonight, folks.

 

 

 

In the end we were bussed to Munich in relatively short time.TUI have offered us 7 days pro rata refund of the cost of our holiday and a £100 voucher each.Perhaps not quite so bad now.The first 4 days were good.Who remembers the song "Camp Granada" lol.

[notamermaid]

49 minutes ago, brian1 said:

In the end we were bussed to Munich in relatively short time.TUI have offered us 7 days pro rata refund of the cost of our holiday and a £100 voucher each.Perhaps not quite so bad now.The first 4 days were good.Who remembers the song "Camp Granada" lol.

That sounds reasonable and good, the sort of reaction which is it appears in accordance with consumer law regulations/rule book, etc. of the EU and Britain. It sounds very much like what I have read over the years of what people have received for mishaps on holidays.

 

I read what steamboats mentioned in the BR article. The idea was that yes you would have been okay on the ship and well looked after but if there had been an emergency of any kind rescue operations would have been dangerous (and precious time lost), seeing that roads were blocked and the standard teams already stretched with looking after the town and the locals. Added to the general idea of not wanting to risk this, there was also mentioned that many older people were on the ship [so this adds to the general risk].

 

notamermaid