Low water levels on the Danube and Elbe Rivers are wreaking havoc with departures scheduled the last few days of this month and, in some cases, affected sailings are stretching into July.
On the Danube, there’s been so little rain that the stretch of the river between Passau and Regensburg in Germany is unseasonably low.
Viking River Cruises has been forced to swap vessels on numerous sailings in order to have them operate as scheduled. Fortunately, they’re merely swapping one Viking Longship for another, so guests shouldn’t notice any major difference – except for possibly having to swap one ship for another should water levels remain low. As of Saturday, June 28, the following departures have been altered:
- June 28 – Grand European Tour (Amsterdam to Budapest) aboard Viking Skadi – This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Lif (Longship, built 2014).
- June 28 – Grand European Tour (Budapest to Amsterdam) aboard Viking Lif — This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Skadi (Longship, built 2013).
- June 29 – Grand European Tour (Amsterdam to Budapest) aboard Viking Magni — This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Baldur (Longship, built 2013).
- June 29 – Grand European Tour (Budapest to Amsterdam) aboard Viking Baldur — This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Magni (Longship, built 2013).
- June 30 – Grand European Tour (Amsterdam to Budapest) and European Sojourn (Amsterdam to Bucharest) aboard Viking Embla – This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Aegir (Longship, built 2012).
- June 28 – (hotel check-in) Elegant Elbe (Prague to Berlin) aboard Viking Schumann – After beginning this cruisetour in Prague, guests will embark Viking Fontane (sister ship, fully refurbished 2010) in Melnik.
- June 28 – (hotel check-in) Elegant Elbe (Prague to Berlin) aboard Viking Fontane – After beginning this cruisetour in Berlin, guests will embark Viking Schumann (sister ship, fully refurbished 2011) in Magdeburg.
- June 29 – Passage to Eastern Europe (Bucharest to Budapest) and European Sojourn (Bucharest to Amsterdam) aboard Viking Aegir – This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Embla (Longship, built 2012).
- July 1 – Grand European Tour (Amsterdam to Budapest) aboard Viking Idi – This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Kvasir (Longship, built 2014).
- July 1 – Grand European Tour (Budapest to Amsterdam) aboard Viking Kvasir – This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Idi (Longship, built 2014).
- July 5 – Grand European Tour (Amsterdam to Budapest) aboard Viking Bragi – This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Alsvin (Longship, built 2014).
- July 5 – Grand European Tour (Budapest to Amsterdam) aboard Viking Alsvin – This cruise will begin on sister ship Viking Bragi (Longship, built 2013)
Scenic Tours has also altered several sailings running into July. The most recent list of changes, as of June 28, is provided below:
- June 30 – Gems of the Danube River Cruise departing Budapest will now be embarking Scenic Ruby.
- July 2 – Jewels of Europe River Cruise departing Amsterdam will now be embarking Scenic Diamond.
- July 7 – Gems of the Danube River Cruise departing Nuremberg will now be embarking Scenic Ruby.
- July 14 – Jewels of Europe River Cruise departing Budapest will now be embarking Scenic Ruby.
- July 16 – Jewels of Europe River Cruise departing Budapest will now be embarking Scenic Diamond.
- July 28 – Romantic Rhine and Moselle River Cruise departing Amsterdam now be embarking Scenic Ruby.
- July 30 – Jewels of Europe River Cruise departing Amsterdam will now be embarking Scenic Diamond.
Other cruise lines are stating that they are monitoring the situation, and several are posting updates on their Facebook pages.
If you are booked on a Danube or Elbe sailing in the coming weeks, our best recommendation is to try to be as flexible as possible. River cruise lines have absolutely no control over the weather or water levels along the rivers, and ‘rolling with the punches’, as they say, can make the difference between a memorable experience and an unpleasant one. Here at River Cruise Advisor, we’re also preparing to swallow a dose of our own medicine: we’re scheduled to sail in early July aboard Emerald Cruises’ Emerald Sky from Budapest to Nuremberg.
We will, of course, post more information here about altered or cancelled sailings as they become available.
FMR says
Leaving on Viking cruise of the Danube tomorrow. I have been watching the rain and hope the water levels are improving.
twinkletoes says
We sailed on the Viking Embla from Amsterdam and encountered so many problems, we left the boat early. We were told three days before leaving USA that our boat had been changed but all was the same, not to worry. We should have worried, this was deceptive, as Viking already knew there would be another boat change necessary and that meant all passengers had to pack up with only four hours notice and be transported to a hotel for the next two nights with most of those days spent on buses all day. Also, the sun deck on these boats remain off limits to passengers because Viking built them too high to get under the bridges. This was not a relaxing trip as most passengers were grumbling all the time which meant stress at mealtimes and the long bus rides to access the scheduled itinerary for each day. Again, the print material never states that each day will involve long rides on buses with 200 other people which takes all of your time and energy. Information was given incrementally and we were all expected to accept all explanations no questions asked. Also, the tvs did not work for the whole first week. The majority of the staff were uninterested in customer satisfaction. Customer service for Viking has also been a joke. What a waste of time and money, both of which Viking boasts they are aware are most important.
Aaron Saunders says
Water levels can change unpredictably on the rivers, sometimes with very little notice. The situation you speak of affected a number of river cruise lines, and normally, the vast majority of the time river cruises operate as scheduled with no delays or disruptions. Of course, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen, as you unfortunately found out. Have you sent a letter to Viking detailing your experience with them? No river cruise line can control the rivers, but they can control the way information is given to their guests.
cruiseguest says
Did the Viking ship Legend that sailed from Budapest to Passau on June 23 have problems like this too?
cruiseguest says
What about the Viking ship Legend that sailed from Budapest to Passau June 23?
wisewoman says
We were on a 10 day Viking Elegant Elbe cruise ( Berlin to Praque) which departed on 21 June 2014. We were not told before leaving the UK that there was not enough water to navigate the Elbe although this was known beforehand by Viking. Whilst we would all like to be British and not complain, it needs to be said that these are not cheap holidays, and not having enough water to cruise on is pretty disappointing on a cruise holiday !
So, in practice ” rolling with the punches” involved:
. less than 12 hours of sailing
. the remaining time spent on one of two non moving boats
. long coach journeys.
Thus the relaxing river cruise became a far less relaxing and far less comfortable coach tour
holiday.
So BE AWARE this is an unreliable cruise. It appears that there have been numerous times when travelling down the Elbe has had to be cancelled due to low water levels. While every staff member on the ground works hard to maintain a schedule and your happiness, if the main thing for you is relaxing while you drift through the changing landscape then you should know that it might not happen. Additionally, the Elbe is a shallow river anyway so the boats to navigate it are smaller and less smart than those shown on the TV ads..
If you have a second favourite itinery avoid the Elbe. We wish we had !