idahowanderer

We have a Rhine River cruise scheduled for September. We are very concerned about the water level and its implications. If anyone has traveled on the Rhine recently and has input I’d be grateful.

hetismij2

The Rhine is pretty much closed in places, though not yet officially so. Barges are carrying less than a quarter of their normal load and are struggling. Some river cruises are continuing I believe, but unless we get a lot of rain in the next few weeks, and I mean a lot of the right sort of rain, not sudden downpours, but continuous drizzly rain, in the right place, it will continue to get lower.

Arnhem is unreachable for cruise ships. The bend by Kaub (between Koblenz and Mainz is larger dry, just 36cm deep in the channel.

Some companies are redirecting their cruises to parts of the Netherlands where they can sail but river cruises often turn into bus trips when the river is low.
Sorry to be the bringer of bad news. Contact your company ASAP.

idahowanderer

Thanks so much. Will do.

janetkupfer8032

It was fine in June when my brother and his friends cruised but that was 2 months ago and news now is not good. Article I read sugested postponing if possible till May/June next year which is always a better bet than July/August.

bilboburgler

not good, as heti says

hetismij2

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/artic...ing/index.html

Shows and tells of the Rhine right now.

This article from earlier in August is also interesting for you:
https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/...ay=1&posfrom=1

Bear in mind the levels have dropped considerably since that article though.

J62

If you are taking a Rhine cruise in the next few months you should expect this trend to continue. As you can see from these charts water levels historically continue to drop through the fall.




source: https://www.rhineforecast.com/kaub/

BritishCaicos

My parents took a similar cruise in summer 2019.

It was a shambles - the boat had restricted access due to the water levels and they spent most of their time during the day on coaches due to the inaccessibility of moorings in the destination cities.

They have cruised all over the world and really didn’t enjoy the trip.

i know this doesn’t help much but from what Hets posts about the current water levels , you should be ask the operator about their alternative arrangements in the events of low water levels.

J62

Water levels on the Rhine are back up substantially over the last few days.

Rhine water level at Kaub

hetismij2

We had a few days of storms, but the river is still low, and unless we get more storms, or better yet days of heavy drizzle, and none are in sight, it will lower again, as is normal for September, only more so.
Kaub was especially low, and due to it's position is hard to navigate when low but the river in general over the entire length remains low for the time of year. Priority will inevitably be given to cargo ships.
All OP can do is keep in touch with the company they are using, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

joannyc

Hate to start a new thread for this question… a couple of friends will be taking a Rhône River cruise in 2 months. Anyone know how it is? I tried googling but can’t find any info. Thanks!

J62

Rhone info here

https://www.inforhone.fr/Carte/Index

I have not tried to poke around that website to make any sense of the flow rate or water level #s.

joannyc

Thanks very much!

bilboburgler

BIL lives at the head of the Rhine, still no rain up there

J62

First hand reports online (https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/water-levels/) are that over the last week ships are traveling Ams-Basel (A-B) or (B-A) without any busing or change of ships.

My forecast is that water levels will remain high enough for at least the next 1-2 weeks even if there is no rain in the watershed and the water level steadily drops through Sept as it usually does.

This is the Kaub info.

hetismij2

Since they are giving priority to cargo over cruise and pleasure craft I expect there will at the very least be delays and replanning on the Rhine. Plus low water means not being able to moor in many places.
Rain in Switzerland raised the levels by 75cm in a wave along the length of the river, but once that has passed the levels are dropping as low as before. Kaub has already dropped again and continues to do so.

Europe remains in a drought, and a good many rivers are low to dry.