Southbound leaving November 25

jwrfrr20

I'm told that there were problems with the depth of the Rhine in October but that levels are no longer a problem. Has anyone heard differently?

British

I just posted a NY Times Article from today about the Rhine levels on the Cental Europe thread. Will try to add it here

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/04/world/europe/rhine-drought-water-level.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

One of the worst dry spells on record has left parts of the river at record-low levels, forcing freighters to reduce their cargo or just stop plying the river.

PatriciaMcGraw

We're on the 25 Nov Southbound. We've been following a very long and active thread on Cruise Critic about low water levels on the Rhine. Passengers from many different lines are experiencing cancellations, revisions of itinerary, and bus transfers where the river is too low for the cruise ships to pass. There is also a really fun website, Cruise Ship Tracker, that allows you to track your ship (in our case, the MS Grace) which today was headed south out of Antwerp, headed, we hope, to Cologne. I think we all need to be prepared to be flexible. My husband is joking that this may be a very expensive "bus cruise."

The thread on Cruise Critic requires that you be a member (it's free) and gives you access to all kinds of fellow cruiser's experiences and tips. The thread on the low level of water in the Rhine has reached nearly 1,000 entries, and includes some fabulous photos posted by current travelers. Today, it reports, you can reach the Maus Castle (in the middle of the Rhine) by foot.

Travelcrazy

PatriciaMcGraw wrote:

. There is also a really fun website, Cruise Ship Tracker, that allows you to track your ship (in our case, the MS Grace) which today was headed south out of Antwerp, headed, we hope, to Cologne.

Hi. Do you know the exact cruise ship tracker website you used? I put "cruise ship tracker" into Google and a whole lot of websites came up but none of the ones I checked had Tauck's MS Grace or Joy (the ship I'm on). Some didn't list Tauck at all, another only had the jewel ships (France) and one had the Savour only.

I would appreciate any info you can give. Thanks.

AlanS

Travelcrazy wrote:

Hi. Do you know the exact cruise ship tracker website you used? I put "cruise ship tracker" into Google and a whole lot of websites came up but none of the ones I checked had Tauck's MS Grace or Joy (the ship I'm on). Some didn't list Tauck at all, another only had the jewel ships (France) and one had the Savour only.

I would appreciate any info you can give. Thanks.

You probably need to select Scylla- they are the cruise ship owner/operator, not Tauck.

http://www.cruisin.me/cruise-ship-tracker/

Update: Well that didn't work.

Try this one and select Scylla: https://www.cruisemapper.com/cruise-lines/Scylla-Cruises-94

It looks like Ms Grace is in Ghent: https://www.cruisemapper.com/?mmsi=269057539
and Inspire is in Strasbourg.

Isn't Ms Joy a Danube boat? It was last April. It currently appears to be on the Danube near Passau.

PatriciaMcGraw

Hi. Do you know the exact cruise ship tracker website you used?

:-)

https://www.cruisemapper.com

Go to Search by ship and put in MS Grace. Then it will give you selections, MS Grace is highlighted in blue, click on the blue and it takes you to MS Grace.

Then click on tracker.

I, too, see her in Ghent today.

Isn't this internet a great place with information - true and false - at your fingertips?

AlanS

PatriciaMcGraw wrote:

Hi. Do you know the exact cruise ship tracker website you used?

:-)

https://www.cruisemapper.com

Go to Search by ship and put in MS Grace. Then it will give you selections, MS Grace is highlighted in blue, click on the blue and it takes you to MS Grace.

Then click on tracker.

I, too, see her in Ghent today.

Isn't this internet a great place with information - true and false - at your fingertips?

It looks like MS Grace is still in a basin way over in Antwerp! Your tour starts in 7 days in Koln, correct?

PatriciaMcGraw

We leave Friday for Koln to spend a night there before boarding MS Grace. We have been told that there will be some kind of transfer by coach, at some point, a ship swap between the Grace and Inspire.

Travelcrazy

AlanS wrote:

Try this one and select Scylla: https://www.cruisemapper.com/cruise-lines/Scylla-Cruises-94.

Isn't Ms Joy a Danube boat? It was last April. It currently appears to be on the Danube near Passau.

Thanks. That worked and looks like all of Tauck's boats are there including the Joy.

Yes, I am on the Danube Christmas Markets cruise. When I did the Rhine, I was on Inspire.