Low water levels on Danube

Michael Reynolds

Avalon reports that water levels between Regensburg and Passau continue to be very low and have contingency plans. Uniworld reports canceling a July 26 sailing. Viking reports ship swaps on July 20 sailings and cancelations of July 24th sailings. Nothing seen in the press from Tauck at the moment.

Kathy18

I typed in "low river levels on the Danube" and was sent to Cruise Critic. I discovered this statement about the water level.

Tauck River Cruises


In a statement provided to Cruise Critic, Tauck said: "We've only had minimal impact from water levels on the Danube. Rather than embarking on the ms Savor in Regensburg, guests on our July 15 departure instead embarked further downstream near Passau. That entailed some motorcoach time for guests opting for sightseeing on Day 4 (last Saturday) in either Nurnberg or Regensburg. Otherwise, everything else on that departure has been proceeding normally. No other departures have been impacted to date.

Michael Reynolds

"Some 60 ships were blocked on various sections of the Danube river, due to the low water level. The Danube’s level went down by half because of the draught in Romania and upstream.

The ships that were blocked had to reduce their loads in order to move on. Some of the biggest problems were in the Danube’s Bulgarian section along the Romanian city of Zimnicea, where the water depth was too low to allow safe navigation, according to Digi 24 news station."

http://www.romania-insider.com/some-60-ships-are-blocked-on-the-danube-because-of-the-low-water-level/153556/

Romania is quite a distance south of Budapest. The water depth or lack thereof on the River Danube between Passau and Regensburg in Germany could get interesting. I'm thinking that Tauck vessels may be lighter and float higher than other Danube cruise vessels, especially so during excursions. This could turn out to be a very good thing.

Michael Reynolds

Due to low Danube River levels on the current Regensburg to Budapest Blue Danube cruises Tauck is currently docking in Vilshofen, Germany instead of Regensburg. Land tours to Regensburg are still on the schedule at this time.