Despite heat waves, operators say Europe’s water levels healthy

Last week’s record-breaking European heat wave no doubt stirred a few jitters about a possible repeat of last summer, when a persistent hot, dry spell played havoc with fall river cruise schedules.

But a weekend of rain brought needed relief, and operators say they are headed into August with healthy water levels across the continent.

A few companies had to alter itineraries or do ship swaps for sailings on the Danube between Passau and Regensburg before the heat wave broke with rains across the continent.

And Tauck said it had to adjust one 14-day sailing, putting passengers up for two nights at the Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace in Budapest and two nights in Vienna at the Hotel Bristol before embarking for 10 days of sailing.
Operators, however, said the temporary situation was not unusual.

“The natural state of rivers is to ebb and flow,” said Pamela Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways, which had to do move passengers between ships when the small stretch of the Danube became impassable. “The ship swap [was] a reaction to a typical Danube River ebb. It is not indicative, in any way, of the low waters we faced in 2018.”

Likewise, AmaWaterways President Rudi Schreiner said river levels look good moving into August.

“The Danube below Passau looks very good because there is a lot of water coming from the Inn River,” he said, “The Rhine looks very good also because one of the main feeders of the Rhine is Lake Constance, and the lake has solid water levels.

Simon Laxton, president of Grand Circle Cruise Lines’s Europe operations,
however, cautioned that river levels are changing faster than ever before, making
forward predictions much more difficult.

The only river with continuing problems is the Elbe. Besides, Viking, however, few operators catering to North American travelers sail there because of its chronic low water issues.

The heat wave at the end of July shattered records across Europe, as did a hot spell at the beginning of the month.