European River Cruises Hit a New Obstacle: Not Enough Water

A week into a two-week river cruise along the Danube River in August, Erin Needham, her husband, Scott, and her mother-in-law, Linda, found themselves in an odd position: their trip, Ms. Needham’s first to Europe, was being cut short because the water was too shallow for the ship to go on.

Stuck in Vilshofen, Germany, and unable to make it to Passau, the next stop on the itinerary, Ms. Needham was disappointed, but her cruise company, Riviera Cruises, had warned guests that this could happen, so she felt she couldn’t be upset.

After a few days in Vilshofen some passengers opted to take a bus tour planned by Riviera while others decided to get on their flights home a week early. Ms. Needham and her family chose to continue their cruise on another ship, also run by Riviera, along the Rhine river.

“They transferred us to another cruise today with a fancier room AND we get to go to France! Now we are at the Chocolate Museum and our ship is docked in the background. Things are turning around,” Ms. Needham tweeted. (Ms. Needham later told The Times that she couldn’t have been more impressed with how the company handled the situation.)