low water on Danube | Georgia Rambler

As we walked back to our cabin after an enjoyable evening in the lounge, our cruise manager Sharon, asked us stop by her desk as she had some news for us. As it turned out, her news was something we thought would never happen. Our second cruise through Eastern Europe on the Danube, which started the following Tuesday, had been cancelled due to low water that day. .

We were

taken aback to learn that this particular cruise had been cancelled. Although there had been many cancellations due to low water on the Danube west of Budapest this summer (2018), the Eastern stretch seemed to be a good choice when we booked in the spring. Low water had not yet been a problem on that stretch of the Danube.

We had booked two back to back cruises which were to be our Swan Song on the European rivers. The senior Rambler didn’t want to take anymore long flights, even in business class. and he really didn’t want to take any more cruises. However, this Rambler wasn’t ready to give up travel and she didn’t want to travel with anyone else so… Eventually he reluctantly agreed to the Bordeaux cruise., This was my choice because I enjoy traveling in France and drinking wine and because the Seine and the Garonne seemed to have plenty of water. Plus our Normandy cruise had been our favorite so far. The senior Rambler was more enthusiastic about the second cruise. From Bordeaux we would fly to Budapest and enjoy several days in that charming city as our second cruise didn’t start until Tuesday. We would then board the SS Beatrice for our journey towards Romania. We taken our first river cruise on the Beatrice and had really loved the ship. It had recently been remodeled and we were looking forward to seeing her again.

Michelle, our travel agent had booked our overseas flights and connectors, all business class, through Delta Travel and AAA, at a really good price. As the two cruises didn’t quite match up, we would have 3 nights at the excellent Corinthia Hotel in Budapest, before we would board the SS Beatrice for our cruise on the eastern Danube. Since Budapest had become one of my favorite cities, I was eagerly awaiting our stay there between cruises. At the end of our second cruise, we would stay one night in Romania before our flight back to Amsterdam, and our flight home.

The first part of the trip went right according to plan. We enjoyed our Delta One flight to Amsterdam and easily made our connecting flight to Bordeaux on a very small airplane. Our first class seats were right in the front on the KLM plane and we enjoyed a nice breakfast on our brief flight to Bordeaux. Little did we know that we would we would not be able to use two of our three remaining booked and paid for business class flights.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and if I had known what I know now, I probably would have gotten the airfare through Uniworld, as if they book the flight, and there is a problem, they will make the changes for you. When faced with a cancellation, instead of picking another Uniworld cruise, we should have taken the full refund for the second cruise Uniworld offered, and flown to Budapest anyway. We could have spent the time in Budapest, booking local tours and getting to visit my relatives in Bratislave. We couldn’t have made our flight to Amsterdam from Romania since we ended up in Budapest, but there may have been time to change the flight. At least we wouldn’t have had to pay for an expensive last minute fare.

However, we didn’t make either of these choices. Unworld had also offered us an option of taking one of three other cruises. I might interject that several other couples had also booked back to back cruises and had to make the same choice we did. Working with Sharon on the River Royale and Michelle back in Georgia, we weighed the options. The cost had been substantial as we had booked a suite for this supposedly last cruise, but I didn’t really consider the Budapest option at this time. C,ruising is what I was looking forward to, not staying at a hotel, however nice. That’s what happens when you have to make a decision at the last minute. You are actually forced to make a choice at the last minute. Not being an impulsive person, by nature, I usually take time to weigh all my options. This time, there wasn’t any time. We had to decide by the next morning at the latest.

None of the cruises that were available had a suite available, unfortunately, but Uniworld offered us two cabins for the Provence cruise on the SS Catherine. Since our cabins on the River Royale were on the small side, this had some appeal and the Cruise Director was Emmanuelle Bonneau who we knew and liked from past cruises. In the end, we chose the Provence cruise, with two cabins. However, our choice meant that we had to get to Lyon from Bordeaux before the Catherine sailed at 5 PM. This would be tricky since not only did we have to book at the last minute but there weren’t many flight choices. As it turned out, our only option was to fly EasyJet on a very early morning flight. One of our daughters was horrified, exclaiming that EasyJet was the Greyhound of the sky, another just wanted us to come home.

Fortunately, we took Sharon’s advice not our daughters’ as EasyJet turned out to be a good choice. Sharon reassured us that most of the crew flew EasyJet and had no problems, but one thing we needed to know was that they were very strict about having one carry-on. Otherwise you would be assessed a fee before you could board. This didn’t seem to be a problem for us as my purse would easily fit into my carry-on and the senior Rambler didn’t have an extra bag. So that was set, Uniworld would take to the Bordeaux Airport at 5 AM for our flight to Lyon where we would again be met by a Uniworld representative.

The flight back to Amsterdam at the end of the cruise was more problematic. Hindsight being 20/20 again, we should have booked our flight home from Avignon to Amsterdam on EasyJet, but we stuck with Delta, hoping we could get a credit four the two flights we missed, but unfortunately we didn’t. The flight from Marseilles, the closest airport to Avignon with flights to Amsterdam, cost us over $1,000. Ouch. EasyJet would have been much cheaper. When our daughter who didn’t want us to fly Easy Jet heard we were going to fly our of Marseilles, she again was annoyed with us. She cited the high crime rate in Marseilles and when we meekly said, we were only going to the airport, and would spend no time in the city, she still wasn’t happy.

The final problem was what we would do in Amsterdam, for the six days before our scheduled business class flight home to Atlanta. That didn’t seem to be much of an issue, as there are many things to see and do in Amsterdam. However, we did need a hotel room for our stay and I booked at the Hyatt near Schipol, as they had an excellent free airport shuttle. Little did I know how much we would appreciate that shuttle during our time in Amsterdam. The Hyatt wasn’t the fanciest hotel we every stayed at but all the staff were friendly and welcoming so it turned out to be a good choice.

With our new schedule in place, we had one more day cruising and another in Bordeaux before we would head off to Lyon via EasyJet and an entirely different cruise than we had expected.

No photos for this blog entry as you might expect.

After an exhausting but entertaining day, we were looking forward to a special dinner in the Leopard Lounge and the next day’s stop in Passau. This Bavarian city had been the last stop on our previous cruise and something about the place had captivated us. However, we were just a little concerned about the possibility that we might not get there by boat. On the way to Regensburg, we saw that the river had receded from the banks several feet, exposing a rocky shore, and could only imagine what lurked underwater in the channel. Unfortunately if we couldn’t go any further, we would miss cruising through the Wachau Valley, On our Christmas Markets cruise, it had been cold and rainy, and we wanted to see this picturesque area when it was warm and sunny.

Thus we were a little apprehensive when we went to hear Chad, our tour director, talk about the next day’s activities before dinner. We had enjoyed our voyage on the Maria Theresa very much so far,and hoped it would continue all the way to Budapest.

As it turned out, our fears were justified. When we walked into the lounge, we found waiting for us not just Chad, but our Captain and Carmen, the Hotel Manager as well. This did not look good.

From left to right, our hotel manager, Carmen, our tour director, Chad, and Captain, Martin.

Captain Martin , despite his English sounding name, was a an experienced Dutch mariner who knew the Rhine river very well.

During the voyage, our Captain had been very forthcoming about the state of the river and his hopes that we might complete the voyage. However, this time, he explained that the water in the channel was now as low as he had ever seen it, too low for the Maria Theresa. Thus, for the safety of the passengers and crew, we would go no further on the Danube.

We would stay on board for yet another night but then we would travel to Vienna and Budapest by bus, staying in hotels for the last three nights.

Evidently there was a low spot between Regensburg and Passau that held the larger river boats and barges back when rainfall was scant. After we left, the Maria Theresa would tie up on the opposite side of the Danube and await its next group of passengers who would have to board in Regensburg instead of Budapest. They would be staying in hotels the first three nights of their cruise and then board the Maria Theresa for the voyage to Amsterdam. Both the shipping and cruise lines felt that if a lock were constructed between Regensburg and Passau the low water problem would be solved but so far environmental concerns had blocked its construction.

Chad told us that he was already working on our hotel assignments and would let us know tomorrow night just where we would be staying in Vienna. In Budapest, we would be split into several hotels as the smaller city’s hotels did not have the capacity of Vienna’s. At the same time, he assured us that Uniworld would do its best to make sure we had the opportunity to take all the tours that had been scheduled in our original itinerary. Carmen then explained that our gala farewell dinner would be scheduled for the following evening, and we would say farewell to the Maria Theresa and its crew the next morning. The the riverboat part of our trip would end three days early.

Needless to say, the Ramblers were very disappointed to learn that they would have to leave the Marie Theresa three days early. However, Uniworld has an outstanding reputation for treating its customers very well, and we hoped that this would be the case for us. We need not have worried. Although the rest of our trip was different, it was very enjoyable in a totally different way. We would, however, miss the crew of the Maria Theresa who had treated us so well on our voyage.

That night the Ramblers were scheduled to attend a special , intimate Hapsburg Dinner in the Leopard Lounge available to all the passengers.

Here is the senior Rambler all dressed up an ready for dinner.

All they had to do was make a reservation in advance at the front desk as there was seating for only twenty. There were rumors that the dinner was only available to the passengers in the suites, but this was not the case. Anyone could attend if they reserved a spot in time. This was an evening to dress up a little and the senior Rambler even wore his sport coat, but not a tie.

The dinner was a five-course tasting menu, which started out with a kir royale, and then moved into a five course meal with wines to match.

The alcoholic beverages were rejected by the senior Rambler, but I enjoyed them very much. No worries about having to drive home! Since it was a tasting menu, the portions were small, but you got a “taste” of a variety of foods, except for the main entree which was an excellent filet. We had a great time, although there was a sense of concern as to what would happen next. The food was of the same high quality that we had enjoyed all along, but the presentation was extra special. Even the white-gloved butlers were part of the wait staff for the special dinner.

I haven’t talked much about the evening entertainment available on the Maria Theresa, but that is because for the Ramblers, evening entertainment wasn’t necessary. The senior Rambler would miss it entirely, spending his time somewhere on deck, enjoying the scenery and the night air. That is not to say that many people did enjoy the evening entertainment. Most times it was low key but fun.

Every evening an excellent pianist played a variety of requests, and even a small dance floor for those who enjoyed dancing. This came into play several nights when a band came on board. The band was so popular with a number of the passengers that they were invited back for an encore.

This night a 4 man German band, Bavarium Optimum came on board to play a variety of German songs. They were dressed in traditional costume, lederhosen, suspenders, etc. , very appropriate as we were in Southern Germany where these costumes are popular. They were a great group of talented musicians who seemed to enjoy playing as much as we enjoyed hearing them.

After a very long day, we Ramblers headed to our cabin, hopeful that the last days of our trip would be as good as the rest.

Ramble the world with us

Georgia Rambler

Category Archives: low water on Danube

The Ramblers sing the Low Water Blues…

Low water blues, only two more nights on the Maria Theresa

Ramble the world with us