When the River Has Other Plan

Low water, changing itineraries, and the one thing every river cruiser needs: flexibility.

European river cruise water levels are making headlines right now,

…..and there is no sugarcoating it. After an exceptionally hot and dry summer, portions of the Rhine and Danube have fallen to unusually low levels. And yes, unfortunately, it is affecting some river cruises.

There are ship swaps happening. There are itinerary changes. Some ships are docking in different locations, and in some cases portions of a cruise are being replaced by motor coach transportation because a ship simply cannot safely navigate a particular stretch of river.

Does that stink when you’ve waited months, maybe years, for this vacation?

Absolutely.

Before You Book

If you’re not working with a River Cruise Expert, ask your travel advisor what happens in high and low water situations before you book your cruise. It’s an important conversation to have.

At Fitzgerald Travel, we make sure it’s part of our process. Not because we expect something to go wrong, but because rivers are unpredictable, and we want our clients to understand that from the beginning.

Then, as a gentle refresher before departure, we include “Low and High Water: A Gentle ‘Just in Case’ Conversation” with their travel documents. Nothing scary. Just a reminder that we can plan almost every detail of an incredible river cruise, but there is one thing none of us gets to plan:

The river.

Sometimes there is too much water. Sometimes there isn’t enough. And sometimes Mother Nature simply decides she couldn’t care less about our vacation plans.

The cruise lines know this, too. They have contingency plans in place for when the river doesn’t cooperate.

And right now, we’re seeing some of those plans put into action.

What Does “Affected” Really Mean?

An affected cruise does not automatically mean a canceled cruise.

It might mean docking in a nearby town, taking a motor coach around a section of river that isn’t navigable, substituting a port or changing ships. In more significant situations, part of the journey could include a hotel stay.

One of the more common solutions is a ship swap. You leave your suitcase outside your cabin, head off on your excursion, and while you’re sightseeing, the crew transfers everyone’s luggage to another ship farther along the river. You return at the end of the day and, in many cases, walk into essentially the same cabin you left that morning.

Is it ideal? No, of course not.

But it can allow the journey to continue when the alternative would be losing much more of the trip.

That’s why it’s important to keep the headlines in perspective. Low water is a very real concern right now, but a headline saying river cruises are “affected” doesn’t necessarily tell you how they are affected.

There’s a big difference between docking somewhere different and losing a significant portion of your cruise.

Today’s River Is Not Tomorrow’s River

This may be the most important thing I can tell you:

Today’s river level cannot predict what the river will look like weeks or months from now.

River levels can change surprisingly quickly. Meaningful rain in the right watershed can make a tremendous difference, while an extended hot, dry period can move things just as quickly in the other direction.

So if your river cruise is several weeks or months away, please don’t look at today’s Rhine or Danube level and decide your vacation is doomed.

We simply don’t know that.

For my clients traveling sooner, I’m watching the rivers, the rain forecasts and the information coming directly from the cruise lines.

You don’t need to spend your day refreshing random Facebook groups and frightening yourself. 😊

About Those Facebook Groups…

I’ve been reading some pretty harsh comments lately, with passengers placing all of the blame on cruise lines when itineraries change or buses temporarily replace cruising.

I understand the disappointment. Truly, I do.

You paid for a river cruise. You want to cruise the river.

It stinks when that doesn’t happen exactly as planned.

But the captain cannot make a ship float through water that isn’t deep enough. A cruise line cannot make it rain. And no travel advisor has a secret hotline to Mother Nature.

Trust me, if I did, I’d be using it right now.

What the cruise lines can control is how they respond.

Can they preserve as much of the experience as possible? Can they communicate clearly? Can they take care of their guests and make a difficult situation as seamless as possible?

That is where I hold them accountable.

The One Thing Every River Cruiser Needs

And this is where I think we need to talk about something that doesn’t fit neatly into a suitcase.

Flexibility.

River cruising is different from many other vacations because we’re traveling on a living, changing river.

If an itinerary change is going to completely ruin your vacation, if getting on a motorcoach instead of sailing for part of a day will make the entire trip a failure in your eyes, or if you need every day to happen exactly as it appears in the brochure, river cruising may honestly not be the right vacation for you.

I don’t say that to minimize anyone’s disappointment.

I say it because after all these years of selling and traveling the rivers, one thing remains true:

The river gets the final vote.

My role is to help you choose the right cruise, understand what you’re booking, keep an eye on things when Mother Nature gets interesting, and advocate for you when something truly isn’t handled the way it should be.

And right now?

I’m watching the rivers.

I’m watching the rain forecasts.

I’m watching the cruise lines.

And I’m keeping my clients informed.

If you’d like to dig deeper into European river levels, my colleagues at River Cruise Advisor maintain an excellent resource, European River Cruise Water Levels: What Travelers Need to Know. It’s a resource I trust and one I’m happy to share.

But for my clients, remember:

You don’t have to become a river-level expert.

I’ll watch the river.

You pack. ❤️

If you’d like to learn more about European river cruise water levels, check out this link our friend Stephen at Amsterdam Tours designed, it’s amazing~