As another record-breaking heat wave blasts across Europe, near-record low water levels on the Danube continue to wreak havoc on the river cruise industry. Sailings have been modified extensively, or forced to operate on alternative vessels to bypass stretches where waterways remain impassable.
The water levels have dropped to the point where Nazi-era battleships, previously submerged, are now exposed on the surface.
Many river cruise lines are being more transparent than ever before – AmaWaterways has an entire page on its website about how it plans to ensure that every river cruise goes ahead, one way or another. But the fact remains that passengers booked on river cruises this summer are either swapping ships, swapping ports of call, or being forced to turn part of the journey into a motor coach tour.
A few years ago, this would have been a one-off occasion: a bit of low water in the summer, and some high water in the winter. Now, however, it’s looking more like business as usual – and that’s bad for business.
While river cruise lines must be applauded for coming up with increasingly creative solutions to Europe’s high and low water levels, the logistical challenges these operators face are massive. Ship swaps and unexpected motor coach tours are stressful for shore-side staff and brutal for on-the-ground personnel, who have to enact these changes at a moment’s notice.
Amazingly, it is river cruising’s popularity that has allowed ship swaps to be a viable alternative in the first place. Had river cruising not expanded in leaps and bounds following Viking’s groundbreaking (and identical) Longship vessels in 2012, the industry may not have had the capacity to sail two vessels up to where a river becomes impassable and then move guests from one to another to continue the tour.
But as water levels become ever more unpredictable, the question must be asked: Will there come a point when river cruising along the Danube is simply too much hassle in the increasingly hot and dry summer months?
