Rainfall in Europe has calmed the nerves of river cruise lines that have been hindered by low water levels.

Water levels along the Danube and Rhine were so low at points that some river cruise lines began altering itineraries and cancelling cruises. Amadeus River Cruises, Avalon Waterways, Emerald, Scenic, Uniworld and Viking had to cancel or alter their itineraries this summer.

Guests on some cruise lines were given the option of continuing with altered itineraries, rebooking on different departures or receiving partial or full refunds for unused cruise days. The water-level issues were caused by high temperatures and insufficient rainfall throughout Europe for months. Cruise lines began reporting problems in late July and continued through August.

“It started impacting us notably in July when we could not transfer vessels between the Rhine and Danube, which led to ships ending up in the wrong river”, said Marcus Leskovar, Executive Vice President of Amadeus River Cruises.

Ellen Bettridge, CEO of Uniworld, said that the company’s large fleet size lessened the impact of low water on operations. “In total, we’ve only had to cancel 7% of our cruises that we felt could not be adjusted to our standards and have operated 93% of our European cruises as planned with little to no changes”, Bettridge said.

AmaWaterways said that it did not have any cancellations this summer, but it did have to modify some itineraries on the Danube and Rhine rivers.

https://cruising.org