WaterloggedRiver Cruise Watch

The river's logbook for cruise travellers

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Prague → Budapest · ms Joy

Tauck · The Blue Danube — Eastbound · 15 September26 September 2026

Latest readings: Monday 7 September 2026.

The ports of Prague → Budapest, in the order this sailing calls at them This route map shows the water status at each port on Prague → Budapest. 2 far below our reference line, 0 below it, 0 above it, 1 on lock-controlled reaches, 4 with no line to compare, 0 on stretches we watch no gauge on and 1 with no river transit recorded. Every city also appears in a text list below the map. RegensburgDay 3 · managed EngelhartszellDay 5 · managed LinzDay 6 · managed DurnsteinDay 7 · managed ViennaDay 8–9 · managed BratislavaDay 10 BudapestDay 11–12 On this map Water level managed Severely low

Tap a city for its water, or Tab then Enter.

Prague

Day 1–2 · Tue 15 – Wed 16 September · Czechia

Not sailing

The ship does not sail on this day. Your itinerary spends it on land, so no river level applies to it.

Not sailing

Your itinerary spends this day on land, so the ship does not sail and no river level applies to it.

Your itinerary spends this day on land. The ship is not sailing, so no river level applies to it and no waterway notice is about it.

Prague > Regensburg

Day 3 · Thursday 17 September · Germany

Lock-controlled

Locks hold this water at a working level, so low water is far less likely to affect this stretch. Other things still can.

Held by locks

Locks hold this level, so low water rarely stops a ship here. High water, maintenance, a closure, a restriction or the cruise line's own decision still can.

Low water does not close this stretch of river; a lock failure or a flood would. High water, maintenance, a closure or a restriction on the locks can still affect a day here, and so can the cruise line's own decision.

What to check on the official page: No water-level product applies to this day. This water is held at a working level by locks, so there is no gauge reading that would change your day.

What can affect a day like this is a lock outage or maintenance closure. That is announced through ELWIS, the official notices-to-skippers channel — in the authority's own words, before anyone else repeats them.

For this day, check the official notices rather than the levels.

Open the official page (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

Regensburg

Day 4 · Friday 18 September · Germany

In port

The ship is in port on this day. Our record holds no river transit for it, so there is no stretch of river to read.

In port

The ship is in port on this day, and our record holds no river transit for it, so there is no stretch of river to read.

The ship is in port on this day. Our record holds no river transit for it, so there is no stretch of river being read here.

Engelhartszell

Day 5 · Saturday 19 September · Austria

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

111 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now111 cm
Normal for 19 September255 cm

Water levels are measured at the Kienstock gauge – Observation from Austria's government-owned waterway company for the Danube., provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..

What to check on the official page: No German federal product covers the Austrian Danube. Austria's own navigation service publishes a Kienstock page in English. Its graph also shows a forward series.

On that graph the measured line is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the measured water level.. The forward one is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the forward-looking values.. The forward values run several days ahead. Austria notes that Kienstock forecasts are meant for low-water situations.

Then stop looking for a target level, because there is not one. Austria publishes a An Austrian low-water reference level. It gives no depth a ship can use. figure for Kienstock but no A depth an authority aims to keep available for ships along a stretch. figure to pair with it. A level without a depth cannot be turned into a target for your ship, and we will not invent one.

What you can read is the direction of change. You also know that locks keep this stretch full anyway.

Open the official Kienstock page (English) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISE30001 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Kienstock, from originator viadonau · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 7 Sep 2026, 12:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Quelle: viadonau

Linz

Day 6 · Sunday 20 September · Austria

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

111 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now111 cm
Normal for 20 September254 cm

Water levels are measured at the Kienstock gauge – Observation from Austria's government-owned waterway company for the Danube., provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..

What to check on the official page: No German federal product covers the Austrian Danube. Austria's own navigation service publishes a Kienstock page in English. Its graph also shows a forward series.

On that graph the measured line is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the measured water level.. The forward one is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the forward-looking values.. The forward values run several days ahead. Austria notes that Kienstock forecasts are meant for low-water situations.

Then stop looking for a target level, because there is not one. Austria publishes a An Austrian low-water reference level. It gives no depth a ship can use. figure for Kienstock but no A depth an authority aims to keep available for ships along a stretch. figure to pair with it. A level without a depth cannot be turned into a target for your ship, and we will not invent one.

What you can read is the direction of change. You also know that locks keep this stretch full anyway.

Open the official Kienstock page (English) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISE30001 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Kienstock, from originator viadonau · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 7 Sep 2026, 12:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Quelle: viadonau

Durnstein

Day 7 · Monday 21 September · Austria

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

111 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now111 cm
Normal for 21 September252 cm

Water levels are measured at the Kienstock gauge – Observation from Austria's government-owned waterway company for the Danube., provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..

What to check on the official page: No German federal product covers the Austrian Danube. Austria's own navigation service publishes a Kienstock page in English. Its graph also shows a forward series.

On that graph the measured line is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the measured water level.. The forward one is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the forward-looking values.. The forward values run several days ahead. Austria notes that Kienstock forecasts are meant for low-water situations.

Then stop looking for a target level, because there is not one. Austria publishes a An Austrian low-water reference level. It gives no depth a ship can use. figure for Kienstock but no A depth an authority aims to keep available for ships along a stretch. figure to pair with it. A level without a depth cannot be turned into a target for your ship, and we will not invent one.

What you can read is the direction of change. You also know that locks keep this stretch full anyway.

Open the official Kienstock page (English) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISE30001 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Kienstock, from originator viadonau · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 7 Sep 2026, 12:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Quelle: viadonau

Vienna

Day 8–9 · Tue 22 – Wed 23 September · Austria

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

111 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now111 cm
Normal for 22 September252 cm

Water levels are measured at the Kienstock gauge – Observation from Austria's government-owned waterway company for the Danube., provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..

What to check on the official page: No German federal product covers the Austrian Danube. Austria's own navigation service publishes a Kienstock page in English. Its graph also shows a forward series.

On that graph the measured line is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the measured water level.. The forward one is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the forward-looking values.. The forward values run several days ahead. Austria notes that Kienstock forecasts are meant for low-water situations.

Then stop looking for a target level, because there is not one. Austria publishes a An Austrian low-water reference level. It gives no depth a ship can use. figure for Kienstock but no A depth an authority aims to keep available for ships along a stretch. figure to pair with it. A level without a depth cannot be turned into a target for your ship, and we will not invent one.

What you can read is the direction of change. You also know that locks keep this stretch full anyway.

Open the official Kienstock page (English) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISE30001 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Kienstock, from originator viadonau · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 7 Sep 2026, 12:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Quelle: viadonau

Bratislava

Day 10 · Thursday 24 September · Slovakia

Far below the line

The measured level is under half of Waterlogged's reference line for this ship.

49 cm below Waterlogged’s estimated level

That is how far today's measured level sits below Waterlogged’s estimated level for this stretch — read from the years of record, not a figure from the cruise line.

Water level now11 cm
Waterlogged’s Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it.60 cm
Normal for 24 September195 cm

On the record: For 1991–2025, we checked the eleven days around this date. Budapest’s lowest daily average was 71 cm, in 2015. Today’s reading is 11. That is below every one of the 385 readings in that window.

Water levels are measured at the Budapest gauge – Observation from Hungary's national water authority. Its forecasting service publishes the Budapest table. / General Directorate of Water Management, provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..

What to check on the official page: The button below opens the official water-level forecast for this stretch — a simple table, about six days ahead. It shows the level in centimetres at the Budapest gauge, the same way this page shows it, so the numbers line up directly.

Don't be surprised by a negative number: the gauge's zero point sits above the riverbed, so readings below zero are real measurements, not errors.

As you read the forecast, compare each day's number with the Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it. line — our estimated level for this stretch, set from 35 years of records: every cruise-season day below it fell within a documented disruption. That estimate is ours alone: no cruise line or authority publishes an official figure here.

Open the official Budapest forecast (English) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISE2500WLSNWLSN1 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

WLSN — Water level the ship needs (60 cm)

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Budapest, from originator Országos Vízügyi Főigazgatóság (OVF) · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 7 Sep 2026, 12:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Országos Vízügyi Főigazgatóság (OVF) / General Directorate of Water Management

Budapest

Day 11–12 · Fri 25 – Sat 26 September · Hungary

Far below the line

The measured level is under half of Waterlogged's reference line for this ship.

49 cm below Waterlogged’s estimated level

That is how far today's measured level sits below Waterlogged’s estimated level for this stretch — read from the years of record, not a figure from the cruise line.

Water level now11 cm
Waterlogged’s Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it.60 cm
Normal for 25 September194 cm

On the record: For 1991–2025, we checked the eleven days around this date. Budapest’s lowest daily average was 71 cm, in 2015. Today’s reading is 11. That is below every one of the 385 readings in that window.

Water levels are measured at the Budapest gauge – Observation from Hungary's national water authority. Its forecasting service publishes the Budapest table. / General Directorate of Water Management, provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..

What to check on the official page: The button below opens the official water-level forecast for this stretch — a simple table, about six days ahead. It shows the level in centimetres at the Budapest gauge, the same way this page shows it, so the numbers line up directly.

Don't be surprised by a negative number: the gauge's zero point sits above the riverbed, so readings below zero are real measurements, not errors.

As you read the forecast, compare each day's number with the Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it. line — our estimated level for this stretch, set from 35 years of records: every cruise-season day below it fell within a documented disruption. That estimate is ours alone: no cruise line or authority publishes an official figure here.

Open the official Budapest forecast (English) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISE2500WLSNWLSN1 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

WLSN — Water level the ship needs (60 cm)

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Budapest, from originator Országos Vízügyi Főigazgatóság (OVF) · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 7 Sep 2026, 12:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Országos Vízügyi Főigazgatóság (OVF) / General Directorate of Water Management

What the statuses mean — each one is measured against the level we estimate this ship needs

The small white boards mark A riverside station that measures the water level in centimetres against a fixed zero point. stations — the places where a reading is physically taken. Each is drawn at its own town's coordinate, which can sit close to the port it serves. Each stretch is coloured by the worst port on it. A gauge level is not the depth of the The navigable channel where ships are meant to pass., not the room under your ship's keel, and not your ship's How deep a ship sits in the water. That depth sets how much water it needs underneath..

Every port, in the order you reach it

This list repeats the map information. It is there for phones, for screen readers and for printing.

Cities are drawn at their true latitude and longitude. The river line is a simplified course, not a navigation chart. Course geometry: Natural Earth (public domain) and © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0.

Do not see your sailing? We do not report cancelled sailings. Tell us which sailing we are missing and we will add it. You can also email info@rivercruisewatch.com with the cruise line, the ship and the dates.