The water levels in many European waters, which have fallen sharply due to the intense heat, are increasingly causing headaches for providers of river cruises. Cargo ships, which often have a much greater draft, are already affected in certain areas and, for example, can no longer pass through some areas of the Rhine.

The largest providers of river cruises are still confident that the rains announced for the next few weeks will solve the problem on their own. However, Phoenix Reisen boss Benjamin Krumpen admits to Reise-vor-9 that the fleet of eight ships has already had to make some route changes.

So far, Nicko Curises has been able to carry out the trips offered on the Rhine and Danube largely according to plan. Initially, only minor changes had to be made, but a total of six trips had to be completely canceled in the last few weeks. According to the company, the background was that the water levels were too low.

A-Rosa points out, among other things, that one would be in constant contact with the responsible authorities. It is assumed that the cruises can also be carried out when the water level is low, but short-term changes to the route cannot be explicitly ruled out. So far, however, no trip has had to be canceled.