One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that the weather affects the
locks. Obviously, they are closed in the Winter, but in the Spring they
can be closed due to both too much water and too little. The year we
went through ('99) there was a drought, and there was talk of reducing
the lockings (we were never affected), a year later there was too much
water and the system was shut down for a week or so with little notice.
Boats were stranded wherever they happened to be.

I don't mean to be alarmist, but you should check with the authorities
as the time approaches to find out if any problems are expected.