notamermaid

Flood warning in Hesse and Bavaria. After extensive rain the Main river will swell. How much we will need to wait and see. Main areas of rising levels are here: Green is okay, yellow and orange are warnings, purple is a dire warning. Much of that water will drain via the Main into the Rhine but apart from other rivers to the North, some of it will go to the Danube, but in a controlled way via the Main Danube Canal. notamermaid

Here she is, the brand new MS Alisa: https://magazin.phoenixreisen.com/flaschenpost/taufe-von-ms-alisa.html Safe travels always. notamermaid

Exactly. In the US they get away with it. Not sure what is allowed in Britain and the EU, but marketing (i.e. special offers) and fine print have been well regulated with the consumer in mind, especially after a couple of scandals after companies going bust. Your terms are similar to what a German company would do. notamermaid

Lovely. Did not mention this as I thought Atlas Obscura would say, but it does not seem to be in the text: Mainzelmännchen is the Heinzelmännchen fairy-tale characters' term combined with the city name Mainz. I am sure you will hear all about the Cologne Heinzelmännchen from your guide in that city, folks. Update on river levels coming tomorrow. Weather unsettled, windy with rain on and off. notamermaid

I agree. Really have a look around. Some good European lines with nice itineraries, if you feel a little more adventurous. I strongly disagree with Viking's marketing and payment policies. When things go right Viking is great, when things go wrong and you have unfavourable insurance, be prepared for whatever your contract in the US will say. Sorry, I am just honest. European consumer rights and contracts I prefer. Check Viking fine print against other North American lines' fine print. notamermaid

Thank you. Definitely a machine, but gets the message across. I would not translate "Sperre" as blockage but the end result is the same. Had a look to see if Viking ships are already on the Grand European now but I could not match a ship with a date in March. The websites delete dates as soon as they have passed, at least where I looked. notamermaid

Thank you for getting back to us. It is sooo disappointing. And I can understand it if passengers are rather unhappy with this. Have you decided yet what you will be doing? Do you know if Scenic has at least been able to arrange chartering an excursion boat to give you some sailing in the Rhine Gorge? Not sure if it helps anyone, but here is the official data sheet detailing the closure: https://www.elwis.de/DE/dynamisch/mvc/main.php?modul=nfb&action=searchOne&LANGUAGE=DE&NFB_ID=2840/2022 notamermaid

Something a bit different. Mainz, a very old city and relatively popular river cruise port, is home to a television channel. The ZDF, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, aired its first ever programme on 1 April 1963, 60 years ago tomorrow. The broadcaster will be celebrating for a whole week with special programmes. The following day is the birthday of the animated figures that have turned into beloved icons: the Mainzelmännchen. For 60 years they have been adding fun as fillers in the commercials section of the television station. The six characters have become so much a part of Mainz that they have a monument in town and one of them, "Det", is depicted on some pedestrian traffic lights. See if you can spot him when you are in Mainz: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mainzelmaenchen-ampel-traffic-lights Mainz has also been in the news today due to an investor digging a big whole in the city centre - but I will get to that when I have a bit more time. notamermaid

Scenic Crystal is sailing towards Ybbs as I write. Logged into the AIS machine is Regensburg. While looking around marinetraffic I saw the Viking Modi marked as sailing towards Mauthausen/Enns with destination Amsterdam. A Grand European journey with passengers? Then the ship may be held up at Regensburg as well. By the way, Bad Abbach lock, upstream from Regensburg, currently has the same notification as regards closure as Regensburg lock - 5 April. Kelheim lock is also still closed as per notification by the authorities. notamermaid

Paris is a bit of a hot spot and will continue to be so I think we can all assume. There are strikes announced for the SNCF (trains) and there may be a bit more happening over Easter. Cannot see any strikes mentioned along the river but I will not rule it out that there will be. Edit: German news says that airport personnel could be on strike this coming weekend. What I read about Easter is a "general strike", on Thursday, 6 April, which will include trains. notamermaid

This is the official press release in German about the successful removal of the "Achim": https://www.wsa-donau-mdk.wsv.de/Webs/WSA/Donau-MDK/DE/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/PM6_SchlGeisling2023.html;jsessionid=76920FA3722A01622A0AF911895535E5.live21321 Geisling and Straubing locks have reopened as planned. River traffic can now flow again freely from Regensburg to the Black Sea. notamermaid

Talking of food. It is Spring, time for fresh herbs. Do you use wild garlic where you are in your countries? We call this Bärlauch and greengrocers stock it. Have heard that it is also used for making pesto sauce. Never tried that. Will probably make creamy wild garlic soup when I have got time. notamermaid

Nearly forgot to post this. This weekend Koblenz will be full of chocolate: https://www.championnat-du-chocolat.info/ A chocolatier competition in the palace. Should you happen to be in the vicinity. notamermaid

The Viva Two, the latest river cruise ship to sail "my" river, is indeed sailing. I was hoping to spot here on a webcam but missed her yesterday. Tomorrow another ship will join the ever growing fleet of river cruise ships. The MS Alisa of Phoenix Reisen has her christening tomorrow afternoon in Bonn and will depart for a two night cruise upstream to Rüdesheim and back. Alas, work schedule will not allow me to be on board even only for a two-nighter. It will not be the last christening this Spring. If you would like to do some ship spotting, the feratel webcam (among others along the river) on Koblenz Ehrenbreitstein Fortress is very good: https://www.feratel.com/webcams/deutschland/koblenz.html notamermaid

I find marinetraffic and vesselfinder a good mix. Unfortunately, both give up in the Rhine Gorge. Just too many hills for terrestrial signals that work in other areas. Subscribing to the satellite version is rather expensive. notamermaid

Now that sounds better, the more familiar style of writing and - more importantly - should you return to the Riverside Mozart after having sailed her under Crystal ownership you will find familiar features and service: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/First-call-Riverside-Mozart notamermaid

My pleasure. Fun to roam around the website, translating may be a bit tricky with an online engine. Hope it works okay. I like the depictions of the river terrain and relation of gauges and how gauge towers work a lot. Brief return to Nickenich and the volcanic Eifel. While I was in the car (as a passenger) I had a good look round the countryside on that day and noticed the old pumice mining fields. That was and is done overground, meaning you just take the top soil layer off and there is the "white gold". That is what pumice was called during the housing boom after WWII. It is an odd landscape at times with a large amount of companies and factories with open cast mines, stone storage facilities, shopping at the warehouses and concrete making. There are several disused buildings of a particular shape. There is a reason for these company work buildings to look like that but I do not know it. This is what I mean, the pumice museum in Kaltenengers: https://youtu.be/u88MVyOb920 Not a rock face of the Rhine Gorge type or a vineyard in sight - at least not on this trip. notamermaid

Hello and welcome to CruiseCritic. This is the Danube from Achleiten all the way to Sulina: https://www.danubeportal.com/de/waterLevel Just click on the gauge name you want to look at. I cannot say how the graphs and water levels relate to actual sailing. You would need to follow along and see how the situation develops. notamermaid

Okay, I am willing to concede that Scenic has been hit at least partly by a mix of strike and additional delay because of lack of equipment at two locks. The locks were supposed to reopen on 30 March, but work will now take longer. This is the info which has been issued in addition to the official data sheet on the locks: https://www.elwis.de/DE/dynamisch/mvc/main_notemplate.php?modul=nfb&action=showPDF&nfbid=2840/2022 The data sheet with closures was updated on 27 March. I cannot recall what it said about Regensburg before that date but now says closure till 5 April, 1800 hours. This is a screenshot of Geisling and Regensburg: notamermaid

Strikes in Germany where only for one day. Have no news about Austria at all. River levels okay. This is the website for the gauges in Upper Austria: https://hydro.ooe.gv.at/#/overview/Wasserstand?mode=map&selected=Wasserstand For example Achleiten: https://hydro.ooe.gv.at/#/overview/Wasserstand/station/16664/Achleiten/Wasserstand?period=P7D Line denotes end of levels and beginning of forecast. MW means mean water level. A rise coming for sure but does not look fast and much. A rise due to rain is coming to the Danube in Germany, but modelling in the Upper Danube valley shows no real flooding. Pfelling currently at 383cm. notamermaid

Thank you for confirming this. It is not easy to make up time then. A few hours would surely work, but longer? Wonder if any other ships are on the Grand European within the next three days and waiting to get through the lock at Regensburg? notamermaid

That is not an unreasonable suggestion in my opinion. notamermaid

It was the "Gau" that pulled "Achim" out of the lock. The strike has affected maintenance work on the Main. There I have read confirmation that lock closure could continue over the weekend at a few locks, i.e. until 1 April or a couple of days longer. notamermaid

Granted, I cannot know the details. But if I may be so bold, I have a niggling doubt from my position here on the Rhine. Will be interesting to see how this goes, I hope for you that something really positive happens. Could a ship make time by skipping an excursion? Maybe, the Grand European is known at least with Viking for dropping passengers off and sailing while they are on an excursion to save time. So trying to do even more of that is a bit tricky. Theoretically possible, though. It all depends on how long one is stuck around Regensburg. Anyway, this is theory. And this is the map of the European waterways which you can download: https://unece.org/where-navigate-network-inland-waterways-europe-and-its-parameters The "Achim" has been pulled out of Geisling lock successfully! Proof? A live stream from the lock! https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/br24live-schiff-achim-wird-aus-schleuse-befreit,TZnjpyR The barge was pulled out of the chamber alongside another ship and is now waiting in the upper approach to the lock for a ship that can take her to what may now be Hungary. It may be the Achim's final journey. Geisling lock by the way has a wide chamber, that why it was possible to attach Achim to another ship to get her out. Other locks are narrower, like the one at Regensburg for example. This does not mean that maintenance has finished but we will not see a bottleneck at Geisling when it has. notamermaid

Interesting, I think we haven't. Found the explanation, here it is, scroll to Pegellatte and Pegelablesung: http://www.pegeldeutschland.de/pegel.html It tells you how to read them. Not sure, but I think on the Rhine these days the physical marker, "Pegellatte", are all yellow, could not find that exact info, it may be in the text, though. They used a photo from Trier, so it may be the same on other German rivers. They are either vertical or placed along a staircase, i.e. following the steps down into the water. notamermaid