notamermaid

It is March and time to look at what the river did at Kaub in February. Here is the graph: The month started with a pleasant, slightly low for this time of year, level and rain brought the figures up to just above the mean. A steady, relatively fast, decline followed promptly but stabled itself when reaching 125cm. The end of the month saw a further drop which has now resulted in a low level that should not be ignored in these now dry weather conditions. The cold keeps snow in the high mountains but further falling of the water level is also slow in the cold. However, without enough precipitation we need to anticipate levels that get the river to a low that could potentially affect river cruise ships - an unusual occurrence in March. Looking ahead from the current level of 106cm into tomorrow and Sunday we see a further reduction in numbers but still keeping above 100cm. That is a little better than the chart had suggested 48 hours ago. This trend is expected to continue Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday into Wednesday are still considered to be the days with the lowest levels and the probability tells us that the figures are most likely to be below 97cm but keeping very likely quite a bit above 85cm. All in all this is a bit better than was suggested four days ago when the second week of March came closer into view in the computer calculations. That was a longer close look at Kaub. In short, the first sailings are now a little less likely to experience any affect from the low water situation, especially as a fast return to levels above 100cm could happen on 10 March. notamermaid

It is March and time to look at how the Danube in Bavaria has been doing. Here is the graph for Pfelling: The month started with a good level and before it could fall to low, rainfall saw the river react with a sharp rise to figures way above the mean but not yet substantial flooding. The decline followed promptly but the Danube at Pfelling has stayed at a pleasant level since. The month finished at around 340cm which is not as high as one may expect at this time of year but it is good enough to look promising for the first river cruise sailings, meaning the level is stable. Flooding in Germany or Austria? Nowhere to be seen and not predicted to come for a few days. Tuesday will be a rainy day all over the valley in Germany so the river should react to that, perhaps with more than just a tiny rise? notamermaid

Yes, I think that overall the river is a bit too low for comfort. In an unusual turn of events the Rhine is worse than both Danube and Elbe. I will have a look at the river at Kaub in detail later. First: good news! The "Carl Straat" ship is allowed to keep its protected status on the basis of its national importance as a piece of engineering history, i.e. should be kept for the public to look at. The owner has one more shot at appeal with a higher court. Not clear yet if they will go down that route. notamermaid

I find this looks like a great itinerary. I know most of the places from land trips and can say that it gives you great scenery and much history. The drawback is that it gives you only one country really, with just a glimpse of life in Luxembourg as the second country. From that perspective the Amsterdam to Basel with detour to the Moselle is more diverse. If you do not mind missing Cologne and Amsterdam you could go for the Trier/Luxembourg to Basel itinerary offered by a couple of lines. Or you could start in Cologne, do the Moselle and finish in Basel. I think a European line does this. I am with you on that one right now. Hope we are proven wrong. notamermaid

It is March, the first river cruise itineraries are happening soon, time to look at what the river did in February. The graph for Dresden: Up and down at good levels throughout the month. MW is mean water level. Looks like a good start to the season, the probability bars look promising for levels around the mean. notamermaid

That is a pity. I assume it is because Viva are getting another own ship, the Viva Two, this month. notamermaid

Insight into Riverside, a podcast: https://www.travelweekly.com/Podcasts/Folo/Insight-into-Riverside-Cruises notamermaid

Definitely worth checking out: https://haussmann.galerieslafayette.com/coupole-galeries-lafayette/ I enjoyed it many years ago. Have not been for many years, but I find the Sacre Coeur experience overrated, too busy and I have in recent years been made aware of the dangers of being up there in the evening. I found the Pantheon highly interesting, but this topic is not for everyone of course: https://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/places/pantheon/ notamermaid

Screaming Lord Such - a legend. Which brings me back to something I had forgotten to mention when talking about Carnival - medals. An official and important one is the "Orden wider den tierischen Ernst". It is given to people who show wit and humanity in a let us say serious job. You may hate the politics and dislike the choices but it is not the point, the merit is for what wikipedia has translated here, "humor and humanity in office": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orden_wider_den_tierischen_Ernst "Tierischer Ernst" in German refers to animals lacking the human ability to experience/create humour and fun, i.e. are therefore serious. notamermaid

Normally we are not supposed to talk about politics but this story is connected with travelling as there is a Jakob Mierscheid Steg in Berlin, a walkway between two parliament buildlings. You may see this "very important structure" when you are in Berlin. Should you happen to be in Morbach in the Hunsrück region of Rhineland-Palatinate some time you may want to go and see the home town of the longest serving Member of Parliament in Berlin. He is called Jakob Maria Mierscheid and today is his birthday, he is 90 years old! He has been representing his constituency for 44 years and is revered not just by his party, the SPD. Members of many parties have paid tribute to him today and sent congratulations to Morbach, where the townspeople held a party and panel talks in his honour. One talk was of a philosophical nature about fake news. Unfortunately, Mierscheid had to decline the invitation to attend at short notice (again). Apparently, he had been sent to Brussels. In Berlin he is known for being a quiet but hard-working back bencher. But he is also notorious for not attending SPD meetings and has been given fines in the past. He has done important work on predicting election outcomes for his party and once suggested an "anti-waffling protection law" as waffling talk breath in parliament contains harmful substances, some of them causing drowsiness, leading to sleep. For his 80th birthday a hiking trail was opened in Morbach in his honour and for his 100th birthday he has been promised a statue in his home town. And if you think this sounds improbable, I will leave you with the words of Mierstein: "I am neither an invention, nor a patent, I am the solution". For those wishing to translate an article about him, have a look here: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/trier/fiktiver-spd-abgeordneter-jakob-mierscheid-aus-morbach-wird-90-100.html Yes, the man is complete fictitious and was invented in 1979. Could this be the longest running joke in Europe? And coming from German politics?!! Who would have thought... notamermaid

It is the 1st of March, where has the time gone? Will gather the data to sum up February on the Danube, Elbe and Rhine and post the graphs today or tomorrow. In an unusual twist, the Rhine is doing worst (by a margin to the Danube) of the three rivers today and will be quite possibly for the next four days. I always say that the rivers are not low at this time of year, I hope the levels go back up before this gets embarrassing for me... Sun is coming out, cold but fresh air, lots to do at home and a short hop to the team leader's office. Mood upbeat, tourism fairs are busy from what I hear and it seems Germans are ready to do what they are supposed to be world masters of - travelling! Here is an unusual one about tourism: I heard in the news yesterday that in Trier when summing up the success and positive impact of the great exhibition "Fall of the Roman Empire" they were able to calculate that every visitor to the museum(s) spent 92 euros on average in the town, i.e. on all sorts of things combined, and what really surprised the organizers was the fact that they had a large increase in British tourists interested in the topic and Trier. Well, Trier obviously also gets the thumbs up from me. If you want to see Roman stuff, Cologne has a fantastic museum, but Trier has got far more old stones still standing around. notamermaid

I have read interesting news in a local paper. As I do not want to go past the "give me your data, then you can read" wall, here is the info I was able to gather without doing that. Traben-Trarbach in the Middle Moselle section is getting a landing stage for 135m ships. Viking apparently had updated a big one not so long ago, but now a small landing stage has got a new owner, so that one will either be renovated or scrapped and replaced by a new one. Not sure if it is Viking that bought this one. The town has done a major tourism marketing push in the last few years and is also hoping to profit more from river cruise tourism. Perhaps I can gather a bit more info as the year progresses. Meanwhile, let us have a look at the town. Under the radar? Not really with German folk and several river cruise itineraries stopping there this year. As an example, on one online portal the companies are Phoenix Reisen, Plantours Reisen, SE-Tours, Viva Cruises and 1AVista Reisen, sailing 15 routes that stop at Traben-Trarbach on 52 itineraries. In 2021, TUI introduced a Moselle itinerary that also stops at Traben-Trarbach. It must be popular as they are still offering it this year: https://www.tui.co.uk/river-cruises/moselle-cruises/ It is quite an interesting place, a former wine trade hub with exquisite Art Nouveau architecture showing the prosperity the town enjoyed at the beginning of the 20th century. Not sure why they call it Art Deco, as that is normally considered the style that followed: https://www.traben-trarbach.de/en/art-deco.html notamermaid

It may be. As you have given us your towns of interest, I would say you could avoid most low water issues by doing Vilshofen to Budapest or vice versa. Prague is of course not on the Danube but used very much as an extension. Flying into Prague (or ending there) is a no-brainer as many river cruise lines offer that and transport you to (or from) the river cruise ship in Vilshofen or Passau. It may be the perfect route for your interests. The stretch to avoid is Straubing to Vilshofen. That means an itinerary that starts in Nuremberg or Regensburg is affected by low water possibly. But lines are always adapting in such a situation so I would not worry too much about it. Cruise line? Viking, Avalonwaterways, Amawaterways, or European ones like CroisiEurope (if you are fine with lots of French food), Riviera Travel ("join the British") and Arosa (German, i.e. bi-lingual) and Viva Cruises (German, potentially a bit more stylish than Arosa). Not sure about the dancing, but the lounge is always the area to mingle with fellow cruisers after dinner. notamermaid

Good to read that they have made their homework and checked the dates... Street Carnival 2024 begins on 8 February - "Weiberfastnacht" Thursday. So they are following in the footsteps of Viva Cruises. The press release sounds nice, but as a local I must say that no crowds is - errr - quite the opposite as it is Carnival!! Okay, hardly any foreign tourists and the sailing after Carnival will be quiet, cold - and potentially boring (IMO). notamermaid

Ah yes, him. Fitting name for a specialist ship. Forgot to mention the museum properly. It is the German Inland Waterways Museum (for those who have read the 2022 thread, yes, I mentioned it in connection with the "Oscar Huber" ship last year): https://www.duisburg.de/tourismus/stadt_erleben/museen/museum-der-deutschen-binnenschifffahrt.php#/ By the way, Schottel propellers are also installed in river cruise ships. It is mentioned for a couple on their website and you can possibly read it online in the description of the odd ship in the technical details. notamermaid

A big YES. Luxembourg city is spectacular in its setting, but has its drawbacks for the average holiday traveller without the stacks of cash. The riverside towns along the Moselle are great to explore and this is what the dear person I spoke to meant. The Moselle in France is also nice in many parts and she recommends a cycle trip along the Moselle. So bike-friendly along the Upper Moselle. notamermaid

Remember the giggles, too. The start was definitely wobbly but then Uniworld adjusted and it appeared to sort of work. I guess as a kind of niche product it was bound to be hit more than standard river cruises. You are right, the River Queen did not get refurbished. I am actually glad it was delayed. I like her as she is (admittedly, I do not know if the carpets have not suffered a bit too much and need replacing, etc.). notamermaid

Bit of info from my ramblings in Rhineland-Palatinate, newspapers and locals. Made it to Cochem on the Moselle. The castle is quite the sight! On a cold day in late winter it overall does not look that attractive, though. Perhaps I will put a bit more detail in the Moselle thread. Exciting news for Traben-Trarbach further upstream from Cochem. One of the landing stages has got a new owner and the town is preparing for more river cruise ship dockings. That is all I could get from the article which is behind a paywall. Hope to find out more in the coming weeks. Neuwied on the Rhine is still way behind in planning their river cruise dock. Not sure what is going on there... Engers, which is just a little upstream, is trying to get a second pier, I think this one will be for excursion boats. They have the very successful one that Avalon uses already. Heard from a local that Luxembourg has heavily invested in the river fronts along the Moselle. Very inviting area. notamermaid

I tend to agree. We say "still und heimlich", meaning quietly and (somewhat) secretively - or away from the public eye... I notice that there is no U by Uniworld website, basically no news about the venture, cannot book anything and the Uniworld website just gives the option of subscribing to a newsletter about U by Uniworld. SijFa specializes in giving their ships as charter to operators, but I see that "the A" (I think it is her) is already available for booking in a brochure that is sort of visible in the background on the facebook page. Looks like a Dutch agent/operator to me for that cruise. notamermaid

And now for something completely different - a quarrel about a ship and its protected status. It is a special "workhorse", the diving bell ship called "Carl Straat". Modern technology has superseded the old, so the Federal Waterways people now have a new one. What to do with the old? Some want it protected, others think it should be scrapped. I personally think it should go to the museum in Duisburg. As of 23 February a court has confirmed that it is correct that it is on the "protected" list. Is the decision final? I hope so. The new diving bell ship was given a propulsion system built by the company Schottel, based in Spay near Koblenz. Since this press release https://www.schottel.de/en/media-events/press-releases/press-detail/new-diving-bell-ship-for-the-rhine-and-its-tributaries-fitted-with-schottel-propulsion-units was written the ship has been delivered, it is called Archimedes and was built by the Dutch shipyard Damen for 24.57 million euros. Should you see something highly unusual on the water during your river cruise... Schottel GmbH builds propulsion for ships worldwide, they have a big portfolio, really impressive. The founder of the company named it after a shallows in the river at kilometre 576.5, which is somewhere here at the end of the Bopparder Hamm (vineyard): From ship technology we move onto - old stones in the Eifel. In this volcanic region of Germany I came across Roman "antiquities" where I had never expected them. notamermaid

APT and Travelmarvel have published their itineraries for 2024: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/apt-and-travelmarvel-unveils-2024-european-river-cruising-programme The new 15 day cruise in Belgium and the Netherlands looks a really in-depth experience, I must say. notamermaid

Great! Thanks for saying hello. So I guess this will be a business trip. If you would like to share your impressions from the Expo and your cruise we would be happy to read them. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Anybody remember this venture? Now it appears the pandemic and perhaps the somewhat unusual idea have ended this. In November 2022 Ellen Bettridge was interviewed by this man: https://www.flusskreuzfahrt-entdecker.de/2023/01/15/ceo-ellen-bettridge-über-ihre-gäste-sowie-die-entwicklung-und-zukunft-von-uniworld/ and the response to the question around U by Uniworld was lukewarm. Now according to the article linked above this has been wrapped up and "The A" and "The B" sold. SijFa Cruises announced themselves as the new owners on Facebook earlier this month (7 February): https://www.facebook.com/SijFaCruises/ Anybody heard or read anything? notamermaid

It has cooled down and yesterday's rain came down as snow in the mountains. After a short rise the level is going to fall, in part due to the cold weather keeping the snow. According to the probability chart we are still going to see a first real low this year. On the 8th of March the level will almost certainly be under 110cm and most likely under 97cm, it is possible that the level falls to 77cm. I will leave it at that and return to the subject when summarizing February. notamermaid

Changing the language? Sounds very Orwellian to me. Never let a Starbucks CEO lay their hands on the Goldilocks fairy-tale. I dare not imagine what they would do to it. 😨 That is quite a difference in occupation to his father then, I mean Kevin being an actor and a musician. No, never heard of this. For the last twenty years much of US entertainment has passed me by. Not going to watch the Academy Awards, perhaps news in Europe will show an excerpt of the nominations and if "Im Westen Nichts Neues" wins anything. The film has caused quiet a stir and attention. I watched a short clip the other day. Even more bleak than "Das Boot", I must say. Not good for my soul in this current frame of mind. Better stick to steam train documentaries. Right, Sunday afternoon, I am off to a village in the hills or have a trip along the riverfront. Have not decided which yet. After a rainy Saturday the sun has come out this morning, but it is near freezing so will need to wrap up a bit warmer. It snowed in Germany yesterday, but only in mountain regions. notamermaid