notamermaid

So you found more details on that than me. Swiss ship? Could be tons of different ones or rather one of a ton that are registered in Switzerland, or of course a "proper" Swiss one. I must admit that I am a bit concerned about the accidents and fires this year, the season started late and I feel more incidents than usual have come to our attention. Just a feeling or statistically correct or even significant I have no way of knowing. Hope the people all recover quickly including the obviously unhappy captain/officer and that the passengers are not put off river cruising. The Kvasir is obviously able to sail, i.e. was declared fit for sailing by police, as she is now in Rotterdam. notamermaid

And just like the Viking Hervor, I think all river cruise ships will get through the Rhine Gorge very comfortably. At Kaub we saw the level peak at midnight and it is going down again but at 109cm there is nothing to worry about and I may not even post an update tomorrow. When is the last time I skipped a day posting? July? What an extraordinary year. @worldtraveller99 You asked me to update a bit on the situation when autumn comes. Will get back to that soon as we may see some happenings out of the ordinary as regards life and travelling in Germany. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge is at 296cm. That means while the Rhine is out of the "danger zone" for river cruise ships, the Danube in Germany is still too low to sit back and relax. But let's be glad it is over 290cm and keep watching. Till tomorrow. notamermaid

As much as I would like to say that is exaggerated - it is not exaggerated. I have not read any German news about this yet, a police report may come up regionally though. On the Rhine tragic news about drownings dominate the headlines in the area. By the way, on the Danube at Lindau a river cruise ship collided with another ship while trying to turn around to go downstream to Austria. Name of ship - as is usual practice - not disclosed. Busy rivers. The dock at Wesel itself is notorious for tricky situations by the way. It appears to be how the landing stage is designed and placed close to the navigation channel. notamermaid

That sounds a nice alternative. Passau tourism website gives this info: https://tourism.passau.de/leisure-sports/cycling/ notamermaid

Forgive me in my European ignorance, I pick up on this thinking that hurricane season is a logistical thing that is important to you, maybe for flight arrangements? For a river cruise on the European continent the weather is not a big consideration unless you really prefer hot to cold weather as such or want snow or autumn foliage. May is a great time but October can be lovely too. There are so many river cruise lines that you could consider and a spreadsheet with comparisons is a good thing to do. They differ slightly in some things, more in others. Definitely consider all three. I think the one thing that always sticks out with me when I think of comparisons and when people have come from ocean cruising to river cruising to ask our advice is payment policy. Viking appears to be the line that asks for full payment far before others do, i.e. it could be 90 days, six months or even earlier, the latter of which seems to usually apply to Viking. Read the terms and conditions and see if that is an important aspect for you. Have fun planning. notamermaid

Update on Kaub gauge: 113cm! According to the forecast triple figures are here to stay at least until Wednesday. I was in the Eifel region just past Andernach yesterday and it was pouring down. It has cooled down a lot but while it felt cool yesterday, today has been pleasant. Oh and newsworthy is an earthquake near Mulhouse. Happened yesterday, was not minor, i.e. a bit stronger than what we usually get in the Rhine valley, or rather, geologically this is called the Oberrheingraben: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Rhine_Plain http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/en/earthquakes/switzerland/eventpage.html?originId='c21pOmNoLmV0aHouc2VkL3NjMjBhZy9PcmlnaW4vTkxMLjIwMjIwOTEwMTYzMzUwLjE5NjA3MS45Nzk0OQ=='&date_ch=2022-09-10&time_ch=17:58&region=Mulhouse F&magnitude=4.7 It was also felt in Germany of course, about up to Freiburg. With things calming down about river levels we should have a look at places along the river again. I think Andernach this coming week. I have a couple of photos and an article that may be of interest. Have a good week. notamermaid

The river levels are certainly looking better and promising. Not ideal in Germany but better. Pfelling gauge is now at 297cm and still rising so that is good. In Budapest the level is low again but not as low as in August. The level there will hopefully rise soon, I am not sure if a higher volume of water is coming from Austria already, i.e. how much it has rained in Austria, or if they need to wait for the wave coming from Germany: notamermaid

Well hooray to that! Sounds good and I am confident too about this. I am happy to report that Maxau gauge went up well during yesterday and while down to 411cm now will obviously give that higher volume of water to the Middle Rhine valley where we should see a rise at Kaub. Worms is now turning to go down so the wave is further downstream by now so we see the rise at Mainz, Bingen and Kaub! Kaub is at 86cm and rising, with Koblenz now also going up. I think we can say the 90cm is definite for Kaub gauge today and I am willing to believe that the 100cm for tomorrow is likely. The forecast looks good. notamermaid

AnotherWanderer, thank you for your continued posts from your cruise. Hope you have a splendid time in Prague. All rain coming down around Prague unfortunately goes to the Elbe river basin, but the Elbe needs some water for the autumn river cruisers so I am happy to give that other Czech/German river some rain. Much of the band of clouds gave the Danube water before it drifted towards Prague, so a nice distribution happened I think. Today there is more rain over Germany so while Pfelling gauge went down to now 287cm after a brief rise over 290cm river cruise ships are still in a much better position than they were three days ago. Really touch and go but I am slightly optimistic that the gauge will show 290cm and a bit more again: Much of the yellow and orange/red below Munich will not help the shallows stretch as that is all water for the Isar but what is closer to Nürnberg, Konstanz does feed the Danube via the river itself and the upper tributaries. And hopefully the authorities can let a bit more water through the Canal locks and dams, too. notamermaid

Staying with CroisiEurope. The company has released its cruise programme for 2023. And there are early booking discounts: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/croisieurope-publishes-187-page-2023-cruise-brochure notamermaid

River levels update. Kaub gauge went up to 79cm this morning, a pleasant little rise, but has since gone down to 73cm. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 24 hours, could the level fall again further or will we see the level stabilize before we get those forecast figures in the 80s? Maxau gauge is showing a considerable rise and that volume of water has reached Worms. The forecast suggests we will see a steady rise during Saturday and at Kaub gives figures even firmly over 100cm on Sunday. Not bad at all, looks very good for continued sailing but the 100cm I will believe when I see it. notamermaid

Indeed. I guess that was a bit ambitious and I admit I did not fully trust the forecast. Still, it got close. The level is now at 289cm. The fast rise overnight has slowed so that we can assume we will see a few centimetres added today, but more than that I would call guesswork at this point. notamermaid

I missed this article when it came out but I guess it is not too late to book - a wine- themed cruise by CroisiEurope to mark the new Beaujolais when it is released: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/croisieuropes-burgundy-sailing-marks-beaujolais-nouveau-wine-release notamermaid

I would more say that Straubing to Vilshofen is impassable for the big majority of river cruise ships at this time. But that is not too much of a difference in distance so does not change much the problem of not getting through the shallow stretch of river. That is probably the best attitude to go with as the river is just very low and it is autumn so prone to being low anyway. Not much hope of seeing much improved levels beyond a short wave. But for now a look at Pfelling gauge shows the level to be 266cm. That is an improvement compared to this morning and an improvement compared to yesterday so more than just fluctuation which we expect during the day. With rain in the forecast and so much of it that it is likely to actually bring rain of note I am optimistic of there being the chance for large river cruise ships to sail past Pfelling again at the weekend. The forecast for Pfelling suggests 290cm may be reached during tomorrow morning. notamermaid

My, what a week, first I read about my boss's impending retirement, then I find my neighbour in pain on the staircase, then I go shopping and return to find the Western World changed. My condolences to the UK and the Commonwealth and the family in particular. A great grandmother that will be missed. As my adopted Royal family in this German republic that I live in I will raise my glass to a true servant over dinner. What an achievement. notamermaid

Going back to the programme again we find a place that stands out from the collection as a ruin that is neither a castle nor an old Roman edifice and among all the old stones is actually quite a young "Denkmal": the Bridge at Remagen or to give it its proper name, the "Ludendorffbrücke". With its military history it is a monument that the armed forces website would naturally choose as the featured monument in their article. And the article has reminded me about something I forgot to mention in my previous post on the subject - all monuments can be visited for free on that day: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/europe/2022-09-02/remagen-bridge-museum-open-house-7188477.html Remagen by the way has a landing stage but the town is a stop on only a handful of itineraries. notamermaid

If I was the new PM that would make me feel awkward. All the best to the most splendid old lady. Day before yesterday my neighbour fell down the stairs. The paramedics that picked her up did no sound too concerned but she is over 90. Hopefully I will hear good news from the hospital (through her family) in the next few days. notamermaid

Thanks. I stumbled over that one as well. I do not know the actual owner, not sure if it has changed from the interim people in Hamburg? I also do not know the forum people so cannot contact them. Perhaps someone within the community will point it out, it was only uploaded earlier today. notamermaid

Rain sweeping over Germany, the radar film is a nice arc of yellow and darker colours that goes from the Alps over Bavaria and then turning in a Northwesterly direction towards the North Sea. So little rain is actually falling in the Rhine valley, with the Lower Rhine for a change getting more than the Upper Rhine. Which does not help Kaub gauge in the Middle Rhine valley. It will be interesting to see how the afternoon develops. Kaub gauge at 68cm. Forecast for tomorrow shows figures in the 70s, Saturday a jump to 80cm and above. Firm 90s on Sunday and possibly above? I am skeptical. What is pleasing to see is that the recent rain has turned patches of brown stubble back to half green parks and river embankments. But trees will not go back to full summer foliage in many areas, I fear it is too late in the year for that. Still, I think our trees in the streets around here are saved and that is a good thought. notamermaid

Quick update: Pfelling gauge at 259cm. Rain over much of Bavaria on the radar, sweeping East towards the Czech Republic now. notamermaid

So this is her new "passport", her details according to Binnenschifferforum: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?112293-RIVERSIDE-MOZART-KFGS-04805980&p=446885#post446885 notamermaid

I had never realized that the Dee in Aberdeen refers to the river. So you will be quite a way up in Scotland. Never been that far North. Have a great time. notamermaid

Very much so. The reason is the huge commercial harbour they built in connection with the Main Danube Canal enabling traffic from Rotterdam to the Black Sea. River cruising is only a by-product on the Canal really. The Canal is a big by-pass of the actual city centre there. The river in Nuremberg is the Pegnitz which is not navigable and can only be used by non-motorized vessels. To be brutally honest, on most rivers and canals that you sail in Europe river cruising is only a "by-product". In modern times many canals have lost their commercial importance and have barge cruising and stuff but that is a different matter. The harbour master is the controlling element for docking but to be honest Viking is the big player with (too) many ships and have their own landing stages. On the Google map it specifically says that it is a Viking dock, so I have at least the suspicion that Viking may be having too many ships in Passau right now to use only their prime spots in Passau. Reason for me thinking is that on the Rhine at Koblenz it has become apparent that Viking has so many ships now that double docking at their own location at Deutsches Eck is not enough anymore. They more often than not dock double. So several times now I have seen them use a new area in Ehrenbreitstein meaning they have three river cruise ships in town at the same time on some days. Generally, Passau suffers from overcrowding with river cruise ships, well at least in 2019 that was a big topic which was quite inevitably going to return at some point, and I think in this exceptional situation it shows. In short, in this particular instance I am not sure that the harbour master was the sole decision maker, wish I could ask him/her. notamermaid

Sorry about that. What a disappointment. We have talked about the unattractive harbour area on this thread before. Is it this one? This is the dock in the winter harbour at Racklau (suburb of Passau). notamermaid