notamermaid

My pleasure. Have a fantastic time on the river. Coming up: a first look at the water levels, meaning January 2023. notamermaid

Beef yes, that is standard, lamb not so much. Lamb as meat is not eaten that often by many people (but I do regularly), so sausages are not eaten that often either but for shopping should be available in specialist butchers or on a sheep farm. Note that lamb is more expensive than pork and much of beef. Supermarkets tend to have just a few cuts from Irish or New Zealand animals. Best place indeed is an eatery/butchers connected with Muslim communities if you are in a big town. You can get horse by the way, though not exactly standard either. Talking of lamb, here is one place I have been to during a harvest festival, a sheep farm. They have recipes with lamb online (German only) and sell lamb sausages in the shop. This is not far from Koblenz: https://www.hof-meerheck.de/rezeptideen/ Not wanting to go too deep into this but perhaps you are interested in the out of town farms. Here is a big map: https://www.mein-bauernhof.de/kategorie/fleisch/lamm/ I was just thinking, perhaps it is possible to have lamb sausages bought in by the crew for the German barbecue dinners on board river cruise ships. If they know well in advance I am sure they are happy to offer that. notamermaid

Very interesting. I was wondering why it is specifically pork and shellfish. German words: kein Schweinefleisch (no pork), kein Schweinedarm (no pork intestine (or casing)), etc. notamermaid

The first cruises on the Elbe start in March but let us have a look anyway at how the river has been doing in January. The gauge at Dresden: The month started with a level well above the mean. The middle of the month brought a lot of rain over the whole of Germany with the (small) peak on the Elbe visible here on the graph just like on the Rhine and Danube. After briefly dropping below the mean water mark, the line MW in the graph, the level is now going up again. In short: a typical month with cool and wet conditions as expected in many years in Germany. Nothing out of the ordinary. notamermaid

Glad to read you enjoyed it and thanks for saying hello. 70 days - certainly not long too go til then, time for mild excitement already . It is quiet here and the river is calm with little of note to report. In January there was an odd accident of a barge breaking in two while being loaded in Kehl. A few days ago we had a short scare as a tanker loaded with Diesel ran aground at Spay in the Rhine Gorge. Water got into the hull but no Diesel leaked into the Rhine. Hopefully February brings no excitement of that kind and sticks to Carnival excitement. notamermaid

Ah, yes, forgot, you can always stipulate what your dietary requirements are when booking. I asked at my local butchers yesterday about beef sausages and their casing. She said it depends, on beef the casing is lamb but this will depend on their supplier. It could be pork. Halal signs are on doors of those Döner places very often. A good thing to look out for. notamermaid

Cannot judge for Amsterdam, but as background info I can tell you that the plans are made well in advance. I am not surprised Amsterdam has issued this plan. Koblenz has one for much of this year already: https://www.koblenz-touristik.de/_Resources/Persistent/1/2/4/4/124427b74d6c7db2d3fb77f00dcf70a5b3b39c82/Belegungsplan 16.01.2023.pdf Rüdesheim has a plan up until the end of March. There are always last minute changes that do not make it into the published plans and Rüdesheim used to have an online file that actually marked changes, i.e. a ship moved to landing stage 2 from 1 (as an example) or a docking cancellation. notamermaid

Fortunately I am a bit too busy to read too much into it or get too stressed out - but I am sad that my neighbour who was in a coma has died. They talk of excess deaths in Germany and it feels like that to me now. I have lost six neighbours in eleven months, two feline and four humans. A seventh, a young man who fell literally suddenly flat on his face, is recovering well but will have facial scars. It is worrying. Another neighbour says he is optimistic after his heart surgery, wish I had his optimism. I think I need to get away and get some Vitamin D in winter sunshine. I am planning to go to a spa resort or a small village in the high hills where there is snow. Perhaps over Carnival. Still no holiday planned but I am considering a short river cruise, just an overnight one. KD has these party cruises... If it gets too loud I will just hide in the cabin. Should be fun seeing the skyline of Cologne and the area there. I know the views around Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf but not from on board a ship. The water level threads are up and running, it will be great to share people's excitement about their upcoming cruises. Life is quiet and there is not much to talk about along the rivers but that will sure change come March. First it is Carnival of course. A few river cruises in Europe are available on that weekend and CroisiEurope is even offering one during Venice Carnival. notamermaid

Yes to the river cruise direction from me. Love the itinerary stops (not done the cruise but this would be in my top five to choose from if I booked) Highly recommend those rivers. If you would like to see Austria as well why not fly into Vienna and go by train to Passau or Munich and make your way to the river cruise from there. notamermaid

You can certainly get beef sausage but as regards purity I cannot say if there is not a single bit of pork in it. You can get lamb and venison as well. Turkey is a bit rarer but possible to get. Eateries that mainly serve Muslim customers, which in Germany is the odd Oriental restaurant and the many, many Döner fast food places, serve normally no pork but German-style sausages are not typically on the menu. In restaurants you could simple ask if the beef sausage is 100% beef. notamermaid

A short ship review: https://travelweekly.co.uk/destinations/ship-review-a-rosa-sena notamermaid

British fog - you can't beat it . Have seen the fog coming in from the sea on the south coast at Brighton. In the 80s when there was not as much filtering of exhausts and chimneys I saw the fog on the Thames, you know, you could only see fog. Fascinating. Today I am chuffed because I read earlier that the German film "Im Westen nichts Neues" has been nominated for nine Oscars! Northern German television station interviewed the curator at the Erich Maria Remarque museum in Osnabrück. The man is quite happy. Remarque wrote the novel 95 years ago. Will be interesting to see if the film gets an Oscar in March, or more than one. It beats the film "Das Boot" as a German film with the most nominations. That one got six nominations in 1983. Winter is dragging on here, just cold and grey. I have not even planned any day trips yet. After a hectic Christmas season and unhappy emotions I am a bit exhausted. notamermaid

Last year's winter cruises had a successful first season. The popularity has encouraged Viva Cruises to offer them again. The first departure is on 27 January: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Viva-Cruises-winter-Europe-sailings?ct=river While it is a little too cold for long excursions for me, I must admit that four nights on my river with a massage and just relaxing on a cosy ship sounds a great idea. notamermaid

Here is the thread on the Elbe river for 2023. Join us again this year with comments and tips - not just for this magnificent river making its journey from the Czech Republic all the way to Hamburg in Germany and to the North Sea but also the connected land portions like Prague and Berlin. Safe travels. notamermaid

Hello everyone, here is the thread on the Danube for 2023. We will look again at the weather and most importantly the river levels. Do join us this year with your comments and tips and share your excitement about cruising on this European river that flows through many countries on its long journey East. Safe travels. notamermaid

Greetings from the Rhine valley. Here is the thread for 2023 for everything related to the water levels of the Rhine and bits of information on the river. Through the year we will look at the river's levels and what else may be happening that could be of interest to river cruisers. Join us again with your comments and share your excitement about upcoming trips on this major European river. Where ever your trips may take you this year - safe travels. notamermaid

That is sad about your friend. I hope the memories flooding you will all be good ones and make you smile. Perhaps it is good for her to reminisce as well. Things are not that good here either, another neighbour is now in hospital, in a coma. We reckon he will not wake up again. On a happier note, I am enjoying the bit of snow that has managed to stay on the ground. It is just above freezing today so it will be interesting to see which hill can retain the white dusting and which one will be bare by tonight. Germany, especially my Rhineland, is slowly getting ready for full Carnival festivities. Always love the satirical fun names of the Carnival princes and princesses. Mocking Prussian rule in the 19th century. notamermaid

Oh my, a Lebkuchenhaus! Noted down in my folder for Alsace holidays. notamermaid

Welcome to the river cruising board with the great news of your first river cruise. Exciting. What is your embarkation port? From your post I assume you have read the stickies (pinned threads) so just a few tips from me. Do check the weather. It can vary a lot in April, I started my cruise on a late winter day in April - so to speak - and ended it with Spring in the air. Rainy and windy perhaps, good shoes a must. Be prepared for rafting of two ships together. Which ship will you be on if I may ask? I find all the Riviera ships I have spotted on the Rhine to look really good. Prague is an amazing city and others can tell you a lot about it (my memory is hazy, too long ago). I very much like Passau, I recommend the organ in St. Stephen's Cathedral. If you have time listen to the organ recitals for a while. I am a fan of Art Nouveau architecture and was drawn to the Secession building and other buildings of its kind in Vienna. Loved Belvedere Palace but only managed to see the outside. Budapest just fabulous. Some here have recommended booking a tour of the Parliament building. If you feel like it, start a roll call. And perhaps you might like to tell us a bit about your cruise after your trip here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2507713-all-things-riviera-travel-uk/page/2/ Have a great trip. notamermaid

Riviera Travel has announced three new itineraries for 2024, with ten nights long they expand on the existing shorter itineraries and I must admit they look interesting: https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/riviera-travel-adds-three-new-10-night-river-cruises-for-2024-38095 Also new is a concierge service. The new itineraries will be available for booking from 31 January. I look forward to reading the details, especially the Moselle and Rhine offer with Worms and the excursion to Schwetzingen Palace Gardens. notamermaid

I like that, definitely say you did some courageous and utterly important when asked 🙂. All the best and have a great holiday. We will be very nice to each other here while you are away. It has been snowing in the valley! Just a dusting but nice. notamermaid

Thanks you two, I had a suspicion that this was a bit hyped for the Rhine at least in the article and probably only an alteration to what had been available in previous years. notamermaid

Scenic has announced new excursions and experiences on their European river cruises: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/scenic-rolls-out-new-shore-excursions-european-river-cruises I said that I would like to see more variety on the Rhine river (and elsewhere) so this looks good. For the Rhine/Moselle itinerary and within the Netherlands "Het Loo" is a great addition I find. This is a palace that has been on my list of favourite places that need exploring in my neighbouring country for a few years now. On the Rhine in Germany, I do not know about you, but I am underwhelmed by the Rüdesheim excursion. It is nice but isn't almost everybody doing this? The eagle spotting in Croatia - sounds amazing. notamermaid

@gnome12 Interesting, tells you that I am not that informed about Canada, we here tend to think you are in constant snow almost everywhere from December till February. Remember I said last week that things are not going as planned? Our builder dealing with the hole in the yard did not come on the appointed day so a phone call to him confirmed that he is ill with Covid now. The hole in the ground is actually a trench covering almost a quarter of the yard, the rubble is next to it, the bins are scattered around the mess and the digger is also standing there. Sadly, a neighbour died just before New Year, now the family needs to empty the flat and negotiate round the mess in the yard. Another neighbour has been confirmed to be in hospital needing heart surgery. Never gets boring around here these days, unfortunately the fun stuff is somewhat absent. I think when the mourning period of one year is over it is time to get new cats overseeing the yard and making the humans happy. notamermaid

@Canal archive I see you had quite a bit of snow in England, even in your low-lying area, I think. Snow has returned to Germany overnight and the hills are clad in white, even causing traffic disruption in the valleys, for example in Bavaria. Some high winter resorts in Rhineland-Palatinate are ready for customers, but not all regions have had snow yet. The Erbeskopf, the highest hill in Rhineland-Palatinate at 816m, apparently has now 10cm of snow. It is a nice region but unfortunately not near enough a navigable river. Just for some info should anyone think of doing a hiking trip there: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erbeskopf I know, I know, 10cm is nothing in Canada and I will not ask how much you have 🙂. We are happy with what we have got to keep winter sports going. notamermaid