notamermaid

Which makes me wonder if the CC promotion is only sent to US site users. Would a subscriber to a newsletter in the UK get this? I have never received a promotion or things like that from CC. No idea if that is my settings or they just know that I am not in the US/Canada/UK etc. To be honest, I have never thought about this before now. By the way, Viking does not market to German speaking folk. notamermaid

With the river levels being fine on the Elbe (perhaps a little surprisingly), Dresden being at 149cm, let us relax and have a look at another company and ship that also sails the river northwards and the Canals westwards, similarly to Saga UK: https://www.nicko-cruises.de/en/fleet/flussschiffe/ms-thurgau-saxonia nicko cruises charters the Thurgau Saxonia (Thurgau refers to a Swiss company). Note that they also use the ship to sail East and North. An unusual direction with its own appeal. It is important to note that nicko only goes so far in accommodating English-language passengers and I highly recommend checking this before you consider booking. With German language skills, an open mind for new areas hardly sailed and a willingness to forgo the luxury of a 135m ship these I am sure are enjoyable itineraries on a pleasant ship. The locks, canals and depth of the river preventing large ships from sailing, all ships, being it German or English charters, will be similar in size. Basic amenities should be similar, too. notamermaid

Tricky. Most smaller ships of the two deck type probably will not have a second dining area. You may need to look around for those. There are other ships like the River Adagio that will be split level, but not sure which companies have them. CroisiEurope only has ships up to a length of 110m and some two level, but not sure about split level. You could ask this question in its own thread. It it an interesting topic I find. Wonder if someone knows something that will exactly fit what you are looking for. Edit: Daisi's and my answer appeared at the same time. notamermaid

So what can we expect at Pfelling? The tentative forecast for tomorrow shows 266cm as a likely figure, which is official mean low water. Although the level is already low for some river cruise ships, statistically this is not visible yet on the map. Clicking on Pfelling gauge, right now you get this screenshot (enlarged by me): Still on green, which can be deceiving when just looking at the map, but the level on the bar is close to the orange colour when you click on the Pfelling gauge dot to make the info pop up, which I have done here. notamermaid

Firstly: Germans are celebrating like anything and I have been dragged into the fun and organisational work, partly because I had to, partly because I volunteered and on top of that I volunteered to stay longer when I saw the panicked look on my team leader's face when a message popped up on her smartphone saying a colleague was not coming because they may have covid. Which probably means I will get it soon. Oh well... Be prepared for life in Germany that is more or less normal (with a high potential to pick up a virus), but the odd place will still want you to wear a mask indoors (theoretically it is voluntary but they may insist it is their house rule, so in such a case do not argue...). Secondly: it is going to be hot this week quite likely so I need to get some work done that I do not want to do in hot temperatures. I have no air conditioning or plunge pool. When you come, be prepared with hat, sun cream and stamina (or enjoy the ship's air conditioning). This leads to thirdly: Kaub gauge is now at 117cm. Lake Constance is losing water and at Maxau there are clear signs that we can expect the level in the Middle Rhine valley to fall further. There is just not enough water coming from the Upper Rhine valley and the tributaries. Some regions of Germany have had a third less rainfall than what is normal average in June, says the low water report of last week. We can expect Kaub to fall to 100cm on Wednesday and then 90cm on Thursday. Still enough water to float large river cruise ships but the narrow valley gets trickier to navigate. I imagine even more careful and possibly slower sailing around a few shallows and the rocks. Fourthly: two accidents, one near Speyer that was not so pleasant (but not dramatic) and a curious one with a fun twist near Koblenz. Details to follow. And something about a statue in Bonn. notamermaid

Thank you for the info and the photo. Perfectly illustrates the point I was trying to make about the split level design. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge is definitely on the way down (daily fluctuation aside). Falling below 280cm in the early hours of this morning and staying below that figure since then. notamermaid

It has been a busy weekend at work and rest is needed, so I shall be brief. It applies to the Danube. The Main is fine as it is controlled by locks and the navigation channel is deep-ish. The Moselle is equally controlled by locks where the river cruise ships sail and is low but fine as far as I know. As indicated earlier this week would be the case, the level at Kaub on the Rhine has stayed above 100cm, now at 124cm. It certainly has steadily gone done, though, in the last few days and is expected to fall below 100cm on Tuesday. Expect this trend to continue. Things along the river to catch up with, but for now, I will rest my weary head. notamermaid

I adore the library in Melk Abbey and took a photo of the underfloor heating grills (I am weird). An amazing place and the Wachau valley is certainly beautiful. I am sure you will enjoy it. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge has been steadily below 290cm since late last night and is currently at 280cm. We know from the entries in @StartrainDD's highly recommended live blog that this is too low for ease of sailing for Viking's 135m ships. It will be now or soon be similar for other ships of that length - that is if the level falls further in the shallow stretch between Straubing and Vilshofen. After today's low temperatures and potential rain (not much) in the Danube valley tomorrow, it is forecast to get hot next week. No further rain for a few days. notamermaid

I seriously do not understand why Viking is so quiet about this, or rather why this is not mentioned the day before and then briefly pointed out at dinner. Cannot be difficult I would say. You and the Eistla made it to Deggendorf, i.e. through the shallow stretch and that was a bit of a logistical manoeuvre for sure. You are through! But that is not good and I do not recall anybody mentioning this in detail on cruisecritic before. At least better timing could on two occasions have been achieved, from the sound of it. I mean, we all use smartphones and satnavs... Have not been to the castle, but Passau should be a pleasant place. The organ in the Cathedral is magnificent and there is a café nearby that I enjoyed much: https://greindl-passau.de/blogs/cafes-werkstatten/cafe-stephans-dom notamermaid

I feared as much. And, yes, judging from what past cruisers have said here on cruisecritic, it is typical for (North-American, etc.) cruise lines not to mention this straight out or at least clearly visible in brochures. I have found that German ones tend to better at saying this. Not sure about CroisiEurope, but they have many smaller ships, i.e. two cabin levels rather than three. I actually learnt from a CroisiEurope captain that it is best to avoid the three cabin level ships if you are unhappy about the sundeck issue, as they are too high for the Main to keep the sundeck open. I am not sure if he meant all those, but it sounded to me as if it is very widespread practice among the three cabin level ships to keep the sundeck railings down a lot, because there are so many bridges. Perhaps it is all those ships, very likely he at least meant the vast majority. The split-level three cabin level ships are better for this it seems as the sundeck may be closed but there is a different design of lounge space. For more info, see here from post #4: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2670259-the-river-main-infos-and-river-cruising-experiences/#comment-57658624 notamermaid

Pfelling gauge fluctuating at a slightly lower level than yesterday. Current figure is 288cm. notamermaid

Yes, I have been thinking of you while writing the river levels in the Danube thread. So, It is tight then for the Eistla (as it is for a few other 135m ships). Hope it works out. notamermaid

There clearly was not enough rain to have a real impact in the shallow section of the river. Data from further upstream does not look promising. Pfelling is now fluctuating around the 290cm mark. Annoyingly, it looks as if there will be rain in Southern Bavaria away from where it matters in the Danube valley and it will rain around Salzburg this weekend, says the forecast. That at least is good for Austria. notamermaid

Thank you for the photos. Hah, you have giving me another topic to talk about, I should have warned you. I think I have actually not mentioned the railway tunnels in that aspect. At least I cannot remember doing so in the last three years. Apart from the somber connections, I find they fit well into the landscape. Talking of war and deception. I leave you with a topic for the weekend that I am not sure all US folks know about. It also involves crossing the Rhine so fits into this thread. There was the Ghost Army which I myself have learnt about only very recently. They were non-combat soldiers employed to deceive German troops and and those in command about what the (mostly US) Allies were doing. It worked. They even used inflatable tanks! https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-ghost-army-of-wwii-used-art-to-deceive-the-***-180980336/ notamermaid

Some info on the international take and covid cases: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Cruise-lines-Covid-protocols-ease?ct=river Not going as far as Arosa does, it seems to imply. notamermaid

And a good thing, too. But for your comfort the coach driver could have kept you all on board and taken another few rounds just driving you along (with air conditioning and all that). I think he should have offered that. Which sounds like "the huge Panama Canal, etc. etc., by the way here is one slight of the Canal you are going to be on" (added by me: this absolutely major engineering feat that for the first time ever has managed to connect the European continent by waterways to allow major transport and river cruising to happen). That is the way to do it. Be it lecture or guided tour. Would love to see Nuremberg, top of my list is the railway museum. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge dropped below 300cm early this morning. notamermaid

No real impact, it seems, on the river levels so far. Pfelling stands at 306cm. notamermaid

Yup! One comment. There are a few itineraries that have "sea days", i.e no daytime shore excursion, but so few that for the general argument I find they are negligible. Being in the UK, I agree with pontac, you tend to have better payment options. The continental European lines, also the ones that the brick and mortar travel agents in the UK are not so familiar with, have similar conditions to the UK, so do check the offers of CroisiEurope, Arosa and Amadeus online, if you think you will enjoy a French or German influence on your river cruise. notamermaid

One thought on that. You have included excursions in your cruise price so if do not go on these you are in a way paying for a service you are not getting (of your own choosing). You can book optional excursions for an additional price. You can be as active or inactive as you wish, but action at night you are unlikely to get and on shore there will be little opportunity at night as the ship usually does not do overnight stays in ports. If you want those check the itineraries very carefully. Some lines have evening concerts included or as an optional, in a castle or palace, have a look at those. A shorter cruise in terms of kilometres sailed compared to days spent on the ship can be an indicator of more immerse time in ports on the Danube and the Rhine but not so much necessarily on other rivers. Again, look at the itineraries carefully. If you want to be completely free of included excursions to wander off on your own you can choose one of the few lines that give you that option. notamermaid

A very useful and fun present for all those Rhine panoramas and Würzburg and Budapest - and Versailles! You know that Baroque idea was to be wide and impressive. Also Castle Howard in Yorkshire (what a dome!), but there the huge park helps with positioning the most humble of photographers, i.e. me. But back to the Main. Recently been to Aschaffenburg, that is a neat little (big-ish) palace they have on the waterfront, what a setting. I am sure that looks good in a photograph taken from the river. Speaking of the lesser known ports, while I agree with the "hop off here hop on there" logistics on the Main not being ideal on a river cruise, it is certainly right that on an Amsterdam to Budapest itinerary you need to avoid all the meanders and locks, I mean make good time on a coach, while the ship needs to follow the winding river. Or expand that itinerary by two to three days... notamermaid

Pfelling gauge stands at 307cm, i.e. is back on the downward trend but the rain promised for today has arrived in Bavaria and the temperatures have gone down quite a lot. What this does to the Danube in Bavaria when it has received the water from the upper reaches and the tributaries we will need to see this evening. notamermaid

Similar but different in that the Residenz is such a wide building that I could not fit it in from that street end angle. Better photographer and better camera would probably do the trick . notamermaid