notamermaid

Nicko Cruises are still under the radar on the English-speaking market but have increased their presence in the UK. The 2024 catalogue has just been released and features an additional vessel: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/nicko-cruises-releases-2024-brochure-featuring-additional-vessel Nicko Cruises is a German line and may be put in the mid to lower range of luxury compared to North-American lines but is certainly above what one may call "budget" . If you enjoy a more European ship and passenger range with a German feel and can do without huge perks, do have a look at it. notamermaid

We are well into August time to have a look at how the river did at Dresden in July: Overall the river was too low for comfort for river cruise ships. But we know that river cruise companies have adapted their summer schedule accordingly, having reacted in the past few years to annual occurrence of low water. Fluctuations show rainfall but also the Czech authorities releasing additional water from the reservoir. I have recently read in an interview about this procedure. In connection with the excursion boats it was stated that (translated) "the Czech send the rainfall as it comes straight through ((the locks and dam))". The end of the month saw another spike and kept above the MNW line (mean low water). After continued rainfall the situation looks better now and Dresden gauge is currently at 133cm. notamermaid

Hope your cruise is great and that evening in Koblenz will be special. notamermaid

Kaub gauge looks to have reached the plateau this afternoon. The downward trend may well have started but from now 216cm it is a long way to go to not so favourable water levels. No sign of the figures turning to double digits before 21 August and even then the probability is low. notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic and thank you for saying hello. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Apparently, The Bingen/Rüdesheim area was heavily bombed. It was strategically important as there were railways and a bridge. Question: "Bridge, what bridge?" Answer: "That one": https://www.romantischer-rhein.de/en/a-ruin-of-hindenburg-bridge A stump in the river is still visible from a river cruise ship as you sail past. It was the sister bridge to the ones at Urmitz/Engers and Remagen/Erpel (yup, that famous one). Only the Urmitz/Engers bridge was rebuilt. There are fascinating (and sad I may add) photos taken in 1945. It was what was called "Trolley Mission Flights" that provided those images. You can read about this here: https://www.b24.net/trolley-missions-overview.htm Or if you can stomach seeing images of the bridge and many other bombed ruined places search for Trolley Mission Hindenburgbrücke on Google. notamermaid

Grin. Not quite. I was the companion to the audience member who got to decide how much more the victor was allowed to torment the looser of the fight. Reenactment can be so well done, whatever the topic. WWI, very moving for sure. I have always found the uniforms uncomfortable to look at when on display, but seeing it worn is kind of scary. Lost a great uncle in WWI. notamermaid

The other companies' loss. Why would you not have Richard and Rollo showing you around... I would love it. Happened to get involved, literally the situation got me, in an audience participation of a demonstration fight in an English castle, many years ago. They were two fabulous guys, knowledgeable and strong. Very fond memories, this girl has. @Canal archive that is a busy schedule you posted. Sorry to hear health did not cooperate. Not helped by that encounter especially. Some people... So good that Scenic sails into Honfleur. I would only sail with a company that sails that far, it is superior to turning in Caudebec-en-Caux in my opinion. notamermaid

Things are looking fine on the German Danube. Pfelling at 468cm, Passau at 551cm. notamermaid

Regularly. The fuse can very often still work and make the bomb explode when moved. All four were "easy" apparently in the end and were defused on site. Life has returned to normal. Stopping river traffic is unusual of course. Happened once last year that I know of (somewhere else on the Rhine). May have missed one other report. I think it was also once on the Moselle. If not last year then in a previous year. notamermaid

Could not find anything specific. Sounds a very probable explanation to me. Passau is a very busy place, has been struggling with allotting space in the old town in the past (just before Covid). The out of town port should not be a big deal. I am sure Viking will be very good at organizing this. notamermaid

Bombs in Rüdesheim Four WWII bombs in Rüdesheim need to be defused so all traffic has been halted including on the river. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/vier-weltkriegsbomben-bei-ruedesheim-am-rhein-gefunden-100.html This map is a bit clearer, you can see that it is downstream from Rüdesheim: https://www.hessenschau.de/panorama/verkehr-gesperrt-entschaerfung-von-weltkriegsbomben-bei-ruedesheim-laeuft-v8,weltkriegsbomben-niederwalddenkmal-100.html It is estimated that the emergency situation will last till midnight. notamermaid

Kaub gauge at 206cm. Quite a bit of water still coming from the Upper Rhine valley. Weather forecast to improve. Plenty of room, i.e. a good level, for high temperatures and lack of rain to have no real impact and the figures above 100cm for some time. notamermaid

A quick look at Pfelling. 479cm with the probability to rise further. The Regen river (flows towards Regensburg) has risen so much it is over the flood mark 2. Passau okay, but we will need to see how the high volume of water coming from the tributaries translates into figures at Pfelling and further. The Isar river is at a good, not too high level. It is rare but there has been flooding in August on the Danube, notably in 1991. The weather should change to more summery temperatures this week. notamermaid

Peles is indeed a "newbuild", a 19th century mixed styles countryside palace. From the photos I have seen I think this must have worked very well as a film location for winter! notamermaid

Yes, I would say so. I tend to feel a little cooler than some people but can get to short sleeves in the afternoon. notamermaid

We did not even make it to 20 today. It has been cold for several days. But that is unusual. August is warm to hot. September is mixed and can vary quite a bit from coast to hills, from valley in the North to valley in the South. Mornings can be cool but afternoons very often get to 20 and more. Really pleasant for touring. Check accuweather or wetteronline.de notamermaid

Pfelling gauge has risen to 428cm. So plenty of water to keep the ships sailing comfortably for hopefully quite a few days in August - or, hmmm, a problem arising at Passau? The level at Passau went close to being rather high at the infamous bridge. The river stopped short at 620cm, that is only 10cm below the figure that the officials have put down in the list of important levels as being the one that may cause problems for passage for some river cruise ships. At 594cm now, the level looks pleasant. Hopefully, not too much water will come from the Upper Danube in the next 48 hours. It is still raining over the whole Danube basin (more or less). notamermaid

@braemar12 That is a busy long itinerary. Esztergom Cathedral is something between magnificent and serene I find. The bridge: The Cathedral frontage with statue: Enjoy your cruise. notamermaid

My interest in Bucharest comes from the connection of Queen Elizabeth of Romania to her birthplace on the Rhine at Neuwied. I would like to see Peles Palace in Sinaia one day where the Royal Couple lived. I would definitely go on an excursion to Bucharest just to get a feel for the city and its recent history as well. I enjoyed seeing the remnants of Soviet times in Budapest. notamermaid

Brrr, cold! I have arrived at the water cooler with a cup of tea instead. 🫖 It is so cool in Germany. Unpleasant winds as well. No need for air conditioning at work. Found a note from my colleague on a spread sheet with the comment "the year will soon be over..." Shock, no!! I feel as if I have not had a decent summer yet. Planning ahead is fine, but that note came at a psychologically inconvenient time. Looking forward to a warmer week and perhaps I can share a few photos of Westphalia to keep at least a bit of holiday spirit going for me. notamermaid

Great! Passau return is a typical cruise offered on the German market - hence Amadeus doing this. Is that a 14-night cruise? notamermaid

Sabrina - Severn, I see how it has evolved in the letters. Thank you, I do not know much about the rivers of England. Surprised that the Severn is longer than the Thames. The view from the bridge over the Severn estuary is stunning. More word history - the Mosel is the Latin Mosella which means small (river) Maas (Meuse). Father Rhine and Mother Moselle allegories are depicted on this monument in Koblenz in the park along the Rhine embankment: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Vater_Rhein_und_Mutter_Mosel.jpg "Vater Rhein und seine Töchter" is the title of a monument in Düsseldorf: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vater_Rhein_und_seine_Töchter notamermaid

My pleasure. You may well hit the bad weather front on Sunday but the week ahead looks to get better as you sail towards Basel. Have a great cruise. If we are going into the linguistics/history nerd thing - and I cannot resist at this point - let us have a look at Rhenus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhenus_Pater Fun fact: Rhenus is also in the name of a maritime logistics company, they were of course inspired by that Latin word for Rhine. notamermaid

Hope you are having a great time on the AmaSerena and touring the ports. Thank you for the photo. Could Kaub gauge become one of the most photographed "non-castle" towers on the Rhine? notamermaid