notamermaid

A German lesson (you are allowed to forget the words very quickly) : "Abladeverbesserung und Sohlstabilisierung" is what the authorities are doing on the Lower Rhine around Krefeld. This basically means dredging the river so the ships can load more - in maritime technical language. This is the German article with photo of the dredger: https://binnenschifffahrt-online.de/2023/07/featured/30515/niederrhein/ This is good but the more pressing area is Kaub. It is a slow process and admittedly not as easily accomplished as on the Lower Rhine. The authorities meaning the hydrology engineers and the administration are still working on the - paperwork which will give recommendations as how to proceed. notamermaid

Indeed, business as usual it seems for now. These are just proposals. Another report: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/clia-denies-reports-of-amsterdam-cruise-ship-ban notamermaid

Back to Wuppertal, see post #424. Wuppertal is not only known for being associated with steel and the heavy industry of the Ruhr valley, it was also a centre for the textile industry. If you are into the early industrial revolution you will want to spend quite a bit of time in the town's museums. How about this one (unfortunately limited opening times): https://www.mi-wuppertal.de/en/museum/ribbon-weaving-museum Yes, yes, you may say, but does a company do an excursion from a river cruise? Not that I know of, but it would be possible. It is 40 minutes by car from Düsseldorf, 50 minutes by car from Cologne and 40 minutes by car from Monheim. All times approximated. Hang on, Monheim?? If you have just stumbled over that place while reading, not to worry. I did not know that they have a dock for 135m river cruise ships until early this year. It is a town between Cologne and Düsseldorf on the right bank of the Rhine and I can honestly say that I have never been in the town itself. Photos look interesting. But that is for another day and possibly another thread. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 289cm. Running slightly below the forecast which is firmly pointing towards 300cm for tomorrow afternoon. The margin of error sees the level below that figure but there is a chance that it could get a little above 300cm. The 27th should see even higher figures. That is looking good. notamermaid

The brief 89cm at Kaub gauge yesterday was the bottom (for now) and we see a nice jump has happened overnight. 103cm now and it is cool and rainy. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 287cm and the trend is showing a clear line in the right direction. notamermaid

Thank you very much, I am touched. Good to read you enjoyed your trip so much. Cheers to you with a Tempranillo red wine aimed in a wide angle (the raised glass) to make sure it reaches across the pond to you. 🍷 notamermaid

And now for something quite different. Have a look at the marinetraffic.com screenshot of Passau I posted above. There is a place called Broken Glass Villa. We Germans have a bottle collection with deposit system, but surely this cannot have anything to do with it seeing that the bottles must be returned intact? The director's house of a glass recycling plant? No, neither. This is an actual town villa covered in broken glass and it is a work of art. It is difficult to find detailed info in English it seems but Atlas Obscura covers it: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/broken-glass-villa This is now high on my list of places to see in Bavaria. notamermaid

A quick look at Budapest: It appears that something is happening further upstream from Budapest soon. After a slow decline the forecast shows a rise. Substantial rain in Austria? notamermaid

Cruisecritic is reporting from an Avalon Waterways cruise on the Moselle: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/can-you-stay-active-on-a-river-cruise-yes-live-from-an-avalon-waterways-active-discovery-european-river-cruise The comments about Cochem have made me think... The photo of a castle taken out of the cabin is of the Hotel Schloss Lieser, a prestigious place - you guessed it - connected to wine. notamermaid

This is Racklau, a 40 minute walk from the old town: @rcaruso Thanks for reporting. Hope you have a good day in Passau and things go smoothly. Pfelling at 279cm after a dip overnight. notamermaid

Oh yes, went down it after watching the Wuppertal one for the sixth(?) time (in a year). And that one about the Berlin railway yard is a good one I had not seen yet and the one about... snip! Kaub gauge at 90cm (well I got that one wrong yesterday and so did the forecast, oops.) notamermaid

Allow me to ignore water levels for the rest of the weekend and wander a bit off the beaten track to - Wuppertal. You may have guessed it if you are slightly familiar with German that this word means the valley of the Wupper. So this is a historic town not on the Rhine but on this small river that flows into the Rhine. Welll, not quite. The town has only existed since 1930 when the name was given to reflect the fact that two of the parts that formed the new town are actually on the Wupper river. That makes it one of the youngest towns in Germany. And it is very industrial. But that is the reason we can now enjoy one of the weirdest modes of transport in Germany. Yes, the Wupper does flow into the Rhine. So to the railway. It has rails, it has stations but is not on the ground. It is suspended: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IFh6wFTJiQ And if you are into unusual places do check out Tim's other videos. notamermaid

From the UK website: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles/can-you-stay-active-on-a-river-cruise-yes-live-from-an-avalon-waterways-active-discovery-european-river-cruise This is an enjoyable read. How active is active really? Find out in the article. I instantly liked this itinerary as an option for North-American cruisers. Nice to read a detailed review of it. As regards the mill in Cochem. I was looking for it when I was there earlier this year on a day trip. I was a bit shocked to find it is a very modern building and housed in it together with what looked like the local fire brigade (!?). I was not sure what to make of that at all (I did not go in). notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. To the first comment: commercial river traffic never stops and it will certainly never be halted. Small barges can still sail and did sail in 2018. It is a challenge but works. What happens is that at least some logistics companies have rules and regulations for low water and from what I understand have no obligation in their contracts to run a ship below a certain river level at Kaub. To the second comment: river cruise ships can sail and will sail if it is safe and commercially (and for the experience of the passenger) reasonable to do so. There has not been a single year that I know of when river cruising actually stopped per se. It got close in 2018. Your company will decide what is reasonable as regards the experience and from what past passengers have reported about Avalon it works very well. I hope we can help you here to relax a bit and if you have questions closer to your date you may prefer to talk to Avalon again. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

LOL. That other man with that other castle. Fun to think that the fairy castle is modelled on essentially a folly-looking (castle) as I see it which we actually call a palace (Schloss Neuwschwanstein) as it is a royal residence, which is modelled on actual castles. Pfelling gauge stable at 277cm. Trend is in the wrong direction for tomorrow, 270cm. notamermaid

Adjusted forecast now suggests 96cm as the low. I dare say a bit closer to what my gut feeling said it would be, but believe me I still prefer to look at the computer data rather than trust myself. It is correct that no definite data exists, but I politely partly disagree or at least would like to refine that there is data. Computer modelling of the very elaborate probability kind that is not too helpful for river cruise ships and even less for passengers. Over the years I have learnt though that the Kaub 14 day prediction can be a good indicator of things to come, hence me using it here for our purposes. From today, the data takes us now to 6 August and it looks at least promising. We have been in far worse situations. But, as always, we will review this again. It is cool today and there has been rain again. notamermaid

A different subject for a pleasant Sunday watch. We talked about Neuschwanstein Castle in February. Here is a documentary about the man and the castle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WPcLxQL3bA notamermaid

Has the story reached its end? The lioness is now regarded as a wild boar. No traces of a wild cat have been found, but there are still skeptics who think that there may be a lioness on the loose. A video circulating online is considered genuine. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66265874 From the Spree to the Elbe proper: Dresden gauge after a short rise which was the reaction the Czech authorities letting a higher volume of water through is at 53cm. Just to remind people. Viking only sails the Elbe but you can sail from Berlin on the Spree and the Havel to the Elbe. Even further if you want - it would be what I call the Grand European tour North. Big difference to the standard version is that you only hear one or two languages and sail in only one or two countries depending on where you disembark - Germany or the Netherlands. notamermaid

Thanks for saying hello from your cruise. Indeed, the river is as busy as ever. You could say even a little more as the reduced load means logistics companies deploy a few more ships to partly make up for it. After the low of most probably 91cm the level at Kaub should go up to over 120cm and remain so for the rest of the month. Fingers crossed. notamermaid

There has been rain in the Rhine valley and it is cooler now. Relief for nature for sure. Reaction of the river levels will follow soon. For now, Kaub is still going down slowly. 103cm this lunchtime. Prospective level for Monday 91cm. Seems a bit low to me, but it could just mean that we need to wait for the high volume of water further up in the Upper Rhine valley to get to the Rhine Gorge. notamermaid

After the half decent plateau yesterday, the level at Pfelling has gone down to 278cm. I dunno, would it be better to go for smaller ships again, like 125m or shorter? The few centimetres advantage in draught that may give makes the difference between sailing and no sailing in these conditions. Just wondering... Remember, there used to be ships of varying lengths, before they became standard hulls of 135m basically. 95, 105, 110, 123, 126.7 ("my" ship the MS Belvedere) are all measurements you can read in the fleets built before 2020. The modern ships of 135m are claimed by the companies to have adjusted hulls, but in the end they still struggle. Will get back to some statistics on the old ships another day. notamermaid

Trotting the unbeaten path in Westphalia part 1 They say there are 25,000 castles (including tiny ruins) in Germany. So naturally I have been to one, just cannot avoid those things in the landscape, too many of them. Seriously, I did seek out the area for the fact that it had a) unusual castles, b) a brewery, c) a palace built an architect I like and d) I have never been to that area as far as I know. Well, in the end it was too little time would have liked to stay longer. Westphalia is somewhat in the Middle of Germany and relatively rural where I went. Look on the map for Kassel and Paderborn, it lurks between the two towns. The palace is explained in short, Bad Arolsen. Did not manage to book a guided tour in the time slot I needed so I was left with seeing the outside and believe me the wow-factor when you come along the road and that "thing" appears in your vision is great: https://www.bad-arolsen.de/de/tourismus/kontakt-und-information/uebersetzung/englisch/residenzschloss-en.php More on another day. notamermaid

Yes, website says she is 361 feet. An elegant ship to watch sailing by on the river. It is not a guarantee but the shorter length should be favourable for her draught. Your captain and crew can tell you more about this if you are interested. notamermaid

As regards the levels: in 2018 river cruise ships still sailed - the old (and relatively new) small ones. Last year the 135m ships failed to make the passage on some days in August. Apart from one - the MS Alisa. She was only a hull taken by a barge alongside it to the Netherlands for completion and sailed the Grand European journey when no other 135m river cruise ship could. notamermaid