notamermaid

Several weeks in advance will get you a good deal. Called "Spar-Ticket". But you may not be so flexible as regards which trains at what time of day are available. You should be able to book such a ticket six months in advance, that is when the date opens up but you do not have to book then. But there is also the 49-Euro-Ticket now that I recommend checking out. I am not sure how well it would work for him on long distance travel. It has been a while since I last used a train, so I hope travellers with more recent experience will chime in. notamermaid

There is always something happening on the Rhine, this busiest of inland waterways in Europe. Normally mundane things happens, we get a new barge or there is a ferry that goes into dry dock, etc., etc. I really doubted the date when I read this piece of news: "The navy ship "Lachs" will be on the Rhine". Surely it must be the first of April! But it clearly says that now, after the U-Boot, a navy vessel will sail up the Rhine and when it can be spotted at Wesel. This needs further investigating... notamermaid

I am not that much of a car person but those events we call "Oldtimer Rallye" are such fun. It is particularly good when the really old cars mix with the old-ish ones from the Sixties and Seventies. I always enjoy the designs, especially the Triumphs. Did you know that a German-Jewish immigrant founded Triumph? And then he got another German on board. Never knew that. Eyeyeh, ze Germans you cannot get away from them... notamermaid

Yes, most likely. An investigation is obviously happening and it looks like the captain will face a fine. notamermaid

Depending on schedule, either tonight or during the morning tomorrow, the modern river cruise ship hull will meet an ocean-going replica vessel of some or our earliest visitors on the continent. The Viking ship Saga Farmann is at Nuremberg where the Zasavica III is headed. Wish someone could take a photo of that sail-past. Do follow the epic journey, very much recommended. The captain has now got a bench, made from wood gifted by a local carpenter, Oregon pine from a Main river resident for a Norwegian ship: https://www.sagafarmann.com/posts/1538 notamermaid

The Amadeus Elegant has arrived in Erlenbach for repairs. I reckon these will take a while and the ship will need to skip more than the next itinerary. As a side note: this is an unusual version of the Grand European itinerary. Düsseldorf is certainly not the first choice for the end of such a journey but I would be very willing to do that. Düsseldorf has a convenient airport for flights to the UK so is good for those customers. I could not find the Elegant on the company website, so looked for a charter. It appears that she is much sailing for SAGA - hence the reports about British passengers - this season and was scheduled to do a Rhine itinerary next. notamermaid

The Zasavica III has picked up the Gentleman II at Regensburg and is now headed to Kelheim where she will enter the Main Danube Canal. Here are some photos of the pushboat and previous hull transports. Notice the additional bow attached to the hull: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:4160846/mmsi:244730011/imo:0/vessel:ZASAVICAIII The Gentleman II´s long journey through Europe brings me to a quiz question. Quite a few of you also embark or have embarked on long itineraries, a very popular one is Budapest to Amsterdam. That means you are on the Danube, the Canal, the Main and the Rhine/a bit more Canal/Waal/Nederrijn and the Canal towards Amsterdam. Correct, yes, but here is the nerdy, über correct question: which two other rivers do you also sail on? notamermaid

Interesting explanation @RobInMN . German uses this metaphorical gender as well although we of course have the grammatical gender and the natural gender. Fun and frustrating to learn. Car - neuter, gets the metaphorical "he", motorbike - neuter, gets the metaphorical "she", locomotive engine - female, gets the metaphorical "she". A few exceptions apply to cars. So you can own "einen BMW" and "eine BMW" meaning car and motorbike. Ship is neuter but turns into a "she" if you give it a name. So you get "Die "Achim" sank in der Geislinger Schleuse". This means: "The "Achim" sank in Geislingen lock". A male first name, the female article. notamermaid

At the Himmelstadt lock on the Main a river cruise ship hit a small rock and sprung a leak, necessitating an emergency call at 23.10 hours on Saturday. The ship was evacuated. On board were 126 British passengers and 22 crew members. The Amadeus Elegant was sailing from Budapest to Düsseldorf. The fire brigade was able to keep the ship from sinking by pumping off the water, it had stood up to knee high in the crew area hallway. The Amadeus Elegant is not able to sail and after emergency repairs at Karlstadt harbour, where it made it to, will go to the shipyard in Erlenbach. Nobody was injured and as the second video says, it was a calm rescue operation. https://www.br.de/nachrichten/bayern/passagierschiff-mit-englischen-rentner-auf-dem-main-havariert,TgCCnBK notamermaid

It is June, time to have a look at what the river at Kaub did in May: A good month. It started on a good level. After a gradual decline substantial rain gave the river a high volume of water and lead to a high level but nowhere near flooding so that gave a good level that gave the river a buffer to keep the levels from falling too fast too low, seeing that we now have very warm temperatures typical of May and June. Nevertheless in the absence of rain there has been a steady decline. This has been halted now and the first few days in June have found the gauge at Kaub being at steady levels. The forecast is for a gradual loss of very few centimetres per day so that we will likely see the level fall to 150cm by the middle of the month. This is absolutely fine for river cruise ships. notamermaid

It is June, time to have a look at what the river at Pfelling did in May: The month started at a high level that could have led to flooding had there been a big amount of rain. The river lost some water though and the rain set in later at a time when there was enough room, i.e. a buffer that kept the level from going to more than just a very brief rise to what one may see as high water getting close to mild flooding. HSW is at 620cm, the figure from which river traffic is suspended. The level did not get close to that. The fall came fast and after a small peak a few days later, the figures made their way to the mean water level again. The river is loosing water in this warm weather gradually, the month ended on a still good level. In the absence of rain, the last four days have seen a further reduction in level and Pfelling is now at 335cm. A very gradual further decline is likely for a few days as indicated by the predictions for gauges further upstream. notamermaid

It is June, time to have a look at what the river at Dresden did in May: From a level well above the mean we see the figures gradually going down till the middle of the month. A short period of rain kept the level from falling much below the mean and gave a short rise. Now we are in the summer period and warm temperatures without rain will put a strain on the river. A short rise happened at the end of the month but the following days not shown here yet reveal this to not have lead to a good level. Still, the figures are above 100cm. NB: the authorities in the Czech Republic can control the volume of water to some extent with the reservoir and floodgates and a certain effect can appear at Dresden, one that we are not able to determine how extensive it will be. Companies have learnt from past years so few cruises happen in the heat of summer and in early autumn in that area. Viking offers the „Elegant Elbe“ itinerary in June but then the next departure is in October. notamermaid

It is very warm here too. Rivers are loosing water. Gradually, not too bad. Been busy, also Rheinland-Pfalz-Tag event coming up, so needed to do some extra preparation for a colleague and will have an extra shift as well. The event will be away from the big rivers but on a river setting this year, in Bad Ems on the Lahn, site only in German: https://rlp-tag.de/de/startseite/ It is basically a "meet and get to know" in another town (of suitable size) every year (after this one changing to bi-annual) for the citizens of this federal land that is so "non-homogenous" and artificially formed after WWII. notamermaid

They are still I think. In Germany the ships including barges and tankers have all sorts of names, including standard boys' first names but I see "she" used. The Gentleman II is also a "she" according to maritime tradition. But is sounds odd to say the Gentleman II, she sails... . Perhaps this is a changing thing. It is ship - or vessel. But excursion boat as far as I know. By the way in German it is Flusskreuzfahrtschiff as well. But the maritime/technical word is Fahrgastkabinenschiff, the ones without cabins are then obviously called Fahrgastschiff. It is assumed that the Zasavica III pushboat will collect the hull at Regensburg. That boat is now near Nuremberg. notamermaid

Another "baby" is on its way to the Netherlands. Built in Turnu Severin, Roumania the hull is on its way for completion and currently docked at Regensburg awaiting a push boat for the transport via the Canal to the Main. Usual procedure after that is to hand over a hull to a ship that pulls it along on the last leg, the river Rhine, to the shipyard. The name of the ship will be the "Gentleman II" which is already displayed on a sign attached to the hull together with the shipyard info. notamermaid

The bomb has been detonated. Everything went smoothly in the end and 5,400 people have been able to return home. We know that sadly this is not the last bomb that will be found. Hopefully the next report about digging will be about the discovery of Roman artifacts again. notamermaid

I have just heard that a WWII bomb has been found in Trier. It is regarded as dangerous and everyone in a certain radius has already been evacuated, basically immediately. It is in Olewig, a suburb away from the river. As I write the Viking Alsvin is in Trier. There has been no mention of river traffic being affected, only airspace partially. A tense evening. The bomb will be detonated on the spot. notamermaid

News in the cruise industry are plentiful, cannot keep track of everything right now and post. Work and shopping for the weekend are keeping me busy. New ships announced for the Rhine, they have found more Roman antiquities (again) and there are my monthly reports to come. @Daisi have you finished that schnitzel yet? Have a good weekend everyone.

I can hardly believe I have not posted this before. So here goes, for the stats fans especially, but also for general interest. The "ultimate" info about the Moselle in facts and figures: http://moselkommission.org/index.php?id=180&L=5 notamermaid

It also sounds good. Highlight of that cruise is the Rhine Gorge as regards landscape. If you like castles go for that one. Think about what languages and cultures you want to hear and experience. The Rhine is probably closer to you as regards culture than Slovakia and Hungary (unless your community at home has lots of Slavic and Eastern European folk). But none of the countries you will visit will be "exotic". Is there a building or landscape you need to see? Any photos or videos that could help you with a decision? Gut feeling is this: the Danube with extensions a bit better than the Rhine with extensions, the Rhine a little preference over the Danube. A pleasurable but difficult decision. notamermaid

You can see all the locks here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinschifffahrt#Schleusen_am_Hoch-_und_Oberrhein Why the Sena cannot go into the lock is a mystery to me. In an interview (in German) that I read a few weeks ago, a spokesman for A-Rosa said that she can only sail up to the lock. I reckon that there is a regulation that I do not know about. Kind of connected fun fact: on the Moselle the size for single ships is 110m but ships of 135m have been allowed to sail for several years now, I have read about that regulation but how the exemption/permission works I do not know. notamermaid

First of June means it is time to recap May and the river levels, but first an excursion into the world of barge traffic. Low water - a problem for everyone. For the company BASF it is a big problem as 40 percent of its raw material arrives by ship. Now it has just introduced a tanker specifically with very low river levels in mind, it is called the Stolt Ludwigshafen and is bigger than standard but with a lower draft. This is the report in German, perhaps it is of interest even if you do not speak the language: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/ludwigshafen/basf-schiff-fuer-niedrigwasser-im-rhein-100.html As you can see, the length of the ship is 135m and the width is 17.5m. All river cruise ships are 135m in length or shorter. But wider? We have so far only one on the river, the A-Rosa Sena. She can sail up the Rhine up to the lock at Iffezheim, her width is 17.7m. If you wanted to sail on a river cruise ship that does not have problems with low water you wold need to go small: 110m or less reduces the risk considerably. notamermaid

Another month has passed and it is time to recap. But first, something else. Talking of high water, I happened to stumble across a video the other day. I had never paid much attention to that little line saying "historische Ereignisse " on the Bavarian authorities' website over all the time that I have used that website but then decided to click on it and explore. Just in time for the anniversary of the flooding at Passau. The flood of the century happened ten years ago, over Corpus Christi hence the word “Fronleichnam” in the title. Just to explain: the animation shows the precipitation as coloured pixels. The dots mark flooding levels and as you can tell purple is the colour nobody likes to see. It was a long disastrous week, not helped by the fact that the Danube’s tributaries kept supplying the large river with high volumes of water over several days. Passau suffered and suffered. This is the animation, it starts on 30 May with benign levels, almost everything on green, the only one on red is a gauge on the Aisch river, the water of which goes to the Rhine system not the Danube system. Then the rain sets in… https://www.hnd.bayern.de/2013_hochwasser notamermaid

So you can practice your German and get help if needed. Great. So you did sail but only got to Hungary. Glad to read it was a great experience on board. Our consumer rights laws are pretty goo with this. It may well be that A-Rosa needed to do a refund (I am not familiar with details of travel laws/rights), but they may of course gone beyond that to make you a happy return customer. Shannon and self-drive boats - legendary almost, something Germans are eager to do and I certainly would like to see the Shannon. Have not made it to Ireland so far, just waved to the island from the Isle of Anglesey. notamermaid

Welcome to the wonderful world of river cruising. I think this is a great choice with nice add-ons for a first cruise. I base this on the itinerary (I have done a similar one), what I know of Munich and what others have said about Avalonwaterways on this board. And your TA suggested a very modern ship as well as the large windows (I guess those cabins are with French balconies - which are a great choice if you want a constant view of the river and fresh air in your cabin). Having said that, I think it is good of past posters to suggest the Rhine with or without Moselle. Not much to add from me to all that great advice others have given. One note: in autumn the Danube can be low, be prepared for low water. Well, that is what I usually say but with your itinerary you have another plus. It ends in Vilshofen. That avoids the trickiest part of the Danube so low water is highly unlikely to shorten your cruise and it reduces the risk of disruption considerably. There are indeed many, many choices and one can overthink this - you could have a look at European lines if you are a bit adventurous, making your head spin even more. Again, if you just said now, "I have had enough of looking around and will book what the travel agent suggested", I do not think you could go wrong. Have fun planning. notamermaid