notamermaid

A splendid ship. The specifications are given on the ship project website. With a draft of 2.5m she could indeed sail up the Rhine and would be strong enough with that manning against the current, I reckon. The dragon bow looks tall but I guess is low enough to fit under bridges. I hope I can spot the Saga Farmann, if not, a webcam image will have to do. She is now not far from Düsseldorf. notamermaid

I suppose this chapter in river cruising was closed when the ships were sold. But I will follow up briefly with the next chapter for "The B". She is now the Carmen, her details: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?115114-Carmen-FGKS-02321750&p=458368#post458368 I was surprised to read that she did not start life as the River Baroness with Uniworld. notamermaid

Copycat? Not quite, but following in the footsteps of Viva Cruises, the German company that has completed the second season of winter cruising successfully. The difference is that Viva Cruises operates those itineraries both on the Rhine/Main and canals to the North with the large ships and the smaller ones whereas Viking has chosen the standard Rhine route popular with its customer base. Viking cannot operate on the canals with its long 135m ships.Viking's press release: https://www.vikingcruises.com/press/press-releases/2023-05-23-viking-announces-new-treasures-of-the-rhine-itinerary.html Sorry, but from my comments above you can see that the phrase quote: "...establishes Viking as the first line to operate year-round..." end quote, is not correct. I am not convinced that seeing the river in four Celsius and rain and mist with the potential of flooding is an enticing idea. It does snow in January but a winter wonderland is not a given. Still, if you are prepared for all that it sure is a nice itinerary. notamermaid

The seasoned cruisers among you will know that the European market for river cruises differs from the North-American one, meaning the passengers on the continent and from the UK travel differently and lines cater to that. It is not a vast difference but noticeable. A few notes from travelweekly on this. Perhaps there is some info that you find interesting. https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Insights/River-cruises-for-Europeans-and-US-guests notamermaid

The Rhineland is really nice to spend your later years in, but, my, is Normandy beautiful! When you are coming from the North Sea and fjords, the beach easily beats our measly river embankments. notamermaid

Naah, that is the English and they are Anglo-Saxon. But that partying or football exuberance may be a relic of the Norse manner in the Normans coming from Normandy in the wake (pun intended) of that William guy. Who knows. I should have been more precise actually as the story of the Viking raids is an interesting one as regards Mainz, the city was spared. The Vikings indeed raided the Rhineland and outside of Mainz but did not enter the city. For the history nerds: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking_raids_in_the_Rhineland But the Vikings also traded, Bonn and Koblenz for example were important centres. Products from the Rhineland are known to have reached Scandinavia during those centuries. Not many years after the main raids had stopped, the Vikings were given Normandy and never returned to the Rhineland. The rest is history. notamermaid

As far as I know all vessels (perhaps exceptions exist) on the waterways have to have a few specifics/equipment to comply with modern navigation. The Saga Farmann is no exception. I can see on the hull some basic info displayed. So she would have a transponder we can use for tracking as well, right? She does. Here she is on marinetraffic: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:6781228/mmsi:257081140/imo:0/vessel:SAGA_FARMANN notamermaid

The Viking ship is a replica of a vessel found in the 19th century in Norway. The ship is on an epic journey from Norway to Istanbul, from Lübeck it has traversed Northern Germany via some canals and is near Gelsenkirchen. It will enter the Rhine and stay overnight in Mainz from 27 to 28 May. I would love to see that. Last time the Vikings were in Mainz they did not behave themselves. Well, times have changed from more than a thousand years ago, I am confident this time it will be all relaxed and good-natured. This is the project: https://www.sagafarmann.com/ Video from earlier today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byCzYDsGUtg So if you see a sailing barge with some odd-looking bearded folk on board, it is not the fault of the bar tender's drink on your river cruise ship... notamermaid

The drinks package, I had forgotten about that. It is a pity that Winningen did not work out. It is a delightful village I find. But then you saw Bernkastel-Kues, which is similar and bigger. A really nice place, a bit busy/touristy, but I would like to see that place again. notamermaid

It has been a busy weekend. I met (through my job) a couple from Texas, German by birth, they emigrated when they were younger. A fun conversation that I really enjoyed. It was International Museum Day on Sunday, which means museums have special offers, displays and sometimes demonstrations. I have been told that Sayn near Koblenz had a smithy demonstration. A very dear person went to see it and told me that she heard American English from a family. Unusual for a small museum, but then, it is close to Koblenz. I have also been able to intensify research exchange with a new recent contact. Great for learning about local history and a project I am working on. It is like opening a human archive, memory of years past that I do not remember because I was too young. The gentleman has also collected photographs and postcards, we have quite a bit to talk about in the coming years I think. 🙂 He made me remember how much the US-Americans were present along the Rhine around Koblenz both after the First and Second World Wars, we briefly talked about the post-war years. Oh, and the excursion boat "Carmen Sylva" that sank in Brohl harbour is still a matter for the courts. It was supposed to be auctioned off but then sank. The cause has still not been established so the ship's fate has not been decided. I do not have much hope for this once splendid vessel. notamermaid

The river has returned to good levels all round (in Germany). The weather has been warm, really warm, this has led to weather warnings for thunderstorms for this afternoon in Passau and many districts Southwest of the Danube, closer to the mountains, i.e. the lower Alpine regions. Most of that water will eventually get to the Danube. It is not yet clear in the forecast if this will lead to high water levels. For today and tomorrow it does not look substantial. Passau gauge reads 566cm. notamermaid

Those wheels are fascinating. I have seen a truck with the technique of those axles in real life, it tried to turn (and managed) round a corner not far from where I live. But it was less than half the size of the U-boat transporter. Next unusual transport on the Rhine is a Viking ship sailing under its own steam, not sure if it is just muscle power and sails or helped by an additional engine. From my comments you can tell it is not a river cruise ship. More on that to follow. Edit: the river water levels are so pleasant and uneventful I nearly forgot to mention them. All looking really good. notamermaid

I am sure there will be something on youtube soon. Headline news again on our regional broadcaster's programme. The journey across road was only three kilometres, but quite spectacular: https://www.ardmediathek.de/video/Y3JpZDovL3N3ci5kZS9hZXgvbzE4NjA1ODk notamermaid

Thank you for your extensive review. It tells me that I would enjoy this itinerary more than the Basel to Amsterdam one and I think I can recommend to future interested people here on cruisecritic to consider this one instead of the standard Rhine one. I love the fact that Speyer, with enough time for the Technical Museum, and Mainz are included in this itinerary. Following Jazzbeau's comment I would say the choices on the menus appear to appeal to me more than to him, the German dishes sound good, would like to try those made by a good chef. The international ones are all in all interesting, too. The wines are perhaps not as appealing to me (the international ones), a Franconian wine on a Rhine cruise is not an obvious offer, but why not have it, I am sure it is available on the Grand Tour itinerary (Main river, etc.). Good to read you all had an enjoyable time. notamermaid

Thank you, will be good. Actually changed a shift with my colleague (her request) so I now have the shorter one. Lots of small things happening on the Rhine, as always, not that much that is noteworthy for the Rhine thread. Things like excursion boats changing ownership, a few mishaps, new modern barges and tankers, etc. Next unusual thing will be a Viking ship - nooo, not those - a real one. I mean a real newly built one, a replica of one they found in Norway. Info over there in the thread when I find time. Oh, hang on, forgot, there is something newsworthy, a river cruise ship christening in Cologne. Info coming in another thread. notamermaid

Yesterday I was shopping in my local supermarket and when I stepped past the lady at the checkout to collect my wares I nearly bumped into a pile of beer bottles neatly stacked in six-packs and surrounding box construction. I just thought "How unpractical, why are they doing this now?". Then I read the small sign saying "For Father's Day. Every father may take a bottle for free." What a nice touch. The Saturday before Mother's Day every mother could take a red rose, I had not expected them to do anything for Father's Day. It has been a lovely warm and sunny day today, so perfect for any activities a father may want to do. It is also Ascension Day of course in our Christian calendar and in Germany that is a public holiday. People around here often use the combination of public holiday on a Thursday with weekend to create a very long weekend bridging the Friday and taking that day off work. As I work in tourism I cannot do that. If I could convince "ze big boss" in my company to employ one more person I may be able to do it next time... Have a good Friday and weekend. notamermaid

My pleasure. Thanks for saying hello. July should make for glorious sunsets and great barbecue evenings. Or just cocktails on the sundeck. Have a great cruise. Maxau gauge peaked at 682cm and is now down to 665cm. The submarine U17 safely arrived in Speyer yesterday. All back to business as usual on the Rhine. Except - there is (if all goes well) another unusual vessel coming up the river, at the end of May. notamermaid

The river peaked at Passau gauge at 706cm. Level now is 642cm. The level will go down now most likely slowly as there is still quite a bit of water coming from the tributaries. The Isar for example is on flood mark I close to its mouth. notamermaid

The level at Passau has risen quite a bit again, the gauge now reads 673cm. The peak is expected for late this afternoon at over 700cm but most likely below 725cm. notamermaid

In my current avatar is a photo of the Rhinau area in France, taken from onboard the ferry Rhenanus. On the German side is Kappel. There are quite a few ferries taking you across the river. Further downstream from the wide river you do not cross international borders but sometimes boundaries, at Nierstein it is from Rhineland-Palatinate into Hesse (left bank to right bank). Hopefully, this will not be the "problem" that will be the end of the ferry "Landskrone". The operators of the ferry from Nierstein to Kornsand face financial ruin due to roadworks and road closures on both sides of the river, nor far from their ferry terminal. It appears that commuters and occasional travellers use diversions of the road works or avoid the area completely so the ferry now only has a third of the customers it normally has, the average in normal times is 1,500 passengers a day. Local councils have had a crisis meeting, all want to help, Rhineland-Palatinate has promised 60,000 euros but Hesse is not giving any money, stating that "the law concerning traffic does not allow for such compensations in this case" (my shortened translation). A real problem. This is a German article with video: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/treffen-zur-zukunft-der-faehre-landskrone-zwischen-nierstein-und-trebur-kornsand-100.html By the way, Nierstein is not only a well-known wine-growing small town but also has a place in history particularly interesting for US citizens. I have written a bit about this here, part 14: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2516698-rhine-beyond-the-standard-ports/page/2/ notamermaid

The computer modelling for Maxau gauge and flooding tomorrow is now a proper forecast and the wave is still likely going to peak around lunchtime just below 700cm. That is flooding. River traffic stops at 750cm so we should get through this wave alright. After that it should be downhill with the figures fast, below 600cm at the weekend. Kaub is going to stay below any problematic levels and from this weekend looks to be most likely at very pleasant levels well into June. No low water in sight. notamermaid

I promised to get back to you with the levels. In flooding there is a ban on river traffic when the Pfelling gauge is at 620cm, at Passau gauge it is the level of 780cm. notamermaid

That is a good point. From what I understand it was the equivalent of "parking the car badly in a narrow parking bay", so all in all not something that would make headlines. notamermaid

I am afraid I am not really familiar with averages. Most of the problems arise on the Bavarian Danube so I will talk about that a bit. In Bavaria we have a free-flowing river section that can be problematic in low water, in fact it is every year but it may not always result in ships not sailing. I would say expect it to be close in some years during most likely a week in autumn - that is to say three days, then two days a week later, etc. If it gets worse it can be two consecutive weeks, as an example. The figure to watch is 290cm at Pfelling. That is between Straubing and Vilshofen. Anything lower than that means river cruise ships will need to stop sailing one by one, depending on draft and hull construction. The captain decides, there is no river traffic ban in Germany in low water. High water is different. Here we have the infamous bridge at Passau, that becomes an issue before the actual river level does for sailing. That figure is 630cm for passage under the bridge for some river cruise ships - your captain will know this best and decide for his ship. The level for stopping river traffic in Bavaria eludes me at the moment, it is many centimetres higher than the bridge headroom allows*. Austria also has a ban on river traffic in flooding. Again, this depends on the stretch of river. I am not familiar with the countries beyond Austria. Generally speaking, the current and the conditions change in flooding so this affects all ships and for safety, also for protecting the embankments as I have read, a ban on traffic in very high water makes sense. * Will get back to you on this. notamermaid

That is a bit weird. I mean, two people were treated for injuries on the scene. As it was the stern end of the ship the passenger cabins were probably all fine but still. If she is on her way to Budapest that is great and hopefully a lick of paint and minor internal repairs can do the trick. notamermaid