notamermaid

A nice guide, really helpful. I would not be able to name all the castles, by the way, but your photos are of probably the most iconic ones, Marksburg and Pfalzgrafenstein. I have been in both. The "stone ship" is open to the public. It can be reached with a ferry. notamermaid

That could be normal for A-Rosa I think. Some other European lines will have 2024 dates bookable. Viking has raced ahead with opening 2025 dates, due to the immense marketing and people postponing all through Covid they have a high demand right now. Will check on A-Rosa again. People in Germany often book at relatively shot notice, i.e. they may book in May for September, but you do find sailings selling out early. It depends in cruise line and itinerary. Edit: No, A-Rosa not restricted, they have also opened up bookings for 2024. They are on their website: https://www.arosa-*****/river-cruises/rhine/rivercruises.html I have tested the German version and the booking process appears to work. notamermaid

Yes, Tauck have always had specials and I have read of exclusive events along the Rhine no one else offers. They all sound good in the article. Not sure that they are all new events. But a nice bit of extra marketing for a combination of old and new events never hurts... About Kronberg, the first link mentions Empress Victoria Friedrich of course. What has not come across either in the article or in my comments is the fact that the Schloss was built for her when the Emperor died and she had to leave Berlin, seeing that her son had taken over reigning over Germany from his father. According to our guide she never liked Berlin and was glad to get away, the Prussian court was glad to see her leave. notamermaid

I do not know of any current problems. A bit puzzling. Perhaps a late news article across the pond where you are? I am too far from the Danube to know of any short (in duration) hiccups,but maintenance is done. Let's say my accuracy confidence for all being well is very high. Should I find out anything I will post it in the evening. notamermaid

Thank you for the article, made me wish for a win in the lotto. Here is the equivalent article from travel weekly: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/tauck-reaches-new-heights-with-expanded-european-rivers-programme Both feature the photos well-chosen by the cruise line of Schlosshotel Kronberg. I have been there! Okay, only for a short guided history tour with coffee and cake. Well worth seeing. What I find interesting about the reporting with that building is that the focus is on US history - Eisenhower. That is normal for Tauck of course. I know Kronberg as the retirement home of "Princess Vicky", aka the Empress Friedrich of Germany. notamermaid

Do you remember that I posted about Nickenich in the Eifel, near the Rhine? The volcanic region still being active underneath the surface? Yup, they have been at it again, the forces deep down in the ground. Just "next door" from Nickenich at the Ochtendung fault line was the epicentre of an earthquake on Tuesday morning. At 3.23am the earth shook and rumbled, waking people up. It has been the strongest earthquake this year so far in Germany, 2.9 on the Richter scale. Not fun, but luckily no damage has been reported. That is a typical time for river cruise ships to sail through the Neuwied basin where the earthquake was of course felt. Would one be able to distinguish in one's sleep between engine/ water motion and earthquake? No idea. notamermaid

As the probability chart now takes us to the beginning of May let us have a look. Kaub river level will stay above 150cm but we have a wide margin of error right at the end of April so it is not clear yet how much the wave coming from the Upper Rhine valley at that time will affect the Middle Rhine valley. The Main joins the Rhine much after Maxau so that goes into the computer modelling for Kaub. All in all it looks fine, with a level over 350cm not expected. I mentioned Maxau in a previous post. The prediction there remains more or less unchanged. The margin of error is wide on 27 April but the level will stay most likely under what may affect river traffic. We will know more in two or three days. Time to return to the Mainz topic and explain about the two cathedrals. notamermaid

Organization of those meets of coach and ship are very good, this has been done for years. Should normally not be a problem. On the Main and Main Danube Canal people have reported longer waiting times due to hiccups in the schedules. They stood in the heat or sitting on the coach waiting for up to an hour. It happened to Viking cruisers but can be with any ship that is held up for whatever reason. They were unfortunate, i.e. it can happen occasionally. Again, things just happen and I do not want to be negative. I am sure Scenic will do their best. notamermaid

Thank you for the analysis. I saw the unusual formation in the radar. An almost dry weekend in Rhineland-Palatinate as the major cloud formation swept through from the East below my state. I see that the plateau was reached yesterday and the level at Dresden has been going down slowly since last night. A good outcome for river cruisers. notamermaid

Sailing through the Rhine Gorge you see the famous Lorelei rock. The guide/commentary will probably point out the statue sitting at the harbour to you. Oddly, on the rock towering 132m above the Rhine there had been no statue. But that is where the lady is supposed to have sat. Visitors to the plateau constantly asked where the depiction of her was. Therefore a statue had been commissioned not too long ago and the locals decided on a design. Now the statue has been revealed. Video and text in German: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/sankt-goarshausen-neue-loreley-statue-einweihung-100.html The bend in the river at Lorelei rock is indeed very narrow and dangerous. There is truth in the legend as always. The valley is narrow and the river may look shallow but at the rock there it is deep, very deep - the ravine is 25 metres deep. notamermaid

@RDVIK2016 Hurrah, das erste Live-Photo! Thank you for sharing, this is indeed the first live photo from a river cruise this year on this thread. And very nice it is, too. The water level what can I say - perfect! Have a great evening, the sun has come out with me. I hope you can enjoy a nice sunset, too. notamermaid

@Kristelle Between the activity versions of CastleCritic and Canal archive there is all the variation you may want. However, the distance covered on this itinerary is huge. On a few days the ship needs to make time and sails while the passengers are on an excursion. The coach will meet the ship at the next port. You will know this in advance of course and can plan accordingly. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Oh that makes it easier for sure. Then Rüdesheim and thereabouts is a great place to be. Rhine Gorge sailing perfect. Here is a guide for the castles: http://resc.deskline.net/documents/1/RPT/53feace2-f71c-46d2-8484-d32aa211649e/file.pdf You cannot see all of them from the river, a map at the end of the guide comes in handy. Just to give you an impression of what to expect in the area. Pfalzgrafenstein castle is actually in the river, on an island. Looks amazing. notamermaid

Aaahh, I stand more or less corrected. TUI is massive, German. There used to be a TUI Flussreisen but that just operated for a few years. The new venture is solely on the British or English-speaking market, a British company "of sorts", but is part of the big TUI group. Have a great cruise. I find Basel to Trier is a very worthy variation of the Basel to Amsterdam itinerary. If you folk out there love hills, rather than canals in flat country, go for Basel to Trier. notamermaid

That is correct as far as I know - you people over there will know this better than me. I meant to imply that Luxembourg has good connections within Europe. Paris is a good one to fly into first. Fast trains connect Luxembourg city to other major cities in Europe (mostly involving one change). notamermaid

I see in the computer simulation for Maxau that a good rise is expected on 25 April. It is suggested that the level could rise over 600cm on 26 April. Certainly something to watch, but not a worry yet. It would be a short wave and may affect river cruising in the Upper Rhine valley. It looks like April will be a wet one in the statistics. We always have rainy and unpredictable weather in this month before it settles and becomes warm, but I think we have had precipitation above the average. Which is good. The level in Lake Constance has risen, too. notamermaid

Sounds a nice idea. Luxembourg has got a spectacular setting. And an international airport. notamermaid

That is very descriptive. If the Main, for the OP I would suggest only going downstream, i.e. Frankfurt to the confluence with the Rhine and then turn North (the Rhine Gorge) or South (leading to Speyer for a possible excursion to Heidelberg and further, perhaps to Strasbourg or Basel). The more I think about all this the more I like the Avalon Waterways itinerary. Just check which and how many castle and palaces are visited. You can always add another edifice if you extend your stay with a hotel stay and/or train ride. notamermaid

As regards view Ehrenbreitstein can hardly be beaten. As regards charm Lahnstein beats it. And the waffles in the small restaurant are good, too. Landshut is above Bernkastel-Kues. That is a nice small town and I would call it the Moselle version of Rüdesheim. Perhaps a little nicer. Did not have time to go up the hill. This discussion has made me think. If you had time for an itinerary that straddles the Moselle that would be nice, too. Or a train ride along the Moselle would be good too, if your itinerary is only on the Rhine. There are three-night cruises by the way, they exist but are usually not in the time frame the original poster wants. Nearly forgot: there is also Amadeus River Cruises. notamermaid

Oh, interesting, that is unusual. But there can be exceptions and when it is a festival that may be exempt from the usual restrictions that are on regular shops in town. Or the whole town has applied for Sunday shopping trade. Rules vary a bit from state to state as well. Sounds as if your day in Frankfurt was really nice. I still have not seen the rebuilt part of the old town. I have heard they have done a great job with the restoration. I really like the idea of a cruise starting in Frankfurt but I struggle to come up with a castle or similar structure in Frankfurt or thereabouts. All that I know are too far out. Mainz is a bit better for this I think and as I mentioned before, the Eltville monastery I find interesting. The Rhine Gorge has officially the highest density of castles. Amazing to sail past. notamermaid

That's good. I went in September on a Sunday and found it too much for me. Have just remembered: 3 October is a public holiday in Germany. This should not affect an itinerary as such, but shops are closed on that day (few exceptions). That is Lahneck just before Koblenz (when sailing downstream), Cochem on the Moselle and the famous city on the Neckar (popular excursion). Just to explain. I love the outside of Lahneck castle, have not been inside. It is privately owned and an exclusive one with Amawaterways I believe. If you prefer balmier evenings I recommend September. The first week of October is still fine but the nights do get colder and morning excursions can start to get chilly. TUI river cruises is another British company you may want to have a look at. notamermaid

That is the preferred version on the North-American market. Some European lines offer some more round trips in comparison, it will vary from company to company. notamermaid

That's google for you... When I do that in German I get nicko cruises and A-rosa mainly - the German market ones. Actually, Arosa is on the North-American market, you can book them. They will be bilingual German/English, so perhaps a bit adventurous. notamermaid

Thanks for that. I had not noticed that they limit it to winter. I remember short shoulder season sailings. If one can sail seven days with them I find them attractive as they sail from Cologne very often, creating the greater focus on the Rhine in Germany with all the castles. Having said that, the Netherlands has some fabulous ones, it is just that they are moated or used to be, eerrr, you know the high imposing version does not work in that country. My favourite one - Schloß Bürresheim. A favourite one for an excursion on the Moselle - Burg Eltz. Marksburg - great, but bad for the mobility impaired. Reichsburg Cochem - supposed to be great, do not know it. A 19th century version with nearby ruin - Drachenfels near Bonn at Königswinter. notamermaid

Apparently, there has been a collision on the Rhone on Saturday, involving the Scenic Sapphire. It says that incidents on the Rhone are rare. Fortunately, the French article states that no one was hurt. You can read about it here: https://www.vivre-villes.fr/vienne/faitsdivers/2023/04/16/collision-entre-un-bateau-de-croisiere-et-une-peniche-transportant-du-fret-au-sud-de-vienne/ Really sounds minor, just unusual. Just posting so you are aware of what has happened should the ship be delayed due to inspection or repairs. notamermaid