notamermaid

European River Cruising survey - the report for 2022 has been published. Short article, full version per download available: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/european-river-cruising-new-survey-reveals-majority-report-2022-business-above-or-line notamermaid

@ganski Thank you for your impressions of your tour and the recommendations. You mention Beilstein, indeed a small gem on the Moselle. The town has been a favourite among German travellers for decades. We have talked about Beilstein here in a previous year but I am not sure if I have not posted the website: https://beilstein-mosel.de/en/ Some info on river cruise ships. Here is google maps: This is Beilstein with it castle, notice the marker in red, it indicates the landing stage for Viking (river cruises). I have not read about any international ships stopping there recently. If you know more do drop us a line here. From the German entries it appears that only 110m ships are stopping in Beilstein. notamermaid

Snow melt and rain are coinciding so the river is rising relatively fast. At Maxau in the the Upper Rhine valley we may see a level of over 600cm. This means that over Christmas river traffic could have to slow down as the high water mark I may well be reached (620cm). Call it pre-flooding, proper official flooding is at a higher level, river traffic ban even higher and not anticipated. A flood warning is in place for some areas of the Neckar river valley for example. A standard occurrence in winter really. A bigger problem that may affect tourists and will certainly affect a lot of train travellers is the closure of the railway line on the left bank of the Rhine. Deutsche Bahn and the authorities have banned traffic around Bacharach due to a land slide that is still ongoing. This means that likely due to the frost and subsequent thawing with rain, the slate rock face has come loose and stones are falling down. Currently this affects a railway yard and workshop areas but is in danger of extending to the main railway line. The road B9 had been closed as well earlier today and for safety reasons now will remain so. Here is the regional news article with video, all in German, but impressive is the recorded landslide: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/felssturz-bacharach-oberwesel-b9-bahnstrecke-gesperrt-100.html notamermaid

The snow has almost gone in the valley, the temperature has risen considerably. After the low at Kaub the level has risen a little. The snow melt will lead to a substantial increase in the next few days so that Christmas will see much higher levels. notamermaid

The snow is almost gone in the valley, we will most likely not have a white Christmas. Oh well... I have had a busy few days. Work, short trips, shopping. Looks like I will not get to any more Christmas markets further afield this year. Cancelled my appearance at the office Christmas party as I am just too busy at home. Thankfully my heating was fixed before it got really cold and the repair job was actually cheaper than anticipated. Last week I saw a river cruise ship with a big Christmas tree in the lobby, all bright, it looked really lovely through the glass doors, even from the relative distance of the river embankment. notamermaid

Thank you for taking us along on your trip. Great to see photos from the East of my country. Have been out and about a bit in the snow but too busy to post photos. The weather turned into dangerous icy rain in Germany, it was indeed treacherous, many accidents on the roads. One of my neighbours fell but she fortunately did not hurt herself much. The snow is almost all gone here in the valley so those sailing over Christmas may well have to venture into the high hills to see snowy landscape. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge had an unexpected dip and went below 290cm. But the level has risen again and now shows 344cm. Let us stay in Bavaria. Vilshofen, a typical embarkation port, has a webcam of the docking area: https://www.vilshofen.de/index.php/webcam-vilshofen notamermaid

All still clad in snow here, a blanket of white. You may have just beaten our temperatures in the valley or been close to the minimum we had. It was between -10 and -5 in the valley. The East of Germany managed -14 in a few areas. Still in the minus here now, no sunshine. No fresh snow as far as I can tell though. Was going to drive to an illuminated private house in a village, famous for putting on a large display. But what I have been reading online they have scaled down this year. A pity but understandable. It is not so noticeable when you have not been here before, but when you can compare to last year you can tell that the lights displays are bit reduced in several places. The LED technology helps to keep the costs down and lights on, a great help! notamermaid

I agrees, the roll calls are a great source of info and you may find someone who is specifically on your cruise ship, there is certainly a chance. You sail early in the year. Be prepared for almost any kind of weather, check the weather forecast close to the date. Perhaps you would like to peruse this thread on the Moselle: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2268619-the-river-moselle-infos-and-river-cruising-experiences/page/18/#comments notamermaid

At the end of October I went to Neuwied to see the Lumagica light show. It was staged in the grounds of a former company that was making metal products, partly for the car industry I think. It closed a few years ago and will be converted. I like old industry so thought this may be a nice event. It was relatively easy to find in the suburb of Niederbieber, good sign posts and car park attendants helped you to find a space in the dark in designated areas. The first glimpse of the company: A knight in very shining armour: The blue lights are strings and it was a very effective display. I enjoyed standing among the lights. This being a company with rail access to the main line, the events people of course used the old tracks to good effect. A railway engine was ready to take the visitors into the world of fantasy and the dreams of the young son of the boss in the 19th century - inspired by the works of Jules Verne. As regards installations the engine just had to be one of my favourites: The shed housed the food stalls from where we walked into the open grounds: The company is very close to the river Wied. A natural, logical thing as the water (and steam) had been used to drive hammers and wheels before electricity came along. As it was dark and there were lots of bushes we could not see the water really. I know the small river was behind this sign here: We walked on and found the peacock that was a light show telling a story, all with music and elaborate sequencing of lights. Well done. I took a short video and then the battery on my camera went flat. Could not use my smartphone that evening. Fortunately, my travel companion took more photos that I can look at (privately). I found more impressions of the event online. A short youtube video which from 1:19 shows the peacock. It is the symbol of the town: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN-KMHC6N6w I enjoyed the evening. All in all it was not as good as last year, where the location in another industrial area was bigger and better, but this year it was more imaginative for children I would say. As a side note, having seen this kind of show, I have decided not to go to the Christmas Garden in Koblenz. I am sure this event on Ehrenbreitstein Fortress is good but another cold night for 17plus euros I think I will not do and decide to spend the money on an indoor concert instead. notamermaid

It looked good yesterday and the forecast promising, but the river has decided otherwise, meaning a surprising drop has happened during the day. The level is now back up to 98cm which throws off the forecast and leaves us a bit puzzled - me anyway - as to what may happen tomorrow. Overall, we should be in the last low for this year and higher levels are anticipated from this weekend onwards. notamermaid

Viva Cruises' new ship will enter service in April 2023. The christening of the Viva Two has been announced for 23 March: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/viva-cruises-second-ship-to-enter-service-in-april-next-year notamermaid

New themed river cruises by A-Rosa: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/themed-sailings-introduced-by-a-rosa-river-cruises notamermaid

@Daisi We have been trying to catch up with you with snowfall today. Will never match Canada but we had about 8cm today. It was adorable. I went to the river and took photos of barges. No river cruise ship unfortunately. Opened the window this morning and my cry of astonishment and delight, to my embarrassment, could probably be heard down the street. I found some cheap Christmassy embellishments for my long hair in the supermarket and they even had the antlers like you se some English checkout assistants wearing. I will wear the stuff for my hair at work. I may even put my Christmas jumper on again when I am sure the boss is not looking. notamermaid

travel weekly is also on the rivers again, the Rhine on a Christmas market cruise: https://www.travelweekly.com/Blogs/Dispatch/holiday-spirit-Christmas-market-river-cruise?ct=river notamermaid

That is definitely a market "not for kids"... Thank you for sharing your impressions. Hamburg is such an interesting city, especially as it is so different from inland Germany, like along the Rhine and the Bavarian landscape. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Kaub gauge has had a slightly surprising turn for the better, i.e. did not fall further. A light dip and back to 102cm. It has pushed the low figures by a day and now the lowest ones we should see on Friday. Just a small change in that - but I dare say with a hint of not going quite as low as forecast before. Whether it will be 94, 93 or 92cm is not of real importance though. Time to keep the promise I made in the Water Cooler thread on posting photos from the event "Lumagica". notamermaid

Pfelling gauge stable today, 300cm right now. Looks as if the level could hold, i.e. staying above 290cm, before snow/rain comes to the area today and tomorrow. Weather report says temperatures in Bavaria are in the minus Celsius during the day. Quite cold. Apparently it has been the coldest night so far this winter. By the way, if you can bear to be out and about in the cold in the evening, look towards the sky and the stars creating the Gemini figure. The Geminids, a meteor shower, are at their peak: https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/geminids.html notamermaid

Ah, yes. Scylla AG and Viva Cruises. Missed that connection. Thanks. Odd that with the Viva One. She is certainly sailing happily along. I have spotted her very recently. notamermaid

That is very kind of you. Do not go to too much trouble but if you feel giving us at the water cooler a few minutes of your time then I would like to see photos. And I am sure others will appreciate them, too. I have never spent Christmas in London but have been there either before or just after Christmas. Great times. One of my favourite photos of winter in England is Canterbury Cathedral photographed through Cathedral Gate one December. I posted it last year and it made me so happy that I printed it out and hung it on my kitchen wall - where it still is. notamermaid

A quick look at Kaub gauge. At 102cm and falling. 99cm is expected for tomorrow. The level falls slowly so further figures take us only to 95cm on Thursday morning. That is likely to be the day with the lowest figure, which one will it be? Staying just above 90cm is the most likely scenario as of today. notamermaid

The level at Pfelling did indeed struggle this morning and fell under 300cm. Currently the gauge shows exactly 300cm. notamermaid

I was a bit skeptical about the 2022 ships as well. It appears that both those German companies are not members, it could be a company behind a company that is a member but I do not recognize any names that would lead me to A-Rosa or Viva Cruises: https://www.igrivercruise.com/en/members/ notamermaid

A day trip to Königswinter part 3 continued from post #1139 About the donkey at the museum's entrance: several donkeys are standing around the town leading the way to the museum. The animal is the unofficial symbol of the town as donkeys used to carry tourists up the Drachenfels hill. You can still book a donkey ride for children up to 40kgs: https://www.siebengebirge.com/index.php/9-ausflugsziele/11-eselritt-zum-drachenfels Inside the museum we only wanted to visit the bathing exhibition but the exhibition on Baedeker guide books and landscape paintings had been extended by several weeks so we were lucky to be able to spent some time in that room as well. The bathing exhibition was a bit limited in the range of area of the Rhine that it covered, but I had expected that. So it was a nice bonus to read about Karl Baedeker. The gentleman had lived in Koblenz and was publisher of guide books covering many areas of Europe. The books in what was to become an iconic red binding and cover were known for their details and accuracy. With still time to spare we checked out the permanent displays upstairs. They cover the town and immediate area. Among the topics is sailing on the river of course: Peter Heinrich Merkens was the founder of the Preußisch-Rheinische Dampfschiffahrtsgesellschaft in 1825, a company that later turned into the Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD). Apparently he has a modern statue on Cologne town hall: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Heinrich_Merkens#/media/Datei:Rathausturm_Köln_-_Sulpiz_Boisserée_-_Peter_Heinrich_Merkens-4866.jpg An early version of the folding course of the Rhine maps: It was time to head back home and for that we chose the river route which gave us glimpses of the embankments of several towns and villages. Königswinter trees: KD landing stage in Königswinter: I think Viking uses that place to dock. Several years ago I saw the Viking Gefjon there. More trees further along: It was still raining in varying amounts. So the towers at Erpel looked a little gloomy and menacing: Erpel town is on the left bank, with the Erpeler Ley, that is the hill and rock face, here visible to the left of the towers. You will be more familiar with the corresponding side: Remagen bridge towers on the right bank, with the Peace Museum inside them. As we drove further along the river the weather got a little better and Linz presented itself in more favourable conditions: The small town Linz am Rhein, as it is also known to distinguish it from Linz in Austria, has a relatively wide embankment and therefore in the 19th century had room for the railway line to be built there. Passing underneath it you get into the town centre and that tower is - you probably guessed it - part of the Medieval town wall. A pleasant place. It also has a busy docking area for excursion boats, space for river cruise ships and operates a ferry to the opposite embankment. This was a pleasant trip and I can say that the town is interesting enough but the big attraction is Drachenfels hill and that certainly is worth visiting if you are in Bonn on a river cruise ship. Since my trip I have learnt that the Sealife Centre (an aquarium-cum-educational-museum-zoo also found in other countries as it is a chain) will be closing down at the end of this year. Königswinter loses an important tourist attraction but for me the draw at Königswinter has always been the traditional sights rather than this modern one. I hope to next year make my way to the town again, then up the hill to Drachenburg Castle. notamermaid

Had a comment about football from my friend in Charlotte NC. Having lived in Germany he actually follows the World Cup. Opinions were divided among my friends and family as to over who should win England vs. France. The disappointed comments were as a result divided correspondingly... And I am not saying who my friend in Charlotte supported. He is in good spirits @TheKingD and I look forward to receiving a Christmas card from him. He usually sends one with a gorgeous holiday ("wow, he has been to another magnificent landscape") shot while he receives one from here with a German writing and baubles photo or other depictions - meaning traditional. notamermaid