The river Meuse or Maas

I have not found the river Meuse featured yet under the river cruise basics sticky, so, as Avalon will be sailing on the river from this season I have decided to write a little about this river in Western Europe.

Hostjazzbeau, might the cruisecritic editors have some time during the season to write a little for all cruisers?

The Meuse has a wikipedia site in English. Here goes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meuse

You might be surprised to learn that it is 925 km long, making it a major river in Europe.

The Meuse is navigable for small boats, but a section has been altered so that it can be used for industrial river transport.

Companies line the river especially around Lüttich, i.e. Liege.

Other areas are more picturesque, the town Namur is famous for its scenic setting.

The Meuse has - as you can probably imagine - played a major role in the two World Wars. The river played a prominent part in the Third Reich expansion plans.

The Ardennes mountain region that the Meuse flows through is most known for its role in the Battle of the Bulge.

The Meuse joins the Rhine (Waal) to form the river delta around Rotterdam.

It would be interesting to find out how much river cruisers like the new itinerary.

notamermaid

What is the name of the Avalon itinerary for this river? I haven't seen it in the catalogue.

It is the "Enchanting Belgium" Amsterdam to Namur on the American website.

notamermaid

Hello Chris,

Thank you for the info and the good news. Namur is on my bucket list for a land trip seeing that I have often passed it, so far I have only got as close as the motorway exit on the E42.

I would like to find out from Avalon where they enter the Meuse. Cannot quite make this out from their itinerary map.

Thank you for all the great writing by the CC people.

notamermaid

CC has been to Namur:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7012

notamermaid

Thank you for updating the Meuse pages. It is a pity that CroisiEurope stopped sailing the Meuse (see article). I found out today that a Dutch river cruise line (I hardly ever look up the Dutch companies) sails the Meuse, Rhine and canals on a long itinerary and quite different it looks from all the other cruises we normally see: https://feenstrarhineline.com/cruises/southern-holland-belgium/

Has anyone sailed on the Avalon itinerary and would like to tell us about it?

notamermaid

Has anyone been on the Avalon itinerary?

I have mentioned before that European companies often have a wider choice of itineraries that often also include rivers that North-American cruise companies do not sail. Apart from Avalon this is the case with the Meuse still, but I found a German company - Plantours - that also has an itinerary on the Meuse. Just for your info - they do not operate really on the English-speaking markets - here is the page: http://www.plantours-partner.de/holland-und-belgien-kreuzfahrt-unbekannte-schoenheiten-in-holland-flandern.html?idTermin=4777&idevent=11110

Apparently, the national park this itinerary visits houses the museum that owns the second-largest collection of vincent van Gogh works in the world! This is it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kr%C3%B6ller-M%C3%BCller_Museum

However, to be fair, Scenic does have a itinerary that explores Maastricht, a Rhine and Moselle cruise, but from the description it is not clear if they sail into Maastricht, i.e. up the Meuse itself.

notamermaid

I think that Avalon has dropped the Enchanting Belgium trip for 2018 and 2019.

I was wondering that, FuelScience, as I could not find it on their website. But sometimes my computer settings mess things up, so I could not verify it without a long-distance phone call or an e-mail.

That would be a real pity, the area has got potential but perhaps feedback from cruisers was not good enough, or it did not sell well enough. Hmm...

notamermaid

I cannot find this itinerary on Avalon for 2018-2019. What am I doing wrong?

xmaser,

I thought it was my computer default settings (I get odd results sometimes seeing that google knows I am in Germany, see post above). But as Fuel Science has suggested, it might have actually been discontinued.

I like the area, Maastricht is supposed to be pretty and Lüttich (Liège) is an interesting place with lots of history and quite a bit of industry thrown in (which I do not mind at all): http://walloniabelgiumtourism.co.uk/en-gb/3/where-to-go-in-wallonia-ij/gateway-towns/liege I do not like modern architecture that much but the new high speed railway station is definitely an attraction.

notamermaid

With a new season starting it is time for me to revisit the Meuse in the catalogues.

You can probably guess that not that much has changed. Plantours is still sailing on just a couple of dates.

If one wants to sail the Meuse one can best to this with one itinerary of Scenic that includes Maastricht or a few Spring itineraries along the Dutch and Belgian waterways. And Viking has got a new one that includes a section on the Meuse!

notamermaid

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

If one wants to sail the Meuse one can best to this with one itinerary of Scenic 

We're scheduled on that one in July-Aug (Amsterdam to Basel). One curious thing about the itinerary, though, is that it is Amsterdam -> Antwerp -> Veere -> Arnhem -> Maastricht …. Watching the ships on line last year, they have to do a very quick back-and-forth up and down the Maas. I wonder why they don't do Veere (or Antwerp) -> Maastricht -> Arnhem, using the Albert Canal to get to Maastricht and then simply down the Maas to the Waal/Rhine to get to Arnhem? It would seem to me to be more efficient. Anyone have any ideas as to why the Albert Canal might not be suitable?

Thanks,

Sterling

Hello sbjornda,

I did not realize you are going on a more unusual Rhine cruise!

The Albert Canal, yes, I had a look at the route and I know what you mean. At the moment I can only say: "beats me".

I have had a look at the waterway and all info in English, German and French indicates that as regards size of river cruise ships there are no restrictions. All locks have been modernized to accommodate large vessels and Viking uses the Canal on one route as well. The last lock to be renovated has had a new chamber since 2015. Six locks does not sound much to navigate, so I cannot see a time disadvantage there either. I am missing some info or Scenic has got a different reason for doing it that way.

notamermaid

Let us revisit the Meuse.

No big news to be found as regards river cruising. Itineraries from German companies are still far and few between.

Coming back to the itinerary by Viking that I had previously mentioned, that one is still available. Here it is: https://www.vikingrivercruises.co.uk/cruise-destinations/europe/holland-and-belgium/2020-amsterdam-antwerp/index.html

The important thing to note for this year is that Viking will include the German town of Wesel as a stop. This is new and big news for the town as Viking has purchased the landing stage there.

notamermaid

I am pleased to see that the link I posted above still leads to the itinerary with Viking, now the 2021 sailings.

The Meuse is one of those rivers that are partly bypassed through a canal, so some beautiful meandering sections are not accessible. Instead you have to make do with somewhat unattractive or boring canal sections. Past Maastricht for example, ships go through the Juliana Canal but meet the river again and go through Venlo on the Meuse proper. Looking upstream, those are two of the usual stops on river cruises, further are Liège and Namur.

Let us have a look at two ships and their itineraries:

1. The MS Dutch Melody is part of the fleet of the Dutch Cruise Line, but is often (part) chartered by German operators, or sometimes only for a few sailings. Those are often "tulip cruise" sailings or combinations with the Rhine. This is the ship: https://www.dutchcruiseline.nl/en/rivercruiseship/ms-dutch-melody/10f0464f-1bfe-49fb-a060-9ec80ff9fb5a

2. The Rex Rheni is chartered exclusively by Saga UK: https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/river/our-ships/rex-rheni.aspx

She mainly does Rhine itineraries but a special itinerary in July this year will take her to the Meuse: https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/river/where-we-go/dutch-and-belgian-river-cruises/andre-rieu-and-maastricht.aspx?boardbasis=

Maastricht being probably the most popular port on the Meuse, we should have a look at the town in another post.

notamermaid

Maastricht is the capital of the Limburg region in the Netherlands. With its municipal boundaries it borders on Belgium and the Meuse upstream from Maastricht forms the border between the two countries for some kilometres. Maastricht has long been an important centre of trade and commerce and goes back to a Roman settlement. The wikipedia page is quite detailed, here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht

While it is Dutch, its setting in the Meuse region at 49m above sea level close to the highest mountains in the Netherlands - Limburg is the hilliest region - gives it a different feel to the coastal areas of the country. This is the city website: https://www.visitmaastricht.com/

I have not been to Maastricht yet, would love to see the caves and the bookshop in the monastery. And something I had not expected exists in the hills in Masstricht: a proper traditional  very old vineyard!

https://www.visitmaastricht.com/locations/951696544/vineyard-apostelhoeve

notamermaid

21 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

 

 

 

The Hotel Derlon's cellar in Maastricht contains Roman ruins and a café ("Museumkelder"). If you enjoy Roman ruins, this is not to be missed. 

@sbjornda Thank you for the tip. It looks amazing. Fascinating how much Roman stuff is beneath our feet, often still undetected.

And here is something for the language nerds: the name Meuse comes from Latin, i.e. the Romans, and Moselle does, too. Moselle basically means little Meuse.

For those who want to put the Meuse into the context of modern European waterways, here is the map: https://unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/main/sc3/European_inland_waterways_-_2012.pdf

Like so many other rivers in Europe, the Meuse (Maas in Dutch and German) is connected to nearby rivers with the help of canals. Often of no commercial importance in modern times, they can still be sailed. So you can do a round trip Cologne via the Moselle and Nancy, via the Meuse and the Rhine, or in another version as far upstream as Strasbourg and via another canal into the Meuse and then to Cologne. You will need to be on a small barge or peniche. You could spent months exploring the Benelux countries and France on such boats and smaller rivers and canals.

notamermaid

A new season has started and it is time to have a look at itineraries on the Meuse again. On this itinerary not a barge or peniche, but a smallish river cruise ship is sailing the Meuse. Saga UK is again using their trusted ship, the "Rex Rheni", on a more conventional itinerary that goes from Cologne on the Rhine to Maastricht on the Meuse: https://travel.saga.co.uk/cruises/river/where-we-go/dutch-and-belgian-river-cruises/maastricht-and-the-meuse-river.aspx?boardbasis=

And the special of this itinerary where they thrown in a visit to an Andre Rieu concert is also available again.

It sounds a pleasant way to spend a week in this part of Europe on an older but I am sure well maintained ship.

This is by the way an itinerary similar to the one which is a staple tour with Plantours Flussreisen. That German company sails from Düsseldorf to Namur. I have mentioned this before in post#10.

So, it seems that Namur is the end of proper river cruise sailing on the Meuse, the furthest upstream that companies go, right? No, not quite.

We will have a look at that in a next post.

notamermaid

On 3/20/2022 at 8:55 PM, notamermaid said:

So, it seems that Namur is the end of proper river cruise sailing on the Meuse, the furthest upstream that companies go, right? No, not quite.

The river cruise itinerary that I had wanted to post is not available this year. But we still have the Excellence Pearl that could sail up the river to the town of Dinant - which I was alluding to. Before we get to that, here is the for me exciting news that the relatively new company Viva Cruises has decided to offer a cruise that spends a bit more time on the Meuse. Here is the itinerary on the Swiss Ruby. https://www.viva-*****/en/cruisedetail?id=414&adults=2&pref=2023-07-30

Notice the stop at Emmerich, a port rarely used by international cruise lines. On the German market the port is used sometimes by a couple of companies although not on that many itineraries.

A first as far as I know is Cuijk. I had never heard of this town before. It may be a short technical stop in the evening but a stay of two and a half hours warrants the question if the company offers anything in that port. If you have been to that town on a river cruise I would be pleased about a short post.

notamermaid

A new year and a quick look at Viva Cruises. Yes, the company is again offering an itinerary that focusses on the Netherlands and also sails quite a distance on the Meuse. No Amsterdam stop on this cruise! And no tulips either... https://www.viva-*****/en/reise/niederlande-highlights

Risk of low water negligible in these waters - Rhine downstream from Düsseldorf and Meuse. No real worries about low water levels on this type of cruise.

notamermaid