The river Moselle infos and river cruising experiences

What fun one can have with names and words that are "false friends". :D Another nice one in Germany is Linsengericht, meaning lentil dish. But I particularly like the tiny village in Yorkshire that I once drove through: Blubberhouses.

Back on the Moselle I cannot think of any fun names right now but need to tell you that more rain has come to the area. It looks as if the weather will improve a little from Monday onwards and the level apparently peaked with 681cm early this morning at Trier, now going down very slowly. A river closure in that section has been narrowly avoided.

notamermaid

Menu translations are another source of fun (or consternation, when your meal depends on it ;)). On a menu in Spain we saw "Capón" translated for English-speakers as "gelding." Accurate in its way, but not a term we apply to fowl.

In Norway there is the village Hell, and in Switzerland the mountain Titlis.

In eastern Pennsylvania we have the ever popular King of Prussia and Intercourse. The later certainly was the cause of much snickering among the Boy Scouts.

It is a bleak, boring winter's day with storm and rain having caused the rivers in western Europe to swell. There have been some disruptions to people's lives, mainly power failures and train lines closed by fallen trees. The main problem at the moment is the Moselle reacting strongly to the rain. The whole river is now closed to traffic. Current level at Trier is 707cm, that is 12cm above the flood mark III, at which the authorities close that river section. No river cruise ships sail in January of course, so no problems for them.

I noticed that the cruisecritic article on the Moselle has been updated, so here goes: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1734

notamermaid

Notamermaid, thank you for your excellent posts on the Moselle, Christmas Markets, Rhine and other subjects. A question for you - I am wondering whether you think the rain and bad weather in December and January is likely to result in difficult river cruising for the Rhine/Moselle in April. I know it is difficult to predict water levels months in advance but I thought I would raise the question. Thank you in advance for any insight you can share.

Hello NewCruiser2016,

Thank you. Happy to help. A difficult question indeed. My answer must be very tentative. Nobody can predict or forecast water levels that far in advance (as you have mentioned). April is just too far away. Computer generated predictions by experts are published two weeks in advance so any figures will have to wait until some time in March. My gut feeling says that if the current weather continues there is a risk of flooding in April but if we get a dry March with cold weather and slow snow melt ther river will be high but with no real flooding. We are certainly starting into January with lots of water in the rivers but the situation will ease as very little rain is forecast for the next seven days.

The Moselle level at Trier peaked yesterday but is still high at 775cm so the river remains closed.

I will certainly watch the river level and come back to this thread latest in March and will start a thread on the Rhine for this year again.

notamermaid

We are doing Swiss alps to Paris and have been reading all your comments. Thanks so much for the wonderful insight. We are meant to leave March 17 so we shall see if the cruise is cancelled. Hope not.

tobique33040,

I hope all goes well, it is a great itinerary you are doing I find.

Meanwhile, many happy faces in Trier today.

Scientists confirm age of Porta Nigra

during a press conference today scientists announced that the Porta Nigra is exactly 1848 years old. For decades experts had been discussing this and there was quite a wide span of opinions as regards the famous town gate's age. Last year pieces of wood were found during the restoration of the gate and scientists with dendrochronology were able to determine that the tree was cut down in the winter of 169/170 A.D. and immediately used as building material (they had to while the wood was still damp). Here is the article by Deutsche Welle in German: http://www.dw.com/de/trierer-porta-nigra-ist-exakt-1848-jahre-alt/a-42124553

If an English article is published anywhere I will post it.

notamermaid

River traffic resumed on Tuesday when the level fell far enough for the authorities to open the river again. While not as busy as the Rhine the Moselle is nevertheless an important river for barges, connecting France with the Rhineland and Rotterdam. There are no river cruises in winter, I do not know about the international market, the first German companies will sail the Moselle from around the 20th of March.

Here is the English article on the Porta Nigra: http://www.dw.com/en/largest-roman-city-gate-north-of-the-alps-finally-dated/a-42123937

notamermaid

We currently have unsettled weather in Germany with lots of rain and temperatures above freezing during the day. It has made the Moselle (and most other rivers) rise a lot again. Shipping has been halted on the whole Moselle but as of this morning the level in Luxembourg was falling again. The weather will stay unsettled but the temperatures will rise a little. It is too mild for January really and the people I have spoken to agreed with me that it looks unpredictable for February while the gut feeling is that we will get snow in March... Oh well, we will see.

Here are some photos from Remich, the Luxembourg port for river cruise ships - Avalon uses it on the itineraries starting and ending in Paris with coach or train - that show the situation well: https://www.wort.lu/de/lokales/mosel-wasserstand-fast-am-hoechstpunkt-5a64493dc1097cee25b7c292

By the way, the Rhine is in a similar state but not closed.

notamermaid

It is certainly eventful on the Moselle for the shipping industry. The Moselle was opened to traffic while a few locks still had to stay closed. Now the river itself is closed again. And it is raining, miserable, yet too warm for January. That means the snow melt in the Alps is troubling the Rhine. Weather forecasters say though that the rain will subside, so this sounds promising for February.

notamermaid

Shipping has resumed on the Moselle but the river is still high, rain in the Vosges mountains and along the tributaries of the river will determine if and how much the river will rise in February.

On SeatradeCruiseNews I read that Crystal River Cruises in the wake of (pun intended) the established companies like Viking, Avalon and many European companies has discovered the river for their customers: http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/crystal-branches-out-to-the-less-frequented-moselle.html

Personally I am not convinced by this itinerary. Bonn mentioned in the article is not a new port as such, Arnhem has been an optional on itineraries before and the route Amsterdam return is not my favourite idea of cruising in Germany and the Netherlands. However, it is certainly convenient with Amsterdam airport being close by.

notamermaid

You are not alone...

on the Moselle, whether you will be cruising with Crystal in the future or another company. And most likely you will encounter another ship in one of your ports. However, how busy is the Moselle? Certainly not as busy as the Rhine and the Danube, but there is a subtantial number if itineraries and sailings. Checking a German well-established online booking website it showed me around 140 results for 2018. Those are not all the sailings available on the German market. Add to that sailings of ships chartered by UK tour operators. The British discovered the Moselle decades ago... mostly land trips of course but quite a number of cruises are available now. And do not forget the Dutch river cruise vessels. Oh, and there is also CroisiEurope who offer varying itineraries on the Moselle, I counted 13 sailings, not sure if that is all of them. Then there are the Swiss and Austrian charters.

There are of course all the American market sailings to add to that. Not little, but certainly not near as many as on the Rhine, if you consider that last year I counted over 150 sailings of the Viking Rhine Getaway itinerary alone!

By the way, if you are looking for a special itinerary that has a somewhat "exclusive touch" to it do not look at Crystal (they will go more or less where everyone else goes) but AvalonWaterways. They sail to Thionville in France with an excursion to Nancy, a town famous for its Art Nouveau architecture.

notamermaid

Arnhem has been an optional on itineraries before and the route Amsterdam return is not my favourite idea of cruising in Germany and the Netherlands. However, it is certainly convenient with Amsterdam airport being close by.

 

notamermaid

Arnhem is a favorite city of mine. Vantage tried to start a Rhine cruise from there and it only lasted a year, unfortunately. I was there early November and 10-12 river cruise vessels were tied up without passengers, I believe waiting for the Christmas cruises to gear up.

The stretch heading towards Amsterdam past Cologne is industrial and boring (or not as pretty as others, at a minimum). As far as the airport being a distance away, the train station is in the basement of Schipol, and it is an hour's trip to Arnhem, no transfer. The B&B we stay in is 75 meters from the beautiful new train and bus station.

In Arnhem there is a great zoo, huge open-air museum, museums on the 'Bridge to Far' Market-Garden WW2 battle (the bridge the Brits were trying to capture is rebuilt and right downtown), a large pedestrian shopping/historic area, and huge park that stretches for several km's with great water features. All are easy to get to by direct local bus for a few euros.

Thanks for this thread and the one on the Neckar, all good info!

Thank you ural guy, my pleasure.

Lovely to read of your enthusiasm for Arnhem. It has further encouraged me to go there some time. I hardly ever head in that direction by car, usually "turning left" into Belgium before that area.

I intend to continue with info on ports in the thread on the Rhine, would be happy if you could add your comments on Arnhem there. Very interesting!

notamermaid

Notamermaid- Will do. Not to thread jack too much...

A few months back I flew into Schipol, train to Arnhem two nights, train to Groningen (2 hrs) for two nights, then rental car to Leuwarden (one night) and Alkmar (two nights).

Turned in the rental car and took the train to Amsterdam for the last two nights.

The above towns were all great; less expensive than Amsterdam, most still have a canal or river, big pedestrian zones with interesting buildings...I think a great option as Amsterdam gets more and more crowded.

And for non-Europeans, virtually no language barrier, and public transportation is so easy and convenient. There are even You-tube videos on how to buy a ticket and catch the train from Schipol, or explaining the tram system. :)

BTW- the open air museum and zoo in Arnhem are pretty exceptional; I've been to a bunch of each attraction, and they both were worth 5-6 hrs easily. I've returned to the open air museum it was so good. They have a 1920's tram that circles the place, complete with 7 stops. Windmills, complete factories, houses, all have been moved to this nicely wooded, rolling hills place. Arnhem is one of the few places in Netherlands to actually have hills and tons of trees. I found the hills after renting a bike, and locals later confirmed the rarity of this....

The 'Netherlands Openluchtmuseum' is outstanding. It's a collection of historic buildings from across the country that's especially attractive in the spring with tulips and offspring of the heritage livestock. You can see it from a river cruise if you order a taxi there and back to your docked ship. (Public transport takes too long if you need to meet the scheduling of a river cruise.) If you're not up to the Kröller-Müller Museum (van Gogh collection), the WWII excursion, or Paleis Het Loo it's certainly worth the trouble. All three are available excursions offered by cruise lines with Arnhem as a springboard. I'ver heard that Viking has gone there if there is a closure of the regularly scheduled excursion. On a Viking cruise, I did Openlucht in the morning on my own and Het Loo with the scheduled excursion. It was great, but a long, long day.

In the old town itself there are only a handful of historic structures since most of it was bombed to rubble in WWII. The old town is nice, but essentially modern rebuild. It is however a popular shopping destination with lots of boutique shops for Germans.

I think Arnhem is really a more appropriate topic for a Tulip cruise thread.

"My Goodness, a hill" :D Sorry, could not resist. There is a saying that the Dutch love the German Drachenfels hill with castle ontop so much as it is the first hill they see when leaving their mountainless country. Stone from German quarries is still transported to the Netherlands to help with coastal defences against the sea. It is amazing to read about how they constantly battle against the sea wanting to take more land. Really admirable.

Thanks xmaser for taking the Arnhem ideas over into a separate thread.

I shall more or less elegantly make my way back to the Moselle with some tips tomorrow.

notamermaid

I've really enjoyed your threads on other rivers and ports. I've now decided what my ideal river cruise would be. How about a Trier (or Nancy) to Stuttgart cruise? I think that it would have some of the most beautiful river scenery in Europe! If you run across that one, sign me up!

FuelScience,

Thank you for keeping me from trying to find my way back into the Moselle subject in convoluted style. Not sure if all cruisers would agree with "some of the most beautiful river scenery in Europe". I definitely agree with the word some. You will be on the Douro this year and as the Douro has been likened to the Moselle before on CC I am looking forward to reading what you think about it.

Trier/Nancy to Stuttgart would certainly have castles galore (and one nuclear power station thrown in as an antidote) with some on the Moselle, tons on the Rhine and quite a few again on the Neckar. 60plus perhaps, no idea myself. :D And lots and lots of vineyards.

I will work on your idea and come back to it.

notamermaid

I really enjoyed the Moselle for the little towns we stopped at . To me that counts as much as the river scenery.

I really enjoyed the Moselle for the little towns we stopped at . To me that counts as much as the river scenery.

Good to hear, sjde.

I also find the small towns delightful. When I thought a bit more about this I realized that that is a particular feature of the Moselle, "small" places. You see those on other rivers as well, but there can be huge places as well. If you disembark on a Moselle river cruise in Remich, i.e. Luxembourg, you will have encountered towns ranging in population size from 140 (!) to 115,000 (all figures are from wikipedia). Beilstein is a tiny village but even the large towns do not get close to a place like Cologne on the Rhine for example (1 million). Koblenz and Trier are the largest on the Moselle in Germany and even if you include Luxemburg city (not the country) as a capital that you visit from Trier the largest place you will have seen is still Trier by just few thousand citizens. All three large towns only have a population of a good 100,000. Even when you visit France on an Avalon cruise you will see only one larger town (only by a slight margin) that is Metz, the capital of the region Lorraine. Nancy, close by, again is a little smaller. You can read the figures as well on the German Mosel wikipedia page.

In Germany the Moselle also never has that industrial feel that the Rhine has which is partly due to the fact that apart from a very small stretch the Moselle is in its river bed rather than in a man-made canal (but all the river has been slightly altered along its banks). It is only in France really that you see a canal and the Moselle side by side.

In some ways the Moselle is what some people imagine the Rhine to be in terms of romantic and picturesque. Ok, the Rhine is fascinating, but the castles are only on a stretch of 80 miles or so (the whole romantic valley), the Moselle is able to give you that feeling for a much longer stretch of river. But I admit the castles on the Moselle are not as dark and broodingly sitting on a rock. :D They tend to look a little more welcoming, apart from on misty November days. Then they are as eerie as any castle in Germany, that fancy thing "Neuschwanstein" always excepted ;).

notamermaid

I'm thinking Bernkastel and Cochem though the Rhine has Rudesheim. Even the bigger cities on the Rhine do have something to offer though.

I lived in Maniz for 4 years back in the '70's Historical city and WONDERFUL part of Germany. Can't wait to return. Recall weekends full of driving along the Rhine.