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The river Moselle infos and river cruising experiences


notamermaid
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I loved, loved, loved the Moselle. Best part of our 13 day Avalon cruise. Felt like our own private river as there was such little traffic. Wish the weather had been nicer for our day in Luxembourg. Beautiful city. Had a nice day prior for our Luxembourgoise wine tasting. Loved the Cremant. Wish I had room to bring some home.

 

I did buy a small bottle of the peach liquor. Think I'll save it for the holidays.

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Hello Cobbie48,

 

I have read your review. Glad to read you enjoyed it so much. I think there are few departures for this 13 day itinerary in 2017. Was yours the last in 2016, or was there a sailing after yours?

 

The peach liqueur is lovely and perfect for sharing with family at a special occasion, like Christmas supper.

 

Enjoy the festive season, not long to go now. :)

 

notamermaid

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Hello Cobbie48,

 

I have read your review. Glad to read you enjoyed it so much. I think there are few departures for this 13 day itinerary in 2017. Was yours the last in 2016, or was there a sailing after yours?

 

The peach liqueur is lovely and perfect for sharing with family at a special occasion, like Christmas supper.

 

Enjoy the festive season, not long to go now. :)

 

notamermaid

 

We were the last for our ship. Crew was taking a two week holiday when we disembarked.

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I also just returned from the Moselle after a Moselle/Rhine Wine Cruise with Avalon that included 3 days in Paris. I agree that the Moselle was by far the nicest river we have cruised on (Danube/Rhine others).

 

Little river traffic and just a continual view of vineyards and fall colors along with small towns and castles made this perfect.

 

At first I wondered why we had so much time dedicated to cruising the river but after seeing it I understand why.

 

I hope to post a full review soon.

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Hello CleverScubaCruiser,

 

glas to hear you enjoyed it so much. Cobbie48 and you, that makes two parties with peach liqueur at Christmas time. :)

 

If you would like to share the info, were you introduced to the liqueur onboard or during an excursion, or did you sample it -for example in a town - because you had heard of it before?

 

Rick Steves spoke highly of it...

 

Come to think of it, I will put a bottle down on my Christmas wish list.

 

By the way, river traffic on the Moselle was quite affected this week due to urgently necessary repairs at the lock in Koblenz. I hope they have been able to complete what was scheduled for this week.

 

notamermaid

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Hello CleverScubaCruiser,

 

glas to hear you enjoyed it so much. Cobbie48 and you, that makes two parties with peach liqueur at Christmas time. :)

 

If you would like to share the info, were you introduced to the liqueur onboard or during an excursion, or did you sample it -for example in a town - because you had heard of it before?

 

Rick Steves spoke highly of it...

 

Come to think of it, I will put a bottle down on my Christmas wish list.

 

By the way, river traffic on the Moselle was quite affected this week due to urgently necessary repairs at the lock in Koblenz. I hope they have been able to complete what was scheduled for this week.

 

notamermaid

 

I heard about the liqueur from friends who sailed AMA in the summer. I bought my little bottle at Weingut Schmitz Bergweiler in Bernkastel. I had a nice tasting of reislings and bought a bottle that we drank in our ship room. I did not taste the liquor at the shop. Still have no idea how it tastes. Awaiting Christmas.

 

By the way the wine shop is very modern and the shopkeeper very patient with me. It was late morning and I was the only patron. We both loved Bernkastel. For my American friends it reminded us of Carmel, California

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Bernkastel is very pretty. We drove through there last year but didn't have time to stop. Typical for one of our itineraries...

 

We have heard of the town because of Herr Hermann J Wiemer, who hailed from there. He moved to Central New York in the 1970s to start a winery in the Finger Lakes. Today, his eponymous winery is a favorite of ours (and many others). In fact, we'll be visiting in two weeks.

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

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notamermaid - I read about the peach liquor somewhere on this forum. I don't recall which town we were in but one of the wine shops that we passed had a display highlighting the liquor. We went in and asked if we could sample. It's extremely sweet - the wine shop worker suggested mixing it with some sparkling wine.

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  • 2 months later...

Beyond where river cruises go...

 

... the Moselle region has some more to offer. If you happen to be go on a land trip or want to spend some time in the region before boarding your ship at Remich or Trier you can head upstream to get to Nancy, the capital of the department Meurthe-et-Moselle, which is on the Meurthe, but only 10 kms away from the confluence with the Moselle, so not much of a detour. Like Brussels it is a centre of Art Nouveau but also has some older buildings and sites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy,_France

 

If you go even further upstream the Moselle you get to Epinal, a small town that is famous for its paper printed images. This is want one looks like: http://skd-online-collection.skd.museum/de/contents/show?id=259047

 

Around Epinal the Rhine and Moselle are so close together - only divided by the Vosges mountains - that a scenic drive in the car will get you in a good two hours from Breisach to Epinal.

 

I have mentioned before that ships could go further than Remich, and Avalon does now. To Thionville on their 13 day itinerary, see post #33. The river is navigable quite a bit further. But more info at a later time.

 

notamermaid

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notamermaid - I read about the peach liquor somewhere on this forum. I don't recall which town we were in but one of the wine shops that we passed had a display highlighting the liquor. We went in and asked if we could sample. It's extremely sweet - the wine shop worker suggested mixing it with some sparkling wine.

 

 

It sounds as though this would make a great peach bellini.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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  • 1 month later...

The river cruising season has also started on the Moselle, although you might not have seen an itinerary for a cruise offered on the North-American market for March. CroisiEurope and Nicko Tours are already on their way. British cruises appear to start more in April and May. Which is of course preferable as far as the weather is concerned. A few of you will be fortunate enough to be able to gon an excursion to Burg Eltz, the famous castle on a crag in a small valley off the actual Moselle river. Here is a video that apart from a few other destinations (also nice to watch) shows Eltz castle. Skip to 12:02 for that: http://www.dw.com/en/discover-germany-the-travel-guide/av-19159820

 

Even if you cannot see Eltz castle, enjoy the lovely Moselle.

 

notamermaid

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Hello pbeach,

 

I am afraid I have never been to Satzvey castle. The people there are quite enterprising, the castle is famous for re-enactments of medieval jousting tournaments. It is popular with German day-trippers. Those events get favourable reviews on tripadvisor. The town it belongs to is called Mechernich. This is a tourist website with some info on it: http://www.nordeifel-tourismus.de/en/sights-in-the-north-eifel/castles-cloisters-churches-and-chapel/satzvey-castle/

 

The castle's website is only in German but it will give you some ideas what to expect as regards architecture: http://www.burgsatzvey.de/

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

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I mentioned the Burg Satzvey to a lady this morning and she spoke favourably of it. Yesterday, I forgot to mention that it is a moated castle in a valley rather than a castle on a hill. There are quite a few of that type in the area around there and further North and Northeast. For a trip out this makes it an unusual part of a river cruise itinerary on the Rhine and Moselle. Nice idea, I find.

 

Oh, the region is called the Eifel, which is bordered by the Moselle in the South and the Rhine in the East. Burg Satzvey is closer to Bonn and the Rhine region than to the Moselle. So I looked this up and presuming you are going with Tauck you will go to the castle from Cologne. A great itinerary: http://www.tauck.com/tours/europe-tours/central-and-eastern-europe-tours/rhine-river-tours-rmn-2017.aspx

 

As this is an excursion from the Rhine valley I shall post this on the Rhine thread as well.

 

notamermaid

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great honour for the Moselle region

 

The Moselle has made it into the National Geographic's collection of "The World's Most Romantic Destinations". In the section "Spring" the Moselle is mentioned in second place - right after Paris as number one. The short online presentation of the "Romantic Places" has the Moselle valley as the prime spot of its gallery. Have a look and see what might be your favourite (you might have to disable your ad-blocker): http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/photography/world-most-romantic-destinations/

 

 

The local television station asked viewers / readers to send in their romantic photos of the Moselle valley. Here they are: http://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rp/trier/moselansichten-bildergalerie-ihre-romantischen-mosel-fotos/-/id=1672/did=19337740/nid=1672/1w7hipn/index.html

 

notamermaid

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I love the peaceful vibe of the Moselle, which is one of my favorite European rivers. Much more narrow than most of the others, it brings the scenery right up close. I'm glad to see there are more itineraries starting to cruise the Moselle.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Trier Porta Nigra restauration project

 

The famous Roman town gate is over 1,900 years old and in need of repair to keep it in good shape for centuries to come. The gate was not black when it was built and only got its present name in the Middle Ages by which time dirt and chemical reactions both in the stone and with the air had caused it to darken. The metal brackets that were used in the construction hade been removed over the centuries and replaced by cement. Bad idea! The cement has to be removed and replaced by mortar the type of which the Romans have already used. It is much better for the stone. The black layer has to be removed to some extent as well so that the stones can "breath".

 

A major task that will take a long time. By the end of 2018 work is scheduled to have finished on one side of the building.

 

The famous landmark will stay open for visitors during the repair work.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porta_Nigra

 

notamermaid

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  • 1 month later...

Water levels on the Moselle

 

Just in case anyone wonders why I have not mentioned (and why there have been virtually no reports by previous cruisers) low water on the Moselle it is because the Moselle is an international waterway that has been dug out and is controlled by locks more or less all the way that ships can sail. There is no free-flowing stretch as such as we find on the Danube or on the Rhine where ships might get stranded. It is very unlikely on the Moselle unless it gets really low. The navigation channel is 2.50m to 3m (the guaranteed minimum) as opposed to 1.90m (the guaranted minimum) in the Rhine gorge for example. That is the stretch with the castles and some of the deepest spots (small ravines) on the Rhine but also the shallowest navigation channel. So, at least as low water risks are concerned the Moselle ranks very favourably for cruising. The level can fall to such an extent that the navigation channel depth is not guaranteed but that is extreme which we reached in the Rhine gorge in the 2015 season for one week only. Flooding is a different case on the Moselle as here, just like everywhere else, the authorities decide on sailing or not sailing and the Moselle has a couple of low bridges, as well.

 

This is a nice map of the waterway Moselle with it tributaries, locks and water authorities outposts: http://www.wsa-koblenz.wsv.de/wasserstrassen/hauptdaten/mosel/images/die_mosel.pdf

 

notamermaid

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  • 2 months later...

So what has been happing on the Moselle? As I have mentioned, virtually unaffected by low water issues, the Moselle has enjoyed a realtively quiet time. There was a bit of a stressful day in Trier last Sunday when a WWII bomb was defused but things are usually quiet along this beautifully meandering river.

 

There was for the first time this year a contamination on the river with blue-green algae, very unpleasant and hazardous to animals. It is hoped that the cooler temperatures in autumn will end the situation naturally.

 

The valley will see many wine festivals in autumn (starting in late Summer, i.e. now actually) and Trier earlier this year accepted the gift from China of a large statue of Karl Marx. It will be put up during the celebrations around Marx's 200th birthday next year.

 

A bit about Trier, its Roman ruins and its famous son Karl Marx in this article from the UK paper (a paper I rarely look at normally) mailonline: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-4822624/Discovering-Trier-s-amazing-Roman-architecture.html

 

notamermaid

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