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Rhine water levels 2018 and similar topics


notamermaid
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Yesterday we were told by our TA that our Crystal Bach 12/5 Basel to Amsterdam river cruise will now be aboard the Crystal Mahler and they are considering several itinerary changes (one might be to start in Amsterdam). No word yet on air fare changes, adjustments or refunds. 

 

Has as anyone heard more or different information?

 

I thought the Mahler was scheduled for a cruise leaving Amsterdam on 12/6; not sure how passengers from two ships will fit on one. Deck chairs anyone? 🙂

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19 minutes ago, deMila said:

Nice to meet you too & hbr777,    I'm Mila,  we are also flying independently to meet the AmaKristina. So we will deal with what happens if/when it happens. May have to rethink packing to make lighter if we are going to have to be rerouted a bit. By the way, have you received the boarding documents yet? Don't forget Ama has an app now to download - but as of yesterday our cruise was not loaded yet. We did this Christmas market  cruise last year on the Danube and has such a wonderful time so we are trying the Rhine. 

 

Cheers!

Mila

 

There is a very negative recent review of the AMA app on Google Play store. Basically the app is of no value if your scheduled itinerary is substantially changed. Review is below

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Scott Schmit
November 4, 2018
Perhaps this app works fine when the cruise goes to plan, but if your itinerary is disrupted, it's essentially useless: there's no longer any information about your itinerary or available activities, and I have no idea how you'd share your pictures tied to location and such. When I tried to look at the itinerary after learning of the disruption, I got the original for several days with no change. Once it took notice of the change, it simply presents a message redirecting you to a generic web page with information not specific to my pre- or post-tour extensions (very confusing). This page never changed as things continued to change throughout the cruise (we were able to start as originally intended, and we stopped at a different place). It takes no notice of my personal activity selections as best I can recall from before the cruise either. It also turned out that one of the activities was erroneously included from the summer in the print materials (too dark in the fall, and a substitute was offered instead). A shame this app couldn't correct the misinformation... The one part of the app that continued to work was the daily cruiser display, but that didn't become available at a consistent time (even as the paper edition was always available regularly). Once it didn't become available until halfway into the day of (usually it's available the evening ahead). It is also only available for the cruise itself, not extensions. There's also a bug: the bottom is hidden by the on screen buttons, but you can work around this by zooming in. How well that works depends on how much blank space there is at the bottom. Another bug: it can't reliably remember which days have already been downloaded. I can only imagine what the rest of the app would have been like had the cruise gone to plan. As much as Ama pushes the app in their pre cruise materials, it's obviously an afterthought. Fortunately most of their customers are old enough that they'd never notice or would assume it's their own fault.
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48 minutes ago, katz said:

Nice to meet you, hbr777 and deMila.  I am Kathy.  I have been obsessing since a friend informed us about the water levels. Didn’t have a clue.  

 

I was disappointed that our TA never said a word. We booked this cruise a long time ago. We can’t cancel because we booked our flights independently, flying into Frankfurt where we are staying for a few days before going to Lucerne for the precruise.  

 

Oh well, just hoping for the best.

 

See you onboard!

I can imagine it must have been a bit of a shock to hear about the problems. All hope is not lost, but if you are wondering about seeing the Rhine gorge and it's castles, I am sure Amawaterways will try their hardest to ensure you see it. From Frankfurt you could go yourself to see it. For some more info I refer you to my list with the timetable of KD excursion boats and Ural guy's post about his train journey to meet the ship at Koblenz. Also a few posts above.

 

If you have questions ask away.

 

Just an idea I am throwing into the round (of readers), as we say in German. You Ama travellers, anyone fancy starting a low water travel update thread, like the Crystal cruisers have? I do not think there is one.

 

Right I am off to do some shopping, desperately trying to avoid the Christmas biscuits that are lying on display calling "buy me, eat me". :classic_biggrin:

 

notamermaid

 

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1 hour ago, gadugger said:

There is a very negative recent review of the AMA app on Google Play store. Basically the app is of no value if your scheduled itinerary is substantially changed. Review is below

______________________________________________

Scott Schmit
November 4, 2018
Perhaps this app works fine when the cruise goes to plan, but if your itinerary is disrupted, it's essentially useless: there's no longer any information about your itinerary or available activities, and I have no idea how you'd share your pictures tied to location and such. When I tried to look at the itinerary after learning of the disruption, I got the original for several days with no change. Once it took notice of the change, it simply presents a message redirecting you to a generic web page with information not specific to my pre- or post-tour extensions (very confusing). This page never changed as things continued to change throughout the cruise (we were able to start as originally intended, and we stopped at a different place). It takes no notice of my personal activity selections as best I can recall from before the cruise either. It also turned out that one of the activities was erroneously included from the summer in the print materials (too dark in the fall, and a substitute was offered instead). A shame this app couldn't correct the misinformation... The one part of the app that continued to work was the daily cruiser display, but that didn't become available at a consistent time (even as the paper edition was always available regularly). Once it didn't become available until halfway into the day of (usually it's available the evening ahead). It is also only available for the cruise itself, not extensions. There's also a bug: the bottom is hidden by the on screen buttons, but you can work around this by zooming in. How well that works depends on how much blank space there is at the bottom. Another bug: it can't reliably remember which days have already been downloaded. I can only imagine what the rest of the app would have been like had the cruise gone to plan. As much as Ama pushes the app in their pre cruise materials, it's obviously an afterthought. Fortunately most of their customers are old enough that they'd never notice or would assume it's their own fault.

I installed the app and it only shows a Nov 10 and a Nov 24 cruise not our cruise on Nov 17

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Mika—-I was just staring at the one suitcase I gave out.  I have to rethink packing too.  I am not good at packing light. Haven’t travelled to a cooler place in a while.  

 

We we haven’t gotten our documents yet. LastvMonday, I had a conference call with my TA and an AMA rep. She said the documents were to be mailed out near the end of last week. She also said not to worry because it was supposed to rain all week in the Rhine region.   They must not know that we can check all of this information???

 

i am wondering if, because of the fire and the California office being closed, that the documents might be delayed. 

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Today has not been too brilliant a day for raising the water levels. Tomorrow's forecast looks better. Monday less so, but Tuesday will bring more wide-spread rain.

 

At Kaub the river is so low that the Mouse Tower at Bingen will be visited by many Sunday day trippers again. In response to the crowds at that unlikely tourist attraction the authorities have reinforced the dam that leads to the  - at normal levels - island. It currently has a connection to the river bank. If anyone is in the vicinity and wants to join the herds: access is through the "Landesgartenschau" park at Bingen which is opposite Rüdesheim.

 

The river level at Kaub is forecast to fall to 34cm tomorrow.

 

notamermaid

 

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Ural guy, we are loving your photos.

 

Today I found the newest alert from Tauck regarding the Christmas Market cruises on the Rhine and Danube:

 

TRAVEL ALERT REGARDING TAUCK'S CHRISTMAS MARKET RIVER CRUISES

(11/9/18) Water levels on some of Europe’s rivers (particularly the Rhine and to a lesser degree, the Danube) remain below normal following Europe’s hot, dry summer. These low water levels have the potential to impact our upcoming Christmas market river cruises, but at present it is far from certain if those cruises will actually be affected, or what any specific impacts might be. Conditions along the river are subject to change with short notice, and itinerary alterations – should they occur – could be minimal or more material, including additional motor coach travel or other adjustments.

Please know that, in conjunction with our European office and our wide network of trusted partners, we are continuously and carefully monitoring conditions along the Rhine and Danube. Should there be a major itinerary change, we will inform impacted guests as soon as those changes are known and confirmed.

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3 minutes ago, Intlxpatr said:

Ural guy, we are loving your photos.

 

Today I found the newest alert from Tauck regarding the Christmas Market cruises on the Rhine and Danube:

 

TRAVEL ALERT REGARDING TAUCK'S CHRISTMAS MARKET RIVER CRUISES

(11/9/18) Water levels on some of Europe’s rivers (particularly the Rhine and to a lesser degree, the Danube) remain below normal following Europe’s hot, dry summer. These low water levels have the potential to impact our upcoming Christmas market river cruises, but at present it is far from certain if those cruises will actually be affected, or what any specific impacts might be. Conditions along the river are subject to change with short notice, and itinerary alterations – should they occur – could be minimal or more material, including additional motor coach travel or other adjustments.

Please know that, in conjunction with our European office and our wide network of trusted partners, we are continuously and carefully monitoring conditions along the Rhine and Danube. Should there be a major itinerary change, we will inform impacted guests as soon as those changes are known and confirmed.

I just have to laugh at such statements.

The writers of such ... must have their heads in the sand.

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23 hours ago, gadugger said:

Did AMA get you to your original destination? I can't find out if our Nov. 17-24 AMAPRIMA A to B cruise, which surely will have a changed itinerary, will still get us to Basel where we have train tickets to go Paris or whether AMA will get us to Paris in some other fashion. 

Yes we started in Basel and ended in Amsterdam.  We did our pre-cruise travel on our own and flew out of Amsterdam the day of disembarkation.  You will probably start on one ship and end up on another---hence light packing!  I packed a gym bag duffel to have on the bus with my iPad, charger, toothbrush, etc. to have in case our bags weren't unloaded right away.  But AMA was really good about getting the luggage out quickly.

Edited by newgolfr
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River Voyager: Docked in Bernkastel overnight.  Had a very nice walking tour of Trier, followed by lunch at a local vineyard.  Every course was delicious, and paired with 4-5 wines.  We got back to the ship about 1615, and Vantage had another wine tasting at 1700!  Spouse and I bowed out of that one, and had a nice stroll through Bernkastel.  It really is a picturesque town.

 

We had a hard rain for an hour or two after dinner (sprinkles/light rain for a good portion of the day).  I grabbed an umbrella and headed out for a walk across the bridge to Kuss, then wandered the streets of Bernkastel again.  With the rain, cobblestones and little alleyways I was in my own detective movie, waiting to see what lurked in the shadows.

 

In reality, I popped my head into a little weinstubbe for a night cap.  Stupid smile on my face as I recognized 'The Beautiful Blue Danube' being played on the stereo.  Not sure what the proper Mosel theme music is.... 

 

The first pic, I don't know what these are called, just know I've never seen a life size one before.  All the villages and cities are putting together their Christmas displays.

IMG_0906.JPG

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IMG_0894.JPG

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We are off to a good start with APT and AmaVenita here in Amsterdam.

 

The CEO of APT had flown in to talk to everyone about what was happening, we have an itinerary covering the Netherlands and Belgium for the first 11 days then we go to Vienna for 2 nights and then Budapest for 1 night.

 

He also confirmed that APT will charter a plane to fly us all down there, so no long coach ride.

 

if conditions on the rivers change then so will our  itinerary.

 

APT are handling things well I’d say...

 

 

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2 minutes ago, ural guy said:

River Voyager: Docked in Bernkastel overnight.  Had a very nice walking tour of Trier, followed by lunch at a local vineyard.  Every course was delicious, and paired with 4-5 wines.  We got back to the ship about 1615, and Vantage had another wine tasting at 1700!  Spouse and I bowed out of that one, and had a nice stroll through Bernkastel.  It really is a picturesque town.

 

We had a hard rain for an hour or two after dinner (sprinkles/light rain for a good portion of the day).  I grabbed an umbrella and headed out for a walk across the bridge to Kuss, then wandered the streets of Bernkastel again.  With the rain, cobblestones and little alleyways I was in my own detective movie, waiting to see what lurked in the shadows.

 

In reality, I popped my head into a little weinstubbe for a night cap.  Stupid smile on my face as I recognized 'The Beautiful Blue Danube' being played on the stereo.  Not sure what the proper Mosel theme music is.... 

 

The first pic, I don't know what these are called, just know I've never seen a life size one before.  All the villages and cities are putting together their Christmas displays.

IMG_0906.JPG

IMG_0905.JPG

IMG_0901.JPG

IMG_0894.JPG

Thanks for the photos. We enjoyed Bernkastel also. I walked up a side street right to the vineyards. Lovely! The Christmas carousel is a Mühle. That’s what we call it. We have them lit with candles at Christmas and the top revolves from the heat. Oh, I am German born but came to the US with parents and baby twin brothers as Displaced Persons after WWII, 1952. We loved our recent Rhine and Mosel cruise on the Viking Hild!

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Below are all from Bernkastel.

 

Today we'll have a walking tour of Bernkastel, then cruise to Schweich.  Hopefully I'll have the motivation to climb up to the castel ruins afterwards.

 

Tomorrow there is only an optional tour to Luxembourg, which we will not be doing.  We're spending 2 nights in Ypres and will be exploring battlefields then.

 

Does anyone have any ideas for what we can do in the Schweich area tomorrow?  The options I can think of are heading out for a bike ride, or bus to Trier.  Understand that there is also a small Roman Villa you can visit about 2 kms outside of Schweich, just not sure about access it being a Monday.

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3 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

We are off to a good start with APT and AmaVenita here in Amsterdam.

 

The CEO of APT had flown in to talk to everyone about what was happening, we have an itinerary covering the Netherlands and Belgium for the first 11 days then we go to Vienna for 2 nights and then Budapest for 1 night.

 

He also confirmed that APT will charter a plane to fly us all down there, so no long coach ride.

 

if conditions on the rivers change then so will our  itinerary.

 

APT are handling things well I’d say...

 

 

That sounds like a great solution APT have come up with, even though Germany is probably the biggest chunk of the normal cruise and you won't be going there. I gather they will probably still include the two "signature experiences" in Austria (the Majestic Imperator rail trip to Salzburg and the evening concert at Palais Lichtenstein), and that you will be on board the AmaVenita for the first 11 days. I recommend the excursion to Bratislava if you get the chance. Enjoy your adventure! If Kay is still the cruise director on the AmaVenita say hi to him from Ruth and Jillian who were on the cruise that left Amsterdam on 17 March. He is such a great CD.

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Wannawander-  thanks for the info, I showed the picture to the 'winetender' at the place I stopped for my nightcap.  He forget when I had earlier told him 'mein Deutsch ist kaputt', and started talking real fast.

 

I think Katzen were involved at some point.  I had only tried asking if it spun around...so of course now in my head, there is a treadmill that cat's walk along to turn it, as real candles would just be too dangerous.  I know about the danger from playing with the one my folks had when I was a kid, and the one I played with the one we bought when stationed in Germany....

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32 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

We are off to a good start with APT and AmaVenita here in Amsterdam.

 

The CEO of APT had flown in to talk to everyone about what was happening, we have an itinerary covering the Netherlands and Belgium for the first 11 days then we go to Vienna for 2 nights and then Budapest for 1 night.

 

He also confirmed that APT will charter a plane to fly us all down there, so no long coach ride.

 

if conditions on the rivers change then so will our  itinerary.

 

APT are handling things well I’d say...

 

 

Mark-  Glad to hear that they are taking care of you.  Is Arnhem part of your revised route?  It was asked of our Captain if Vantage couldn't have adjusted out route, with Arnhem used as an example.  We were told docking there wasn't possible.  It would have been nice, as Arnhem is a nice city, with plenty to do.

 

 

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3 hours ago, Mark_T said:

We are off to a good start with APT and AmaVenita here in Amsterdam.

 

The CEO of APT had flown in to talk to everyone about what was happening, we have an itinerary covering the Netherlands and Belgium for the first 11 days then we go to Vienna for 2 nights and then Budapest for 1 night.

 

He also confirmed that APT will charter a plane to fly us all down there, so no long coach ride.

 

if conditions on the rivers change then so will our  itinerary.

 

APT are handling things well I’d say...

 

 

Thanks for that update. 

Do you have a full ship?

The change of itinerary is very different to the original, but it sounds as if you will be cruising.

Then a flight to Vienna and bus to Budapest?

 

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4 hours ago, ural guy said:

River Voyager: Docked in Bernkastel overnight.  Had a very nice walking tour of Trier, followed by lunch at a local vineyard.  Every course was delicious, and paired with 4-5 wines.  We got back to the ship about 1615, and Vantage had another wine tasting at 1700!  Spouse and I bowed out of that one, and had a nice stroll through Bernkastel.  It really is a picturesque town.

 

We had a hard rain for an hour or two after dinner (sprinkles/light rain for a good portion of the day).  I grabbed an umbrella and headed out for a walk across the bridge to Kuss, then wandered the streets of Bernkastel again.  With the rain, cobblestones and little alleyways I was in my own detective movie, waiting to see what lurked in the shadows.

 

In reality, I popped my head into a little weinstubbe for a night cap.  Stupid smile on my face as I recognized 'The Beautiful Blue Danube' being played on the stereo.  Not sure what the proper Mosel theme music is.... 

 

The first pic, I don't know what these are called, just know I've never seen a life size one before.  All the villages and cities are putting together their Christmas displays.

IMG_0906.JPG

 

 

 

 

This is called "Weihnachtspyramide", made from wood mainly from the Erzgebirge, comes in various sizes. There are normally candles on the side, when lit the thermic turns the paddles at the top.

 

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

 

https://www.google.de/search?q=christmas+pyramid&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjbqLDYkMzeAhWE-qQKHRnWDEQQsAR6BAgFEAE&biw=1122&bih=565

 

PS. Love the photos

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ural guy,

 

Thank you for all the lovely photos. Glad to read you are having a great time. Sundeck with jazz music, baileys and a blanket. Bliss!

 

I just cannot understand why Vantage did not go through the gorge with the coach. I assume they took the A61 motorway which is faster, but a coach is not that much faster on the motorway than along the Rhine gorge road called B9. It is likely to have been only 20 minutes extra. The Rhine gorge road is windy but not narrow and the motorway is out in the hills, i.e. access to it is a little out of the way from Mainz. Oh, well, I am neither corporate nor a coach driver. Perhaps there was already a hold-up on the B9... Perhaps with little daylight left, seeing that they arrived in Koblenz (delayed) at 8pm it did not make much sense. Still, I would be a little annoyed with Vantage for that...

 

As for SCHWEICH: I have never been to the town (just on a train through it) but have heard of the small Roman villa at Longuich which as you have said is just outside of Schweich. This is it: https://www.trier-info.de/english/roman-villa-longuich-info

 

Luxembourg is interesting for the defense structures called Casemates: https://www.visitluxembourg.com/en

You could go with the coach and come back by train. It is Luxembourg to Trier and then Trier to Schweich. Schweich is on the main line to Koblenz and you can get direct trains as well. With you being used to train travel I am sure you will find your way easily. :classic_smile: I like the train ride from Luxembourg to Trier, there is short great stretch along the rock face above the Alzette river and I am fond of the Moselle area after that anyway.

 

But another cycle ride sounds great, exploring Schweich and Longuich.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by notamermaid
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If I miss any questions I’ll catch up later. 

 

Yes, Arnhem is on our revised itinerary, ships seem to be getting there OK as well. 

 

Regarding the ‘Signature Events’ right now the train is not going to happen, but the choir in Vienna is still on. There is a possibility that the visit to Namedy could happen but that is not confirmed. 

Edited by Mark_T
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I had the window in the kitchen tilted open for quite some time last night as it was so mild. Then I heard sounds that I seriously could not quite place at first. It was an astounishly serious attempt at the sky producing some rain. It succeed for the first time in weeks. It actually put a strain on a neighbour's roof drainage, must be be some leaves blocking the downpipe. Needless to say I was delighted about the rain.

 

Even better, this morning looking at the figures, the forecast drop in river level at Kaub had not happened. There seems to be too little rain coming down in the vicinity of the Rhine gorge area, though, so the forecast is now showing 36cm for tomorrow morning. Perhaps the river can prove the experts wrong again...

 

Currently the levels are: Maxau 327cm, Kaub 45cm, Koblenz 49cm.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

If I miss any questions I’ll catch up later. 

 

Yes, Arnhem is on our revised itinerary, ships seem to be getting there OK as well. 

 

Regarding the ‘Signature Events’ right now the train is not going to happen, but the choir in Vienna is still on. There is a possibility that the visit to Namedy could happen but that is not confirmed. 

Mark_T,

 

Thank you for all the info. I hope you do make it to Namedy Castle. It is a small, lovely place. Perhaps they can arrange a coach ride from Cologne, if the ship makes it to Cologne. Would be a long evening, but manageable... Looking forward to seeing what APT can do. They are having a hard time getting everything organized but seem to have been doing a great job so far.

 

Have a great time.

 

notamermaid

 

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55 minutes ago, Mark_T said:

If I miss any questions I’ll catch up later. 

 

Yes, Arnhem is on our revised itinerary, ships seem to be getting there OK as well. 

 

Regarding the ‘Signature Events’ right now the train is not going to happen, but the choir in Vienna is still on. There is a possibility that the visit to Namedy could happen but that is not confirmed. 

Have they offered compensation for the new itinerary and the omissions?

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Mark-  Between the zoo, open air museum, or Airborne museum at Hartenstein, you will have a great visit in Arnhem.  Sonsbeek park is also a nice walking opportunity, all kinds of neat water features.

 

Are you on a 110m ship by any chance?  That may be why you are able to dock there...I want to give Vantage the benefit of doubt.

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