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Rhine water levels 2019 and similar topics


notamermaid
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39 minutes ago, Fourmiler said:

Let us all sing La Marseillaise 😁

 

Indeed.

 

Here is an unusual piece of history lesson not so often mentioned or well known: many a French aristocrat and sympathizer fled to the Koblenz area; the town slightly North of Koblenz called Neuwied was teeming with French-speaking people. As it had a liberal ruler there was a freedom of press well-known to publishers and a certain Louis-Francois Mettra set up shop there having lost his belongings and workshop in Cologne after flooding. He published French underground books, also the indexed works of Voltaire, and even went as far as publishing risqué literature. When French revolutionary troops brought the fighting to the Rhineland, Mettra fled the area and moved to Leipzig, even then a major book publishing hub in Europe.

 

But if your head is starting to float a little, after all this history and wine, lean back and enjoy a bit of alternative history and in the shape of a certain Edmund Blackadder meddling in the French revolution - or pretends to, actually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUTlE90j7n8&list=RDXUTlE90j7n8&start_radio=1&t=0

 

notamermaid

 

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3 hours ago, CharTrav said:

Last year on this day we were in Viviers on the Viking Delling. That evening we were treated to a spectacular fireworks display. 

Yesterday there was a spectacular fireworks display on the Rhine in Cologne, beautiful.

 

Next year the date to remember is 18th. July 2020.

 

https://www.nrw-tourismus.de/koelner-lichter

 

Scroll down for videos from last night's display.

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5 hours ago, notamermaid said:

And as we are on the subject of French pastimes, has anyone ever seen a Boule playing field on a river cruise ship? I wonder if it would work, quite like the idea.

 

Cheers!

 

notamermaid

 

 

What a load of boules.

 

🍻🥨🍻

Edited by G.M.T.
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3 minutes ago, G.M.T. said:

Yesterday there was a spectacular fireworks display on the Rhine in Cologne, beautiful.

 

Next year the date to remember is 18th. July 2020.

 

https://www.nrw-tourismus.de/koelner-lichter

 

Scroll down for videos from last night's display.

Wow! I was able to pick out and read some of the German and then I got to the pix! Ooooo!!!💥

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41 minutes ago, CharTrav said:

Wow! I was able to pick out and read some of the German and then I got to the pix! Ooooo!!!💥

They do look lovely. Thanks G.M.T. .

 

This is also a good one, coming up in August: https://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/spay-koblenz-gb/spay-koblenz-gb.html

 

notamermaid

 

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Onto business - the shipping industry

 

The river has lost quite a few centimetres and with only Friday providing significant amounts of rain in the next seven days, coupled with hot temperatures of up to 34 degrees maximum, will fall further soon. While Maxau 507cm, Kaub 179cm and Koblenz 166cm sounds still very good to river cruisers' ears, the industry needs to prepare for the weeks ahead when barges and tankers will almost inevitably need to plan for reduced loading capacity.

 

For the future, the federal minister of transport, Andreas Scheuer, has presented the government's plans on a boat on the Rhine. Here it is: https://www.worldcargonews.com/news/news/germanys-rhine-low-water-contingency-planning-62583

 

I am afraid to say that at least in the article the river cruising industry is not mentioned. While that tourism sector is growing, it is nevertheless economically of little importance on the river. However, the plan includes the so-called "Abladetiefe-Optimierung" which means increasing the loading capacity of barges in relation to the navigation channel depth. Here it means dredging the river so that the navigation channel depth in the Kaub area is increased from 1.90m to 2.10m. That would also benefit large river cruise ships and could well eliminate ship swaps and coach tours in many years. Last year it would have been of minor help as the drought affected a much longer stretch of river than just around Kaub.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

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We leave for our Rhine Cruise next Friday July 17th.  Keeping our fingers crossed for good water levels.  I would appreciate it if anyone who has information about Rhine levels next week could post in the meantime.  We will be on Avalon Basel to Amsterdam.  thanks in advance

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gailellen12,

Have a great time on the river. Looking forward to hearing from others as well how things are going. Any great new excursions? New towns explored?

 

As regards water levels: no news is good news, so while I am keeping watch in the background I shall not come back much to that subject as right now there is not much to say.

 

For the next few days the trend at Maxau towards low water is clearly there, but we are quite a bit away from anything official that matters to river cruising.

 

Maxau 480cm, Kaub 174cm, Koblenz 154cm. That is much better than last year in July.

 

notamermaid

 

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Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, both stuff of epic proportions. But it is all modern, what if there was something of that scale but much older? There is. No, not the Lorelei legend, that is short and quite frankly a little tame. No, not the Odyssey, that has it's setting in Greece.

 

On the Rhine and Danube, a hero, bad guys and beautiful queens battle it out in the epic tale of 2,400 verses called Das Nibelungenlied.

 

And the additional plus is that the places are real. Few buildings remain from the 13th century, yet in Summer one real such place becomes the (semi-original) setting for the festival, the cathedral in the city of Worms: https://m.dw.com/en/tracing-the-song-of-the-nibelungs/g-49486046

 

I find that Worms is a little overlooked by river cruise companies. Which might be understandable with Speyer - and with that the Heidelberg excursion - so conveniently nearby.

 

notamermaid

 

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We stopped by Worms for a short stroll back in September 2015, while we were out and about in my new Audi. The Cathedral is massive! And the stone exterior is worn, so it looks really old.

 

Unfortunately the weather was not great that day so my pictures are all dark and dreary. So nothing worth posting here. Enjoying as always your posts about some of these lesser-known destinations.

 

How about Oppenheim? There is a nice view from Burgruine Landskrone, then you can walk down through the vineyards to Ruprechtsturm, then Katharinenkirche. There is a Beinhaus nearby if you want something creepy. And the town has underground tunnels which you can tour. We had a fun time here!

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Oppenheim, yes, thanks for the tip. I have heard good things about Oppenheim, especially the underground tunnel experience. I have not been there myself yet. And it is a wine village :classic_smile:. I do not think the embankment is equipped for large river cruise ships, but it would be nice to see it offered as an excursion some day.

 

Just cannot get round to doing further research for the thread "Beyond the standard ports". 😳

 

notamermaid

 

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Just got home from our Viking cruise on the Rhine with a pre cruise stay in Lake Como and a post cruise stay in Amsterdam and have to say it was the best vacation we've ever taken.  The only disappointment was that we couldn't visit Colmar on our day there as it was the day the Tour de France race came thru and Viking cancelled the excursions.  They added a no charge excursion to Freiburg as a substitute. 

We visited Cologne the day after the fireworks so we only saw the litter left by the celebration. It only really rained on one afternoon but it was cool and cloudy most of the cruise. 

Now we have to start thinking about taking another river cruise next year. :-)

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23 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Oppenheim, yes, thanks for the tip. I have heard good things about Oppenheim, especially the underground tunnel experience. I have not been there myself yet. And it is a wine village :classic_smile:. I do not think the embankment is equipped for large river cruise ships, but it would be nice to see it offered as an excursion some day.

 

Just cannot get round to doing further research for the thread "Beyond the standard ports". 😳

 

notamermaid

 

 

You do so much work for all of these threads, so no apologies necessary! I'll post a few pics from our time in Oppenheim at some point, when I have time.

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Will the upcoming heat wave next Tuesday - Thursday  in the Rhine river area affect the water levels quickly and substantially?  We leave next Friday July 27 when some rain is do to come into that area.  I think this is the first time in my many travels that I have hoped for rain to start a trip.  Thanks for any current information

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During this heatwave the river level will surely go down, but the rain coming is already in the tentative prediction for Maxau. It will raise the level. At this point in time the levels look fine for this week including Sunday, I would say. It is difficult to say how much the level goes down without rain but 5cm to 8cm at Kaub per day is reasonable.

 

 

notamermaid

 

Edited by notamermaid
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Hi all, love reading this thread. We are traveling on scenic jasper from Budapest to Amsterdam in mis sept this year, we also did this trip 5 years ago at about the same time and had no problems at all.

 

i am not asking anyone to predict water levels this far our, but historically, has september posed any issue with water levels?

 

For previous scenic cruisers, does/ did scenic provide communication prior to cruise if water levels are of concern.

 

cheers 

 

 

 

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We have friends who have sailed with scenic recently and enjoyed the experience.

The high/low water and other interruptions have been well documented on line with a variety of stories.

In the case of scenic their class action and appeals may assist you for more info.

Just google or search on this website.

In short prior warning can happen or not.

Travelling from Australia may mean if urgent changes occur in Europe communication may be an issue.

Last year some were told on arrival on the ship or prior to boarding the flight to Europe.

Some reliable info was posted on here by locals and fellow cruisers.

The cruise line may post updates on their website too.

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markperth,

 

The long flight from Australia especially with a pre-cruise extension together can mean a quick change in itinerary in drought and I recommend keeping in touch with the cruise line. October is more a problem but it looks like September could be a problem again this year.

 

The river levels: Maxau 465cm, Kaub 149cm,  Koblenz 130cm.

 

notamermaid

 

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On 7/18/2019 at 8:54 PM, gailellen12 said:

We leave for our Rhine Cruise next Friday July 17th.  Keeping our fingers crossed for good water levels.  I would appreciate it if anyone who has information about Rhine levels next week could post in the meantime.  We will be on Avalon Basel to Amsterdam.  thanks in advance


We just did the opposite with Avalon -- From Amsterdam to Basel on the Vista, July 13-20. Marvelous experience, one of our best vacations ever! Here's a link to my photos, if you are interested: AVALON RHINE CRUISE 2019

No issues with water levels at all, of course. Just a lovely cruise with wonderful staff and guests.

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2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

markperth,

 

The long flight from Australia especially with a pre-cruise extension together can mean a quick change in itinerary in drought and I recommend keeping in touch with the cruise line. October is more a problem but it looks like September could be a problem again this year.

 

The river levels: Maxau 465cm, Kaub 149cm,  Koblenz 130cm.

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks for quick responses everyone. 

No point worrying about things I cannot control, 🤞 for some rain in the next 7 weeks.

 

 

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2 hours ago, manitoba_traveller said:

The water levels at Rust (south of Strasbourg) are only at 75cm, is that a concern for a Rhine river cruise?

No, that gauge is of no significance for the navigation channel.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

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