Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[epimom007]

4 hours ago, BMoreE said:

For sure! Had one at a brauhaus in Köln, very refreshing. Currently riding bus to Speyer for the days tour, 90 minutes from a shipyard at Stras. Which is not a very picturesque place to hang out on the ship all day. (Although 3 more hours on the bus no picnic either.)
 

A big downside of the swap: no cruising 2 nights in a row. Just not as enjoyable having that nightly drink on deck when next to container ships instead of passing villages. 😞 

 

But still better than NOT being on vacation! We feel lucky!

Which specific cruise are you on and in which direction? Thanks!  We leave September 5th for GE-Amsterdam to Budapest, so following this.

[notamermaid]

The thing about Strasbourg is the fact that the city does not actually have a beautiful Rhine river setting. It does not even have a dock on the Rhine and the old town is not on the Rhine either. The city's river is the Ill. The administrative district, i.e. the whole city with outlying areas, borders on the Rhine, you can see the red outline popping up on google maps when you put in Strasbourg. The Ill flows into the Rhine. The harbour is off the Rhine proper, on the Rhine canal through which you sail, or on a connection to the Rhine Rhone Canal. Anyway, it is the reason you do not see a glossy photo of a river cruise ship docked at a very old building in Strasbourg city centre. Many ships also dock in Kehl just across the river in Germany.

 

Kaub gauge at 52cm. We may see a slight drop yesterday but forecast suggests a rise of a few centimetres again on Monday.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[BMoreE]

4 hours ago, epimom007 said:

Which specific cruise are you on and in which direction? Thanks!  We leave September 5th for GE-Amsterdam to Budapest, so following this.

A to B Viking Hermod/now Sigyn. Only thing missing is dinner cruise and nighttime drinks whilst on the water. 
 

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The thing about Strasbourg is the fact that the city does not actually have a beautiful Rhine river setting. It does not even have a dock on the Rhine and the old town is not on the Rhine either. The city's river is the Ill. The administrative district, i.e. the whole city with outlying areas, borders on the Rhine, you can see the red outline popping up on google maps when you put in Strasbourg. The Ill flows into the Rhine. The harbour is off the Rhine proper, on the Rhine canal through which you sail, or on a connection to the Rhine Rhone Canal. Anyway, it is the reason you do not see a glossy photo of a river cruise ship docked at a very old building in Strasbourg city centre. Many ships also dock in Kehl just across the river in Germany.

 

it’s a good thing we visited the Rhine in Speyer today, the water is warm! Standing on rocks that clearly are normally under water!

[CPT Trips]

We docked in Strasbourg on three cruises. Each time it was on the Rhein, within an easy walk to a tram terminus for a simple, no connection needed, trip to the city center. 
The dock was just south of the Pont de l’Europe (lower right, near the arrow).

[notamermaid]

Oh, yes that looks a little nicer. It is after the canal has rejoined the Rhine. You say tram, so this I reckon is be the tram line that comes from Kehl via a bridge? I remember people mentioning they used the tram instead of a river cruise company shuttle.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited August 6, 2022 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

4 hours ago, notamermaid said:

We may see a slight drop yesterday but forecast

Silly me, that is supposed to say tomorrow.

 

By the way, Kaub gauge has dropped to 51cm several times during the course of today, the lowest figure we have seen this year, never was that low last year.

 

notamermaid

[CPT Trips]

The Strasbourg tram that we used did not cross the river. We were near the end of the line stop where it went back the other way. However, I was mistaken about exactly where we were located. It was not on the Rhein. I picked the wrong bridge on the map.

After looking around for the tram line I discovered that we were docked at Quai de Belges, lower right on map. 

[gentlemancruiser]

Strasbourg sounds similar to Vienna where the river cruise vessels are docked away from the historic city centre.

[CastleCritic]

3 hours ago, gentlemancruiser said:

Strasbourg sounds similar to Vienna where the river cruise vessels are docked away from the historic city centre.

Slightly worse in that in Vienna though its somewhat of a hike you can get to the metro system from the docks.  In Strasbourg (at least where viking and Amawaterays dock as shown in notamermaids picture) its an industrial area with no access to anything.  Now the cruise lines make up for it by running their own hourly shuttles to the town center, but even then its about a 10min walk from where the busses are allowed to the city city (the cathedral on the map.

[Farang]

Anyone on the upper Rhine at the moment?  Looking at ship spotting websites, it appears no one is sailing the Rhine Gorge section.  I am following the Uniworld River Queen which seems stuck in Boppard.  Anyone following this board that is on the Uniworld Rhein-Moselle that is supposed to embark tomorrow from Strasbourg?  What are you hearing from Uniworld?

[CPT Trips]

Add Nuremberg to the list of inconvenient docking locations. 

[RDVIK2016]

1 hour ago, Farang said:

Anyone on the upper Rhine at the moment?  Looking at ship spotting websites, it appears no one is sailing the Rhine Gorge section.  I am following the Uniworld River Queen which seems stuck in Boppard.  Anyone following this board that is on the Uniworld Rhein-Moselle that is supposed to embark tomorrow from Strasbourg?  What are you hearing from Uniworld?

I have been following the Viking ships on their Rhine Getaway itinerary.  None have sailed through the Rhine Gorge for several days.  They all stop short of the Gorge whether they are traveling upstream or down.  They swap passengers with a ship on the other end of the Gorge, turn around and head back to the port where they started, allowing the swapped passengers to complete their itinerary.

[RDVIK2016]

15 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

Add Nuremberg to the list of inconvenient docking locations. 

Is that dock at an industrial area in Erlangen?

 

[CPT Trips]

No, although it is by an industrial area, it’s not nearly as far away as Erlangen. Search a map app for “river cruise dock Nuremberg”

[notamermaid]

The reason Nuremberg is so bad is that it is a modern waterway, not a river. The Main Danube Canal is more a wide city bypass. The waterway and the dock were designed for commercial river traffic from Rotterdam to the Black Sea, i.e. connect Europe with a canal that links the Main and Danube.

 

On the Rhine the beautiful opposite is Koblenz, you have two rivers right there, the old town right there and you can approach it from either side on the nice embankments, or both if you want. You could go with Viking and dock on the Rhine, then walk into the old town. The following year could sail with Avalonwaterways (as an example) and dock on the Moselle, then walk into the old town.

I talked about Strasbourg as a reaction to the unpleasant docking location mentioned. Moving about in Strasbourg or getting to the old town is not really a problem in my opinion, seeing that river cruise lines run shuttles as well. But it is one of the things that one needs to be flexible with, i.e. changing docking locations, especially in flooding and low water. The standard nicer spots may not be available and/or accessible.

 

 

6 hours ago, Farang said:

Looking at ship spotting websites, it appears no one is sailing the Rhine Gorge section.  I am following the Uniworld River Queen which seems stuck in Boppard.

Remember that terrestrial signalling is very bad in the Rhine Gorge. It can be misleading. It is quite possible though that the River Queen is really in Boppard as that is a standard port for Uniworld.

 

Kaub gauge at 50cm. Adjusted forecast says little change for two days, certainly nothing that indicates the situation may be getting substantially better any time soon.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Talking of ship spotting and tracking. The Emily Bronte must have gone through the Rhine Gorge. Last night she is shown as being in Rüdesheim. I picked up her trail downstream from Koblenz and she is now docked in Cologne. Look who has gone through the webcam at Bingen, 12pm local time:

I cannot make out the name. She is currently docked in Rüdesheim. Within the last few hours the Amareina has passed through Mainz heading towards Amsterdam, so I reckon that is her in the screenshot on a Grand European itinerary.

 

See all the exposed gravel.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[2inSETexas]

3 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Talking of ship spotting and tracking. The Emily Bronte must have gone through the Rhine Gorge. Last night she is shown as being in Rüdesheim. I picked up her trail downstream from Koblenz and she is now docked in Cologne. Look who has gone through the webcam at Bingen, 12pm local time:

I cannot make out the name. She is currently docked in Rüdesheim. Within the last few hours the Amareina has passed through Mainz heading towards Amsterdam, so I reckon that is her in the screenshot on a Grand European itinerary.

 

See all the exposed gravel.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

We saw the AmaSiena moored in Koblenz around noon today. Several other ships were there, too.

[notamermaid]

I have noticed two ships having been through the Rhine Gorge today, the signal being so spotty I would need to spend a lot more time finding others. The River Diamond has done the passage upstream*, so has the Horizon, the latter being a small ship that I do not expect to get any problems on its downstream leg later in the month. She is based in the Netherlands.

 

The presumed Amareina is still in Rüdesheim.

 

Kaub gauge more or less stable today, with a tiny fluctuation downwards in the last 20 hours. 49cm at 6pm local time.

 

*Edit: the River Diamond was supposed to be in Mainz, but she is not, misread the info. Lost her. Sorry. Not sure if she has done the passage.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by notamermaid
wrong info

[PaulS]

We boarded the Avalon Panorama in Amsterdam yesterday for a cruise to Basel that is to end on August 13. Our original ship was to have been the Avalon Vista but we were informed last week of the ship change. Last night on the ship we were advised that the ship could not make it to Basel and that we would switch to the Avalon Vista on Wednesday. The plan is to go to Cologne tomorrow and to Koblenz on Wednesday. On Wednesday,  we are to sail on a local boat in the Rhine Gorge to Kaub and then return to the ship in Koblenz for the night. On Wednesday we will disembark the Panorama and go to Heidelberg for tours. Then we will bus to Kehl and embark on the Avalon Vista. The people on the Vista will take our places on the Panorama. 

The  cruise has been great so far. I just hope that things will go as planned.

[RDVIK2016]

15 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

No, although it is by an industrial area, it’s not nearly as far away as Erlangen. Search a map app for “river cruise dock Nuremberg”

OK, now I get it.  We did the Viking Romantic Danube in 2016 when they were still ending the cruise by traveling the canal to Nürnberg rather than terminating at Regensburg.  The spot you point out is where they tied up to have us transfer to buses for the tours of Nürnberg.  While we were in town the boat moved further up the canal to Erlangen and that is where we were docked overnight.  From there we took the coach to Prague for an extension.

[notamermaid]

Thank you for all the info, PaulS.

1 hour ago, PaulS said:

On Wednesday,  we are to sail on a local boat in the Rhine Gorge to Kaub and then return to the ship in Koblenz for the night.

That sounds a pleasant alternative. Koblenz is a nice city to be in in the evening. I assume you will be docked on the Moselle. If it works out go and see lit-up Ehrenbreitstein Fortress from the Rhine embankment just beyond Deutsches Eck. Really nice.

 

I hope it all works out and you can continue to enjoy the river cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The Amareina - she is carrying the APT logo - is still in Rüdesheim at midnight. Screenshot in evening light from the Bingen webcam taken at 21.20 local time:

 

The big lit-up building at the waterfront is the train station.

 

I hope this coming week will bring rain and pleasant days for you all on the river.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Unless Amawaterways has miraculously changed ships in the middle of the night the Amareina is still docked in Rüdesheim.

 

Kaub gauge at 56cm, minimally higher than the forecast for today. Forecast suggests stable levels for 36 hours but after that a decline. It is getting hotter again. Temperature in Koblenz 28.5 Celsius.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Right, it is Monday afternoon here in dry central Europe. So across the pond you have Monday morning and I will make it even worse by offering everyone a geography lesson. If you are busy or would rather enjoy a late breakfast or lunch in peace and quiet, skip the following.

The weather precipitation radar map of Germany today:

I think it is plain to see that we are not getting rain this afternoon, at least not in the West. There are tiny specks of turquoise over the North and near Munich. Literally just drops of rain. The inland black lines are the borders of the 16 states. Marked are principal cities, not all are state capitals. Kahler Asten and Brocken are mountains. When you have familiarized with the image, move on.

 

 

 

The weather precipitation radar map of Germany last Friday:

Now that looks quite different. Colour code means that red is strong precipitation, purple even more. The highest category is dark blue meaning extreme precipitation. Most of our weather is made in the West and we get rain sweeping in from the West. Which is what happened on Friday. Lows often come from the British Isles by the way. On Friday, the Southwesterly direction meant that it rained more in the lower half of Germany than in the upper half.  So let us see: late that evening the rain came through the corridor around Basel and over the lower Alps, mostly bypassing the Rhine valley apart from the East of Basel and Lake Constance. This meant that more water caught on camera here in the photo ended up in the Danube than in the Rhine. But not all rain North of Konstanz was given to the Danube basin. The area around Stuttgart is the Neckar catchment area and that river drains into the Rhine, i.e. it has its confluence with the mighty river at Mannheim. Just above the 22 of the date in this photo is the large bend in the Rhine where the river turns to go due North, the splendid setting for the city of Basel.

 

Now, where does it need to rain for the level to rise at Kaub? Basically here in the light green area (excuse awkward map, could not find good graphics):

 

To the right is marked the catchment area of the Danube. This is only Germany marked, much of Switzerland drains into the Rhine. The small strip of the East Vosges mountains and the French slopes from Mulhouse to Strasbourg and the Northern border also gives its water to the Rhine. Most of the Vosges mountain water is given to the Meurthe, smaller rivers and later the Moselle to the Rhine past Kaub, i.e. meets the Rhine at Koblenz. So most rain that is useful to the shipping industry and river cruisers must fall in Northern Switzerland, along the Ill, in the Black Forest, in the Neckar valley and along the Main. Dominance on the Eastern side of the Rhine is key. Just a bit of shift in wind/cloud direction and the Danube gets more than the Rhine. I think this would make a nice legend how the Lorelei and the Isar compete for water to swim happily with the other sirens and the fish. Or something. But to keep my imagination running away with me, I will stop at this point. Lesson over.

notamermaid

 

Edited August 8, 2022 by notamermaid

[CastleCritic]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Unless Amawaterways has miraculously changed ships in the middle of the night the Amareina is still docked in Rüdesheim.

 

Kaub gauge at 56cm, minimally higher than the forecast for today. Forecast suggests stable levels for 36 hours but after that a decline. It is getting hotter again. Temperature in Koblenz 28.5 Celsius.

 

notamermaid

 

Amareina and I believe it was amavenita are not ships that ama has on their own schedule and appears to have them on permanent charter to apt.  (I had to look it up because I had never heard of those ships and while they are on the website they are not listed in ama’s brochures in their ship inventories)
 

apt lists 1-2 others that they must have occasional access to including amamagna that are on the regular schedule. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by CastleCritic