notamermaid

I was not fully happy with the timeline of the Viking Mimir so I checked ships from the other direction. There was the Viking Vali. She arrived at the lock later than the Mimir and docked in the approach for several hours. I guess that rules her out?

There may of course be another ship that I have not looked at - the Canal is quite busy.

I know of no ship on European rivers that is exactly 130m long, by the way. A few come close.

notamermaid

7 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

You should see some of the small cities in the Mosel or Rhone

Funny you should mention that as I have just read an article on overtourism in Germany, a very recent one at that. It identifies - you have guessed it - towns on the Moselle as potential candidates for overtourism, being what the Federal Government calls "besonders Tourismus-intensive Gemeinden". In this article of the regional broadcaster SWR they give towns for Rhineland-Palatinate and Baden-Würrtemberg. Among them are our favourites Cochem and Bernkastel-Kues: https://www.swr.de/swrkultur/leben-und-gesellschaft/overtourism-im-suedwesten-100.html

notamermaid

2 hours ago, pontac said:

Another reason river ships start/end in Amsterdam  is its proximity to an airport with excellent international connections.

 

So the airport benefits from airline fees, Amsterdam gets mooring fees, and perhaps licence fees from tour guides.

Excellent point.

I would say that overall Amsterdam is faring well with river cruise tourists who tend to be a very agreeable crowd and do sometimes stay overnight. It appears that the authorities target almost all types of tourism and see how they can curb the numbers of visitors per year. They intend to go for the 50 percent by 2028 so who knows they may revise that plan and keep the percentage higher. Still four years to go and enough time for the river cruise companies to complain. One does wonder - where else are they supposed to start the cruise from? I doubt that the river cruise ships will sail much from Utrecht (far too small for the logistics) or even Rotterdam. They would have to take the train or the coach from Amsterdam airport. Not environmentally friendly...

Talking of which. As regards European river cruises the Grand European (or similar name) from Amsterdam to Budapest is quite heavy on the environment, i.e. possibly the top spot for coach travel during a cruise. There is at least one town that is only used as a drop off or pick up point and you have long distance excursions, not to mention the shuttles that take you into town from the harbour (like in Nuremberg where walking that distance is quite the time-consuming hike even for the younger legs - 90 minutes).

notamermaid

35 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

The closest to the canal with that length on Cruisemapper is the SS Beatrice at 125m.

Interesting, had not checked. I am a bit puzzled by the length given, unfortunately the other reports are behind a paywall. I think they may have got it wrong.

I suggest looking at the track of the Viking Mimir on marinetraffic.com. She left Bamberg in the evening and got as far as the lock at Hausen, travelling towards Regensburg that is; where the accident happened, at around the time the accident is supposed to have happened. Her signal stays at the lock for several hours before continuing. You need to be quick as tracking is restricted to 24 hours.

notamermaid

It is May, time to have a look at how the river did in April. This is Dresden gauge:

The month started on a good level, but went down gradually till we saw a level in the middle of the month that is a bit on the low side but at Dresden still okay while further upstream the situation was already not so favourable. Then rain set in and gave the river a boost. AnhalterER1960 reported about this on 19 April. Since then the level has gone down again and we again see the 110cm at the end of the month. That is not a good sign for May. The gauge is now at 98cm. Let us hope the rain that has been sweeping over Europe will be enough for the Czech authorities to let more water through. It has been raining in Ústí nad Labem today.

notamermaid

There has been an accident in the Main Danube Canal. During last night a river cruise ship hit the gate at Bamberg lock. The ship is 130m long with 117 passengers on board, according to the report. No injuries reported. The lock was closed for several hours. If I understand it correctly traffic has resumed. It sounds a minor incident thankfully, with little delay for shipping. Ship name not disclosed.

notamermaid

2 hours ago, gnome12 said:

NO

That is a clear statement.

notamermaid

45 minutes ago, Microman123 said:

Is there a May update, please?

Coming up, thank you for the reminder.

notamermaid

A bit of a confusing statement by the company. I mean we in Germany say American when we mean US and Canadian when we mean Canadian but in newspapers and television they prefer to make it clearer like saying US-Amerikaner. Is US and Canadian so close that they can throw both in one pot of perspective? Hmm... Anyway, sounds a bit limiting although if they focus on history it makes sense to limit yourself and become an expert in one rather that a three-quarter expert in three perspectives. I would be more concerned with the food and drink. All American (which is a weird term in itself anyway)? Bagels and burgers but no European buns for breakfast? Etc.

notamermaid

Another theme is literary greats of Britain, as used by Riviera Travel. For the latests ship they have abandoned that.

In the past, Latin names have been used, also by excursion boats, like Filia Rheni in Bonn for example. The barges in contrast have all sorts of names on the Rhine, anything goes on my river, as regards that.

notamermaid

Oh that sounds very promising so far, good of them to reply quickly.

Hope your health continues to improve.

notamermaid

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Will 'she' have a companion, "The Lady"?  This could be a terrific solution to snoring, which I'm told affects many people 'of a certain age' – including, it is alleged by an ear-witness, moi!

That's good. But I dare not think this further. Are they supposed to start at either end of the Rhine? And in low water the ship swap, "never the twain shall meet"? Or "brief encounter" at Marksburg castle?

Yes, a lady for the gentleman it should be, preferable I find happily rafting together in port where ever possible.

notamermaid

Remagen bridge was captured on 7 March 1945, Urmitz bridge was destroyed on 9 March 1945. The events at Urmitz and Engers on the other river bank do not make for a tale of heroism and success. Instead, the bridge was blown up while German soldiers retreating to the East bank where still on it. The tragic event and the terrible sight are recalled by Brigadier General Albin F. Irzyk who lead a battalion and had with his men approached the bridge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U89pNAVXq6s

Irzyk lived to the grand age of 101. I am fortunate in having been able to talk to a gentleman, a local historian, who knew him personally. Thanks to this man's efforts the local authorities agreed to erect a plaque at Engers that tells of the tragic day. Urmitz also has a plaque. A small ceremony of remembrance is held every year on 9 March. This is a German article with photos of this year's event: https://www.lebendiges-neuwied.de/News-Gedenken-an-die-Brueckensprengung-item-1120.html

notamermaid

And now here she is. The brainchild of Arjan van Loon, the family's move into the river cruising world and industry from their standard business as a shipping company, this new venture being a subsidiary. "The Gentleman" has been christened in Rotterdam:

Safe travels to her always.

notamermaid

6,000 passengers on one ship is a feat to organize but in my opinion "bonkers". I suppose you could call it arrogance. Not sure why anyone would go on such a ship. Neighbours of mine went on a smaller one, something like 1,000 I guess, and they did not really enjoy it that much.

2 hours ago, pinotlover said:

I do believe that the massive ocean cruise ships will find fewer ports they are allowed to visit in the very near future.

It is heading that way, even more a reason not to build such huge ships.

When I read the figure of river cruise ships I thought: "that is quite a sum". When I read the passenger count I thought "that is not that much as a percentage of all tourists per year in Amsterdam". 20 million bookings of overnight stays are a bit more than the humble river cruise tourists...  If I have understood the authorities correctly they have an issue with the noise, pollution and coaches more than with the actual number of river cruise tourists. Of course, Amsterdam is overall trying to keep people from coming to the city meaning a kind anti-tourism marketing. I know many people enjoy the city but I am happy to oblige and satisfy the authorities. Give me a bit of pocket money and I may be persuaded to step foot in the city for two hours. Pop into the Rijksmuseum to see the ships (models) and a couple of other exhibits. Otherwise I will just revisit Groningen.

If I wanted to be malicious I would say that they could just close the Rhine Amsterdam Canal. Reduces the ships by something like 95 percent (a few small ships can come via the other routes)...

We have talked about other places before, like Heidelberg. And in Rothenburg, yes, it is a good thing that the coaches cannot go into the small town. It is a very easy place to walk in. The alternative would of course be to not offer the excursion to that town. But it is a real sell, i.e. one of the biggest draws for sailing the Main river, I should think. I am happy to admit for very good reasons.

notamermaid

After the forced break during 2020, 2021 and partially 2022, the topic is back - with a vengeance. We know that Amsterdam has had plans to reduce mass tourism for some time and now they are back on track with dealing with the river cruise ships, something the authorities had been intending to address. The topic is not new. Here is the latest. A German article says that 2,125 ships with about 500,000 passengers docked in Amsterdam in 2023. The authorities want to reduce that number to 1,150 ships maximum by 2028. The fate of ocean cruise ships is sealed. They will have to dock outside of Amsterdam (centre) when the terminal is ready: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/stadt-will-haelfte-der-flusskreuzfahrtschiffe-verbannen-100.html

Guess who does not like the idea of reducing the number of river cruise ships? The IG River Cruise, an association for the industry that has just announced two new members. They are A-Rosa Flussschiff GmbH, Rostock, and van Loon Cruises Switzerland AG. IG River Cruise is planning political action. Unfortunately, there is no press release on their website as of now (at least I cannot find it). This is a Dutch article. Weirdly, the archive photo also shows the Britannia, which is, well, dead. She was scrapped a few years ago: https://www.scheepvaartkrant.nl/nieuws/ig-rivercruise-het-geweer-tegen-amsterdamse-beperkingen

Here is an article from the Netherlands: https://www.dutchnews.nl/2024/04/amsterdam-to-slash-river-cruise-stays-in-over-tourism-drive/

notamermaid

The last WWII battle site in this little series is the third bridge - Urmitz bridge, its proper old name being Kronprinz-Wilhelm-Brücke. Like its sister bridges it was a railway bridge with pedestrian walkway. I think you can guess what is coming: it was destroyed. But contrary to the other two it was rebuilt after the war, albeit without the massive arch. Let us have a look at the map of the advancing troops, which in that area was the Third Army as part of Operation Lumberjack: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Operation_Lumberjack_map.jpg

The bridge crosses the Rhine at Urmitz to the village (former town) of Engers.

The story of Urmitz bridge is overshadowed by the events at Remagen which had unfolded a couple of days prior. We will have a closer look at that in a later post.

notamermaid

3 hours ago, wandb said:

I think I'll try for end of April to middle  of May.

Hope your cruise will be great.

It is 1 May so we will have a look at April and its river levels. I think I can say that this is not a spoiler when I tell you all already that the past month has been good. Graph coming later.

notamermaid

To the place I hinted at yesterday. That is Nierstein. The town has a river cruise docking area but is hardly frequented by international ships. I mention Nierstein here in post #44: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2516698-rhine-beyond-the-standard-ports/page/2/

The link in that to the Rhine crossing in 1945 no longer works. So here is some info. First, a German history project has created this 360 degrees photo with embedded links (in German): https://vr-easy.com/tour/kuladigrlp/220922-nierstein/#pano=9

You can read an article on the erection of the monument here: https://www.army.mil/article/184917/rhine_crossing_memorial_builds_metaphoric_bridge

I find this video good, but am a bit confused as to why they say Oppenheim. That is next to Nierstein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOACe6O10H8

notamermaid

1 hour ago, wandb said:

Weather wise and water-level wise, what is the best month for cruising the Danube?

I would go for May. Nature is well into spring, snow melt is gone. Low water starts in summer. There can be flooding in May (in 1999 it was severe) but historically/statistically June is surprisingly worse for flooding than May. That all applies to Germany only.

Note that as soon as you leave out the Regensburg to Vilshofen stretch summer to autumn becomes more attractive, by that I mean reliable for good levels, as you avoid the shallow areas. Then Vilshofen to Budapest is usually good. I have no info on the river further downstream.

notamermaid

4 hours ago, fshagan said:

My father in law also talked about an Austrian or German woman the men called "mamma" that was nice to them.

That is so sweet and understandable. Mamma is the word for mum, i.e. the endearing word for mother.

notamermaid

2 hours ago, 1of4 said:

I find out if I will need surgery tomorrow morning 😬 

Fingers crossed it is not needed. All the best.

I also think it would be good to contact Scenic. I do wonder about the handrail you mentioned being short, that is, not covering the last step of the flight of stairs. That can confuse the brain and something that could be addressed, if not with a material solution than by a warning sign or the crew pointing it out.

notamermaid

I have put a marker at the site in Andernach:

The location is:

50°26'09.8"N 7°24'04.1"E

Let us continue with the topic of WWII sites and memorials. There are a couple of places I would like to share the history of.

There is the site of Remagen bridge, the site of Urmitz bridge and the site of Bingen bridge. They were "sisters" all built at the same time. I have talked about the Bingen to Rüdesheim bridge in post #195. That leaves Urmitz bridge. But first there is another place that is interesting for folks perhaps. More on that tomorrow.

notamermaid

What a story @Host Jazzbeau thanks for sharing.

Here is the photo of the sign in Andernach. Soldiers painted the direction how to get home, i.e. how far it is, at the side of the subway under the railway bridge. When the railway bridge above needed renovating and widening the authorities wondered how to preserve the site. They found a solution and a plaque explains what the painted kilometre sign post is about:

notamermaid

A friend of mine had an unpleasant incident in Paris many years ago. The old gentleman was really annoyed with her - we assumed he had a flashback of bad memories with Germans. It was weird for us youngsters. To be honest, there are a couple of people of the Allied Forces that is better that I have never met them, you know, some things hurt. But passing time helps. The capture of the bridge at Remagen is seen as a shortening of the war and reduced misery as a consequence. Generally speaking the American Forces are held in good esteem and I see no reasons to try and hide why you are visiting Remagen and look at the plaques or other places you may visit.

Do check out the plaques at the bridge head in this short video of travellers on the MS Grace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euq_5qa5jeU

notamermaid