notamermaid

Hello to you. Due to the water level problems this has become a long thread and info other than "Kaub at x cm" is scattered throughout. Several cruisers have contributed not just with short reports from their river cruises but have also supplied photos that I am sure will raise the anticipation level. Happy reading. To find other cruisers you could join or start a roll call. Have a look where your itinerary may fit in, basic distinction is between Viking river roll calls and other river roll calls. Your date has just made me think. I am getting ready to write a little about Andernach and really needed to jog my memory about the short day trip. It was last November, shortly before Advent! Time flies. notamermaid

Oh no, not here. I mean most people either get vaccinated with a booster or not, wear a mask or not, no fuzz, no big words. A minority is actually scared. But our government in Berlin is closer in thinking to "never let a good crisis go to waste" which is something some media outlets appear to be agreeing with. Walking through the streets you would hardly notice anything, institutions with service counters and supermarket checkouts have plastic panes, hand sanitizers are here to stay it seems, but under the surface there is more and there is this uneasy feeling. Readily nurtured by some of those in power. I would not say any of this if I did not have the feeling they will not let us enjoy autumn and winter in peace and just get on with work (tourism in my case) and travel. That's it for now, will see how it progresses. notamermaid

It is important to look at the details, I agree. Perhaps not the best line to choose for the OP, but the CroisiEurope itinerary that goes to Honfleur is a really nice one. I got the 2023 catalogue in the post this morning and noticed that the Seine itinerary does not include the Normandy landing beaches. The company has a different focus, but that may just be the German sailings. Do check the offers of the company in English but be aware that the company is French and prides itself on French-European cuisine with the alternative choices for "picky eaters" somewhat limited. My choice would be a one-way trip. Your mother being active perhaps she would enjoy a train ride back to Paris. It is a relatively short journey. But sailing out of Paris and back into Paris has its draw, no doubt. notamermaid

After the brief dip during yesterday afternoon, Pfelling gauge rose again and is now at 308cm. notamermaid

Well, politics could fix it to some extent, but Berlin is Berlin. The baby boom - well I could say something about recent medical procedures which I will not and if cooler homes and snuggling up helps against the feeling of "what a terrible world for children to live in" we can only hope and will find out next year. Sailing in the Rhine Gorge without the lights on the castles, I do not like that. I was getting a bit worried there, but it seems only to be from 10pm to 6am, so if that happens it does not sound too bad. Not sure how all that will affect Christmas lights and safety in large cities. Nobody will turn off the street lights but additional light from shop windows is always comforting. Another thing. Mask mandates. In the medical sector masks are worn at all times I believe. On a lot of public transport, depending on region. This could be extended to the general public again but is still debated. It will be down to the individual states to come to a regulation. We will see how that develops. I will need to look into this again. Depending on your take on things, what a local newspaper recently had was a full "propaganda page" or "information sheet" on getting a second booster jab. It has made me wonder if we may see implications for travelling in autumn and winter but so far I have not read anything that would indicate a change to the current entry requirements for Germany. notamermaid

Indeed!! The German public will not be happy about something happening to the Christmas markets. Third year in a row would surely put us on the brink of revolution - would me, anyway. I was looking for something else and then found this article which explains some of the things that are happening. Important sentence to take away from this: "So far, lawmakers have shied away from demanding that the hospitality industry cut back on its electricity consumption, or turn down the heating." https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-energy-crisis-how-will-the-tourism-industry-get-through-the-winter/a-63045829 Personally I take this article like so many with a pinch of salt, but the facts are there. notamermaid

Good to read. Have a great time in Passau and enjoy the Wachau valley in Austria. Beautiful daytime sailing. notamermaid

Oh Canada, of course. I had somewhat forgotten about the ties. Wish I had the chance of signing somewhere. Watched some footage and commentary from news outlets. A couple of US ones - oh dear. If that was all I knew about America I would have a sad image put in my head... Anyway, the bond and togetherness in grief is so moving to see as universally the late Queen's achievements and her life are acknowledged. Without getting too political, in a republic like mine it feels impossible that we should ever come together to mourn a person in such a manner. For myself, I feel my life is lacking because of it. I have heard today that a lady living not far from me has booked a plane ticket and is flying to London for the funeral. Oh that is nice. Have a good flight. @Canal archive glad it has worked out for you to be in the street for that difficult but important moment. Something to truly cherish. notamermaid

Oh I had not even thought that far, I do not like scaremongering. I mean theoretically there may not be enough fuel to go around, but it would not be because the Rhine is low, it would mean that it would be taken from unnecessary activities and allocated to necessary activities to keep the economy going. No, it is only September, I do not think like the media writes... Okay, let us start with one thing. Our Federal Government has told us to save energy and actually put it into writing, like what public buildings are supposed to do, for example turn off the heating in hallways. I have not looked at details but our lives as locals will be that tiny bit different from the norm. I have no idea if anything has been agreed for the tourism sector, like reducing the heating in hotel lobbies as an example. It is a bit odd, you know, we are aware of energy saving measures without some guy in Berlin telling us to. But that is too political (when you live on the Rhine Berlin is like a foreign country 😉). I will see what info I can get hold of through work that may affect travellers further. Some measures for autumn and winter are decided in Berlin, others are the responsibility of the individual states. notamermaid

Used different search criteria and now found a local news article including confirmation by police of the accident and that an investigation is ongoing (which is normal): https://www.radiokw.de/artikel/kreuzfahrtschiff-mit-schubboot-auf-dem-rhein-kollidiert-1425053.html Second ship involved was a push barge. notamermaid

So you found more details on that than me. Swiss ship? Could be tons of different ones or rather one of a ton that are registered in Switzerland, or of course a "proper" Swiss one. I must admit that I am a bit concerned about the accidents and fires this year, the season started late and I feel more incidents than usual have come to our attention. Just a feeling or statistically correct or even significant I have no way of knowing. Hope the people all recover quickly including the obviously unhappy captain/officer and that the passengers are not put off river cruising. The Kvasir is obviously able to sail, i.e. was declared fit for sailing by police, as she is now in Rotterdam. notamermaid

And just like the Viking Hervor, I think all river cruise ships will get through the Rhine Gorge very comfortably. At Kaub we saw the level peak at midnight and it is going down again but at 109cm there is nothing to worry about and I may not even post an update tomorrow. When is the last time I skipped a day posting? July? What an extraordinary year. @worldtraveller99 You asked me to update a bit on the situation when autumn comes. Will get back to that soon as we may see some happenings out of the ordinary as regards life and travelling in Germany. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge is at 296cm. That means while the Rhine is out of the "danger zone" for river cruise ships, the Danube in Germany is still too low to sit back and relax. But let's be glad it is over 290cm and keep watching. Till tomorrow. notamermaid

As much as I would like to say that is exaggerated - it is not exaggerated. I have not read any German news about this yet, a police report may come up regionally though. On the Rhine tragic news about drownings dominate the headlines in the area. By the way, on the Danube at Lindau a river cruise ship collided with another ship while trying to turn around to go downstream to Austria. Name of ship - as is usual practice - not disclosed. Busy rivers. The dock at Wesel itself is notorious for tricky situations by the way. It appears to be how the landing stage is designed and placed close to the navigation channel. notamermaid

That sounds a nice alternative. Passau tourism website gives this info: https://tourism.passau.de/leisure-sports/cycling/ notamermaid

Forgive me in my European ignorance, I pick up on this thinking that hurricane season is a logistical thing that is important to you, maybe for flight arrangements? For a river cruise on the European continent the weather is not a big consideration unless you really prefer hot to cold weather as such or want snow or autumn foliage. May is a great time but October can be lovely too. There are so many river cruise lines that you could consider and a spreadsheet with comparisons is a good thing to do. They differ slightly in some things, more in others. Definitely consider all three. I think the one thing that always sticks out with me when I think of comparisons and when people have come from ocean cruising to river cruising to ask our advice is payment policy. Viking appears to be the line that asks for full payment far before others do, i.e. it could be 90 days, six months or even earlier, the latter of which seems to usually apply to Viking. Read the terms and conditions and see if that is an important aspect for you. Have fun planning. notamermaid

Update on Kaub gauge: 113cm! According to the forecast triple figures are here to stay at least until Wednesday. I was in the Eifel region just past Andernach yesterday and it was pouring down. It has cooled down a lot but while it felt cool yesterday, today has been pleasant. Oh and newsworthy is an earthquake near Mulhouse. Happened yesterday, was not minor, i.e. a bit stronger than what we usually get in the Rhine valley, or rather, geologically this is called the Oberrheingraben: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Rhine_Plain http://www.seismo.ethz.ch/en/earthquakes/switzerland/eventpage.html?originId='c21pOmNoLmV0aHouc2VkL3NjMjBhZy9PcmlnaW4vTkxMLjIwMjIwOTEwMTYzMzUwLjE5NjA3MS45Nzk0OQ=='&date_ch=2022-09-10&time_ch=17:58&region=Mulhouse F&magnitude=4.7 It was also felt in Germany of course, about up to Freiburg. With things calming down about river levels we should have a look at places along the river again. I think Andernach this coming week. I have a couple of photos and an article that may be of interest. Have a good week. notamermaid

The river levels are certainly looking better and promising. Not ideal in Germany but better. Pfelling gauge is now at 297cm and still rising so that is good. In Budapest the level is low again but not as low as in August. The level there will hopefully rise soon, I am not sure if a higher volume of water is coming from Austria already, i.e. how much it has rained in Austria, or if they need to wait for the wave coming from Germany: notamermaid

Well hooray to that! Sounds good and I am confident too about this. I am happy to report that Maxau gauge went up well during yesterday and while down to 411cm now will obviously give that higher volume of water to the Middle Rhine valley where we should see a rise at Kaub. Worms is now turning to go down so the wave is further downstream by now so we see the rise at Mainz, Bingen and Kaub! Kaub is at 86cm and rising, with Koblenz now also going up. I think we can say the 90cm is definite for Kaub gauge today and I am willing to believe that the 100cm for tomorrow is likely. The forecast looks good. notamermaid

AnotherWanderer, thank you for your continued posts from your cruise. Hope you have a splendid time in Prague. All rain coming down around Prague unfortunately goes to the Elbe river basin, but the Elbe needs some water for the autumn river cruisers so I am happy to give that other Czech/German river some rain. Much of the band of clouds gave the Danube water before it drifted towards Prague, so a nice distribution happened I think. Today there is more rain over Germany so while Pfelling gauge went down to now 287cm after a brief rise over 290cm river cruise ships are still in a much better position than they were three days ago. Really touch and go but I am slightly optimistic that the gauge will show 290cm and a bit more again: Much of the yellow and orange/red below Munich will not help the shallows stretch as that is all water for the Isar but what is closer to Nürnberg, Konstanz does feed the Danube via the river itself and the upper tributaries. And hopefully the authorities can let a bit more water through the Canal locks and dams, too. notamermaid

Staying with CroisiEurope. The company has released its cruise programme for 2023. And there are early booking discounts: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/croisieurope-publishes-187-page-2023-cruise-brochure notamermaid

River levels update. Kaub gauge went up to 79cm this morning, a pleasant little rise, but has since gone down to 73cm. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next 24 hours, could the level fall again further or will we see the level stabilize before we get those forecast figures in the 80s? Maxau gauge is showing a considerable rise and that volume of water has reached Worms. The forecast suggests we will see a steady rise during Saturday and at Kaub gives figures even firmly over 100cm on Sunday. Not bad at all, looks very good for continued sailing but the 100cm I will believe when I see it. notamermaid

Indeed. I guess that was a bit ambitious and I admit I did not fully trust the forecast. Still, it got close. The level is now at 289cm. The fast rise overnight has slowed so that we can assume we will see a few centimetres added today, but more than that I would call guesswork at this point. notamermaid

I missed this article when it came out but I guess it is not too late to book - a wine- themed cruise by CroisiEurope to mark the new Beaujolais when it is released: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/croisieuropes-burgundy-sailing-marks-beaujolais-nouveau-wine-release notamermaid

I would more say that Straubing to Vilshofen is impassable for the big majority of river cruise ships at this time. But that is not too much of a difference in distance so does not change much the problem of not getting through the shallow stretch of river. That is probably the best attitude to go with as the river is just very low and it is autumn so prone to being low anyway. Not much hope of seeing much improved levels beyond a short wave. But for now a look at Pfelling gauge shows the level to be 266cm. That is an improvement compared to this morning and an improvement compared to yesterday so more than just fluctuation which we expect during the day. With rain in the forecast and so much of it that it is likely to actually bring rain of note I am optimistic of there being the chance for large river cruise ships to sail past Pfelling again at the weekend. The forecast for Pfelling suggests 290cm may be reached during tomorrow morning. notamermaid