notamermaid

Just reading that makes me nervous. Enjoy the rest of your stay in Amsterdam and have a good journey home. notamermaid

Thanks, never heard of them before. Looks interesting. notamermaid

Lovely. Have a wonderful cruise. It was a great experience to wake up in the morning, open the curtains and see the embankment at Bratislava. Never having done a river cruise before I really enjoyed that new special moment. The castle is really nice, with a great view. We rode a little train up the hill. notamermaid

The extraordinary grand European journey of the MS Alisa hull part 1 The MS Alisa has been ordered by Phoenix Reisen. Her hull was built by the Vahali shipyards in Serbia; the Vahali shipyards in Gendt, Netherlands (the original location) will do the outftting. This has been a standard procedure for some years now. The MS Alisa left Serbia in July , pushed by Argo, and got as far Linz. There the journey had to be interrupted as the Argo had developed technical problems. Luckily, the stop was not too long as the Argo was several days later spotted with the hull in Regensburg on 7 August. This already tells us that the MS Alisa went through the low stretch around Pfelling when (most likely) no other 135m river cruise ship did. The level at the gauge there was between 240cm and 250cm when the Argo pushed her through. So the Rhine would be okay, right? We will come to that later. First, the Main Danube Canal and the Main river. As has happended with previous hulls, the MS Alisa got a new push boat, the Zasavica III at Regensburg. The journey along the the canal and river was uneventful as far as I can tell. A few days later, at Gustavsburg, just past the last lock on the Main river, the MS Alisa got a new carrier, a barge that would help her down the Rhine towards Gendt. I have seen this procedure at Gustavsburg with hulls before but do not know why it is a barge instead of a pushboat that is used on the Rhine. So which one would have the responsibility of taking the MS Alisa to Gendt? As we have read, it was the KVB Johanna and Johanna II, meaning a combined barge. By the time pushboat and hull reached Gustavsburg, the Rhine had lost so much water that it was almost as bad as Pfelling. At the time I did not know if the authorities on the Rhine put restrictions on double-width and extended length barges, so I was eager to find out what would happen and not being able to see the changeover at Gustavsburg did not know which barge it would be and when exactly the journey continue. Would they really sail her alongside a barge? The barge should be able to sail with its hull construction but would the MS Alisa really sail/be sailed when the level at Kaub is only 34cm, I mean it is a different river with different shallows and bends? The day turned out to be the 17th of August and things – again – did not go as planned. To be continued. notamermaid

Full story coming up... I should have been clearer when I posted before. Small river cruise ships have been sailing the Rhine Gorge in these low waters as well as the lightly loaded cargo ships (like the Johanna) but some 110m river cruise ships struggled and stopped as well as all the 135m river cruise ships as far as I can ascertain. notamermaid

That is a pity. With there having been rain in Austria I thought it may hold. Esztergom has got a gauge so let us have a look at it today: Hmm, really looks to have gone done significantly compared to previous days. But the forecast looks promising. On my cruise we left the ship at Esztergom, saw the Basilica, which is a great edifice, toured the countryside, stopped briefly at Szentendre and arrived at Budapest with our coach being late for lunch because we were stuck in traffic somewhere on the outskirts of the city. Highly interesting morning which gave us a great introduction to Hungary. notamermaid

I enjoyed Esztergom. The basilica is fabulous. We had a good guide there. The town was also quite interesting. notamermaid

Brief update on Pfelling gauge: 288cm. Could be getting tight for a few ships. Rain visible on the radar image, sweeping over the southern half of Bavaria. This volume of water should reach the area of the shallow stretch during tomorrow. Perhaps some rain will directly hit Straubing to Vilshofen. But it looks as if it may not be in time to keep the level at Pfelling stable during today. notamermaid

Brief update on Kaub gauge: 84cm. A fast decline and more than the forecast suggested would happen. Amended forecast, which may now be a little off, suggests Kaub will stay around 80cm to 79 cm tomorrow. But with rain already visible on the radar image I am confident in the suggestion of the level going up a little again on Friday. Finally some rain for the Moselle and Middle Rhine valleys. notamermaid

Tatata!!! Correct (and slightly not correct). It is the MS Alisa. She was pushed by the Argo but then on the Rhine made the journey with the help of a different ship. More on the story later. And that is the question I will not be able to fully answer, me not building ships or steering them, but I will try and get close to it. notamermaid

Welcome to Europe, Germany and especially the beautiful Moselle. Sadly, nature is not as lush as it should be at this time of year. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

The 2023 brochure of Amawaterways is out: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/amawaterways-releases-new-brochure-for-2023 Classical Music on the Danube sounds really interesting. notamermaid

Several years ago I came across this website: https://www.toursbylocals.com/Germany-Tours Have only just remembered it again (after considerable time of its sleepy existence among my bookmarks). I do not think it has fully organized tours including organizing air travel, did not see any at first glance, but perhaps it is of some interest, also for others that have not seen it yet. I am sure though that some of you will know it. notamermaid

Sorry, said this wrongly. It is an institute that has a research project (or had) and was supported by the University of Mainz: https://www.igl.uni-mainz.de/institut/institut/ The original project website link no longer works, but these are other links in the topic Auswanderung: https://www.auswanderung-rlp.de/das-projekt/weblinks.html I think that gives you the information in a different format. notamermaid

Ah, you are thinking in the right direction I see. I was wondering that myself. Not sure. So let us say she could not sail herself but was sailed alongside another ship. notamermaid

Oops, apologies to Chuck. notamermaid

Cannot resist - here is a little quiz. Or at least an usual occurrence that perhaps will make you ask yourself: "how did it work"? We know that for several days in August the long, 135m river cruise ships, could not sail the Rhine Gorge. The barges and tankers did sail as they are constructed differently and sail with reduced load. But on 17 August just one river cruise ship sailed through when the level at Kaub gauge was at only 34cm! It is difficult, but if you have been paying a lot of attention within the last 30 posts, you may have spotted a hint... notamermaid

The harbour master rules, that is an important thing to remember. Unfortunately, it was a location further away for you then. I hope you were able to enjoy the short time you had in Cologne. I enjoyed the stroll along the embankment when I was there. notamermaid

I see. It is chuck like in throw away. Such a nice word collection does not exist in German I think. Cheap wine is "Gesöff", derived from "saufen", that is a slightly negative term for animals drinking or a negative term for hard drinking (of alcohol) of humans. Or "Pennerwein", the cheap stuff for hobos. Seriously though, that wine was very good for the price. Ehhm, where were we? Ah, yes. Docking locations. notamermaid

Sorry, not sure which vignette that may be. The family car has two things, one for the insurance which is when you are a resident and pay the insurance in the country, one for the level of environment-friendlyness of the car, so to speak, an "Umweltzone" sticker. Not sure how rental car companies work or if you need to buy something in addition if you cross between the two countries. steamboats may now. notamermaid

Oh, sorry. Misunderstood that. Very interesting. I did not really know about all the immigration until about ten years ago and how much some areas of the US and Canada are still having all those connections going strong or even speaking German at home. It would have to a be small trip with a guide for the area they are interested in. Quote: "They could not offer any advice for a similar company in Germany however." I struggle to think of any and the German Tourist Board online had no info on that either. Sorry. notamermaid

Although I meddle in ancestry stuff and check forums etc. I am not familiar with a company that does just that. That may be an important factor as there tends to be a more regional approach to this from what I know. I think people like Rick Steves and his forum is a good place to roam around. There will also be societies that do this. German heritage is a big thing in the US and I reckon there will be at least one area of Texas where there is a heritage society. One such "German" place is Fredericksburg, Montabaur in the Westerwald is trying to keep the heritage connection alive: https://deutsch-texanische-gesellschaft.de/wordpress/en/welcome/ There is a university that deals with the Palatine emigration to the US. For the Rhine region I may be able to find out some more but for other regions of Germany I have no clue. I have met several people who were on a "find my ancestor" trip but they all came independently, not with a company. Any comments from others? notamermaid

Thanks for all the info folks. The BAfG map is actually the one I use regularly, just through a different website and in German. So let us see, update for Pfelling: 303cm. Not brilliant but good enough. There is a downward trend but the forecast suggests that tomorrow the level should stay above 290cm. Rain still forecast for tomorrow. Almost no rain for the Danube basin in Germany on Thursday and Friday. notamermaid

Brief update: Kaub gauge stable, at 104cm. New forecast suggests a downward trend that will mean the level leaves the 100 figures during the night with a drop to 90 tomorrow. Thursday figures in the 90cm to 80cm range. Where is the rain for my neighbour's tomatoes?? Please, please. notamermaid

The charters of river cruise ships by companies that offer these kind of tours is certainly an interesting aspect and may be worth discussing in a thread that is a kind of review or similar. I have seen the offers of Great Rail Journeys and a few years back happened to travel on the same Thalys train as a tour group on their way to Switzerland. We all travelled First Class. Cologne embankment is verrrry long. I found that out with my own feet when I went to see a new river cruise ship docked there. The return walk became a tram ride. Tram and/or U-Bahn is not too far from the embankment, it safes a bit of time but I cannot remember details. Cologne is a fabulous city to explore. Big, crowded, loud and dirty like all big cities can be, but highly interesting. Wonder if the Roman-Germanic museum is open again? notamermaid