notamermaid

The Rhine's natural reservoir also has a level gauge (I have mentioned it briefly before). And that looks good. Recently replenished, and due to the lake's size just a few centimetres is a lot of water in cubic metres. There has been a continuous rise of over 50 centimetres, now seemingly levelling off: notamermaid

Just a bit of direct experience. Ratio of mask-wearing to no mask-wearing has shifted where I live week on week. Last shopping trip 80 percent without masks 20 percent with. No shop assistant or check-out personnel with masks. That varies a bit. Outdoors almost no masks. Social distancing, well, not much at all. I have seen signs on shops asking you to wear a mask but it cannot be legally enforced so I think fewer and fewer people bother. Out of courtesy I still have one ready at work and wore it on one day for specific reasons. I increasingly forget to wear a mask in shops. notamermaid

Keukenhof is one of the favourite places to go to in Springtime on the Rhine and in the Netherlands/Belgium (which arguably is not on the Rhine, but it is the Rhine itinerary section of brochures, so I will leave it at that). This year the famous Floriade takes place in the Netherlands. Splendid flowers, this year lasting into Summer, not just tulips, etc. are on the agenda for river cruisers. Great, but what about some more at the other end (of your cruise)? Basel is probably not the best place to look for that, but not far from Basel, past the bend of the river and travelling a little upstream on land, you get to Lake Constance. It is the natural reservoir of the Rhine, huge and in my opinion a great area to explore. Now, I understand that the hills/mountains of Switzerland are a great lure but there is something else that I see as a potential great pre or post cruise experience. Logistics may pose a little challenge but it is rewarding to sort that out. In Lake Constance is an island called Mainau. It is famous for its flowers and vistas over the Lake. This is not a place for a quick two hour stop I find and is not just great in Spring. Here is an older article that explains what it is about: https://www.travelawaits.com/2479395/mainau-germanys-enchanting-flower-island/ Over the decades, the noble family have created a haven for flower enthusiasts and garden lovers. A short video: https://www.dw.com/en/mainau-the-flower-island/av-57757013 If you would like to plan a visit, here is the website: https://www.mainau.de/en/welcome.html I would like to see a river cruise on the Rhine focus on gardens and nature, perhaps in May or June. For me Mainau island with a boat trip on the Lake would be a great pre-cruise starting point. notamermaid

Lovely spot above Rüdesheim. At the touristy small town I find the best thing to do is get off the ship, dash through Drosselgasse, take your breath and then leisurely walk away from it all up the hill or take the Seilbahn to the Niederwald Monument. I say that because I do not like crowds. The Monument is huge and the view is great from up there. Now, onto different vistas. Flowers. notamermaid

Then you are now on the ship and "my" river. Have a great sailing out of Basel and a beautiful first sunset over the valley. It is a great day today for sightseeing, not too hot. Hope the next few days will be as pleasant. By the way, Kaub river level has risen a bit after all the rain, stands at 175cm. Outlook is good. If you want to have a look when you are in the Gorge: Kaub gauge is at 546.3 km. notamermaid

Unfortunately, cruisemapper has tricked me a few times now into believing a ship is sailing. Not sure why they occasionally lag behind with info. Currently both marinetraffic and vesselfinder are more accurate with the Scenic Jade's little trips to test the engine. notamermaid

The Covid rules - all gone! Well not fully, but almost: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/belgium-drops-all-covid-entry-restrictions The end? Hopefully - touch wood. notamermaid

Arosa is certainly keeping rather quiet about the christening, one does wonder if it has happened. I am saying this in light of the fact that the river cruise start has been postponed again. Now 11 June (not guaranteed): https://www.countervor9.de/produkte/a-rosa-verschiebt-start-der-sena-erneut notamermaid

@Techno123 Thank you for the great photos. A few clouds are better than pure sunshine I find. Clouds add "drama" to the castles. Nice clear map by AvalonWaterways, really helpful. I see they put the Rhine kilometres in it as well. For those of you who are not sure how they work: the full kilometre has a big number sign at the river bank, an example of that you can see in the last photo. 533, look at map, aah, Rheinstein Castle! The half kilometre mark is a big plus sign, the other 100m marks are smaller upright stones with a number on. So you have as an example 533 then 1 etc. the plus, then 6, etc. then 534 (counted in the downstream direction). Sometimes things do not work as planned so there is a short kilometre which looks like this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhein#/media/Datei:Kurzer_Kilometer.jpg I hope the commentary includes this fun story! notamermaid

I must admit that I would choose the Main river for Christmas markets. As regards ports at the other two rivers I myself would find it difficult to choose. There are a few people on this board who have done both Rhine and Danube. Hopefully they will read your question. Something to note is the dates - vada_9 has hinted at it. Check when the first markets open and then check along the itinerary you want to book. Sunday of the Dead sees most Christmas markets closed. notamermaid

It has been confirmed this morning that Germany will scrap the 3G rule for entry into Germany. It runs out on 31 May. It has little impact for you I guess, but I just wanted to notify you. You may read this internationally soon and I reckon the relevant government websites will be updated shortly. notamermaid

I agree with you @loriva, in 2022 Scenic could do better than they are doing as regards communication. Again, the onboard experience I am still confident will make up for it but why not have both good communication and great cruise experience? It can be done, no doubt. notamermaid

@sbjorndaThe idea that reception will not be able to answer came to me while reading loriva's post. But just specifically just for the Scenic Jade. It may actually be tricky "diplomatically" for Reception to give an answer to a query that the office people in the respective countries should handle. Thank you for your efforts to keep future cruisers of Scenic informed of how your (unintended) adventure is going. I was thinking that the Reception desk of the Jade may actually be deserted... I wonder if they only have a maintenance crew on board, seeing that she is in the shipyard? Speculation of course, but a possibility. It is certainly staying interesting and I hope that - as it seems to be the case - the staff on board is such a delight that all the "office troubles" are forgotten once cruisers have boarded their ships. notamermaid

The Danube in Bavaria. We had lots of rain along the Rhine but it has also rained along the Danube so we see that the gauge at Pfelling reacted quite a bit. During today the level has gone down again, is now at 357cm. That is really good for sailing. But for tonight there is a weather warning and a thunderstorm is hitting parts of Bavaria as I write. What we saw earlier today around Lake Constance has moved East and inland, has reached Nuremberg, will get to Regensburg soon and sweep over the Danube valley further East. This should raise the level of the Danube tomorrow again. Stay safe. notamermaid

Definitely pack for warm days, not Mediterranean or Florida Summer, our June is pleasant, the heat comes more in July. Temperatures I would say most afternoons above 20 Celsius. Mornings sometimes still cool, could be as low as 10 Celsius. Important to remember: 1. European Summertime means the sun cannot heat up the valley by 10am, early morning excursions can be chilly, I recommend a jacket, especially in the Black Forest. 2. Basel to Amsterdam is several micro climates and the temperatures will vary throughout your cruise most likely. The Netherlands tend to be cooler and windier than France and Germany. I suggest a good weather website, check the temperatures 10 days out from the start of your cruise and a couple of days before you leave, just in case. Most important in my opinion: sturdy shoes that do not mind a half day of rain getting on to them. You need to be able to walk on this, lots of it possibly, depending on town (sample of set stones near my house): They are worse at Marksburg castle! Weather graphics of previous posts are from this website, I have put in Mannheim for you: https://www.wetteronline.de/wetter/mannheim But you may prefer an English one, like accuweather. Enjoy your river cruise . notamermaid

Just a brief note. There are weather warnings level 2 in Rhineland-Palatinate, an area that includes Trier, Koblenz, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf. Other than that not too many areas marked 2 now. Could be a bit stormy to the East of Freiburg and Basel. Worse (level 3) is Lake Constance. Will see how the evening progresses but should not be as bad as Friday. Lake Constance is what I wanted to talk about and I will reveal the connection to the Floriade very soon. notamermaid

Unusual to be able to impress a US person with weather reports. Not that this is a pleasant achievement. I would rather impress with the quality of the local wine . I have been able to find a real photo of such hailstones on this page: https://www.wetteronline.de/wetterticker/d1625440-7b38-4c48-be02-7eea3690b422 The map of Germany with the temperatures explains the reason for the extreme weather. It was cold in the North and hot in the South, so in the Middle they collided quite violently. All pleasant and calm today, but as I have mentioned, tomorrow will see more thunderstorms, this time probably more towards the South of my country. Will see what the warning map says tonight. Rather unfortunate is news coming in from Bonn. A barge there has collided with a docked excursion boat and damaged the boat as well as a nearby other landing stage. Thankfully no one was injured. It seems hardly ever dull or uneventful on my river this Spring. I have not even mentioned the other minor mishaps of barges and tankers that do no really concern river traffic or water levels or tourist attractions. By the way, tourist attractions. There is something I should mention soon for those of you who like the "Floriade". Will come back to that. notamermaid

That must be Fahrenheit. I was a bit puzzled as to what reports the weathermen have sent over to the US . But seriously, it has got cooler. It was pleasant during today. Tornados do not happen often, three confirmed ones in a day within one state sounds highly unusual to me. The real temperature drop will happen Monday into Tuesday, they say, when the afternoon high could be below 20 Celsius. There are some incredible amateur videos of the tornados and the hail online. The tornados were confirmed in Paderborn, Lippstadt and Höxter (none of those are near the Rhine). Over 40 people were injured in Paderborn as the storm went right through a busy retail park. Have a look at the video if anyone is interested. At 1:50 you can see that a tornado has ripped off a church spire. I have never seen anything like it! Yesterday I mentioned the thunderstorms coming to the Rhine via the West and Andernach towards Koblenz. It did hit Andernach with full force of hail, you can see a few images from 1:54: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFpHPJYdkM8 Link is an official news channel, by the way. People are advised not to go into parks and forests as branches and trees can still come down. I was certainly watching very closely where I was walking today even in town. I was a bit nervous awaiting the test result and I only needed it for a short trip by car. Must be much worse when needing it for leaving a continent! Not sure how all of you travellers manage to get through the planning and preparations for such a trip. notamermaid

That was - interesting. North Rhine-Westphalia three tornados, one man sadly dead in Rhineland-Palatinate. Hail with a diametre of more than five centimetres. Short torrential rain. Storm. Been out and about today. Locally people tell me of damage to roof windows. Slate tiles have come down. Plexiglas covers of street lights smashed. Near me all trees are still standing, but the streets are littered with small branches and leaves. Found a plastic thing that must be part of a cover of traffic lights (against bright sunlight). Apparently the hail was so strong it has crashed through windscreens, says the news. My office windows are huge, like shop windows, luckily no damage there. Insurances will be busy next week... So. let us look at the Rhine. The level at Kaub has risen to 164cm. An unusual vessel construction is now in the Middle Rhine valley. At Sankt Goar on a platform is a special machine that on the riverbed gently takes away, a form of milling it seems, centimetres of rock. It is a test phase to see how the design does the job, i.e. they want to optimize it. It is the next phase of the deepening of the Rhine, i.e. now beyond the planning stages, so that there is more depth in the navigation channel in low water. The test milling is taking place at the side of the navigation channel, so that the main channel can stay open at all times. Sounds like passing it should not result in any delays. This is the German news article with photo, to give you an idea: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/mittelrhein-bei-oberwesel-soll-ausgebaggert-werden-wegen-zu-haeufigem-niedrigwasser-100.html Second photo shows you the rock exposed at low water in 2018. notamermaid

The North of my state is on extreme weather alert level 4. For the Rhine that is from Andernach towards Königswinter, with it felt at Koblenz as well (level 3). That is bad, I think I will postpone shopping. Be careful out there. notamermaid

@steamboats have you read if the christening has actually taken place? notamermaid

Nice to see the Elbe still doing okay as regards water levels. Dresden gauge is at 136cm this afternoon. Mean low water is set at 75cm by the authorities. So let us continue with looking at Hamburg. I am sure I posted this around the time when the video came out but here it is to remind us of the sights of this major German city and port: https://www.dw.com/en/flying-guide-hamburg/av-50184775 notamermaid

Certainly a nice time. Mild, with cooling nights, but often still warm days. This is the itinerary, isn't it? https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/holland-and-belgium/2022-antwerp-amsterdam/index.html Lots of culture there, a nice mix of rivers and canals. It is the unusual itinerary by Viking that just hops over into Germany to see Wesel. It still is within the focus of the Lowlands as Wesel is on the Lower Rhine. I would be interested in taking this cruise if it was not on Viking, just because I do not like Viking, a personal choice. Not sure if I have understood this correctly: you have not chosen the direction yet? Either way, as the ship will be docked overnight in the ports you should have no problems if you arrive on the first day as per your booked itinerary. But I must say that Bruges/Ghent extension looks appealing... Yup, having never been to Europe you will have lots of very new images to process at the end of the day. And be prepared for a lot of walking. Good shoes are essential. Have fun planning. notamermaid

That was quite dramatic but obviously nothing like you experience in bad weather conditions in the US for example. It has calmed down for now, tomorrow will see more thunderstorms with probably similar conditions. The front has moved to the region of Franconia. More coming from the West and hitting the Rhineland during the day tomorrow. We have a pre-warning. I have posted this before, but for those who are new and would like to follow: https://www.wettergefahren.de/warnungen/warnsituation.html?ort=Mainz I have pinned Mainz. You can change the town in the frame on top of the map. Storm is normally not that much of an issue on the river for ships, but it can get a bit dangerous when a strong gust of wind catches a river cruise ship at a bridge. Last year a ship got pushed towards the side of a railway bridge on the Moselle. The problem at this bridge in Güls is the fact that it is arched, so the middle has enough headroom but drifting to either side is not a good idea. So far I have not heard of a river cruise ship having to stop sailing in a storm, but I will not rule it out. If you can supply an anecdote from a river cruise ship captain or the crew feel free to post. notamermaid

Parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia have been put on weather warning level 3 with heavy thunderstorms and flash floods. Has now reached Bonn. Time for me to close the windows! notamermaid