notamermaid

Well we can safely say that we are monitoring the conditions on this board here. And in an hour's drive* I can personally monitor them by dipping my feet in the water or walking across to an island on dry foot. It is getting comical. Or for a cruiser plain annoying. To be fair, rain is forecast so as you are now in Paris, by the time you get to the Rhine you just about may be lucky to actually sail through on your second attempt. Wednesday into Thursday conditions may improve. But it is all still tentative. Not sure when you will be in Koblenz. Why are they not a bit more honest or direct, like it's 35cm, no way we will sail, we hourly check the levels and should we reach xy cm we may be able to say more. Or just a different record in the office on the record player: like captains on the Rhine have informed us that ..., we will know more by Monday... etc. Or at least say that they do not know and will get back to you with more info - or not. Some people just want to know before they leave their continent on a long flight. For me it is easy - two hour train ride** and I am back home... And I know that the terms & conditions in my contract will be at least favourable enough to give me money back instead of a voucher for another river cruise. *approximation for privacy ** if on the Rhine sailing near home notamermaid

Need to be more specific here I think. At Bacharach a digger was seeing not to the ferry ramp area but the landing stage area of an excursion boat. A river cruise ship is on its way to the Rhine. This one is a special sailing. The MS Alisa is on her way to the Netherlands to be fitted with all that is needed to turn her into a proper ship, right now she is being pushed as a steel hull by Zasavica III and is on the Main. I believe the push boat is only allowed to sail during the day, so it will be another day till she arrives at Mainz and then attempts the passage of the Rhine Gorge. I reckon it could work as she is obviously much lighter still than a finished river cruise ship is. We will see. I hope the Zasavica III continues the job, if she is fixed alongside a barge on the Rhine instead I will have a hard time picking up that track on a shipspotting website. She will be part of the fleet of Phoenix Reisen. @gentlemancruiser What a weird construction in Canada. They say the Vikings carried or rolled their ships up the Rhine in the 10th century, but these days the ratio passengers to ship weight prevents this from working, so I am seriously wondering if that chute may be the solution, or at least an adapted design. I will give it a good think over a glass of red wine and perhaps talk to the engineers in Karlsruhe. I imagine the conversation in their lunch break: "You know, I have just had the strangest phone call by a woman with this weird idea..." Talking of engineers in Karlsruhe. They have a standard idea/solution for the Rhine Gorge. Here is the German word for what they want to do in their project: "Abladeoptimierung". I will explain this in another post. notamermaid

"Baggern! Baggern!" Diggers are operating along the Rhine to dredge the areas where ferries take people and cars across the river. One was at Nierstein, here is video: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/anlegestelle-rheinfaehre-nierstein-kornsand-wird-ausgebaggert-100.html Commuters would have to go via Mainz, the nearest bridge, which is a half hour detour according to one lady interviewed. Another digger was busy at Bacharach in the Rhine Gorge. Kaub gauge at 36cm. Forecast 32cm for tomorrow, Monday possibly 30cm. Next week slight rise, bringing 78cm into view for 20 August. Well, I'll believe it when I see it. notamermaid

It may be a bit more adventurous than originally thought but I am sure you will have a great time on "my" river. notamermaid

Thanks for posting. Unusual itinerary and very interesting excursions. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

The Rhone is a major commercial waterway in Europe and controlled by locks. While obviously the river can be low when it does not rain, problems like on a free-flowing river are less likely to occur. You can read a little here: https://www.french-waterways.com/waterways/south-east/river-rhone/ The upper part including the sailed bit on the Saone, if you do that, may be different. Not sure about that area. But hopefully a recent cruiser will tell you about their experience. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 223cm, back up a little after a drop during the night. notamermaid

Fully accepted. 🙂 That river is sailed and, my, is the area full of beer! notamermaid

I see it is Jenny Hill who has been out and about in Germany. This is the article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62519683 Ferries have a real problem. A few have stopped running already. And this is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QrUOOogguM The image next to the bridge at 1:19 is the mouth of the river Nahe which does look a little - dry. Not good, definitely worse than the video I saw last week. Edit: where is my geography lesson?? Sorry, of course it is not the Nahe... And as I am feeling a bit impatient - let me just say that next time you speak to a rep who claims there are no problems with river cruising, send them the link to this video. To be fair, this is the side where gravel banks are exposed more frequently as the navigation channel is more towards the right bank of the river, this is on the left, the unused side of the island(s). Easy to add a bit of drama, but it does not diminish the fact that this is an extreme situation. This Rhine river girl approves of the reporting in this video (I do not always agree with the BBC). notamermaid

I tend to agree. December is a long time away. When the temperatures go down in October and rain increases again in November things will look better. How much better we cannot guess but I am confident for November seeing an increase in river levels. notamermaid

I did and forgot. Oops, sorry. Thank you for spotting that and doing it for me. That is a favourite spot for reporters. A lady from SWR stood exactly there a few days ago. Such an iconic building and it is correct that you can now walk over there on a narrow ridge, like a bridge made out of rocks it looks I would say. It was quite a spectacle in 2018. notamermaid

This is impossible. Every large river cruise ship will be impacted, I do not agree with the "whatsoever". If we want we could say affected, as it is not possible to sail in this low water as you may be able to in normal conditions. If they mean impacted with a ship swap or not cruise or missing a dock, then I will have to concede and accept that it is correct if they say so. But a slight doubt remains... notamermaid

While the Moselle is controlled by a lock and dam system and normally carries enough water, the situation is nevertheless not great along this large tributary of the Rhine. The supply chain is a worry as fewer goods are coming onto the Moselle due to the drought on the Rhine and the Moselle is also a bit on the low side. The tributaries to the Moselle are also carrying a lot less water than they should at this time of year. An article from Luxembourg: https://www.luxtimes.lu/en/luxembourg/trade-along-moselle-slows-down-as-rivers-dry-up-62f4b8a9de135b9236517327 The weird bit of problem area is the mouth of the river. At Koblenz is the last lock but the river cruise ships dock past it. While docking may not be the big problem (have not heard any so far) in 2018 the short stretch of water upstream to the lock coming from Deutsches Eck was too low for some river cruise ships to navigate. This may have been helped with dredging since then, so I am not sure if this could be a problem this year. notamermaid

Thanks. Must have a look at that. I have read the book on the Monuments Men. What a story. notamermaid

It would be interesting to find the T&C regarding low water levels for both Viking US and Viking GB. Try and find them folks and compare! Australia appears to be even stronger on consumer rights regarding travel than Germany/EU. And the UK is at least close to the EU (not sure if the gap has widened after Brexit, not necessarily quality but interpretation and decision differences). The US is different, possibly differences among states but you will be better able to judge what your state law and federal law do differently from each other. Canada, no clue, do check the fine print anywhere you live anyway. 🙂 Pfelling gauge: 223cm. Back on track to a new historical low... Fascinating. An "independent" blogger should report, shouldn't they? 😉 notamermaid

That is right about September and October. And is the reason for people being worried. If we have such low levels in August what will it be like in September and October? The weather could change but statistically it is unlikely to. Relying on Lake Constance and rainfall with all the tributaries also low on water, the Rhine is "always" on the low side in Autumn compared to Summer. I have my doubts about the Grand European itinerary in Autumn. But I will gather my thoughts on that for posting them another day. Interesting how much Bloomberg is "consulted" for river levels here. While they obviously see all this from a business perspective, the graphs they compile with data from the German authorities are practical to read and I find usually even helpful, also for me to comment on. Quick look at Kaub: 44cm, forecast Saturday stable, Sunday probably dropping just below 40cm. Long term forecast: return to GlW 78cm unlikely before 21 August, there should be reaction to rain that is forecast for just before that date, return to 100cm highly unlikely any time soon. Here is a very interesting article (coming from the dpa news agency) in the Süddeutsche Zeitung that has a different tone to Bloomberg. You could run this through a translation program. For commercial shipping this is the interesting bit. quote "Die Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde (BfG) hatte kürzlich erklärt, bis zu einem Wasserstand von etwa 30 bis 35 Zentimetern am Pegel Kaub könnten flachgehende Binnenschiffe die Mittelrheinstrecke noch passieren." end quote So the authorities had recently stated that flat-bottomed inland waterway ships can navigate through the Middle Rhine valley (the tricky passage that is) when the level at Kaub is 30cm to 35cm. Large companies that rely heavily on the Rhine have invested in such ships after the drought of 2018 and are also using those from the older existing fleet. It is a busy river, busier than in normal times even! No word on river cruise ships, "Flusskreuzfahrtschiffe" or " Hotelschiffe" in the article? Well it does actually say "Personenschiffe", which probably means both excursion and cruise. Remember river cruising is normally only mentioned in the "zweite Nebensatz", i.e. relegated to the second subordinate clause. It is just not commercially that important. But in the last two weeks I have for a change seen a couple of articles and interviews that address river cruising problems. The growth in river cruising over the last ten years has made a slight difference to reporting I would say. In 2018 regional television SWR did a short interview with stranded American river cruisers. I have not seen anything like that this year yet. notamermaid

The revised booklet is online: http://resc.deskline.net/documents/1/RPT/53feace2-f71c-46d2-8484-d32aa211649e/file.pdf notamermaid

I cannot believe we missed International Beer Day! Here is some info on German beer: https://www.dw.com/en/its-international-beer-day/g-19195372 For me, the quintessential beer river cruise river is the Main, although it is full of vineyards, but others would say it is the Danube. Well, anyway, recently I have had the opportunity to try Bamberg Rauchbier. It is smoked and tastes - smoked! I do not know how they do it but is like smoked bacon without the bacon, or smoked trout without the trout. It is interesting but I do not need to have it again. I will stick to my standard brands of the Rhine, Main and Isar. notamermaid

Hmm, my immediate thought is, "oh no, do not choose the Danube". Sorry about the trip, the S.S. Antoinette is an elegant ship and sails a very interesting itinerary (superior to Viking and similar Basel - Amsterdam ones IMO). Not sure what to do in your case. Would you want to come to Europe anyway if your sailing is cancelled? Have a land trip? Find a last minute sailing on a 110m ship? I hope your river cruise is on but it really is now in doubt. notamermaid

You will need a jacket. Expect any temperature between 4 Celsius early morning and 22 Celsius on a sunny afternoon. Alfresco dining is unlikely as April can be rainy and quite windy. Early April is unsettled weather. notamermaid

For me the ultimate (apart from the Monuments Men of WWII) story is the thriller around the Bayeux Tapestry. On a Seine itinerary all I would want to see is the castle of Richard the Lionheart and the Tapestry. No Paris, no bunkers... although I could be persuaded to a brief visit to the Musee d' Orsay to revisit the Impressionists. notamermaid

Would love to see the Madrid museums. Been to Barcelona and did an art project on Gaudi complete with standing in front of the Sacrada Familia talking over the car traffic. My teacher was pleased with my efforts . Montserrat monastery was amazing. But that would be for an ocean cruise. Staying on the Peninsula, Portugal and the Douro must be great. One thing that is unattractive is the heat. Again, it may be a bit much in August. Others can tell you about that. They say most of the big sites are away from the river and in the hills, part from the coastal towns, so - me inviting others to comment - I would say consider this in your decision-making process. What makes the Rhine and Danube so attractive as rivers in Europe is that on both rivers you have two or more languages (depending on itinerary) and even if you only travel from Passau to Vienna you have two distinct types of German with cultural differences. I would say they are also easy places to manage as regards weather and culture and topography. A good combination. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 236cm. notamermaid

@2inSETexas It looks like a stranded castle ship. The design was partly deliberate I think, but what looks like the bow of a ship is also the ice breaker, i.e. a quite pointy wall. "Strand" by the way is the German word for beach. We say "gestrandet" for a ship, the image is of a ship running onto the beach. Interesting that the English "stranded" is basically the same idea, but the word "strand" these days is mostly associated with place names or river banks and embankments that are streets or promenades. Just needed to let the language nerd in me out briefly. Too busy to take photos myself this week, the heat is seriously slowing me down. Here goes, taken from a weather forecast site. The reporter is standing at Emmerich gauge, dated 3 August, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yLboaE4UCg and then sails with a boat of the authorities. See the buoys that the boat carries and replaces if necessary. The boss of the regional waterways management says that (at the time of filming) the gauge reads 40cm, unusually low for this time of year, which corresponds to a navigation channel depth of still 236cm. The width of the navigation channel is 150m, but when the river is much higher ships can use a zone outside of those 150m as well. The large barges and tankers cannot sail at full load. This means that in effect the same amount of goods needs to be transported, but more ships are needed to carry that load. This has the effect that there are more ships on the Rhine but there is less space for them. The shipwreck featured in the video is the "De Hoop", a Dutch sailing barge that had an accident there in 1895. It is regularly exposed at low water levels. Clear message: do not swim in the Rhine even though the river is low. The current is still too strong. Notice the footage of Cologne railway bridge and Cathedral. At 1:57 a dredger, or rather a ship with crane for dredging, may be placed at the bridge, I am not certain. So what does the gauge at Emmerich say now? 16cm! notamermaid

Haven't looked into that. Not sure where to find that to check it. At Pfelling: The lowest ever recorded (NNW) from 2018 has been beaten (as of now unofficial), NW is low water in the given time period. RNW - Regulierungswasserstand - is the relevant marker corresponding to GlW. At Pfelling it happens to be the also the figure that tells us that large river cruise ships start to struggle. Thank you for taking the time to help with explaining all this to folks. notamermaid