notamermaid

Definitely yes. Budapest return is an unusual option I think, German ones would be Passau return or similar. Riviera Travel has an itinerary that is similar to TUI. This is what theirs looks like: https://www.rivieratravel.co.uk/river-cruises/the-blue-danube-river-cruise The financial bracket you may want to stay in could really be determined by the air fare for the itinerary you are interested in. Let's hope a past cruiser of TUI gives their opinion soon. notamermaid

That is great. Definitely deserves a tip - and an extra smile. It is also generally-speaking what makes river cruises additionally pleasurable. The staff has the option of going beyond standard as solutions can be found on land quickly sometimes. notamermaid

Unfortunately not, I did consider them. I see you have watched Emma's video. That bathroom scene could become legendary in the river cruising world . I watched the video a few weeks ago. Since then I have swayed more towards Riviera Travel again. Not sure if you know the background to TUI, so here is the thread that was created quite a while ago now: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2656751-tui-new-old-company-on-the-rivers/#comment-62969319 As you say, it is not Viking - and not AmaWaterways and not CroisiEurope and not, etc. TUI fills another niche I would say and not a bad one as such. From the thread you can see that not many sailings have been yet due to you-know-what. Hopefully cruisers will reply to you soon. Were you thinking of a specific itinerary? I like the one that is mainly on the Moselle. Booking is probably awkward, I see your problem. I would want a no-fly option if I booked them and that is what I asked Riviera Travel a few years ago. They confirmed I could send them an e-mail and they would calculate a no-fly option for me. Perhaps you could contact TUI directly about that? For a European line you could also look at CroisiEurope, ARosa, Amadeus, Viva Cruises and the other British one, the said Riviera Travel. Many options out there. Good luck, hope you find your perfect fit. notamermaid

A bit embarrassing. If I was in corporate, for me a reason to immediately inform all ships of such a possibility with that treatment to make sure it does not happen again. notamermaid

Thanks, I was wondering what the stuff was... I thought it might be "spare parts" from a warehouse to be used in case they are needed on ships. So, just the liquidation of office furniture. Sad. And not sure that I would want any of that stuff if I was living close by the pick-up place. The question that came to me: want happens to all the stuff on the ships? You know, apart from the perishables. The crew that looks after ships can use things up, but towels, other movable items, etc.? Would a ship be sold as seen with all those things on board? Or may we see another auction of things from onboard ships? As I mentioned elsewhere, could not find any real news on the ships (with German search criteria), the Mozart is still in Linz being prepared for the new owner and the other four are signalling from a winter harbour/shipyard in the Netherlands. notamermaid

A bit more news on the itineraries on both ships for 2023: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/saga-releases-river-itineraries-for-2023 notamermaid

Crystal items can be bought in an online auction: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Crystal-Cruises-items-going-to-auction?ct=river notamermaid

Annual maintenance of the lock system Shipping has been halted on the Moselle, or rather it "rests" as it is not much point sailing just from one lock to another... All locks are out of operation from 16 May till 25 May to do maintenance work. Seven have been pumped completely dry for repairs, the others will get minor repairs with the water still in them. This is scheduled always far in advance. River cruise companies for example will have already adjusted their itineraries on the Moselle for next year accordingly as the dates have been published, even online for the general public to see. This is an article in German. Photo shows an example of the work that is involved during this week: https://binnenschifffahrt-online.de/2022/05/featured/25767/schleusensperrung-an-mosel-und-saar/ Oh, and the locks on the Saar are part of the maintenance week as well. notamermaid

That sounds really pleasant. I hope the food is good and you are enjoying the landscape. Have a great time. notamermaid

Yes, she is sitting in Linz and was supposed to have her new home port Hamburg painted onto the hull last week (according to an informant on Binnenschifferforum). I have had a quick look if I could find any news in German language but there seems to be nothing on the other river cruise ships. At least not in the general public news formats. The four ships are "resting" in a small winter harbour with shipyard at Dodewaard on the Waal in the Netherlands. Nice areal shot of several ships awaiting their return to sailing during the Coronavirus restrictions: https://www.gelderlander.nl/neder-betuwe/vloot-van-riviercruiseschepen-wacht-in-dodewaard-op-betere-tijden~a4f498a4e/180920683/ You can still spot the Crystal ships signalling on sites like marinetraffic.com. Apparently, the ships had not been paid in full yet, so there is not only the money for the ships themselves to consider for a prospective buyer, but also the additional installments of the mortgage (is that term used for ships?) need to be factored in. The ships were part-financed by the KfW German bank, I reckon but am not sure that was because of the involvement of the German shipyard, i.e. building the ships. notamermaid

Oh, interesting. A slight change perhaps due to children going back to school and holiday making patterns being different in autumn? Shouldn't be major. Big timetable change is always early December. A pity about the old Burgenbus, but the new arrangements seems a logistically sensible substitute to me. Not sure if it works for all the cyclists and other tourists in that area of the Moselle. The train line along the Moselle... There is the "Kanonenbahn" which is the main line and there is the small "Moselweinbahn". So the Moselle has got two lines, one for military purposes and one for drinking! notamermaid

I actually thought about such days yesterday when I posted. I went back to my memory of a May when we spent most of the days with our umbrellas up or sheltering from the rain (which I did with work colleagues on an abysmally wet trip into the forest). The years 2013 and 2014 were marked by heavy rain in May and in 2013 it led to bad flooding on the Elbe and the Danube into June. The Rhine also burst its banks but was not as bad as the other rivers. This year the clouds and pressure areas coming from the West do not suggest many days of heavy rain. It is more warm to hot days with the occasional thunderstorm and downpour, with indeed lower temperatures and more rain for the week after that, as you mention. Let us have a look at Breisach: Referring to my assessment yesterday: has the sudden and high amount of water had an impact? I suggested not, so let us have a look. This is Kaub: This does not look anything more than standard fluctuation with three or four extra centimetres to me. Most of the rain fell further downstream so what does Cologne look like? This I would interpret as a small direct effect. But you see that such downpours like yesterday do not (normally) result in flooding for this river that always carries a huge volume of water. Just a note on the figures on the scale. This is the gauge measurement of the river level in centimetres, it does not correspond to the actual river depth. All in all, I find the river levels a bit low for May and do wonder with what figures will we go into the summer months? The current weather pattern is okay but less rain is not a good idea. But at this point it is all speculation what June and July will bring in detail. In 2018, many people were stunned by the absence of rain and the resulting drought in autumn. Although there were signs and long-term weather reports that suggested a shift in the high atmosphere over the Atlantic would lead to a dry autumn, the general public, including me, of course are no meteorologists and could not figure that out. I found it a bit shocking to listen to an amateur weatherman explaining the weather pattern of autumn 2018 and learning from him that the professionals had predicted it correctly already in July that we would see a very exceptional few months. But back to the positives of today. Those suffering from pollen allergies have an easier day today, the air is fresher and clean and the streets look quite literally washed and freed from dust. River cruise ships are sailing up and down the river in their dozens and one can almost forget that life was not normal for two years. Right, enough talking from me. notamermaid

Sounds doable to me. From booking to start of sailing my time frame was around six weeks. Easy within Europe for me, though. I would agree that the flights are your biggest obstacle if you have vaccination all sorted. Check entry requirements for the countries you are looking at, just in case. Should be little left to check. Look at the airports and flight arrangements for the river cruise you are thinking of. There may be an alternative airport, an alternative arrangement that you favour due to a post-cruise stay, etc. For example for Amsterdam to Basel: It is possible to fly to Brussels instead or take a train from London (Heathrow) to your river cruise rather than fly direct. As a side note: I very much like the Active & Discovery options of AvalonWaterways, I find them attractive for North Americans. The one from Luxembourg to Frankfurt sounds good. notamermaid

Greetings from the Rhine valley - swimming in rain! We are having downpours in parts of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is good for nature, but actually not that pleasant, as it is a bit much in one go. Apparently, the Ahr valley is on flood alert again . But it is should not be extreme, "just" heavy rain, according to the warning map. My yard has quite a few puddles but not too bad. This is the radar map: In my state it looks like the area of the Westerwald hills with the river Wied is worst now. Munich and the Isar river look pretty extreme. I know steamboats lives at an elevated spot, so should be alright. We had enjoyed some days of pleasant weather. The rain was forecast for the weekend but in some places did not materialize so I guess that is why we are getting even more of it now. As is usual with such downpours, it is not a problem for the Rhine river, but small rivers and cellar and people living on a hill near small streams. Landslides can become an issue. Sorry if you missed out on good castle viewing this afternoon. But it seems the weather was not too bad in some spots. Not nice in Koblenz: Oh, yes, Kaub gauge. Much of the rain came down North of there so does not help with the level. But it is doing okay, currently at 153cm. notamermaid

I am not too familiar with the technical stuff, but I know people can assume they do not need to do any pedalling. There are different versions of assisted cycling with a motor. Not sure that this website covers it all, but it gives some explanations: https://www.electric-bicycle-guide.com/pedelec.html From what I have understood at work (dealing with cycling tourists) older folks like the bikes because it gives them more range as the pedalling is easier, i.e. assisted. Could those be the bikes that Viking offers? notamermaid

Just to reassure everyone... Oktoberfest!! https://www.dw.com/en/germany-oktoberfest-festival-to-take-place-again-in-munich/a-61633537 🍻 notamermaid

Thank you for your post. A major job then, as I suspected. Certainly a nice (yet standard, I mean to be expected) circumscription of accident with major damage to the bow. I am sure you will have a splendid time traversing Europe on the Odin instead. notamermaid

A quick look at Pfelling gauge. 323cm. That is certainly okay. It appears that the Danube is able to maintain a decent level right now without much rain helping. And problems usually are not to be expected on a large scale in May anyway, I mean drought. Bavaria is actually experiencing more rain and severe weather this week than the Rhine, but that water for the most part will drain into the Danube after Pfelling. Still, forecast is favourable at Pfelling, the level is supposed to rise a little over the weekend. That hopefully and likely will give all river cruise ships enough water to sail for quite some days. notamermaid

Not sure, I am not difficult to beat . Donauwelle is a lot of work and beyond my baking skills. Must say though that I think I would not serve the Almond Bee Sting Cake with berry sauce - if it is the Bienenstich like I know it. notamermaid

Yes, I meant that but it seems I did not express myself well. It really is the question how fast do you want to go through the valley from Mainz to Koblenz. Although the river has many bends the route is quite fast, seeing also that the tunnels help to "straighten" the line. As I said, for the castle watching you may want more time, but you can of course see them as well when taking the ICE. I have had a look at the travel times from Mainz to Koblenz: ICE 51min, IC 58min, RE 1h 3min. So not that much of a difference. I would think that the booking system will almost certainly only suggest trains on the left bank, if you book Frankfurt airport to Cochem via Koblenz. Should come more naturally to the algorithms. A quick check from me seems to confirm this. Again, ICE and the other high speed trains do not normally run on the right bank, just regional trains. I had a look if the ManinSeat61 has travelled along the Moselle. Could not find anything. I love going along the Moselle all the way to Metz but arguably the most scenic stretch, as it is right at the river is from Bullay to Koblenz. Further upstream the train runs through the low Eifel hills. But more on that another day. notamermaid

The sun has set gloriously over my valley and tomorrow will hopefully be another pleasant day with warm temperatures. For the crew of one ship and a "ship-to-be" it will be a special day because a ship - not sure which yet - will bring the hull of the Viva Two onto my river. She is currently docked near Gustavsburg, just beyond the last lock on the Main before the confluence with the Rhine. The Zasavica pushboat has brought her from Regensburg and if that pushboat does not do it herself, a barge or tanker should sail the Viva Two tied alongside that vessel to the Netherlands. There the hull will be outfitted and in summer there will be another christening... If you happen to be on the river in that area tomorrow and the day after you may spot her. notamermaid

Oh wow, exciting! I am so bold as to say that reading cruisecritic means you are well prepared . 10 days out is also the maximum we can look at in advance with Kaub water levels. Most likely scenario is for between 136 and 141cm on the day you come to Basel. So that is a bit low but certainly good enough for any river cruise ship. notamermaid

Nice. Have you looked at pontac's thread yet? They went on the Rhine Getaway not long ago. A pleased customer of Viking. Lots of tips. Very much recommended. notamermaid

Apologies, I should have thought of this earlier. The ManinSeat61 has a page on the Rhine: https://www.seat61.com/places-of-interest/rails-down-the-rhine.htm Train travel along the Moselle is quite interesting for historical reasons also, so I will post about that a bit soon. notamermaid

It is indeed average to a bit higher than average for May. We have a warm climate here in the valley so while April is unsettled, May is normally a month with temperatures over 20 Celsius on many days. 68 to 76 Fahrenheit in the afternoon very doable by our weather creators. Usually when we have 28 Celsius towards the sea and the East of Germany it is 25 to 26. Let us look at Mannheim for a few more details for the coming days: That is warmer than average and could get a bit muggy in towns. It will be splendid on the sundeck but remember the hat and sun cream! Have a great time. Which company and direction is it, if I may ask? notamermaid