notamermaid

The river has lost some water in these dry conditions. Dresden gauge is now showing at 84cm and will likely stay below 100cm despite a small predicted rise. With the river being so low in summer as standard one may assume that no river cruise ships are sailing. There is one sailing the Elbe that I can see on the tracking website right now but the itinerary is a little different from the norm. The MS Florentina often sails for Thurgau Travel (a Swiss operator) but is right now on an itinerary as a bike and boat tour on the Vltava and the Elbe. Passengers will not actually get to see Germany as it is a round trip from Prague only as far as Strekov Castle: https://en.radreisen.at/czechia/bike-and-boat/elbe-vlatava-prague-bike-and-boat notamermaid

Well, what have I got the guys from Binnenschifferforum for? The push boat is indeed the Paula and the hull is "namenlos", so no name given (as yet). Here is the thread: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?118676-FGKS-Kasko-namenlos&p=474678#post474678 Which means that there are two hulls at the same time making their way to the Rhine at the moment. notamermaid

Thank you for the photo. This is actually a different hull! And I am genuinely puzzled. There may be the push boat Paula tied to it, which is signalling indeed near Regensburg. The Argo with the Ostara is currently still in Austria. No time for further research at the moment. notamermaid

The Amazon river cruise ship for Abercrombie & Kent: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/ak-reveals-details-of-first-latin-america-riverboat notamermaid

Not what I had planned - we will get to later - but let us do ship spotting at Vienna: Quite a few river cruise ships in Vienna tonight, but I would like to draw your attention to the dot named Argo instead. That is a push boat and it has as its cargo a river cruise ship hull. Yes, another one is on the way to the Netherlands. This one is BN664 and the given name will be Ostara, the new ship for APT. A gentleman on Binnenschifferforum spotted the two: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?118669-FGKS-Kasko-APT-Ostara-BN664 Standard practice is to push the hull to Regensburg and then let another push boat or barge take over on the rest of the Danube through the Canal and on the Main. Perhaps another enthusiast on the forum will spot them there. Or you on the river sailing now may see the push boat and hull and drop us a line - or even post a photo. notamermaid

It is indeed getting hot again in Germany. The valley are heating up. I can imagine the Isar in Munich being an even more popular place now. Along the Rhine it is hot of course as well - no air conditioning at my place either. The river levels are looking good, although of course the river is loosing centimetres very fast in this heat. As I mentioned on Tuesday, a couple of showers and a thunderstorm (upstream from Straubing) after a couple of days of heat should keep the river doing well. Let us have a look at Vienna again in a next post, this time not food. notamermaid

For the first time in many weeks Maxau gauge has fallen below the navigational flood mark I, which is set at 620cm. It is now at 617cm and falling. Finally, things are looking like summer for the Upper Rhine valley on the river as well as on land. It is quite warm in the valley and it is perfect for sunset watching with a glass in hand on the sun deck: sunset tonight at Mainz is at 21:26 for example. We may get a higher level at Maxau again due to rain after thunderstorms, but the impact should not be great and be a short one. In other news: apparently, "negotiations" following the accident at Iffezheim lock last year have been sorted (in court). The barge had been grounded as an insurance and is now allowed to sail again after a court ruling. notamermaid

I just say it clearly. Yes with Viking in the US. It is not practice in Europe and I doubt that consumer rights would allow it. It is in my European eyes bad business ethics and I would never, ever sail with Viking for that reason alone. Again - unethical "baiting". Cancel and shop around if you are not willing to accept it. There are many other lines that offer Christmas markets cruises. notamermaid

My pleasure. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

So will the Paris Olympics boost river cruising? A different country, a different set-up (just one city as host) means - apart from the fact that it is modern-day Paris and I am unhappily biased for personal reasons - that I have my doubts. For reasons I cannot explain I am not drawn to the Seine as a whole but did enjoy my brief stay of 24 hours in Normandy. Honfleur is certainly a place I would go to. Personally I prefer the Picardie towards the coast and the Pas-de-Calais which have of course no really large river to sail on. The small ones and canals are sufficient though. And I must get to see the new canal project North of Compiègne. notamermaid

On Tuesday I posted about the bomb at Rüdesheim and you can see the Niederwald Denkmal in the photo. But what is the massive monument, what is it about and why is it there? If you speak German or feel like sending this through a machine, here is the German website: https://www.niederwalddenkmal.de/ The basic, short story is this: in 1870 France declares war on Prussia, in 1871 Prussia wins. Unification of German states happens leading to the "big" Germany, i.e. German Empire. That needs commemorating - a statue of the Germanic peoples personified which is the "Germania". France had decades earlier occupied lands on the left bank on the Rhine. No more - the Rhine is German and not the border, hence putting the statue onto a hill (the "Niederwald") overlooking the river. The smaller allegorical figure of War faces towards France, the smaller allegorical figure of Peace faces towards Germany. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niederwald_monument The monument is huge and I recommend visiting the hill for the great view over the valley. notamermaid

It has been quite the unusual spring and early summer. But things have improved and judging from the latest changes in the graph at Maxau gauge the river is now going fast to levels that are closer to the mean and more typical for this time of year. Have a great cruise. notamermiad

The football in Germany appears to have boosted interest in river cruises in that country: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/euros-boost-germany-bookings-for-riviera-travel I suppose it is not unexpected. I am not a fan of the Tour de France at all but I love the footage of the villages they cycle through. I have caught myself more than once looking up the name on the map and thinking that this would be a lovely place to visit. notamermaid

In Austria and Germany it is a little cooler. There have been hot days of over 30 Celsius but overall it is cooler and will be cooler in the next two days. Tomorrow's maximums: Bratislava 32, Vienna 31, Passau 29. notamermaid

The situation on the German Danube I would say is looking pleasant now. We have rain and thunderstorms that do not raise the levels very much and there is enough water in the Danube basin to keep the level at Pfelling high enough for the shallows not to cause trouble. If nature keeps this up at the current pace/weather patterns the second half of July should be good. notamermaid

River levels: we have had thunderstorms but the impact appears to have been a little less than anticipated. Maxau gauge is at 646cm and rising but will most likely stay below 690cm. Lake Constance quite stable, at 487cm. notamermaid

Apart from low water, high water, lock strikes and other incidences, what else can interrupt your river cruise? A bomb. During a planned search with sonar, another bomb was found at Rüdesheim. If you have read up a bit on the area you will probably know that there used to be a bridge spanning the river there. You can see the remnants on the embankment if you walk upstream from Rüdesheim town centre a bit. Or see one stump left in the river. The WWII bomb was found yesterday and was detonated a few hours ago. River traffic was halted, as well as the railway and road having been closed. Life has returned to normal again now. You can read this article in German, or just watch the embedded video: https://www.hessenschau.de/panorama/weltkriegsbombe-bei-ruedesheim-gesprengt--sperrungen-aufgehoben-v10,kurz-bombe-ruedesheim-100.html notamermaid

The Arosa Sena has ample space as it is a wide and big river cruise ship. Even more thought has gone into designing that space I should think - as steamboats has hinted at - as the Sena is equipped well for families. As the ship only sails Cologne downstream I have not seen it yet so cannot say anything more about it. Four years and up - most likely a great experience. Younger? I would be skeptical and not go with the constraints of the river experience and the ship amenities. But there are these children that can be happy and comfortable anywhere... I recommend having a look at videos of the Arosa Sena specifically. There is one in English I think. Please bear in mind that even the Sena is a ship for adults with spa, massage, elegant restaurant and the like. It is not family entertainment ocean-cruise style. Hopefully someone can help you with more direct experience info. notamermaid

Life, work and the world have got the better of me. I hardly noticed that Spain won. So I am a bit quiet. But thanks for that. notamermaid

Maxau peaked at 678cm this morning. The level will likely drop briefly below 650cm tomorrow. Lake Constance is of course staying high, but manages to stay under 500cm. notamermaid

We saw the level of the Danube go up briefly to a not so pleasant level, just a short wave. Passau peaked at 664cm last night. Likewise Schwabelweis near Regensburg peaked in the early hours of yesterday, the figure was 364cm. If any problems arose they should have cleared by now. The levels will most likely go down a bit further still. notamermaid

Brief update. Thunderstorms and rain not as heavy as forecast. We will see Maxau gauge peak tomorrow but that will most likely be below 690cm. notamermaid

There are severe weather warnings along the Rhine valley, this afternoon mostly around Basel and in the Black Forest, as well as in the border areas with the Netherlands. Maxau gauge is at 662cm and is likely to rise to 680cm tomorrow. All in all, this is not as steep a rise as was indicated yesterday but the 680cm is unlikely to be the peak figure. That we will likely see on Sunday. notamermaid

It is getting hotter again so we have severe weather warnings in parts of Germany, it may extend to the Danube valley later today. Much room in the river though now, it has been dry enough for the Danube to loose crucial centimetres that will continue to allow passage under the bridges, at least today and tomorrow. The forecast for Sunday is too tentative to say. notamermaid

The temperatures are rising and the weather is working towards thunderstorms again. Lake Constance will rise again and we can see the river at Maxau, although having gone in and out of flood vigilance in the last 36 hours, to firmly stay above that official figure of 650cm again. It is a little to early to say but the computer modelling indicates a real change soon, but slowly at first. What is now 652cm could go to 660cm by this evening and will continue on the slow upward trend. We will need to wait for what happens along the High Rhine tomorrow to say how the river will react past Basel on Saturday. For now let us just leave it at indicating that the rise may well be a fast one. notamermaid