notamermaid

Right. This may sound unconnected to Carnival but it is vaguely connected. Last Sunday I went to the tourism fair in Koblenz. Many regional attractions, town and cities were represented but also places from further afield. Nature (walking) and cruises were two big themes, CroisiEurope were there with their own stall (the German agent) and a large stall that combined travel agents and companies for cruising and river cruising drew quite a bit of attention. Mine as well, naturally. For the first time I saw Thurgau Travel, the Swiss company, represented. They (now) have a German office. You could get special reductions at some stalls if you booked at the fair or contacted them soon after. The excursion boat companies were also present. The "La Paloma" boat owner has one of the most interesting marketing ideas that I have seen in a long time. This little vehicle had a plastic box which contained leaflets: The tourism fair was in the Rhein-Mosel-Halle, a concert and events venue. On the sign you can see a traffic problem afflicting Koblenz - the bridge over the Rhine is closed to heavy (weight) traffic. Here is a mobile home used for exhibitions by ADAC, the German motoring organisation. This one is advertising Canada. Can you read what it says on the plaque? Just before I walked up the steps, when I tried to take a photo of the little blue three-wheeler soldiers and a princess appeared. Yes, it was one of those wondrous sights that surprise foreigners who encounter Carnival for the first time. I walked into the venue together with folk having dressed up for a Carnival event happening in there together with the fair. I mean not together, fair downstairs, Carnival upstairs. Now, about those greetings and rallying cries or battle cries. Many towns and cities have Alaaf or Helau but Koblenz has a different one. Just in case anyone forgets it is displayed in front of the venue and greets people: But wait a second, you cannot just blurt out Koblenz Olau! You need to know that in dialect it is Kowwelenz Olau. It is normally spoken three times and the introduction contains "ein dreifach donnerndes..." which means "three times a thundering..." How exactly that works a novice to Cologne Carnival and his chaperone will show in the next post. notamermaid

I have been reporting a bit more on the water levels in view of the fact that more ships are sailing than normal this year, especially the two Viking ships, the Alruna and the Tialfi. So, exciting stuff as they not only have good levels but they are also hitting Carnival. The Alruna is in the far South so the passengers are in the realm of "Alemannisch" festivities. Fasent-Sunndig they call this Sunday today in Breisach and it looks as if there has been a special celebration that the passengers of the Alruna could watch. Their Fasent is different from Karneval: https://www.narrenzunft-breisach.de/ The Tialfi is heading towards Cologne and is currently sailing near Xanten. So it looks like they will see "Rheinischer Karneval". That is quite a thing... I hope all passengers have been prepared by the crew. I have mentioned the dialect but there is more. Carnival seasons have a motto and when people meet and during official celebrations you shout a "battle cry". I will get back to that in a next post. notamermaid

Well, the flooding is back. Heavy rain has made the Main and its tributaries rise. This is Würzburg: The Main further downstream has been draining that excess water into the Rhine since Friday but this is not a wave one on one, i.e. this rise is not seen in the same jump in figures close to the mouth at Mainz. But the Middle Rhine is seeing high levels now. notamermaid

The recent concrete sickness thing, I read about that. There have been reports over the decades here and as I mentioned above I have seen it in a building. I guess it is just something that happens over time, not sure how much can be avoided, but I am not familiar with the topic much. As soon as you put metal in concrete you get two materials that react to each other, you have got to know what you are doing... I have just remembered - there was a case on the Rhine, at Neuwied. I recall from a newspaper report that the wrong concrete was used, i.e. for the re-development about six years ago. It could not sustain the action of the fast-flowing river and the pull from the ships that were supposed to dock there when the embankment was finished. They got it sorted and the new embankment is now complete but there is still no ship docking. Seem to be some further financial and legal issues that need to be sorted. The photos when the locks are drained and the workmen are standing in them are fascinating. That creature in the canal that you posted looks like something out of a black-and-white 50's science fiction film. 😉 notamermaid

The Rhine is draining well all the rain we have had, Maxau is already on the way down again. The Middle Rhine valley is still taking on the large volume of water from the Main. Kaub gauge is still rising. notamermaid

Interesting. Had not noticed the relatively early March closures. All in all the Moselle lock maintenance looks to be a bit more tightly scheduled, i.e. a very specific time frame with far in advance publication. Although everywhere you can never be sure that an "emergency" closure will not become necessary. Like with the very unfortunate and really annoying incident at Iffezheim lock on the Rhine. Sediment can become a real problem for sure, but there are of course what we call "Verschleißteile" (I like that word), which is standard wear and tear of the moving parts mostly and those parts need to be inspected and replaced. But every few years the concrete needs checking as well. We are talking heavy duty and in constant use "bathtubs" for ships. Age and regular use play into it, when new I reckon some intervals can be longer, but some things like these locks just need regular maintenance, I mean there are things you cannot push out a couple of years or at least you should not as an authority. The Canal in its present form is indeed relatively modern, completed in 1992, other locks are much older. About concrete: I was a bit shocked to see how concrete from the 50s had been working with gravity and the elements and in itself when a building in "my shopping turf" was knocked down. The steel inside had eaten into it and the concrete aggregate was brittle, i.e. partly visible. No chance of any repairs... notamermaid P.S.: Little change to water levels, relatively stable. The Main river will drain more of the rain than the Danube.

I have no idea. I would tend to go with Canal archive and say a very long time. It has to be after frost (and snow melt) so April is ideal I would say. River traffic knows this and can look this up far in advance. notamermaid

We are now seeing the big jump in the water levels in the Middle Rhine valley. This is Koblenz: SHWM I is the navigational flood mark I and calls for adjusted sailing. This could slow down a river cruise ship. Meldehöhe is official flooding as defined by the authorities. All in all not too much of a problem and the rain has subsided so the situation should get better again soon. notamermaid

Thank you for the extended assessment. Yes, it looks all okay for now. All problems are North of the Danube proper so we will not see any real impact from the Alps or the Danube itself. The colour map: https://www.hochwasserzentralen.de/en/aktuelle-situation Problems for the Rhine come mainly from the Neckar and the Main. But there are no through river cruises, meaning itineraries using the Main at the moment as far as I know. Hopefully all will stay good for the first long itinerary in March. By the way, looking further into Spring there will be the annual closure for maintenance of the Main, Canal and Danube locks again. Just in case you are wondering why there are no long river cruises scheduled for a period in April. notamermaid

The water levels are rising again in the Danube basin, the Regen river is carrying a high volume of water. That will make the Danube in Bavaria rise over the weekend, but it should not lead to flooding. notamermaid

It is another grey and miserable day in the Rhine valley, but if you are a true Carnival woman this cannot deter you. 🙂 I am not going to celebrate as such but no work for me or my colleagues, office is closed. Ha! Yesterday I heard in a comment on the news - last year's celebration that is - of the German (female) newsreader: "Let us remind our folk in the North of Germany..." Then a switch to the reporter on the ground in Mainz: "No one needs reminding here in Mainz that it is Carnival..." Then the guy is immediately interrupted by two women standing close to him, singing half-decently a typical Carnival "hymn", swaying, smiling, and holding plastic cups filled with, err, whatever tastes good. Oh, the fun. If you are male, do not wear a tie on this day, it will be cut off. Just to inform people of the standard procedure as regards shopping. Depending on local emphasis, Rhineland Carnival means that many smaller shops are closed Thursday afternoon. Friday is normal and Saturday again may be shorter in hours. Supermarkets are usually open standard hours but on Monday even they may close early. Sunday is closed anyway. Tuesday, again depending on local custom, shops may be closed, supermarkets may close early. Fasnet down there (on the map) close to Switzerland has other rules. This is from this morning in Mainz: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/weiberfastnacht-in-rlp-2024-100.html Something you need to know. If you are familiar with German from having learnt it at school or during holidays, do not be alarmed if you understand less at this time of year. More people use dialects and different words during Carnival. Hence "Mainzer Mädchen" (girls of Mainz) being "Meenzer Mädcher" in the video. notamermaid P.S. The water levels are rising all over Germany with all this rain. Smaller rivers have gone to flood mark I in places. Rhine still okay but will react quite a bit tomorrow.

Pfannkuchen, yes, I read about that. According to an article in the taz Karnevalsumzüge where not allowed in Berlin under the Allies. Protestant places, especially the North of Germany, tend not to do much at Carnival. True. We in the Rhineland actually with our Carnival soldiers and parades, etc. mock the Prussians. Which is a bit weird if you then see similar uniforms in Berlin, in, you know, what we regard as Prussia. When we take Carnival to Berlin from the Rhineland does that mean we mock the Prussians or get the Prussians to mock themselves? I am confused. Oohhh, not that Colonia song again!! It is ubiquitous, isn't it? I happened to find myself in Cologne main station one November the 11th. Never again will I have to do this I hope... As for eating the Berliners. I now prefer the Apfelberliner, the round Berliner dough which looks like a Zimtschnecke and contains apple pieces. notamermaid

It is Carnival, tomorrow will be Weiberfastnacht, the women take over and celebrate in the streets and pubs. There is normally no parade, but in the suburb of Bonn called Beuel this day is the main day of Carnival traditionally. I got my Muzen today, I prefer the Muzenblätter to Muzenmandeln. Here is a video on the delicious food: https://www.dw.com/en/sweet-carnival-treats-from-cologne-muzemandeln/video-52468540 Or how about Berliner, the German doughnut without a hole, and the Apfelberliner? Muzen are restricted to winter and Carnival but Berliner and Apfelberliner tend to be available for a bit longer. If you happen to be in Germany now I recommend a visit to a bakers... notamermaid

Yes, that is one of the really nice ones. Thank you for the suggestion. It falls into the category Amsterdam to Koblenz and turning onto the Moselle. See map. I like that one as it goes all the way to Remich port (most likely port) in Luxembourg. The city is very interesting and the Moselle is beautiful. In some ways it is nicer than the Rhine - apart from the Rhine Gorge, that you cannot beat in my opinion. For the shallow part around Koblenz the 135m of the ship is not that bad, when the level gets really low there is a problem with the Moselle stretch of 500m between mouth and first lock. But it needs to get really low for that. The plus is that from Koblenz to Luxembourg it is only about two hours by coach. If you had to cut your journey in Koblenz it would not be that stressful. notamermaid

Another way of almost completely avoiding low water issues is not sailing the Rhine Gorge. I know, tough decision. That can be done by sailing from Cologne into the Netherlands (best option), or sailing from Amsterdam and turning onto the Moselle at Koblenz (very good option). Or sailing from Basel to Mainz and then turning into the Main river (quite good option). Reason is, roughly speaking, the river is at its shallowest in the Rhine Gorge and is better from Koblenz downstream and from south of Mainz upstream. But now it is time to look at Carnival!. 🥳 notamermaid

That is very understandable. Unfortunately, there have been mentions in previous years of companies putting river cruisers on a coach for a six hour journey (interrupted by comfort stops of course) to get to Basel. Again, it does not happen often but it cannot be ruled out. As for the 110m ships, they are operated by CroisiEurope, some German companies, and internationally by Avalonwaterways and a couple of others on the Rhine and Danube. The Avalon Imagery II, the Avalon Tranquility II, and of Uniworld the River Empress and the River Princess are such shorter ships for example. Statistics take a bit of time to compile and need explaining. This would be something like x days of a water level below y in year z at Kaub. notamermaid

I see on the graphs that the level of the Elbe is rising again and the gauge at Dresden is forecast to go to flood warning level 1. Apparently the high volume of water is mainly coming from the Upper Elbe rather than the Vltava, which joins at Melnik. But to more fun matters. It is Carnival in Germany and where I am we are "surrounded" by soldiers, princesses and other dressed-up folk. They say that it was a Rhineland guy that brought the Carnival to Berlin but that is folklore. A version of Carnival has existed in Berlin for quite some time. It is true though that a gentleman from the Rhineland is president of the Festkomitee "Berliner Karnval e.V.", those people organize the Carnival parades. When the Wall fell and many people from the Rhineland moved to Berlin, especially when Government returned there, street carnival as we now it along the Rhine really took off in our capital. But that is Berlin on the Spree river, what about the Elbe folk? @AnhaltER1960 are you eating Berliner and shouting "dreifach donnernd"? notamermaid

It is this time of year again - Carnival! But we are in the Southeast of Germany in this thread so the word is Fasching. It is different from the Rhenish Carnival but the essence and the timeline are the same. For those who want to study the Carnival traditions more intensively, here is a comprehensive page on "the fifth season": https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/fasching-and-karneval/ notamermaid

As we are on the topic of low water, just a quick geography lesson. Here is the map of the Rhine with its sections: For river cruise ships it is navigable from Basel. The yellow section, the Middle Rhine valley, has an upper and a lower part. The upper part (the first one you sail through in the downstream direction) contains most of the splendid castles, it is the Rhine Gorge. Close to where the m of Rhein-km 530 hits the blue river line, just above I would say, is Kaub. The lower part contains a few nice castles, too and the Drachenfels I mentioned in a previous post. This is what I mean when I say that those few kilometres around Kaub that you cannot sail cut your itinerary in a top half and a bottom half. For those new to Kaub: it is a small town with a water level gauge important for navigation. It looks like this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pegel_Kaub#/media/Datei:PegelKaubRhein.JPG notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. The Rhine is an interesting river all year round, though I am not convinced that January and February are months in which cruising is attractive. We will perhaps find out more if the Viking river cruisers this year give feedback (I mentioned the two ships in a previous post). Early September is a really nice time, daylight is favourable, temperatures are pleasant generally speaking. All months are as good as or better if you want tho avoid low water, October is statistically worse. June is probably the best month overall, for daylight, weather, no low and no high water. July and August are also nice but low water can occur. I was wondering, what exactly worries you? Low water is a nuisance and when it gets really bad can very much impact your cruise and your enjoyment. That is clear. Do you have mobility issues? Do you just not want to be on a bus? Those would be the main reasons not to want to deal with low water. Crews on ships are very experienced with the problem, plans B and C "always" exist. I do admit you are somewhat at the mercy of the company, especially if you are not so familiar with making on the fly arrangements yourself. People have mentioned here on CC that they left the ship early and took a train, etc. You can do that if you wish to. My tip: look at several companies and inquire about travel insurance and payment policies and refunds. Those can differ quite a bit from company to company, especially if you live in the US. That comparison can help with potential financial worries as regards low water (and flooding). All in all, low water is a problem that occurs every year, sometimes more, sometimes less, "always" in late summer or autumn. But it need not be extensive. Impossible to predict. But we can have a look at the statistics some time. The low water problem is actually a "bottleneck" problem in that it occurs around Kaub in the Rhine Gorge. When the river is too low there for sailing it cuts your itinerary in a top half and bottom half when you look at the map of the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam (Amsterdam being on the Canal not the river but for river cruising the most likely top end). Oh, and it is important to remember that the low water is a draft thing, meaning the draft of your ship basically determines if your ship can sail or not. Several aspects play into this, size is of some importance, so generally speaking a 110m ship is less likely to have to stop sailing than a 135m ship. It is not much but just like with headroom in other scenarios, a few centimetres matter. Have fun planning. notamermaid

Ah, no. Starling is an icebreaker and is in German also the bird called a "Star", der Star. Starling the icebreaker is an "Eisbrecher" translated. notamermaid

Fun with dolphins At the end of the 2023 thread we had some fun with dolphins so have a look here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2910181-rhine-water-levels-2023-and-similar-topics/page/44/#comments Okay I have given it away – this is not about the animal but a structure related to navigation and docking. This is what it looks like, here ones in Koblenz at the Moselle docking area: When I looked at them I thought to myself: “Funny, these do not look like dolphins. So where may that word come from?” And my language nerd brain was activated… The German word is “Dalbe”. As language structures go in Germanic languages, the identical d, l and the similar ph/b point to one origin. But how did that happen? In maritime and navigational language the Dutch have often had a hand in such things so I thought this may have been the path. Well, I was not right as such but the Dutch were kind of involved. According to several sources the word Dalbe (sometimes Duckdalbe is used) comes from the fact that the Spanish Duke of Alba, when the country ruled over the Netherlands, had these constructions installed to create more anchor points in Dutch harbours so that they could accommodate more merchant ships. You can see the German almost in the Spanish duque de Alba. Okay the Spanish and the Dutch were involved. Or were they? There have been a few references to the story on the internet, claiming it is, well, disputed. Oh, well. I like the story. True or not, you will encounter the dolphins on your river cruise. And starlings. Those birds exist in Germany but here I mean the icebreakers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starling_(structure) Oh, and we have a Moby Dick as well. That's right, that whale of that book. This one is an excursion boat. But that is another story. notamermaid

Before we get to the dolphins and the weird people at the tourism fair and Carnival, here is the good news. The latest long term forecasts for both Maxau and Kaub show no rise of note in water levels until 15 February. Even if the forecast changes a little for the worse it still leaves enough room for some rain. Looking good. Excitement is growing with me about Carnival, helped by the fact that Koblenz was already in Carnival mode yesterday and someone asked me today about a "Rathaussturm". That is a great highlight of every Carnival season. Basically, storm the town hall and take the mayor hostage! Fools rule!!Enormous fun. notamermaid

More Vikings on the rivers, eeeekk!! I thought the car park in Cologne Niehl was full in winter... Oh well. I went to the tourism fair in Koblenz yesterday and guess what was popular - the stall of an agency specializing in cruising. They had several catalogues of river cruise companies. It may have helped that they had a tombola, I mean lottery tickets that cost 2 euros each. So not free, but it is always a draw (excuse pun) to offer such things at a stall. I really enjoyed seeing the guy dressed up as a Roman senator. It was to do with the Roman frontier running through the forests behind Koblenz (and further to the Danube). Other nice conversations, too. I did not see Viking of course as they do not trade in Germany, not even Vikings or modern Scandinavians, but there were some soldiers, princesses and clowns and other weird people. Then I realized that there must be a carnival meeting, what we call a Sitzung, in the conference hall as well. Exciting!! 🥳 If you like Carnival that is. If one of the Viking ships, the Alruna or the Tialfi, is in Cologne or Mainz on Thursday or next Monday they will be in for a shock I fear. I wonder if the crew/hotel staff decorate the ships in Carnival splendour (perhaps not the confetti...) and have a show or something. Dressing up as a sailor is always popular in Rhenish Carnival. 😉 A bit more about it all in the Rhine thread. notamermaid

It is certainly a rare one, but I can imagine that there is such an itinerary out there. What I am familiar with are the round trips for tulip time of European cruise lines. If they start and end in Cologne or Düsseldorf you are a bit closer to Basel for the train travel. From there it is fast and convenient. Those companies are unlikely to have an add-on of Basel. Check out Riviera Travel UK, Viva Cruises and Arosa river cruises to see what they offer. Of course, you could always spend a couple of nights in the Netherlands DIY and then sail from Amsterdam up the Rhine. notamermaid