notamermaid

Oohhh, I see Rick Astley has played Glastonbury. The memories, "never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down..." He looks smashing in that suit. notamermaid

The level at Pfelling peaked this morning. It is now slightly down to 318cm. notamermaid

Yes, that is an important difference. I was surprised at the size of this ship. As you imply, the bike and barge tours are usually that, people using bikes and sailing on a (converted) barge. However, some of these tours are actually on river cruise ships, just that they are small ships, hence bike and boat. SE Tours is a large operator for such river cruises, all ships in the fleet for those tours are smaller than the MS Primadonna, however, the MS Prinzessin Katharina comes close in length: https://www.se-tours.de/en/tours/bike-and-boat notamermaid

Very, very difficult. Like on the Rhine (suggested above) you can do day trips on the Danube: https://ddsg-blue-danube.at/?lang=en or this way: https://www.donauschifffahrt.eu/en/kurzurlaub/ Could not find anything shorter than four nights (SE-Manon in June 2024 and A-Rosa on the Seine). notamermaid

The car ferry in Linz on the Rhine will be celebrating a birthday soon. A busy boat every time I am there. Perhaps it is not widely known among you folks that there are few bridges over the Rhine in the Middle Rhine valley, both the Upper and the Lower part of the valley. I went to the area in spring and I will tell you a bit about that in another post. Linz on the Rhine is far smaller than its Austrian namesake and in my opinion a handsome little place to while away an afternoon. Kaub gauge: 146cm. notamermaid

Let us stay in Austria - or not - but the river cruise ship I would like to introduce to you is Austrian. That is unusual in itself. On top of that it is a catamaran with extra width! Which puts her into the "league" of the Riverside Mozart and the Amamagna. She sails "bike and boat" cruises. https://www.msprimadonna.at/en/ms_primadonna/ship_information notamermaid

Glastonbury - the legend. I will probably never be in the vicinity to be able to go there. Festivals are not my thing, I would not make a special trip. I am sure it appeals to Germans though. Young folk here are very much festival goers - w, some of them. My young neighbour has been to one in Denmark and to the North of Germany. He is a rock fan. There are several music festivals here that very much draw international crowds. Rock am Ring at the Nürburgring has happened already this year. Many moons ago I went to the Loreley festival, you know, the rock festival right on top of the mountain at the (modern) amphitheatre. Great fun. There are still concerts up there sometimes. notamermaid

The Emerald Sky collided with a tanker on the Rhine on Thursday evening. Noone was injured but the authorities have prohibited sailing. The river cruise ship is docked in Karlsruhe harbour and the passengers have already been transported by coach to Strasbourg. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/schiffsunfall-bei-eggenstein-leopoldshafen-100.html notamermaid

I am afraid I don't. The figures and graphs are online but I cannot relate them to what is actually happening on the river. You can follow along and keep checking the info on this website, example I have chosen is Giurgiu: https://www.danubeportal.com/de/waterLevel/details/ROGRG00001G001004930 Have a great cruise. notamermaid

And now for something completely different. The sister company of "The Economist" has done their annual survey for the "Most liveable cities". Topping the list is (again) Vienna! No, I do not think the Sacher Torte tipped the balance in its favour. 😁 For the criteria check the website of the Economist Intelligence Unit. A nice "batch of honour" to have. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge now at 319cm. Forecast suggests figures will go up until tomorrow and then fall slowly again. notamermaid

Perhaps that is why he has not been yet. The house is on the wrong list! You never know these days, all smartphone and laptop and that - not the order book folder but his holiday list. 😁 Well, I am in the middle of my holiday plans but I do not know yet if it will be on a major river. France? England? Germany? It is nice to see tourists enjoying themselves on my river. I admit to getting a tad envious occasionally. I am too busy to have a proper excursion boat trip, but perhaps later in the year I will find some time to hop on a boat and wave to the large ships... I did have a short ferry crossing on my river combined with a trip out - it was the large car ferry from Linz to Remagen-Kripp, which sailed so fast I could hardly take proper photos. Not speed as in speed boat but the route is more or less straight so the crossing only takes about four minutes (without loading and unloading). notamermaid

Yes, that may have helped. Reporting back to say that storms were heavy but not as bad as feared around where I am. No real hail damage but I phoned the authorities to report a fallen branch. All trees still standing near me. Got another leak in the roof and the roof gutter gave up trying to cope with all the water (again). The roofer has already had the house I am living in on his to-do list. notamermaid

There has been a curious accident on the Rhine. A barge hit the bridge at Karlsruhe-Maxau and caused a damage of half a million euros, according to this German report: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/karlsruhe/schiff-rheinbruecke-maxau-haengengeblieben-100.html It is unusual as most of the Rhine bridges have a lot of headroom and the water level is low. Normally a barge would have no problems sailing but this was a high load, look at the shape of it in the photo. Not sure what this is, it looks like a fancy girder for a bridge or building. The barge is freed, the bridge is cleared but unsafe for heavy truck loads over 44 tons (a precautionary measure). For repairs, meaning erecting scaffolding, river traffic may need to be temporarily halted. All captains will be notified of this in the NfB (online notifications for shipping) of course. Kaub gauge at 134cm. It has been raining in isolated showers, heavy thunderstorms approaching from Belgium and France. I had better close the windows. See ya. And take care. notamermaid

Forgot to mention: Pfelling gauge has gone up to 311cm. Difficult to say how things will develop but the Regen River is carrying a higher volume of water. This means that at least the level at Regensburg will rise, which may or may not result in a higher level at Pfelling. This will depend on the Danube before Regensburg and a few small tributaries along the way as well as the locks between Regensburg and Pfelling. notamermaid

Yes, the Komaron "substitute" port was also used last year at some point. A standard procedure when the water is low around the bend and at Budapest these days, it appears. notamermaid

Now, bless my whiskers, I have never heard of that Kaffeemaschine! Coffee maker on the dashboard, German engineering at its best. 👍 Been in an old beetle where some heating device was not working. Not my favourite car ride. Love the old bretzel design though, it refers to the back window shape. notamermaid

Soon after I posted earlier, the level at Pfelling started rising steadily and is running well above what the forecast had suggested earlier today for this evening. I have the sneaky feeling they have let more water get through the lock and dam system than what is standard. Just my guess. Anyway, the result: 301cm. Now that is a nice figure to end the day with. notamermaid

Thank you for your kind words. A good time to be on the river if you like hot weather and those splendid warm evenings with cocktails on the sundeck. 🍸 Have a great cruise. Normally water levels are okay on the Rhine then but, yes, they are a little on the low side now, could do with a bit of rain on more than one day. It may be a "violent" night with hail, hopefully nothing of the kind that struck the Neuwied Basin (that is the river stretch between Koblenz and Andernach) last Spring. They still do not have all roofs repaired and in March I still saw lots of blue safety covering on shattered street lights. The warning for hail is in place for much of the Southern half of Germany and some of the Middle, too - which includes my state Rhineland-Palatinate. notamermaid

Kaub gauge at 127cm. The forecast has been slightly adjusted down, but there is still a chance that Thursday we will see 140cm on the graph. Whatever the figures will be tomorrow, Friday looks to be even better. So, time to relax. Onto something completely different. Saw in the news an event that is unique in Germany: street painting in 3D. That ended on Saturday. The international artists painted on the pavements in Neuwied, that is a town just North of Koblenz, with lasting colours meaning the paintings will stay for several weeks as 24/7 exhibition. They could well be still visible in September. Looks interesting. This is the website of the Dutch organizers: https://worldstreetpainting.nl/de/ Now, if only Neuwied had a river cruise dock it would be easier to get there... I have recently read in the papers that the town council wants to use a grant (from the Federal government?) and for that needs to compile a tourism strategy paper which they are working on. Sounds like the sort of thing that could take years. A bit slow if they want to have a piece of the fat cake that is river cruising. If you have tons of time then take a train from Koblenz, easy to do, but do not expect a tourism gem. I do recommend the beer garden on the embankment, though, and the palace is nice to look at (not open to the public). notamermaid

Pfelling gauge is at 279cm. A slight up in the forecast is suggested, a return to 290cm? Looks doubtful still, but there looks to be a reaction to the rain coming. I agree, sounds good. Have a great time in the Northeast of my country. For those new to the topic of the Danube and low water (in Germany): Vilshofen is considered the last port without the low water problems, looking upstream. A lock helps to keep the level up. From there you pass Pfelling gauge and sail on to Straubing, where we consider the low water problems to end, but it appears that Regensburg is sometimes the last port that those coming from the Canal sail to, avoiding sailing on to Straubing and turning. Not sure why, a lack of space at Straubing or logistics/supply/amenities? If you are interested in such details, perhaps your ship crew may be happy to answer such questions. notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. All in all, a bit on the low side in Germany, meaning in the possible range looking at long-term data, both Rhine and Danube have seen lower levels with less flooding than what one may consider expected. If you are new to river cruising or would like a few more tips may I recommend the pinned threads by our host jazzbeau to you? A great compilation of info. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 280cm, up from 278cm earlier. Still fluctuating at too low a level. Band of rain with thunderstorms forming, now running through Germany Northwest to Southeast, having reached Bavaria and moving through towards the Czech Republic. notamermaid

Thank you for saying hello. Early August - very warm days and a splendid time for evening cocktails on the sundeck watching the sun go down. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic. It is difficult to say but overall I would say third week of June to third week of July. Flooding rarely happens in this time frame and low water is normally not there yet. The low level we have at Kaub now is not problematic for river cruise ships. notamermaid