notamermaid

There was a short high at Pfelling, around midnight, of 287cm. That may have been all that was needed to ease/allow the passage. Fluctuation happens so the gauge shows 285cm now. It is warm again. And it is staying interesting. Or as I called it earlier this week: "wobbly". notamermaid

We were late this year with our school holidays in Rhineland-Palatinate so the children have not been back for long. Summer holidays not long ago and it is still summery around here. Lady at the local bakers said last week that she was not keen on putting up the autumn display yet, kind of too warm. Shock, horror, my local supermarket has already moved on to gingerbread!! Walked past the biscuits aisle yesterday and there it was. Spekulatius and Lebkuchen. Ha, I will refuse - again - to buy any before 1 November! Back to the topic of my trip to the Lahn. Eerily weird, I talked to my travel companions about taking the train through the Lahn valley some time, as it is so interesting with the landscape, all the bridges and tunnels. Two days later, the place gets torrential rain and hail, with railway traffic interrupted for hours... If you are interested, have a look on Google images for Kloster Arnstein, Nassau Lahn (you need the river otherwise you get Nassau on the Bahamas) or Balduinstein. That gives you some impressions of the valley. I will get to my photos of Oranienstein shortly. notamermaid

No news is good news, they say and that is certainly true here for the river levels of the Rhine. All good, most debris from the thunderstorm has been cleared, public transport is (close to) normal again and we are enjoying a perfect warm late summer day. Good news and hopefully a happy ending to a - dare I say - drama with soap opera is coming from the realm of excursion boats. You may recall that I mentioned the sinking of the "Carmen Sylva" in spring and her recent auction when she went finally received a new owner that resides in Andernach. It appears that she will be privately renovated and used. With her in Brohl harbour and more or less unharmed by the accident is the smaller excursion boat "Schloss Engers". Both where in temporary ownership by a bank after the insolvency of the owner(s). A few days ago it was the smaller boat's turn to find a new owner in an auction. The successful bid came from a company so we can assume that the "Schloss Engers" will join that fleet. For 145,000 euros the vessel was sold to a passenger shipping company operating around Würzburg. While the company has not been named, the name Henneberger in Miltenberg has been passed around on the internet. Which means the excursion boat will leave her home Neuwied, her temporary abode Brohl harbour and move to the Main. Oh, and the autumn edition of "Rhine in Flames" happened on Saturday around Oberwesel. Here are some nice photos courtesy of Binnenschifferforum: https://www.binnenschifferforum.de/showthread.php?115829-Rhein-in-Flammen-in-Oberwesel-am-09-09-2023 Oberwesel is one of my favourite places in the Upper Middle Rhine valley. The town wall has a walkway: https://oberwesel.de/feratel/?id=6b5fad7e-bc0c-4402-8059-7fc2489d9b4c&t=poi notamermaid

Welcome to Cruisecritic and thank you for reporting from the Danube. I hope the cruise has been great so far. An unfortunately curtailed end. Yes, a bit too low for some ships, Pfelling gauge has disappointed so far today and remains annoyingly stable under 290cm. Current level is 283cm. notamermaid

Narrowboat - that type should fit through the canals. Just to mention it again: unfortunately, no river cruise ships sail into France that are of standard modern lengths, that is 110m to 135m (happy to be proven wrong with the odd exception). The Excellence Pearl, one of the few ships that sail into France, is 85m long. Then there is the odd smaller bike & barge itinerary, those are mostly on converted barges. The "Iris" is one such barge. Last year the river cruise ship MS Sans Souci, sailing for Plantours, made a rare appearance in Metz and Nancy-Frouard. She is 82m long. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 283cm, forecast suggests 290cm for tomorrow evening .The trend is definitely going in the right direction. notamermaid

I wondered what the route would be to get to Cannes by boat so checked the map. Slight misunderstanding on my behalf, the gentleman did not mean Cannes directly on a river, but a route to the Mediterranean and Cannes. Getting to the Mediterranean is actually fairly straightforward if the vessel is small enough: From the Rhine through the Canal to the Saone and Rhone looks easier than via the Moselle and the Canal. When you think about it, this means you could also do a river cruise on the Rhone, then hire a small boat through the Canal to take you onto the Moselle, take a river cruise from Luxembourg to Amsterdam and voilá! You have traversed the continent in a South to North direction on water from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. notamermaid

Another unusual ship is sailing the river today and by now has left the Moselle already and turned into the Saar. The "Bissula" is the reconstruction of a Roman ship. Since its construction in 2019 has only been sailing the calm rivers but after sailing to Dillingen on the Saar river will be transported by truck to Cannes. There the vessel will be tested on the waters of Cannes bay to obtain knowledge about ancient shipping and its routes. One could take a small boat all the way to Cannes on canals but the Bissula is a bit too wide for the French canals. A few photos to give you an idea of the endeavour: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/trier/roemisches-schiff-bricht-von-trier-nach-cannes-auf-100.html notamermaid

Aahh, Saarbrücken. All calm there now. Nice place. Checking out the river cruise dock, if I may ask? The city is the base of the agent (which cannot be named) for CroisiEurope. notamermaid

It was pretty heavy last night for our standards but the worst just about evaded us this time. Electricity stayed. All fine as far as I can tell this morning. Last Spring it hit Andernach and Neuwied, Worms was hard hit by hail this time. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/mainz/unwetter-worms-schaeden-ernteausfaelle-winzer-schule-klinikum-rheinhessen-100.html They expect heavy loss of wine (grapes). notamermaid

Rain with us was really heavy, hail hit Worms very hard. Stay safe. Pfelling gauge has dropped to 274cm. notamermaid

Great! Thunderstorms here. Torch ready just in case. notamermaid

Pfelling at 288cm. A tiny bit of a cliffhanger as to what will happen during the night. Further drop or not? Radar image: Pretty heavy with us in the Middle Rhine valley right now. notamermaid

Update: the bomb has been defused successfully. Everything went smoothly and faster than expected. https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/fliegerbombe-bei-koblenz-urbar-entschaerfung-100.html Hopefully we can return to business as usual, with river traffic running as it constantly does and for river cruising pleasant water levels. Till the next bomb is (inevitably at some point in the not too distant future) found... notamermaid

That I would say is actually honest. Add commitment to banks, i.e. those giving the credits and owning the ships until they belong to Viking. They do this with you, dear friends in the US, because they can. In Europe: no. Viking Flussreisen, the German company, was closed down quite a few years ago now, as the North-American market was more lucrative. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge now showing 289cm. As Izengolf has mentioned rain is forecast. Today may be the last day of summer heat. Clouds are sweeping in from the Southwest (Vosges mountains/French-Swiss border) going Northeast. It is raining in the North of Germany. notamermaid

Bomb in the Rhine A bomb has been found near the island Niederwerth, that is close to Koblenz. The bomb will be defused tomorrow. For that reason the Rhine will be closed to river traffic in a short section downstream from the city. It is not possible to sail from the Moselle onto the Rhine in the downstream direction. 1,200 people will need to be evacuated. According to the notification for captains, the ban is in place from 8am to 3pm. Source for info: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/fliegerbombe-in-koblenz-niederwerth-gefunden-102.html notamermaid

The river is doing fine. Level at Kaub is now at 151cm (exactly in line with the predicted levels for today). Forecast now shows the figures staying well above 100cm for much of this week with little change for the worse when we look further ahead. Drop below 100cm as a probability is minimal. For the "Tag des offenen Denkmals" I left my river and went along the Lahn, so no report on that here. But as I returned home via the mouth of the river with the Rhine I got a long glance at Lahneck Castle. Always looking good, whatever the weather. 🙂 Amawaterways has excursions to the castle, I think they are exclusive. But as a private individual you can also see it. notamermaid

Always an individual decision of course. The captains know the river inside out and their ships how they react to low water. I had hoped and was confident that the level would stay good for the past week, me knowing that the heat and no rain would have a very quick effect at Pfelling. Glad to be proven right but for this week I can see a potentially wobbly situation. Pfelling now at 295cm. notamermaid

Turn for the worse. Pfelling gauge dropped to 300cm this afternoon. notamermaid

So it is finally here. What a wait you have had to endure. I am sure it will be splendid. Budapest is amazing. Have a great time. notamermaid

Oh, good question. That would be nice. No idea. I have heard that you can tell a British ship from an American ship by the fact that the British one has got tea-making facilities in the cabin. But that may just be a rumour. All in all though I would say the river cruise itineraries of Ama and Avalon are closer to what you and your family are looking for. notamermaid

Perhaps not something you should consider but you may want to be aware of the risk of low water impacting your cruise in the time frame you are looking at. It may or may not happen. This would most likely only affect the Rhine Gorge. Overall, Ama and Avalon do a tiny bit better as regards the draft of their ships than Viking. Way to more or less avoid the risk: choose a 110m ship. Way to almost completely avoid the risk: do not go through the Rhine Gorge. That means chose the Moselle and at Koblenz go downstream on the Rhine, or sail from Basel and then go on the Main. But, again, mostly not a big deal, just be aware and go with the flow and plan B of your company. Definitely a European company to look at. You may want to check if they guarantee English-speaking guides on your cruise. You could also look at Riviera Travel UK if you want to "be among the British". notamermaid

I really need some water from the cooler, so hot in Germany today! Have returned from my day trip visiting a monument on the occasion of "Tag des offenen Denkmals". I went to a "Militärischer Sperrbezirk". Yes, that's right, army base. And what a splendid one. The magnificent mansion that is called "Schloß Oranienstein" in Diez on the river Lahn. More on that when I have more time. Right, I am off again. Dinner. See ya. notamermaid

Pfelling gauge at 309cm. Another very sunny day. River loosing water in this heat. Forecast and actual figures identical this morning. Drop below 300cm likely for tomorrow. Dreaded 290cm not in the forecast yet. notamermaid