notamermaid

A bit of insight into how CroisiEurope has been doing lately and what they expect and plan in 2023: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/people-opinions/2022-promising-year-recovery-croisieurope-gm-christian-schmitter-says notamermaid

2024 sailings have gone on sale: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/riviera-travel-releases-2024-european-river-cruises notamermaid

An article expanding a bit on the takeover and plans: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/New-river-line-plays-a-familiar-tune-with-former-Crystal-Mozart?ct=river and new from the UK with info on booking through travel agents: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/travel-agents/riverside-luxury-cruises-unveils-raft-of-booking-offers Certainly looks promising for the re-launch of the Mozart. notamermaid

I seem to remember the Interrail ticket contains a couple of ferry connections. But we are talking about two different things if I understand you correctly. Thank you for thinking of us. As I do not watch German television I had not heard before you mentioned it. It is a cold day today and there is a feeling of frost in the air and in the bones. Conditions will be icy overnight. The rain has stopped in the valleys so probably no snow in the West. The East of Germany has seen snow today. Next weekend is forecast to bring quite a bit of snow even to the valleys. notamermaid

The water levels along the Rhine are still pleasant, not too low or too high for river cruising. It has been raining but the trend at Kaub is for the level to go down. Currently at 154cm, the forecast suggests 140cm to 120cm as a high probability. But a figure of under 100cm is highly unlikely in the near future. notamermaid

Thank you very much for the kind words. Steamboats appears to be the local running around the markets the most , but I am happy to read AnhalterER1960's comments from the East as well, hoping he is enjoying the local markets. Our "man on the Elbe" is the source of info on that river. Additionally this year we know of a couple doing a Christmas market cruise on the Elbe, so if they have time I am sure they will be happy to post about their experience. Go here to that thread and perhaps ask them later in the year: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2827573-the-elbe-river-2022-not-just-water-levels/page/3/#comment-64333335 All in all, I would tend to go for the Rhine or Danube over the Elbe for a winter cruise. Ending in Budapest sounds great. I cannot say much about the Rhine or the Danube from my own experience of markets - I tend to go to ones that are off the beaten track of river cruising, but enjoy Koblenz every year for an hour or two - so will leave suggestions to others. If I had the choice, I personally would try and get something on the Main but I reckon the choice for you is limited. I tend to steer towards a five night cruise rather than longer and add a couple of days before and/or after the cruise to have a more intensive experience of a port/area. If there is a river cruise with Viking for the Moselle and Rhine during Advent in 2024 I would consider that as well if I were you. If you have a bit of time with booking, have a read in the roll calls for this running season, perhaps people will comment on which markets are visited late in the day. No point being there at 11am when the market opens and yes, as my fellow Germans have pointed out, the opening times are important to check with Sunday of the Dead being the day of closure and a kind of "hinging day", i.e. orientation for first day of opening. As regards age and tradition of markets and the ambience, yes that varies a lot. For big tradition Nuremberg is a must-see, for atmosphere perhaps Strasbourg is even better - feel free to disagree anyone. Alsace is certainly an area with long Christmas traditions, the first Christmas market was held there in 1570, and Sélestat is "home of the Christmas tree". Have fun planning. notamermaid

I guess that was Interrail. Still available: https://www.interrail.eu/en notamermaid

@worldtraveller99 River cruise nearly here, finally, a long wait for you. Have a great time. For those interested in a more religious context of Christmas lights, this is the Moravian star: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_star There used to be a stall on Koblenz Christmas market at Jesuitenplatz. The website says there is a stall again this year but it does not give the precise location: https://www.herrnhuter-sterne.de/de/Messen-Weihnachtsmaerkte.html It is a copyright protected product. notamermaid

A catch-22 situation if ever there was one. Or as we say "Da beißt sich die Katze in den Schwanz". There the cat bites itself in the tail. Okay, you lot got me, I have looked up the score, 1 all now. Onto Bill Nighy - "I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes". And then - my favourite swearing in a film. notamermaid

Thank you for sharing all the photos of the markets. I have managed to visit two so far. Info on Andernach market coming tomorrow or Tuesday. So you went to the open day in Basel. Will there be any info on cruisetricks.de or are you sharing info via your own internet presence? Perhaps you could put info in here? https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2890402-open-days-companies-show-you-their-river-cruise-ships-and-their-offers/#comment-64304474 Would like to read more on the ships now that they are on the German market. A pity that they are not international (bilingual with English). notamermaid

Thank you for saying hello, happy to read you enjoy the thread. Not wanting to sound overly nerdy but it is up the Moselle. A pity you could not sail the Rhine all the way to Basel. Will you be doing this stretch this year or is it just a short bit on the Rhine? The water levels look to be really pleasant well into December, a bit on the low side for barges put no problem for river cruise ships. The Main will be okay then as well, with all the locks. Have you had a look at the thread on the Main? Some good info but not about the markets in there. I had the idea to put all the Christmas markets enthusiasm into one special thread and I am happy to see that it has proved popular. Fun to see all the photos. If you would like to send us a message from the Main especially do say hello in that thread. I have read myself that some markets will turn off the lights earlier than usual but it should not be too noticeable, like you say. I am wondering really if castles and other sights will have the spotlights turned off. A tourist sight near me (not a castle) has them off. That would be a pity as that is something you would notice seeing that it is dark by quarter to five in the afternoon. Enjoy your cruise. notamermaid

Well I shall put a hand over my mouth or bite my tongue - you know I did not want to say anything. With our boys I secretly hope it was the bad sushi - or the lamb in spices was old mutton... Busy day at work yesterday, we are still one person short in the team and had one person ill, too. Christmas market visit did not go quite as planned but I had really nice apple cake this afternoon. Dinner and then I shall grab the "Love Actually" DVD. Early night tonight as I have a busy day tomorrow and give three cheers not to football but to the plumber after he has repaired my leaking boiler hopefully by tomorrow evening. notamermaid

So Germany is playing Spain today. Oh well, this year - how can I say this without saying anything - I am not interested. I have almost completely stopped watching German news, German television and hardly read the papers. My favourite Google searches include local history, Rhine, ship, cruise and - that's about it. Yesterday I talked to young people standing out in the cold, okay, protected by the wooden walls of a hut, from a Christian parish offering books and giving me an invitation to a free concert of Christmas music. Really refreshing and uplifting. Have a great first Sunday of Advent. 🕯️ notamermaid

Happy Thanksgiving to you over there. I have of course no connection to that holiday but guess what I got into the Christmas holiday spirit! After glum days, last night my mood changed because I saw the announcement on the internet that the "Love Actually" people are doing an interview special as a twenty years celebratory thing. I was a bit slow to catch the Christmas market and Advent spirit but last night a big smile was put onto my face. Wish I could watch it on ABC. Streaming on another channel is probably not available to me either. But I have the trailer that I can watch again and again. notamermaid

@ural guy where did you take the photo of Saint Elizabeth of Thuringia, in the convent? The Opera House looks grand, a pity I did not have time to go in when I was there. notamermaid

Never heard of one, but like in the UK we have "forbidden zones" in Germany for army training. Perhaps the area is hiding in plain sight, in a building with number 51 on the door... Question is where. I would go for Lüneburg Heath. Talking of weird places. Switzerland has roadside villas that can kill an army. Behind the facade there are bunkers with weaponry in them. Read up on the "Toblerone LIne". Defenses built during WWII. Mauthausen. A brutal thing. I have no intention of ever going there. A pity is the fact that I can never see the town as a tourism place. I never knew a town actually existed until some years ago, for me since school it had always been "Lager Mauthausen". notamermaid

I imagine us all meeting up one day on a river cruise. You at the bar, us with drinks getting all engrossed in a current affairs conversation. Suddenly there is this quiet voice in the background from the man with towel in hand and mixing the cocktails saying "guys..." I had a teacher at school being very insistent on us learning all the European countries and their capitals. Unfortunately, a few countries got "rearranged and created" so by the time I went on my river cruise I had no idea about Slovakia and Bratislava being on the Danube. Kind of weird how much has changed in Europe in thirty years. Alsace as a region probably being even more complicated. Fun fact: there is a hotel in France and Switzerland. In the Jura mountains, right on the official border, it runs through the hotel itself. It is in La Cure. notamermaid

The MS Swiss Ruby is back on the Neckar! At least she will be in 2023, this time not chartered by Riviera Travel. The vessel has moved on and is in the fleet of Viva Cruises, next year sailing the Dutch and Northern German canals and rivers. But she will also be doing stretches on the Rhine mainly combining other rivers with it, like Rhine, Moselle and Saar for example. On the Neckar she will be sailing like this: https://www.viva-*****/en-us/cruiselisting?destinations=all&departures=all&dates=all&ships=MS SWISS RUBY&adults=2 It is Stuttgart to Saarbrücken and the reverse, in autumn and focusing on wine. The two directions differ in the ports and while both are great, I would recommend Stuttgart to Saarbrücken. notamermaid

The gentleman of the authorities talking in the video was really pleased with the rescue operation. He says that the captains communicated well and the river worked in their favour as well. Basically, the ship ended up docked where it had intended to - just eighteen hours later. So, to the good news and the new river cruising itinerary. notamermaid

Thank you for your detailed answer. That sounds great. I think I could not sail or be away from home over Christmas but New Year's Eve I would like to spend on a boat. notamermaid

The authorities stopped fully loaded ships for longer and I am not sure if they are back sailing yet. The ship was freed yesterday and traffic as such is running. It has been raining, nevetheless the river is a little on the low side. Essentially, the locks keep the navigation channel deeper than in some stretches of the Rhine that are free-flowing. The Neckar and with that the sections that are old branches are much cleaner now than they were in the 70's. Here is a video of the ship being freed and turned with the help of the river's flow: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/mannheim/schiff-blockiert-verkehr-auf-dem-neckar-bei-eberbach-100.html notamermaid

Thankfully not as long lasting. While the Neckar is a much smaller trading route than the Rhine, nevertheless some companies depend on the smooth running of shipping along the Neckar to the ports of the Rhine and to customers. Not sure how they could have possibly managed to put the thousands of tons of goods that were held up onto lorries at short notice. The lorries themselves are often the smaller problem the much bigger thing can be finding enough drivers. Salt - which the stranded ship carried - is a typical load on the Neckar, statistics say last year 18 percent of the freight transported was salt. The main goods are the sector of building materials and earths which made up 41 percent last year. Overall, 5.1 million tons of goods were shipped on the Neckar in 2021. notamermaid

A barge loaded with salt got stuck in the Neckar and the river was closed to traffic. Earlier today the ship was freed and others can now pass the spot but only sailing empty. The authorities want to check the riverbed with sonar imaging first but allowing traffic to fully resume. Here is an article with photo (and German audio): https://www.hessenschau.de/panorama/festgefahrenes-schiff-auf-neckar-bei-hirschhorn-befreit-v3,schiff-in-neckar-festgefahren-100.html No chance passing it with that angle towards the river. You can see that the river is so much narrower compared to the Rhine or Danube. The ship is only about 100m long. But for actual sailing of river cruise ships the width of the river is not the real problem, ships with a length of 110m and 11,40m are allowed on the Neckar. 11,40m is the standard maximum length of almost all river cruise ships in Western Europe. As mentioned before, the locks restrict the length more than the regulation of 110m does. But there is good news for international river cruisers as there is a new offer available. I will get to that shortly. notamermaid

Castles and palaces are such brilliant settings for markets. Hopefully I can get to one this year. Some markets are only at weekends so are not so easy to fit into a river cruise schedule. In the Rhine Gorge, a castle does such a weekend event. It is Burg Rheinstein: https://www.burg-rheinstein.de/en/ There are many others across Germany, Austria and I am sure other countries as well. Regensburg Schloß Thurn & Taxis is one you can reach on a river cruise easily and it is open all week. The Reichsburg in Cochem has its market from 10 to 12 December. I would love to see a moated castle, or Wasserschloß as the later and bigger version, in North Rhine-Westphalia. There are some really attractive ones. So far I have only been to one (private) winter event in a small one near Bonn. A great experience. As pontac has recently posted a fascinating review of their narrowboat trip, I was wondering @Canal archive have you ever read about or done a winter event trip on the canals in England? Perhaps a bit cold. Do people spend much time on the boats in winter other than the ones they live on them? There are some great markets now in England, I mean theoretically one could sail through the canals into Birmingham or Manchester to see the markets. notamermaid

Thank you. Never read about this. Of course, here in Germany the authorities grew very suspicious of British foreign nationals - among others - during WWI and WWII. But I have not looked into any stories, i.e. if people where detained or relocated. notamermaid