santoliston

Hopefully, booked with Celebrity for Hong Kong to Singapore in January

Tony

2 hours ago, UB & AS said:

Looking forward to our first European river cruise. It will be the best of times. It will be the wurst of times.

 

Bill and Sandy

Will be visiting Vancouver Isle at end of June. Any places you recommend not to miss?

Thank You

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Spring is here, on the calendar and in the air! It is already sunny in my part of the valley at 10am, the daffodils are in full bloom in my backyard and more importantly for you all the river levels have gone down.

 

All German gauging stations report falling levels and traffic is returning to normal. Gauges have markers called M_I, from that figure and above ships have to slow down and sail close to the middle of the river. Quite a task in this heavy traffic! The Rhine is a very busy waterway.... The other day a barge scraped another barge because of a dead spot on its radar apparently. Happened near Rüdesheim. A minor incident, thankfully. But as I indicated, levels are below these markers.

 

There is much activity to be seen on marinetraffic.com Last night the Viking Idi turned into the Moselle for her first itinerary from Trier. I have caught a live glimpse of a couple of other ships of other companies and of course several "babies" have been christened.

 

Yesterday was International Happiness Day and the regional news was about to give suggestions for smiling and being a little happier, but I immediately thought I do not need those, I just think of the neighbour's cats. Daffodils and (later in the season) English bluebells work, as well. Or the new river cruising season starting and all those people enjoying themselves seeing the beautiful rivers.

 

I hope you all also find a reason to smile and make you happy every day.

 

Safe travels.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your very uplifting post. It is good to see someone with an optimistic outlook.

Thanks for all the feedback. Only 130 pax on this cruise so that would explain a lot. Still hoping to make some connection before we sail.

santoliston

32 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

We are certainly getting closer to Carnival, with regional television showing highlights of last year, broadcasting a bit of new stuff and advertising their upcoming broadcasts. Today, I saw an old tractor of the type that often pull floats in the parades... They are not normally used for farm work, oh no, far too precious, they are "Liebhaberstücke" (collector's items). In this case I prefer the German term as it sort of contains the idea of "holding dear".

 

Not as famous as its huge neighbour but certainly appreciated by many is the Carnival in Bonn. But, fear not, I will not link you to the Carnival festivities in that city! Instead, here is a short drone flight over the old town hall: https://www.dw.com/en/dailydrone-old-town-hall-bonn/av-47530448

 

Quite close to the old town hall is the birthplace of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. If you happen to be visiting Bonn this year or are planning to, make to sure to remember that the said Beethoven House is closed for renovation: https://www.dw.com/en/beethoven-house-closes-ahead-of-composers-anniversary-year/a-47636873

 

notamermaid

 

Thank you for the kind welcome and the beautiful video of Bonn. Have been to Gernay before but unfortunately have missed Bonn. Must add it to our next visit.

Have viewed the many and very informative words of Jazzbeau. Have cruised with him before but not actually met him before.

I did open a thread for our Uniworld cruise but with very limited participation so far.

Have been told that riverboat cruisers are not quite as vocal as those on Ocean liners. I have been able to obtain a lot of tips by hopping around similar cruises which are very helpful. Although we have done many ocean cruises, this is our first by riverboat.

looking forward to chatting further

santoliston

26 minutes ago, santoliston said:

Thank you, what is the name of that thread?

Tony

Found it, thanks again

2 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

There is also a thread for Danube water levels 2019...

Thank you, what is the name of that thread?

Tony

On 2/19/2019 at 9:38 AM, notamermaid said:

It is quiet on the Rhine - oh, apart from a couple of incidents, like a WWII bomb in Cologne - and we are enjoying a spell of warm weather. Temperatures rise well into the double digits in the afternoons and I saw the first couple walking leisurely through my street eating ice-cream and wearing sunglasses.  It is all very pleasant, but before the river cruising season starts, we first have to put that "dreaded" event Rhenish Carnival behind us, a time when seemingly all good manners and quiet demeanour are thrown overboard and with it the regular order of things...

 

"ooorder!" rings in my ears quite a lot these days as Brexit looms and Mr. Speaker's call for order in the House of Commons appears on television more often than it used to - or is it just that I watch this more than I used to?

 

Whichever it is, order is important and if you go by what people say about us, Germans find it more important than others. Deutsche Welle explores the phenomenon: https://www.dw.com/en/just-how-orderly-are-the-germans/av-47483056

 

Let me assure you - the last float in the parade is the rubbish truck.

 

notamermaid

Accidentally found this board, heaven sent. Will be doing Uniworld, 1 May to 25 May, Amsterdam to Bucharest and we are soooo looking forward to it.

Notamermaid, thank you for your very insightful notes. Makes me feel much better.

Tony 

If you can drill down on the Day to Day Itinerary to see the excursions this is perfectly acceptable for pre planning purposes.

 

You can print them if you want a hard copy.

Not sure what all the fuss is all about. Booked the 1 May 2019, Amsterdam to Bucharest and all the excursion details are available in the Already Booked, Day to Day section.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Help!!! I'm looking for a recent email address for the Hilton Moorea. I need to contact them to request a specific bungalow but I'm not having much success with the email addresses I've used to this point. Rose Richmond bounces back to me as undeliverable and no response from rooms.mgr .............any suggestions?

 

Many thanks

Go to their web site.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I don't know about Moondance but I booked on Carnival Fascination for this year only because I wanted to go back to Barbados for Calabaza again. Best excursion I've been on ever. If there are 9 of you plus just 2 or 3 others it will be just like a private excursion. I can't imagine a couple of people being an issue.

Calabaza has only two boats. Need to book early with that many people in your group.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Today, My TA sent a note that Viking was offering 2-for-1 cruises.

 

How many years has Viking been doing this?

 

After all this time, it seems to be their regular price.

 

Would this be considered false advertising?

Absolutely, they have been doing that for a long time. Also,dump yourTA.

Sent from my iPad using Forums