Bellago

Oh my! Bombs! Glad they are taking precautions, but hard on the residents I am sure.

Thank you, this is helpful

Thanks Notamermaid. Our cruise on the Rhine is just three and a half weeks away. Nice to know the river is cooperating. I have been checking Accuweather and it seems the temperatures will be significant lower than August. Am I reading that correctly? Again thanks for you watching out for us from over the pond who do not know what Father Rhine is doing.

Thanks notamermaid. I realized that Amadeus is not mentioned much on this forum, but it was worth a try. I am researching in other ways and had seen the cable car to fortress in Koblenz and we are planning to do that. We are also taking the ships excursion in Cochem as it does get us to the castle with an English guide. We dock in Mannheim for the excursion to Heidelberg and are hoping we can stay are roam the town and have supper. If there is not a later cruise shuttle I am wondering about taxi back. There are 4 of us who would be splitting the fare.

Thank you Notamermaid,

We leave September 16 from Basel to Amsterdam on Amadeus Silver II. I have been watching this thread closely. I hope the water level holds till then. I have not yet told my cruise companions of the possibility of disruptions. I just hope if the levels do drop that Amadeus does a good job of alternate plans unlike some of the horror stories I have read on this site.

I would like to hear from folks who have done the Classical Rhine on Amadeus starting in Basel and ending in Amsterdam. We plan to take the North Holland Excursion with canal cruise. Amadeus says we will return to the rivership at 6:30. If you took that excursion is this accurate? Some of us would like to visit the Van Gogh museum that is open late on Friday but it is best to get timed tickets in advance.

I would also love to hear any other advice you have for any of the pots of call. We are taking some but not all of the excursions.

We are booked in September on Amadeus Silver II and I was loving everything you said till the part about water and fixed seating. We like wine with dinner so the alcohol is not an issue. Also there are 4 of us, so we will have fun even if the others are bores but I am going to assume that they will be adventurous like us. We'll just have to hydrate well at meals to reduce water cost.

So from looking at the posts during June and July where there was concern over ships not being able to navigate, we should recognize that might happen then put it out of our minds for now and plan for a wonderful journey.

I have not visited this thread for several months as we cruise the Rhine, Basel to Amsterdam, in September. As this is my first river cruise what I wonder is do water levels tend to rise as we get into September? We are sailing on Amadeus Silver II September 16, 2017.

Thanks everyone. I think I have a good idea of what layers to bring. I am hoping my light weight merino wool cardigan over a long sleeved shirt under my raincoat with long pants and silky long underwear if needed will take care of the coldest weather. Short sleeved shirt with capri pants for the warmest days. A long skirt and a mix of long, 3/4 and short sleeved tops and maybe one more pair of long pants should do it.

cbelc, having been to Alaska in July you have it covered. When the sun came out it was warm and lovely. It rained a lot, and on the water it was cold.

While I know that weather varies from year to year I am beginning to think about packing for our cruise, Basel to Amsterdam, the third week in September. What I read is low 70's daytime, upper 50's at night.

I like to pack light and usually plan on layers. I will bring (and wear on the plane) a tailored black raincoat that does not have a warm zip-in lining. What sort of sweater or jacket will I need for on-deck in the evening and early mornings?

For day-time on deck or on excursions will I want mostly short sleeved shirts? Will I want to have shorts?

Any advice from women who have sailed the Rhine this time of year is welcome.

Thanks to all for input. We are 4, so with luggage hard to fit in a regular cab. Swiss Taxi is who we are going with and while more than a taxi it is not more than two taxis which we would need. I'll let you know in September when we get back.

Thanks, especially for the tip to call hotel. Not sure what we will be doing about cell. 2 of us have iphones but not sure about international coverage for my friend. I can't get it with my service.

Thanks Mark T. I have not asked my TA and after reading the post about Backwater being arranged by a TA and they are more expensive than the ones I have found online I want to arrange myself. I am used to independent travel. Was just hoping someone had experience.

My group of 4, 3 in 70's and 1 94 year old are flying into Euro airport Basel and have a hotel for the night before embarking on Amadeus Rhine cruise. We booked hotel through TA not Amadeus. Has anyone had experience with private "meet and greet" taxi service for a flat fee. I have found several on line but would love to hear from someone with experience with one.

My group is embarking from Basel in September for a Rhine cruise. We are 3 in our 70"s and one 94 yo. spry youngster. Even though we are just going to our hotel in Basel I like the idea of being met with a driver and vehicle to accommodate the four of us. A Google search turns up many firms, but many seem to be like Backstage, a referral service. Has anyone had experience with a local firm? I would prefer that. A few months ago I found one, taxibaselairport.com, but now my virus protection says the site is corrupted and I did not write down the phone number.

This is our first river cruise and I am aware of the timed yet chaotic disembarking at cruise end on ocean cruises. Since this is a much smaller vessel with less than 200 travelers and the fact that we will have docked the afternoon before, can we pretty much leave when we are ready? All the info says is "after breakfast." We only have one day (and the previous afternoon and evening) in Amsterdam before our flight home and we want to make the most of it. The Rijksmuseum opens at 9 and we would like to get there as close to then as possible. We will need a taxi to our hotel to leave bags and then the tram to the museum all of which will take about an hour. I am just hoping we don't have to do a lot of "hurry-up and wait" that I remember on my last ocean cruise.

It is an 8-day Rhine cruise that begins in Basel. We are 4 friends and so looking forward to this trip.