daveil

Just got home from our Viking cruise on the Rhine with a pre cruise stay in Lake Como and a post cruise stay in Amsterdam and have to say it was the best vacation we've ever taken.  The only disappointment was that we couldn't visit Colmar on our day there as it was the day the Tour de France race came thru and Viking cancelled the excursions.  They added a no charge excursion to Freiburg as a substitute. 

We visited Cologne the day after the fireworks so we only saw the litter left by the celebration. It only really rained on one afternoon but it was cool and cloudy most of the cruise. 

Now we have to start thinking about taking another river cruise next year. :-)

Notamermaid,

Glad to hear the Rhine levels are good and hopefully all the random minor accidents have occurred for the next couple of weeks.  We head out tomorrow for a pre-cruise stay in Como and board our ship in Basel next Tuesday.  While I'm happy that the forecast includes some rain to keep the water levels up, I just hope they don't dampen our shore excursions too much.  We've had enough hot and rainy weather in Chicago lately that I'm not really looking for more.

daveil

Thanks CharTrav!  Locks always fascinate me.

daveil

Notamermaid,

Hope you can stay cool.  Is the temperature forecast to be lower next week on the Rhine?  We embark in Basel on the 9th.

daveil

Thanks Notamermaid for the detailed explanation of the differences between the two rivers and their sources.  I hope you take your own advice in your earlier message for this week and go to a lounge and sip a beer to beat the heat.

One other question I have on the Rhine.  Is their a map that shows where the locks are between Basel and Amsterdam?

Daveil

Notamermaid,

Based on your posts, I have been watching the water levels on the BfG website.  While the Rhine gauges are all in the green, there are many gauges on the Elbe that are orange, below the minimums.  Is this a typical difference between the two rivers?

23 hours ago, gnome12 said:

I don't think daveil said it translated "well", just that it translated. I have had some really good translations, and some that I couldn't decipher at all. 😉

gnome12 is correct.  While the Google German to English translation is decipherable, it's about what you'd expect to hear from someone speaking in their 2nd or 3rd language, not their primary language.

daveil

notamermaid,

Thanks for the interesting cultural information on the museum.  Note that Google quickly translates the special exhibition web page into English.

daveil

Notamermaid,

Sounds like our Viking cruise in the second week of July should be OK unless some remarkable change in the Rhine drives the Kaub depth below 100 cm.  What were the levels at Maxau, Kaub and Koblenz last August that cancelled trips or changed them into shuttle bus runs between ships?

On Google, I found an image of the Mittlere Brücke, or Middle Bridge in Basel showing it in 2013 with "high flood waters".  I'd assume that bridge was used because it most clearly showed how high the waters were, implying it probably has the least clearance for river traffic.

30 days before our cruise and I hope the Rhine water levels and weather forecast will be good!  Would rather not deal with mosquito's as they've been a pest here in the Chicago area the last few days after all the Spring rain we've had.

Notamermaid,

What is the European press reporting on the collision on the Danube?  It would seem to me that common sense has the Viking cruise ship (3 to 4 times bigger than the tour boat) having the nautical right of way on the river given the smaller ship's greater maneuverability.  The initial report I read had the tour boat turning in front of the Viking ship but now they've detained the Viking Captain.

Notamermaid,

We're scheduled to cruise the Rhine in early July and given what I read about last year's drought's impact on the river cruises turning them into bus tours, I've been faithfully following this board.  Thanks for your continuing monitoring of the river conditions and hopefully the water levels will be good for us in July.