nickbevoz

Just found this is our papers from a previous Rhine cruise - posting in case others might find it useful.

58 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Okay, just to clarify this. The river is still in the low to medium range. But even if their was no rain coming we would not get back to the abysmally low levels we had two weeks ago. According to the forecast at Maxau that is. As far as I can see there is no blockage, but slow traffic due to traffic jams at locks perhaps, "catching-up traffic", getting ships where companies want them to be. Barges and tankers are not loading full yet. BASF is not on full production yet, as of yesterday. But for us river cruisers it does look good.

 

Swapping ships at Rüdesheim shows that the Rhine gorge is free, as you cannot logistically make a ship swap work at that point with another point further upstream like Mannheim when the passage is blocked. The usual swapping points are Koblenz and Rüdesheim, with other ports nearby stepping in if necessary. If you want to know exactly I would clarify with Ama why they are swapping, "the river is too low" sounds a bit weird, does not explain it.

 

Onto Ludwigshafen. That is an odd case which I mentioned to an acquaintance, a hydrology engineer. We both do not understand what they have done there. Ludwigshafen inaugurated a new landing stage at the shopping center in April of this year. In Summer I read a report that the steel construction/landing stage was not useable because of lack of depth in the river. Apparently the landing stage has not been used during the low water period. It sounds as if it is not equipped for low water at all. Here is a partly blocked article from the first docking in April: https://www.morgenweb.de/mannheimer-morgen_artikel,-ludwigshafen-erstes-schiff-legt-am-steiger-bei-der-rhein-galerie-an-_arid,1226896.html

 

That is probably, hbr777, why you moved to the other side of the river. Mannheim I guess? In the newspaper article a spokesperson for Mannheim harbour said that the authorities have already had enquiries from river cruise companies to move back to Mannheim in their schedule, away from Ludwigshafen. No wonder, if Ludwigshafen is not useable.

 

While a bit much in detail, I hope this post helps to calm your nerves, nstarrenburg.

 

And if any of you have not had enough tips for Christmas markets yet, river cruise or land tour, here is an article by Condé Nast Traveler: https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/the-best-christmas-markets-in-germany

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank  you mein Herr.... 🙂🙂

seriously though, I really do appreciate your local knowledge and wisdom.  You deserve a medal.

4 hours ago, hbr777 said:

AmaStella to AmaKristina ship swap today. Stella is in Ludwigshafen and the Kristina in Rudesheim. Sorry if these are misspelled. Water is still too low to pass. We had to change from one side of the river to the other while docked yesterday because of low water. Trying to make sense of that one. For those who have been here, we switched from the side of the river where the shopping center is, to the other.

 

Bags need to outside our doors at 7 am. We leave at 8:30 am for a two hour bus ride where the excursions start immediately. We get to the Kristina around 1:30 and immediately sail for the gorge. Arriving tonight in Koln.

 

 

That seems very strange.

all the river levels are now green which I assume means they allow traffic to proceed.

also, as per the attached, the AmaPrima has just sailed through that very section as it has travelled upriver and did not seem to have any problems.

the image attached shows the most recent path (viewing from left to right) for the AmaStella, the AmaKristina and the AmaPrima.  I had understood the reason for the ship swap was to allow the two ships to then backtrack and be where they should be for the next sailings.

now you have me worried.  If there is still a “blockage” how will it be in 10 days when we set sail.  Just what I need, something new to worry about.  🙂🙂🙂

Question to the local German posters...

how critical is the river level at Strasbourg?  I ask as I notice it is the one marker that seems to be fluctuating between green and orange.

i has assumed that it was the Rhine Gorge that was the bottleneck before the rain came.  That area seems ok now though.

The level at Kehl-Kronenhof (at Strasbourg) seems to be a bit fickle.  Is it potentially a bottleneck if it does not get more rain or is the chart not as concerning as it may seem?

Thanks....

I noticed the level at Strasbourg seems to have fallen back into the Orange Mode of (presumably) lower than preferred.

is this potentially problematic over the next week or so?

5 minutes ago, Fourmiler said:

Oh, I thought notamermaid was female, if you’re referring to her!

I think I saw reference to him being a man - hope I was correct. 🙂

Worth sharing...

http://starrenburgholiday2018again.blogspot.com/2018/12/rain-on-rhine.html?

5 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

Thank YOU for all of your help!

To notamermaid.

Amen to the above.  You have been a true help to all of us - both for your detail and updates but also for the personal care in your posts and local knowledge.

Thank you!

11 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Thank you Mark.

 

And while I am here, I will squeeze in a short update in-between household jobs. Maxau has now got its guaranteed navigation channel depth of 210cm again. Several other gauging station indicate that the respective stretches of river have also gained quite a bit of depth. Kaub is well on the way to reaching its depth of 190cm, perhaps in the early hours of the morning, being currently at a depth of 180cm. The gauge is running ahead of its forecast currently showing a few centimetres more than was forecast for late afternoon.

 

Managed to have a quick look at Niehl harbour and did not see the SS Antoinette on marinetraffic. I tracked her then and found out that she has "sneaked out" while I haven't been watching and is already past Bonn, well on her way to reaching Koblenz during the night. Will she continue into the gorge or rest overnight in Koblenz? I am getting excited about this!

 

You lot on the other side of the big pond can follow her on her journey during the night. I shall rest and hope to read more good news over breakfast.

 

Byeee for now.

 

notamermaid

 

Did this screen cap at 2:36 pm in Australia which is 5:46 am in Germany.  The SS Antoinette is at Boppard and that seems an encouraging site.

The AmaPrima is on its way as well heading toward Basel and is now at Neuweid, just before Koblenz.

5 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

Nick, THANK YOU! The level at Kaubis promising! Koblenz also looks good, or at least better. Where did you find that info? Mine is always displayed as a map, but yours looks so much better. Thank you, again, this is very helpful!

This was the link...

https://www.pegelonline.wsv.de/gast/start#locations?w=RHEIN

52 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

Can someone post the river levels at the gorge? Pegelonline is loading weirdly here in Switzerland!

Does this help?

50 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

Can someone post the river levels at the gorge? Pegelonline is loading weirdly here in Switzerland!

What is the link?

i can try and load here but I don’t know the site.

Just playing around with the iPhone screen record - a short video of the predicted rain for the next week.

The forecast for the next 8 days.  Friday to Monday on the top row and Tuesday to Friday next week on the bottom row.

Please let it be.

any informed views on what change this may make?

https://www.wetteronline.de/regen-karte?fcdatstr=20181105

58 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

 

Naa, not a pain at all!

 

My kitchen boiler (water heater) is a pain. It has lost its ability to switch itself off. A couple of weeks ago I turned it on, only to find the sink area covered in steam with the machine boiling the water as if it wanted to drive a steam engine. Had to disconnect it from the electricity supply immediately. I can turn it on but have to time it with an egg timer so I do not scold my hands while doing the washing up. First world problem, but it is a pain.

 

My regards to the North East of England by the way. Not sure where you are but North of England puts you in sort of vicinity of Newcastle. I was pleasantly surprised by the city on my recent (first) visit. My plan is to make it further North into Northumberland soon. To see some really splendid castles of course.

 

Talking of castles. I have mentioned before that the Upper Middle Rhine valley is the famous castle stretch on the Rhine but the castles (and palaces) continue to a lesser degree right down to Bonn. It has been a while since I posted this overview so here goes again: https://www.romantischer-rhein.de/en/what-to-see-and-do/culture/castles/map-overview-castles/

 

Unfortunately the map leaves out the Petersberg at Bonn. This is where the politicians where taken to on state visits when Bonn was the capital of Germany. Here it is: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petersberg_(Siebengebirge)

The English version is unfortunately very short.

The Petersberg is part of the Seven Mountains range: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siebengebirge

It includes the famous Drachenfels, which George Lord Byron immortalised in the verses "The castled crag of Drachenfels".

 

notamermaid

 

Thanks for the link.

at the risk of being a “name dropper” the Sterrenberg castle is named after our ancestral links.  My family is from the Netherlands and we can trace our direct descendants back to Japik Starrenburgh who was born about 1690.  There is, annecdotally, a link across about 3 generations to the Sterrenberg line in Germany but we just can’t verify the connection.

we have spotted the castle on previous cruises and it is always a bit of fun to point it out as we sail past.

hopefully, we will get to see it this trip as well.

For what it is worth, attached is a collage of the predicted rain over the next 8 days from the German web site.  It is Monday to Thursday on the top row and Friday to Monday below.

obviously only a prediction and they do change...

what the effect will be I leave to others but it does look better than recent weeks.

1 hour ago, luv2travelandcruise said:

Can anyone help me out? I'm supposed to leaving on the Monday, 11/26, AMAStella from Basel to Amsterdam. It looks like we will be transported from Strasburg to Antwerp. This is disappointing but what can you do.  I'm wondering where we would cruise to get to Amsterdam and will we probably have hotel nights? Thanks!

This might help.

https://www.amawaterways.com/my-trip/cruise-updates/app/AI181126ASXR

my understanding is that there are no hotel nights.

18 minutes ago, hbr777 said:

Yup. That's what I sent. I just resent it. Let me know if you don't get it.

Nothing yet....

I did get one from Jane S sailing on 8 December but I assume that is not you.

nick

3 hours ago, hbr777 said:

I sent you an email.

Has not arrived yet....

send it to the following?

nbstarrenburg

AT

gmail.com

5 hours ago, hbr777 said:

Letter from AmaWaterways about our 12/3 sailing Basel to Amsterdam. Option B is essentially a bus tour through the low countries. I'm hoping it doesn't come to that. From an email, Ama said some of that might be on a train.

 

hbr777

Thanks for posting....

We are doing the exact same cruise two weeks after you.

i would love to contact you directly so we could get info and tips as you take the trip we will be doing.  It seems the private message option is not working here.  If you are ok to do so, my email is....

my username - add a “b” between the first “n” and “s” @gmail.com

2 hours ago, DickieD said:

We were booked on a Grand Circle Travel B to A cruise commencing Dec 17 which was cancelled yesterday. We were given two options: (1) a cruise this December on the Seine, which was almost fully booked, and a $500 credit for future cruise or (2) full refund and a $500 future cruise credit. Although disappointed about missing the scheduled Christmas Market Rhine River Cruise I fell GCT was up front and very fair.

 

We have already booked a Panama Canal Holiday Cruise from Fort Lauderdale to San Diego commencing Dec 18 for 16 days. Not as exciting as our original plans, but a good alternative. 

 

We’ll rebook the Rhine Christmas Cruise for 2019.

In the circumstances a good offer and, importantly, a timely notice period.

From the FB page of the person currently doing the Basel to Amsterdam cruise on AMA.

Attached is an interesting text exchange I just had with a passenger doing the AMA cruise from Basel to Amsterdam.  

I had posted a “praying for rain” comment on the AMA Facebook page as I follow them and there was a generic “sail the Rhine with us” post made by them.  AMA Then responded with a benign “see you onboard” comment and no mention of the water levels.

I was a little surprised to then get a response from an actual passenger telling me what is actually happening.  The situation is that the ship goes from Basel to Strasbourg and stays there for three days and you do daily bus tours.  Then you do a 6-7 hour bus trip to Antwerp for a ship change and sail up to Amsterdam.

hmmmmm

the Rhine cruise suddenly is no longer a Rhine cruise.

The current (stress on current) prediction here is seemingly showing good rain next Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

No idea of even that would be sufficient to make much of a difference but we can only be ever hopeful....

https://www.wetteronline.de/regen-karte?fcdatstr=20181105

1 hour ago, Hoyas96 said:

I'm scheduled to embark AmaKristina on 11/26 in Amsterdam headed to Basel.  I received the attached update from AMA today.  It's not super clear what this will mean for the itinerary / ports of call in between the cities mentioned, especially for scenario B.  Fingers crossed for scenario A.  No matter what happens, I'll be happy to escape the smoky air in CA and breathe some fresh air in Europe!

Thanks so much for giving this update.  It is really good to get a sense of the detail of the plans and, as well, how effectively the actual process is.

The option A does not look too drastic given the low water levels.

The Option B is a big change as the distance from Antwerp to Strasbourg is almost 500 km (over 300 miles) and that cuts out a huge chunk of the cruise itself.

We are booked on the Amakristina from Basel to Amsterdam on 17 December and, to date, have heard nothing at all of substance from our TA or AMA despite having written to both.  The message has been “nothing to see here”.

has there been any reference to allowing you to cancel and get a refund or to transfer a credit to a future cruise?

best of luck....