Rhine water levels 2019 and similar topics

[CharTrav]

Will follow as well. We are doing Viking Zurich to Paris this July. 

[notamermaid]

We have had a few rainy and stormy days making the small rivers swell and feeding the Rhine. The water levels are now above the mean. Forecasters tell us that pre-Spring days are on their way with cold temperatures at night, rising well during the day.

 

It is only around five weeks till the river cruising season on the Rhine starts in earnest, but a few short trips with German companies are available earlier, like themed dinner events (including one night on the ship) and trips to the Carnival in the Upper Rhine valley.

 

But I would like to take you quite to the other end of the river with this video of the windmills in the Netherlands. No, not Kinderdijk, but the mills used for grinding wheat into flour (video loads slowly): https://www.dw.com/en/european-traditions-the-millers-trade/av-44336756

 

notamermaid

 

[sbjornda]

I've seen a few news reports about heavy snowfall in parts of Europe, but do we know whether any of that has fallen in the headwaters of the Rhine? Would that help replenish some of what was lost in 2018?

 

Sterling

[notamermaid]

A good question, sbjornda. As the headwaters I would consider to be the Alpine Rhine region but I am not sure if the professional geographers see it thus. The Alpine Rhine has its own Wikipedia page, if you want to look it up, and as the name suggests is in the Alps with its mouth being Lake Constance. The height of Lake Constance is a good indicator of what the situation is like but I have not followed the news or water level pages recently. Replenishment always happens in winter and into early Spring and some will have happened for sure. Snowfall in January appears to have been less in the Swiss Alps than in the German and Austrian Alps but I cannot give any details.

 

It is still cold enough in the High Rhine and Alpine regions for the rain to come down as snow and will continue to do so. A warm spell is coming but that does not prevent Mother Nature from giving us snow even down into our warm valley at the end of March if she so wishes!

 

At this time of year the weather report can be so varied that only the other day a person very dear to me commented on the report "... so, everything apart from a volcanic eruption is possible. 😉"

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

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

[santoliston]

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 

[gnome12]

5 minutes ago, santoliston said:

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 

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

[santoliston]

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

[santoliston]

26 minutes ago, santoliston said:

Thank you, what is the name of that thread?

Tony

Found it, thanks again

[notamermaid]

On 2/22/2019 at 4:14 AM, santoliston said:

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 

Hello santoliston,

 

welcome to the river cruising board. And thank you for your kind words. May I recommend the stickies at the top of this board, compiled by our host jazzbeau and containing a wealth of information?

 

Amsterdam to Bucharest is a very long way along the rivers, I understand your excitement.

 

If you wish, have a look at the roll calls section where you might be able to join in with questions you might have on Uniworld Rhine or Danube itineraries, or perhaps someone even takes the full same route. It is rarer but who knows, someone might even be on the same trip.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

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

 

[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

 

 

 

[gnome12]

16 minutes ago, santoliston said:

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

 

It is not that river cruisers are less vocal; there are fewer of them. With a maximum of 200 passengers, and usually considerably fewer on lines besides Viking, the chances of finding someone on your sailing is slight. In addition, since excursions are included, it means that people don't need to organize private excursions, which is a major part of ocean cruise roll calls.

[Host Jazzbeau]

River cruisers are less vocal in one important way:  since almost all river cruises include a wide range of shore excursions, there is very little activity planning private excursions.  This, plus the small size of each sailing, explains why Roll Calls don't really work for river cruises.

[Pompein]

Perhaps instead of a specific date/ship, it might be just a thread with let’s say AMA Rhine cruises summer 2019, Viking Danube spring 2019, etc? Since ship/itineraries/ports mostly the same so those going could share tips and info etc before and after trip. 

[santoliston]

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

[notamermaid]

It is WARM! You might have heard this, we are still in that warm spell I mentioned a few days ago and the UK has got itself a new temperature record. It is warm here, as well, too warm for comfort almost, it sort of feels wrong...

https://www.dw.com/en/unseasonally-warm-weather-hits-europe-breaks-uk-records/a-47692298

 

Still, it is pleasant to be able to open windows without the heating system reacting immediately. And my neighbour's cats love it! They were having a nap in the still barren flower bed when I went into the yard.

 

Water levels: the river is lower than the mean, not low, fine for sailing. But, things can change...

 

I plan to post the first figures around middle of March and am happy to answer questions.

 

Please send in some tips, hints, whatever you think could be of interest along the Rhine to your fellow river cruising enthusiasts.

 

notamermaid

 

[OzNaiNai]

10 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Water levels: the river is lower than the mean, not low, fine for sailing. But, things can change...

 

I plan to post the first figures around middle of March and am happy to answer questions.

 

 

‘Thanks for keeping us informed. My Viking River Cruise departs Basel March 31, so will be anxiously awaiting your next post on water levels.

 

[Fourmiler]

Since we’ll be travelling the Rhine, Amsterdam to Basel, in August i decided to borrow a copy of the book The Rhine by Ben Coates from our local library.  He starts at the mouth and travels by bike, boat and foot all the way to its source at Lake Toma.  He throws in a lot of history, quite a bit of cultural observations and a bit of light humour.  The cover of the book describes it this way.  “From rowing the canals of Amsterdam to riding a cow through the Alps, via Cold War nuclear bunkers, raucous Gay Pride parades, tranquil Lake Constance and snowy mountain climbs, The Rhine blends travelogue and offbeat history to tell the fascinating story of how a great river shaped a continent.”  Not a bad read.

[hbgal]

Glad I found this roll call! Interesting posts. Thanks to all for the contributions.

 

We are sailing on 3/31 on AMASerena from Basel to Amsterdam. Our flight is to Zurich a few days early so we can spend 3 nights in Lucerne. Weather report says some rain & snow there. A bit different for a gal from the southern California beach area (although we are getting much more rain than normal). 

 

This is the only place I have found that addresses the current water levels on the Rhine. I am hoping we will have no interruptions. 

[OzNaiNai]

1 hour ago, hbgal said:

We are sailing on 3/31 on AMASerena from Basel to Amsterdam. Our flight is to Zurich a few days early so we can spend 3 nights in Lucerne. Weather report says some rain & snow there. A bit different for a gal from the southern California beach area (although we are getting much more rain than normal). 

 

This is the only place I have found that addresses the current water levels on the Rhine. I am hoping we will have no interruptions. 

 

We, (Dad & I) are sailing from Basel to Amsterdam at exactly the same time as you except on Viking Kara.

 

we are flying from Adelaide (Australia) to Milan 4 days early, then spending 2 days in Stresa & 2 days Basel before boarding Kara 31/3. Its 37c/100f here so will be quite a change of temp for us too. I purchased an umbrella & jacket for our trip as I own neither. I’ve never seen snow, so that would be exciting. I’m also anxiously watching the water levels.

[hbgal]

OzNaiNai,

 

Yes, I saw that you would be on the same route but on another cruise line. We have not been on Viking River but did take a Viking Ocean cruise last summer "Into the Midnight Sun", Norway, Scotland & England. We thought it was very good. 

 

With concern we saw a bit about the wildfires in Australia on the news last night. We have some empathy for the situation since California at times is plagued by wildfires. We have been fortunate that they are not in our immediate area but we have friends & relatives who have lost homes to wildfires. 

 

I remember the first time I saw snow as a teenager and the first time I was someplace while it was snowing when I was much older. We live near the ocean but the closest mountain with snow is only about a 2 hour drive away. You can surf in the ocean in the morning then be snow skiing in the afternoon on the same day. 

 

Safe travels! 

[OzNaiNai]

hbgal

this will be my first cruise of any type, except for overnight Ferry from mainland Australia to Tasmania. I’m lucky I don’t live in a bushfire area (I live near the beach). But like you have family members who have lost homes to Bushfires.

 

im looking forward to the trip but not the 28hr flight. Though we are lucky to have have only one stop for 2hrs in Dubai. we will be in the Netherlands at Tulip time. The day before our flight home from Schiphol, (13/4)  is Bollenstreek (the annual tulip parade)

[notamermaid]

20 hours ago, hbgal said:

This is the only place I have found that addresses the current water levels on the Rhine. I am hoping we will have no interruptions. 

 

Hello hbgal,

 

the language barrier might make it more difficult to find such sites, search engine algorithms could also play a part. I do not know of a purely English language site but there are some German ones that on subpages, I mean when you switch the language to English within the site, will show you levels with text in English. This does not only apply to the Rhine but also to other European rivers, in their respective languages. But more on that subject later in the month.

 

Meanwhile, weather. We are in the midst of "street Carnival", i.e. when much of the festivities is taken onto the street, fun laughter, dressing up, lots of alcohol and of course, parades with many floats and music bands, with gifts handed out (sometimes) and the throwing of "Kamelle", those are sweets, in many places. Unfortunately, the weather has changed and much of the Rhineland looks a bit more miserable than a few days ago, with grey skies and a bit of rain here and there. Storms with some rain are forecast for tomorrow which is not good for those massive floats. Safety issues, of course. I hope all will go well.

 

I have posted the Cologne Dom webcam earlier in the thread, here are two more webcams to show you the weather along the river: Mannheim https://www.mannheim.de/de/service-bieten/bunte-stadt/webcam

today (3 March) showing some fairground atractions (Carnival celebration) and

Koblenz https://www.bafg.de/php/deutsches-eck-gross.jpg

currently adorned in late winter grey

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Turbulent weather on the Rhine

 

We seem to be having April weather in March and are in the midst of a storm low. While it is still warm today a major drop is forecast for tomorrow with snow potentially even down in the valleys, at an altitude of only 50 to 80 metres above sea level! Yep, the weather is all over the place. The rain and snow is good though for further replenishing what water was lost in the far too dry autumn. No flooding here. Looking at the weather warning colours I am living close to a level 3 zone and will probably not go out this afternoon. At level 3 you are advised to be very careful as it entails being exposed to hurricane force winds. Secure outdoor structures, do not go into the forest, etc.

 

It is another one of those weather patterns when it sounds like "everything apart from a volcanic eruption is possible" as I jokingly replied earlier in the thread to sbjornda. Well, there is Maria Laach and its lake...

We have (unfelt by humans) earthquakes on a regular basis and the lake bubbles: Volcano in Germany recharging with new magma

 

If you want to see the lake and monastery you can get to it from the ports Koblenz, Engers and Andernach. Andernach is the closest and even has a bus route that has a stop near the lake. Avalon had an optional excursion there a couple of years ago. I do not know if they still offer this.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by notamermaid
Wrong word