River Cruisers: How Are Things Where YOU Are?

[notamermaid]

Another sunset over the Rhine river with knowing that tomorrow's dawn will bring more cases of covid-19 and no good news - or buried deep among the bad news under heaps of paper or at the end of the scrolled page. In Germany as elsewhere the cases are rising, today saw another "highest since ...". Places of note for river cruisers in Germany that have new restrictions due to hitting the 50 incidence rate are currently only parts of Berlin (they now have a partial curfew), but Frankfurt, Offenbach (near Frankfurt), Duisburg and Cologne are close. Seeing the word "abgesagt" (cancelled) in the headline of yet another event near were I live is increasingly getting me down. So I thought to myself "Remember our purpose" is what cruisecritic says, a haven for cruise enthusiasts. Time to beat frustration and boredom in the absence of river cruising (I could sail but would I honestly want to sit on a train to Passau or visit Cologne in these times??) I have decided to play a photo quiz with you, kind of guess the river and place game. I am working on the rules at the moment, hoping that cruisecritic finds it okay and you will join me. Separate thread, I thought. Loved making plans for Würzburg, so while we wait for long holidays and river cruises we can have a fun game, right?

 

Take care.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Brilliant idea, also Wurzburg.
As a family we WhatsApp each week and include a challenge, sometimes it’s a bit difficult with a very clever 8 year old involved, quite embarrassing at times. He guessed my replacement knee immediately. Hope it works CA

[TheKingD]

Notamermaid, I like the idea of a quiz game too.  Some of the other message boards on CC have occasional games that are mostly spontaneous and it is fun and it certainly takes our minds off gloomy news!  I have made some new friends on those boards, but you are the only one who has invited us to Würzburg!

[Ritabob]

Let the Games Begin!

Stay negative, stay positive!

 

But please do not make us name all the swans and ducks that have paddled by our cabin windows.  😊

[Canal archive]

That’s as bad as what caused the Titanic to sink followed by now name the crew! CA

[notamermaid]

Nah, nah, not that difficult. Actually, you will decide how difficult it is going to be. I just suggest the basic rules. And start off the game. In the meantime, I have been busy with family stuff and will try to get the game going before weekend work. Well, what is left of it. Funny how one does not want to go to a busy work day and then when it is cancelled one is sad about it, I mean me. I suppose it is the wider implications and the prospect of this continuing into winter.

 

Meanwhile doom and gloom might descend over one's soul when seeing that Europe is going downhill and Germany among it, but not all is bad. The situation is ever changing and Iceland is actually doing better than last week. The region Grand-Est in France is still holding up and river cruise ships are still sailing on the Rhine. No stopping us Germans from sailing through our own country. Life is so regulated in those settings that one can reasonably assume one is safer on a ship than on land. Not sure what they are going to do about all the hot spots and excursions, though.

 

If you would like to follow the situation in Europe, here is the EU/ECDC website: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/cases-2019-ncov-eueea

From there you get to the dashboard: https://qap.ecdc.europa.eu/public/extensions/COVID-19/COVID-19.html#global-overview-tab

 

But to end on a good note. The Christmas biscuits are already in the supermarkets. My local bookshop is in the middle of changing the display tiers to winter reading suggestions and advent calendars. My neighbour's tomcat is producing Autumn fur and in another month he will be his in his winter fur. Just the thought of stroking him and holding him on my arm makes me happy. As fluffy as a soft pillow and even warmer!

 

notamermaid

 

[TheKingD]

Notamermaid, we very much look forward to seeing your posts in the message board.  Thank you for your pleasant messages, even with the gloom and doom, and stay kind.

 

All our best,

Cindy & John

[gnome12]

In Ontario, Canada, Toronto, Ottawa, and Peel region (an area just east of Toronto have gone to a modified level 2 due to rising infections. (Almost 1000 infections today in a province of 14.5 million.) No indoor dining or drinking. Indoor gyms and fitness centres, cinemas, casinos and some exhibits at museums zoos etc are closed. Indoor limits at organized venues reduced to 10 (same as they already reduced informal gatherings) and 25 outdoors. These new restrictions last for at least 28 days. We have Thanksgiving on Monday and are being told to only get together with the people we live with. Here in Toronto we are being told to only go out for essential purposes, even though stores are open.


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[notamermaid]

@gnome12, that sounds tough. Not good at all, Canada had been doing well. Here we are struggling with rising numbers, mainly in the large cities. As of this morning, 30 communities and cities are over the incidence rate of 50. Many more are between 35 and 50, i.e. need to be extra vigilant.

 

Our health minister Jens Spahn said a vaccine looks promising to be available to the general public in the first quarter of 2021, stressing it will be voluntary and prioritized, meaning offered to specific groups first.

 

By the way, I was the contact of a contact of a positive person two weeks ago. All is fine, the chain of infection was broken. My contact assured me of social distancing and mask wearing. He tested negative, so the measures in that setting seem to have worked.

 

I have read a lovely story this morning: a Japanese tourist wanted to visit Machu Picchu in March. The place was closed down just before and the young man has been stranded in the country close to the site since. The authorities have now allowed him to visit as the only person. He is a very happy man!

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

Good news coming from Australia, I read. The restrictions have been tough, but appear to have worked.

 

Germany is doing a huge amount of testing, that is why our positives are showing so much. The positivity rate is not that high then yet it seems, but I have no figures. Perhaps that is why the UK has not taken us off the travel corridor list. I am still thinking of going to England, I just refuse to give up hope. The fact that we have so many cases is worrying for the Winter though. "Mutti" Angela Merkel is worried. These are crucial days that decide on how we can celebrate Christmas, she says. All the tests require a huge number of people to follow them up with tracing, so thousands of new tracers will be recruited soon. The military is already helping.

 

Stay safe.

 

notamermaid

 

[AnhaltER1960]

The figures here in Germany keep rising and rising. Corona cases pop up all over the place and meat factories, party people, travellers or turkish wedding ceremonies are not the only sources of infections. In fact the rural areas now top the statistics. Places like Delmenhorst and Cloppenburg in the lower saxon flatlands, which are as far away from a party scene as Utah is from CSD parades, have -per capita- more infections than Berlin or Hamburg. Noone really knows why. Today Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps hit the jackpot with more than 250 infections per 100.000 ppl in 7 days (action threshold is 50).

 

Politicians in Germany keep assuring that they do not want (and cannot afford) a second lockdown. However, if empty shelves in the toilet paper section of the supermarkets are an indicator, people dont seem to believe that. These shelves again look like as they did in March/April.

[Daisi]

I've never understood the hoarding of toilet paper.  It's the same here, with supplies in most stores limited to 1/person.  We are lucky enough to travel into a city where there is a bulk store, and can buy in large quanties so we don't run out....feel really bad for those who paid inflated prices for a necessity.

 

They are talking about adding Eastern Ontario into the partial roll back that is being "enjoyed" by the larger cities.  I hope they don't, as I hear the restaurants etc in the cities are being hurt badly now that it's to cold for patio season.  At least our restaurants can have indoor dining, not that I really feel comfortable.  There are a lot of take outs though, so it is helping out a bit.

[notamermaid]

@AnhaltER1960 good to hear from you. Hope you are well. Yes, Berchtesgaden has a real problem. The toilet paper thing is ominous. And I am anticipating things to get worse as well. Rhineland-Palatinate is holding up for now. But I know that the test and trace system can struggle here quickly too. Especially when people are not cooperating. Sadly, contact tracers have had to endure abuse over the phone. Private gatherings are indeed a problem.

 

Reminiscing today about my Summer holiday this year - a massively long three day trip to the Würzburg area. Would love to go back there.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[djh1959]

notarmermaid, yes, you are correct.  Things have improved dramatically in Melbourne, but we have been in a harsh stage 4 lockdown for over 16 weeks now.

 

Unemployment is through the roof, many, many business are permanently closed.  None of us have seen our families or friends, other than with Zoom, since early July.  We have had to endure a curfew (not lifted), and not being able to leave our homes unless for medical care or food shopping.  Even then we could not go further than 5km.

 

While it has certainly worked the damage has been incalculable.  I really do not know what the answer is, but locking down like this again is certainly not it.

 

Currently we still can't socialise, but can now go 25km (even though there is nowhere to go).  There are no shops, other than food ones, and no cafes, bars or restaurants although take away is allowed.

 

At this stage it looks like on Sunday, a lot of these restrictions might be lifted.  I feel though that within a short amount of time, the cases will climb back up again.  Then what?  I cannot imagine that Melburnians would ever agree to a lockdown like this again, so we will have to learn to live with the virus somehow.

 

I hope that Germany, and other European countries, can come up with a better idea than total lockdown.

[notamermaid]

I understand, djh1959. "We have no virus, hooray - and we have no hospitality trade left!" That's what it sounds like and the worry is here in Germany as well that some businesses will not make it through the winter. After all, restaurants run at reduced capacity still, etc. Large events are almost non existent. Trade fairs cancelled, the Frankfurt book fair online. These are massive losses for that sector, down to the assistant at the ticket office and the cleaners and all the small businesses connected.

 

After the more or less unexplained rise in cases in Berchtesgaden that have led to a lockdown, people fully expect more such local lockdowns. A full lockdown for the country is considered a terrible idea and to be avoided at all costs.

 

notamermaid

 

[jpalbny]

After what seemed like a decent lull, we're seeing sicker cases back in the hospital again. It's going to be a fun winter (not)...

 

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The northeastern US is seeing higher numbers in a growing number of areas and states.  Under the science-based rules NYS established, we should be cutting off access to NJ and CT – but the government now says it won't enforce quarantines for those states because "it would have a disastrous effect on the economy."  [WSJ 10-21-2020 p. A12B]

 

Yup, and parts of NY are surging as well. It's coming.

 

There is very preliminary talk that the quarantine approach could be replaced; with what, I'm not really sure. Since most of the nation (43/50 states) is now on our "bad" list, and several other neighboring states could be but aren't because it's impractical, at some point the system will have to be replaced with something more targeted. There is an article in the Albany Times Union but details are lacking. So I won't bother linking to it.

[djh1959]

Notarmermaid, that is a frightening number of cases isn't it?  I really don't know what Europe can do about the situation.  I can't see how we can keep doing lockdowns like we have here in Melbourne.  I certainly works, today we had only one new case, and only less than 15 for the whole week, but at what cost?

 

Hopefully there is someone out there who knows a lot more than me who can come up with an idea.

 

On Sunday we find out which of our restrictions are going to be lifted.  It certainly sounds like shops and restaurants might be reopening by mid next week, and hopefully we might be able to visit family again.  The next worry of course is how long it will last before the virus surges back.

[Canal archive]

I have just come out of hospital after a four day sojourn at the wonderful and I mean wonderful hands of our NHS. Luckily not COVID 19 thank goodness but a very nasty bug 🐛 got into my blood and a very vigilant microbiologist discovered which one. Now I have to recover and get some ooph back. What I can say is watching the hospital teams work is nothing short of amazing, so we all have to support all the health workers.

I’m still dreaming of my next cruise let’s hope for a huge miracle. CA

[Host Jazzbeau]

Keeping up on my vaccines so I'll be ready for the Covid vaccine when they release it.  Got high-dose flu shot a month ago.  Shingrix #1 dose today.  Will talk to doctor Monday about the latest Pneumonia one.  Then I should be protected with everything they have – and the NYS guidelines for Covid say that because of age I will be a fairly high priority.  As soon as I have my 'yellow' dance card filled in – let's get cruising!

[notamermaid]

On 10/23/2020 at 9:09 PM, Canal archive said:

I have just come out of hospital after a four day sojourn at the wonderful and I mean wonderful hands of our NHS. Luckily not COVID 19 thank goodness but a very nasty bug 🐛 got into my blood and a very vigilant microbiologist discovered which one. Now I have to recover and get some ooph back. What I can say is watching the hospital teams work is nothing short of amazing, so we all have to support all the health workers.

I’m still dreaming of my next cruise let’s hope for a huge miracle. CA

Sorry to read that and glad they were able to help you quickly. You can post so you are already on the mend I gather.  Hope you regain your strength quickly. And cruise we will, no doubt, could just take a tiny bit longer than we originally thought.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Our clocks went back to Winter time yesterday. One may prefer to turn back the clock to June last year (reports suggest the virus may have first appeared in humans in August). Cases in Germany are rising dizzyingly fast. The building of the Robert Koch Institute (the disease experts) has been the target of an arson attack, little damage thankfully. Jens Spahn has sent a video message that he is doing okay. Europe is going downhill fast. Hospital patients have been transported from the Czech Republic and the Netherlands to Germany as we have more capacity.

 

Yesterday a very dear person suggested that we could spent the next nine months in a permanent drunken state and regain normal state when this is all over. Or might a kind of hibernation be preferable? Would it be good to be able to see now nine months into the future in the crystal ball? Hang on, we shape the future, it is in our hands (from a science-based human standpoint I wholeheartedly agree with Mrs. Merkel in that), we know what we can do. What the crystal ball thinks now is not what we need to see in nine months time.

 

While we sit out the rest of the year and wait, we can keep busy with dreaming about destinations and in this picture gallery I am sure you will recognize some. Beautiful and unusual clocks in Europe: https://m.dw.com/en/the-most-beautiful-clocks-in-europe/g-45211089

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

It's very difficult to discuss 'how things are where you are' without getting political, and I am happy that this thread has managed to do pretty well with that until recently.  [I have been putting out fires all over Cruise Critic on this front, and it has been such a relief to come back 'home' here and only have to figure out obscure picture puzzles!!!]  But we have strayed over the line recently [myself included] so I cleaned this thread up a bit.  Please remember that any mention of a politician by name, rank or any other allusion is inherently 'political.'

[notamermaid]

Thanks for the info, jazzbeau. Steering along the road without hitting the curb of politics is not easy at times, struggling to keep in the lane myself at times. Shall be even more vigilant in the future.

 

notamermaid

 

P.S.: Sorry about the road imagery, could not think of something with sailing and river cruises...

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

8 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Thanks for the info, jazzbeau. Steering along the road without hitting the curb of politics is not easy at times, struggling to keep in the lane myself at times. Shall be even more vigilant in the future.

 

notamermaid

 

P.S.: Sorry about the road imagery, could not think of something with sailing and river cruises...

 

 

Channel and shoals?  Scylla and Charybdis?  Lorelei?  So many nautical hazards!  [Which gives me the idea of adding The Odyssey to my Covid re-reading list!]

[notamermaid]

Breaking news

 

After Frankfurt on the Main a couple of days ago with their Christmas market, Nuremberg have just announced that they have cancelled the Christkindlesmarkt.   

 

notamermaid