notamermaid

Yup, unfortunately the reputation is all that is left for us. If you want precision look towards the Swiss. Possibly the worst train journey I have ever had was the return journey from my river cruise via Frankfurt. I commuted for several years in the 90's over a long distance and trains were sometimes delayed. I find it has got worse since then. My default thinking is now that if a train is only five minutes delayed I regard it as being on time. That is worse than I thought it may be. Luckily I do not to commute these days over a fair distance. Bliss. Back to the markets. I have read that Duisburg Christmas market opens today! https://www.duisburger-weihnachtsmarkt.de/ Now that is a bit early I find. Not that many people will stop there on a river cruise. If you are desperate to see a market, i.e. you are cruising now, you could get a train from Cologne to Duisburg, it takes less than an hour one way. notamermaid

I tend to agree that Riviera Travel is a good alternative to a North American line. CroisiEurope fits into that range but there one needs to consider that the food is French-European and the overall experience will likely feel more different to a line on the Anglo-American market. notamermaid

Yes, in such places a shuttle is standard really. But others can tell you more about that. I had the shuttle experience in Vienna as we were out in the suburb of Nussdorf. notamermaid

Strong stuff. And not for me. I tend to just have hot chocolate really. Or coffee if it is during the day. Bonn. Now that brings back memories. I worked in Bonn many years ago and occasionally stayed longer in town to see the market. I wonder if it is still as pleasant. You have left Munich behind, at least for work? I hope you are happy with the change. Would like to see a different market this year. Perhaps I will finally make it to Rüdesheim. notamermaid

Aaah, that is another thing to consider. While most docking is right in the centre of a place on a river cruise that is not always so. An extreme one is Nuremberg. You dock in an industrial harbour and you are not even on a river. It is a modern canal. At the other end of the scale is Koblenz for example. For me one of the best settings there can be. Probably topped by Budapest, though. notamermaid

Unfortunately. the forecast was correct this time. Pfelling gauge was at 278cm earlier, right now is at 279cm. notamermaid

So you would be willing to fly home from somewhere else as well, i.e. a completely separate experience? From Vienna it is easy to get to other big places. You could start from Regensburg or Nuremberg and sail West. A route from Nuremberg to Trier could be great. Or fly to a completely different place, like Paris and do a cruise along the Seine. There are so many options. Fancy a different cuisine, want to see castles, have more hiking and biking options? Prefer a large ship, like the Amamagna or the Arosa Sena? Or spend an enormous amount of money for the MS Mozart? Stick to a North-American line or join the English or Germans? All things to consider. notamermaid

Now you know what Kinderpunsch is you can work out what Kindersekt is. For the punch, perhaps here is a recipe to try out at home: https://www.recipesfromeurope.com/kinderpunsch/ notamermaid

Pfelling gauge is still running above the forecast, but only slightly and shows 284cm now. A further fall is forecast for tomorrow which could see a figure of 278cm. notamermaid

Strasbourg with sampling the local food, the tarte flambée. Either Colmar with the Isenheim altarpiece, or if no time then the wine villages. In Koblenz my favourite tip for river cruisers is the view from Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, you can see German Corner and your Viking ship from there (unless it docks in Ehrenbreitstein). notamermaid

Have a good start with a cosy cabin and great food. Brief update: Pfelling gauge staying above forecast for now - is at 286cm. notamermaid

Thank you. Let us see. The margin of error for the 17th has decreased as we may expect. Overall there is not much change in the highest probability colour till then, so as I posted a few days ago in an assessment, the first half of November continues to look good. Now, looking further to the 20th of November, although attached with a high uncertainty yet as to what will be, we can nevertheless tell that the river is going to stay low and probably go down. The purple colour is still above 78cm but the margin of error is putting that figure into view and the probability of the level dropping below 100cm is relatively high. At Kaub, a level of 90cm is still okay, but it could lead to delays just because the navigation channel gets narrower and ships tend to slow down. If and how much your ship will be affected cannot be known. Right now, Kaub gauge is at 125cm. With things looking pleasant still, I will leave the river levels aside for a few days, after my comments on the monthly graph, and return to my day at Königswinter. notamermaid

It has not been a good day for the river in Bavaria. Pfelling gauge went right down, hitting 286cm at lunchtime. It is now back up to 289cm. In the absence of rain this does not bode well for tomorrow. Although the river has recovered during the day a little and is above the anticipated level for tonight, we may see the level go down further tomorrow than it did during today. Hopefully in this case the forecast continues to be a little wrong and Pfelling will be higher than the computer thinks which is 274cm at lunchtime tomorrow. notamermaid

The photos of the River Voyager look really nice, I like the jazz theme. I have had a look round the internet including exploring the interior for a specific reason: photos on "Binnenschifferforum" show that the River Voyager is in the ÖSWAG (shipyard) in Linz and the name is being painted over or redone. She is no longer mentioned on the Vantage website. So the River Voyager is now the Monarch Queen it seems: https://www.gate1travel.com/cruises/ships/monarch-queen-river-voyager notamermaid

For example. The train journey can be exciting, especially over the Alps. But as you say then that is a "tick" in the box for river cruising. We sailed overnight and in the morning I pulled the curtains to see the embankment of Bratislava with a nice brick building in early light. Loved it! notamermaid

Yes, that is a good idea. Especially when you have limited time as you say. I do wonder if river cruising will be for you. You may not miss evening activity that much if you are active all day. but you will certainly notice how quiet river cruising evenings can be. In some ports you stay until late, in one or two overnight, especially Vienna. My excursion was to a wine village evening for example. From about eight till ten in the evening. You will need to research which company offers what. The Danube in Bavaria can be a bit tricky as regards water levels in August.. Do you fancy train travel? There are some great options from Vienna and there are good connections to many European cities. notamermaid

Sounds great! Leaving from Southampton? Have a fantastic time. notamermaid

I agree. Only eat really fresh. A bit too heavy for my liking. Hope the cruise does your health a lot of good. Just sailing and wandering around places without feeling the need to join in with excursions sounds great. notamermaid

Good to read you are sailing. The S.S. Catherine is a splendid ship judging from photos. And she even looks good upside down. Not sure why CC software does the upside down trick occasionally. notamermaid

Oh dear, would be very annoying if you could not. The Rhine should be fine I think but Pfelling is more tricky. I thought we had got through the problems but with little to no rain falling I was proven wrong. Still, all ships may just be able to get through. We will find out tomorrow evening I guess. Weather forecast for Regensburg for the next four days: Have a great trip. Are you going to Rothenburg ob der Tauber? notamermaid

I guess it is not much different from building a house as regards the banks. I have seen the publicly available info on the Viking ships being built with a bank loan to be paid back per contract over a period of eight years. I do not remember which ships they were but I calculated at the time that they would be paid off by 2021. Of course, you can choose to pay back faster. It is standard to have a bank in the background and/or an investor (group) for financing. The individual contracts will differ. Crystal (Genting) were very enthusiastic about the share they could get in the river cruises market with their newbuilds (saw an interview), unfortunately, together with the idea that the Mozart would do well on the Chinese market, they got it wrong. Granted, very much connected with the pandemic, but not entirely. I agree with the interviewee that the Mozart can give the luxury the new venture wants to provide but the smaller, minimally scaled-down other ships, cannot - especially with the loan in the background causing financing worries. For now, I see the future of the remaining ships a bit bleak. notamermaid

Clearly, rain that had been forecast did not arrive in enough quantities in the Danube basin so the computer modelling got it wrong. I was a bit skeptical about the figures for today so yesterday only gave the low of 305cm, rather than the more positive high. Even the low was too high. The adjusted forecast now sees the river taking a turn for the worse. At Pfelling it is currently at 297cm and could well reach 290cm. Which is a little worrying for tomorrow. No rain of note in the Danube valley in Germany before Wednesday. notamermaid

It is the same along the Rhine really - and it tends to be that one or two degrees warmer on a lot of days. Snow in December is not a big deal. We may get an inch that stays on the ground for 24 hours. The Black Forest excursion may give you more snow if you are lucky. January tends to be colder with more snow than December. I do not even own snow boots. Waterproof with a thick sole, something you can get from outdoor activities shops or a quality local retailer, should do it on muddy paths and wet cobblestones. Nothing too heavy, not mountain hiking shoes. Perhaps someone from the US can share a brand or online retailer. notamermaid

Was a bit confused about this as I thought Karst and Schreiner are the bosses of Amawaterways and have been since founding the company. Just a short note as the article is behind a register-to-read wall: https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/ex-amawaterways-boss-stuart-perl-set-to-return-with-new-river-line-36911 Apparently Stuart Pearl was managing director for the UK and left in 2020 (as stated in another online article). notamermaid

Pfelling gauge is at 295cm, running a bit below the figures forecast. For tomorrow a slight uptick is anticipated, so 305cm could happen. notamermaid