notamermaid

That must be Fahrenheit. I was a bit puzzled as to what reports the weathermen have sent over to the US . But seriously, it has got cooler. It was pleasant during today. Tornados do not happen often, three confirmed ones in a day within one state sounds highly unusual to me. The real temperature drop will happen Monday into Tuesday, they say, when the afternoon high could be below 20 Celsius. There are some incredible amateur videos of the tornados and the hail online. The tornados were confirmed in Paderborn, Lippstadt and Höxter (none of those are near the Rhine). Over 40 people were injured in Paderborn as the storm went right through a busy retail park. Have a look at the video if anyone is interested. At 1:50 you can see that a tornado has ripped off a church spire. I have never seen anything like it! Yesterday I mentioned the thunderstorms coming to the Rhine via the West and Andernach towards Koblenz. It did hit Andernach with full force of hail, you can see a few images from 1:54: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFpHPJYdkM8 Link is an official news channel, by the way. People are advised not to go into parks and forests as branches and trees can still come down. I was certainly watching very closely where I was walking today even in town. I was a bit nervous awaiting the test result and I only needed it for a short trip by car. Must be much worse when needing it for leaving a continent! Not sure how all of you travellers manage to get through the planning and preparations for such a trip. notamermaid

That was - interesting. North Rhine-Westphalia three tornados, one man sadly dead in Rhineland-Palatinate. Hail with a diametre of more than five centimetres. Short torrential rain. Storm. Been out and about today. Locally people tell me of damage to roof windows. Slate tiles have come down. Plexiglas covers of street lights smashed. Near me all trees are still standing, but the streets are littered with small branches and leaves. Found a plastic thing that must be part of a cover of traffic lights (against bright sunlight). Apparently the hail was so strong it has crashed through windscreens, says the news. My office windows are huge, like shop windows, luckily no damage there. Insurances will be busy next week... So. let us look at the Rhine. The level at Kaub has risen to 164cm. An unusual vessel construction is now in the Middle Rhine valley. At Sankt Goar on a platform is a special machine that on the riverbed gently takes away, a form of milling it seems, centimetres of rock. It is a test phase to see how the design does the job, i.e. they want to optimize it. It is the next phase of the deepening of the Rhine, i.e. now beyond the planning stages, so that there is more depth in the navigation channel in low water. The test milling is taking place at the side of the navigation channel, so that the main channel can stay open at all times. Sounds like passing it should not result in any delays. This is the German news article with photo, to give you an idea: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/mittelrhein-bei-oberwesel-soll-ausgebaggert-werden-wegen-zu-haeufigem-niedrigwasser-100.html Second photo shows you the rock exposed at low water in 2018. notamermaid

The North of my state is on extreme weather alert level 4. For the Rhine that is from Andernach towards Königswinter, with it felt at Koblenz as well (level 3). That is bad, I think I will postpone shopping. Be careful out there. notamermaid

@steamboats have you read if the christening has actually taken place? notamermaid

Nice to see the Elbe still doing okay as regards water levels. Dresden gauge is at 136cm this afternoon. Mean low water is set at 75cm by the authorities. So let us continue with looking at Hamburg. I am sure I posted this around the time when the video came out but here it is to remind us of the sights of this major German city and port: https://www.dw.com/en/flying-guide-hamburg/av-50184775 notamermaid

Certainly a nice time. Mild, with cooling nights, but often still warm days. This is the itinerary, isn't it? https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/holland-and-belgium/2022-antwerp-amsterdam/index.html Lots of culture there, a nice mix of rivers and canals. It is the unusual itinerary by Viking that just hops over into Germany to see Wesel. It still is within the focus of the Lowlands as Wesel is on the Lower Rhine. I would be interested in taking this cruise if it was not on Viking, just because I do not like Viking, a personal choice. Not sure if I have understood this correctly: you have not chosen the direction yet? Either way, as the ship will be docked overnight in the ports you should have no problems if you arrive on the first day as per your booked itinerary. But I must say that Bruges/Ghent extension looks appealing... Yup, having never been to Europe you will have lots of very new images to process at the end of the day. And be prepared for a lot of walking. Good shoes are essential. Have fun planning. notamermaid

That was quite dramatic but obviously nothing like you experience in bad weather conditions in the US for example. It has calmed down for now, tomorrow will see more thunderstorms with probably similar conditions. The front has moved to the region of Franconia. More coming from the West and hitting the Rhineland during the day tomorrow. We have a pre-warning. I have posted this before, but for those who are new and would like to follow: https://www.wettergefahren.de/warnungen/warnsituation.html?ort=Mainz I have pinned Mainz. You can change the town in the frame on top of the map. Storm is normally not that much of an issue on the river for ships, but it can get a bit dangerous when a strong gust of wind catches a river cruise ship at a bridge. Last year a ship got pushed towards the side of a railway bridge on the Moselle. The problem at this bridge in Güls is the fact that it is arched, so the middle has enough headroom but drifting to either side is not a good idea. So far I have not heard of a river cruise ship having to stop sailing in a storm, but I will not rule it out. If you can supply an anecdote from a river cruise ship captain or the crew feel free to post. notamermaid

Parts of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia have been put on weather warning level 3 with heavy thunderstorms and flash floods. Has now reached Bonn. Time for me to close the windows! notamermaid

Definitely yes. Budapest return is an unusual option I think, German ones would be Passau return or similar. Riviera Travel has an itinerary that is similar to TUI. This is what theirs looks like: https://www.rivieratravel.co.uk/river-cruises/the-blue-danube-river-cruise The financial bracket you may want to stay in could really be determined by the air fare for the itinerary you are interested in. Let's hope a past cruiser of TUI gives their opinion soon. notamermaid

That is great. Definitely deserves a tip - and an extra smile. It is also generally-speaking what makes river cruises additionally pleasurable. The staff has the option of going beyond standard as solutions can be found on land quickly sometimes. notamermaid

Unfortunately not, I did consider them. I see you have watched Emma's video. That bathroom scene could become legendary in the river cruising world . I watched the video a few weeks ago. Since then I have swayed more towards Riviera Travel again. Not sure if you know the background to TUI, so here is the thread that was created quite a while ago now: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2656751-tui-new-old-company-on-the-rivers/#comment-62969319 As you say, it is not Viking - and not AmaWaterways and not CroisiEurope and not, etc. TUI fills another niche I would say and not a bad one as such. From the thread you can see that not many sailings have been yet due to you-know-what. Hopefully cruisers will reply to you soon. Were you thinking of a specific itinerary? I like the one that is mainly on the Moselle. Booking is probably awkward, I see your problem. I would want a no-fly option if I booked them and that is what I asked Riviera Travel a few years ago. They confirmed I could send them an e-mail and they would calculate a no-fly option for me. Perhaps you could contact TUI directly about that? For a European line you could also look at CroisiEurope, ARosa, Amadeus, Viva Cruises and the other British one, the said Riviera Travel. Many options out there. Good luck, hope you find your perfect fit. notamermaid

A bit embarrassing. If I was in corporate, for me a reason to immediately inform all ships of such a possibility with that treatment to make sure it does not happen again. notamermaid

Thanks, I was wondering what the stuff was... I thought it might be "spare parts" from a warehouse to be used in case they are needed on ships. So, just the liquidation of office furniture. Sad. And not sure that I would want any of that stuff if I was living close by the pick-up place. The question that came to me: want happens to all the stuff on the ships? You know, apart from the perishables. The crew that looks after ships can use things up, but towels, other movable items, etc.? Would a ship be sold as seen with all those things on board? Or may we see another auction of things from onboard ships? As I mentioned elsewhere, could not find any real news on the ships (with German search criteria), the Mozart is still in Linz being prepared for the new owner and the other four are signalling from a winter harbour/shipyard in the Netherlands. notamermaid

A bit more news on the itineraries on both ships for 2023: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/saga-releases-river-itineraries-for-2023 notamermaid

Crystal items can be bought in an online auction: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Crystal-Cruises-items-going-to-auction?ct=river notamermaid

Annual maintenance of the lock system Shipping has been halted on the Moselle, or rather it "rests" as it is not much point sailing just from one lock to another... All locks are out of operation from 16 May till 25 May to do maintenance work. Seven have been pumped completely dry for repairs, the others will get minor repairs with the water still in them. This is scheduled always far in advance. River cruise companies for example will have already adjusted their itineraries on the Moselle for next year accordingly as the dates have been published, even online for the general public to see. This is an article in German. Photo shows an example of the work that is involved during this week: https://binnenschifffahrt-online.de/2022/05/featured/25767/schleusensperrung-an-mosel-und-saar/ Oh, and the locks on the Saar are part of the maintenance week as well. notamermaid

That sounds really pleasant. I hope the food is good and you are enjoying the landscape. Have a great time. notamermaid

Yes, she is sitting in Linz and was supposed to have her new home port Hamburg painted onto the hull last week (according to an informant on Binnenschifferforum). I have had a quick look if I could find any news in German language but there seems to be nothing on the other river cruise ships. At least not in the general public news formats. The four ships are "resting" in a small winter harbour with shipyard at Dodewaard on the Waal in the Netherlands. Nice areal shot of several ships awaiting their return to sailing during the Coronavirus restrictions: https://www.gelderlander.nl/neder-betuwe/vloot-van-riviercruiseschepen-wacht-in-dodewaard-op-betere-tijden~a4f498a4e/180920683/ You can still spot the Crystal ships signalling on sites like marinetraffic.com. Apparently, the ships had not been paid in full yet, so there is not only the money for the ships themselves to consider for a prospective buyer, but also the additional installments of the mortgage (is that term used for ships?) need to be factored in. The ships were part-financed by the KfW German bank, I reckon but am not sure that was because of the involvement of the German shipyard, i.e. building the ships. notamermaid

This small country in Europe borders on the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, but also has a coastline along the North Sea. Despite the country bordering on the popular river cruising countries there is the somewhat curious fact about Belgium that none of the large and at the same time popular river cruising rivers flow through it. Yet the country is sometimes visited on river cruises that focus on this part of Europe. The Meuse is the longest river that flows through Belgium but of the over 900kms only 183kms are actually in Belgium. And the Meuse is sailed by river cruise ships but nowhere nearly as much as the other rivers we so often talk about. So we need to have a different approach here I think and say: tell us about Belgium! The country, the towns, the excursions from the Netherlands, the waterways that crisscross Belgium and are used by river cruise ships. To start us off with the waterways here is the European map, which you need to enlarge quite a bit to see the waterways of Belgium: https://unece.org/DAM/trans/main/sc3/AGN_map_2018.pdf notamermaid

Viking river cruises and others: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/viking-cruises-cancels-2022-kiev-and-black-sea-sailings notamermaid

Here is the thread on the Main river. It runs entirely through Germany from East to West and joins the Rhine opposite the old town of Mainz. The river is navigable for a length of 388km from Bamberg to the mouth as a federal waterway, a few more kilometres can be sailed by small boats. At Bamberg (harbour) barges and river cruise ships divert into the Main Danube Canal leading to the Danube. To continue with more info here is the wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_(river) Like the Moselle, the Main is a river that is rarely sailed by river cruise ships on its own, but is combined in an itinerary with another river or canal, a standard shorter route is for example from Frankfurt to Nuremberg, which is already on the Main Danube Canal. So much from me as a start. Over to you. Tell us about your experience. Further travel tips and info always welcome. notamermaid

Cruisecritic.co.uk ran this story on 11 April: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/3982/ TUI, apart from being a European well-known package tour operator, rang a bell with me as regards river cruising. There was something, in German, let me think... I have found it, TUI Sonata! Digging a bit deeper in my brain and consequently the internet, I re-found this article about the end of river cruising for TUI: https://www.schiffe-und-kreuzfahrten.de/sonstige-reederei/kein-tui-flussgenuss-mehr-aus-fuer-flusskreuzfahrtschiffe-ende-oktober/52455/ The TUI Sonata was one of four ships of TUI Flussgenuss that was an enterprise serving the German river cruising market. Sailings only started in 2011, it ceased operations at the end of the 2014 season. As a company not being a complete newcomer to river cruising as such, this article from the German correspondent with Seatradecruisenews, reads a little differently: http://www.seatrade-*****/news/news-headlines/tui-returns-to-the-rivers-with-three-vessels-for-the-uk-market.html And this is how travelweekly ran the news: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/TUI-launching-river-cruises-in-2020 TUI UK will operate these three ships solely for the UK market. The vessels have not been confirmed yet, it will be interesting to learn which ones they have chosen. The WT Sonata mentioned in the article, when it started sailing for TUI, was a new-built, a so-called twincruiser, a design that is a kind of pushboat in that the driving vessel is separate from the passenger vessel, both parts together have a standard length of 135m, the longest allowed on the rivers she operates on. notamermaid

There are rivers and landscapes beyond the standard Rhine, Main, Moselle, Danube, Seine and Rhone, or even the Elbe and the Douro, the last one getting ever more popular. Here is the catch: you cannot see them on a 135m ship. Even the 110m ships might not be small enough. Do not get me wrong, I am not talking of the very expensive barge cruises on the canals in France. I mean other rivers and canals built as trading routes. They criss-cross Europe and give you access to towns and landscapes that you might never have heard about... So, in order to see such places you need to downsize, go for the smaller ships and forget about multiple dining options, swimming pool, sundeck lounge, etc. If you are still interested read on. One example of such a cruise crossing Europe is CroisiEurope's offering: Amsterdam to Berlin! Yes, there is a different way out of Amsterdam, you do not need to go to Cologne. :) The problem: there are very few sailings. But to give you an idea what is possible on smaller ships, here is the itinerary: http://www.croisieurope.co.uk/cruises/amsterdam-berlin-formula-port/port-without-transfer I have given the Neckar and Oder rivers their own threads and mentioned a few companies in those. More info to come. And please ask away... beyond the language divide I might be able to find out something for you. :) notamermaid

The ITB (Internationale Tourismusbörse Berlin) is behind us and one of the topics that has left me contemplating is "overtourism". Even if you are new to the subject the idea is easy to grasp: there are places in the world that are so heavily visited by tourists that the negative side effects are straining the place and the people who live there. On the "negative bucket list" this year is - among others like Venice with 22 million visitors a year :eek: - also a popular river cruise destination: Amsterdam! Those are the places people should not go to this year to give them a rest. Here is an introduction to the topic: http://www.dw.com/en/overtourism-where-will-it-take-us/a-42863355 And this is the situation in Amsterdam: http://www.dw.com/en/overtourism-swamps-amsterdam/a-41746155 Now, river cruising is still a niche product which becomes apparent in the fact that the ITB had no separate section for it but listed the articles and events under cruising on its website. Yet with small places like Rüdesheim on the Rhine having a relatively high number of tourists, overtourism is something that could affect us river cruisers more than we like. I do not mean to be a spoilsport but living on a river and working in the industry has made me sensitive to the subject. Your thought and comments are very much welcome. notamermaid

As the UK-based company moved onto the North American market last year I think it is time that past and future cruisers and all those interested in the company as such were given a "venue" to discuss and share info. You may also post as a present cruiser from a ship, of course. :) Just a few basics. Riviera Travel has been around for some years, offers also land trips and is expanding with its river cruise section. Their latest ships have all been given names of famous novelists and poets of the United Kingdom and this is the latest offering for river cruisers. The Robert Burns, soon to be christened: http://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Omega-World-Travel-CEO-named-godmother-river-cruise-ship notamermaid P.S.: the photo or rendering of the Robert Burns was taken in front of the Lorelei rock on the Rhine