notamermaid

Veitshöchheim - that had been recommended to me and we were near there last year but did not have enough time to visit. Geldmuseum - It must be this one you mean, of the Deutsche Bundesbank: https://frankfurt.de/english/museums-and-theatres/museums/museums-at-a-glance/money-museum-of-the-deutsche-bundesbank For something different and to experience the fascination of (European) football one could visit the museum of the football club Eintracht Frankfurt: https://frankfurt.de/english/museums-and-theatres/museums/museums-at-a-glance/eintracht-frankfurt-museum Language nerd note: Eintracht is German for unity (harmony) and there is the word Zwietracht which means not unity, i.e. disharmony, divided, quarrel etc., which gives us the obvious playing around in the newspapers with "Zwietracht bei der Eintracht", or in British football words I guess "United Divided" - or "United in Disunion". Anyway, back to gardens or any other recommendations along the river. notamermaid

So he is no gardener. He certainly loves his German castles. 🙂 Must admit, I have not watched many of his videos or read many articles. Before I joined Cruise Critic I had never heard of him. I am not an expert on gardens but I do enjoy them when I visit them. Along the Main, the Palmengarten is the only I one I have visited I think (unless my parents rolled me along somewhere in a pram). When I went to Würzburg a couple of years back I really enjoyed the small rose garden and park directly behind the Palace. notamermaid

Yes, I chuckled when I read the name Teddy. We had a splendid day here yesterday, ice cream parlours and beer garden packed. I did not venture very far though and partook of neither delicacies. Today is supposed to be a bit cloudier with perhaps rain so I guess more people went out yesterday than today. Having May Day straight after Sunday is of course perfect for long weekend trips. Bonn could do with another mention as two things are notable right now there. First, the Chinese restaurant ship is back from the shipyard: https://www.chinaschiff.de/schiff.html Second, the Rhine in Flames event at Bonn takes place this coming weekend: https://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/bonn-gb/bonn-gb.html Oh, and the town of Emmerich, at the border with the Netherlands, is happy as A-Rosa from this season regularly stops at the town on an itinerary. But that is a topic for another day and possibly additionally for another thread. notamermaid

Have a great cruise traversing Europe on this more unusual itinerary going from Vienna to Basel. notamermaid

I was in East Berlin when the Wall was still up. An unforgettable experience. There are segments of the Wall distributed around various places. Three are in Koblenz. If you are interested: http://en.the-wall-net.org/koblenz/ The submarine "U17" has left Kiel. A ship spotter video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlaZF4k5F3I When it sails on the Rhine I will post about it again in the Rhine thread. notamermaid

That is a great pity. It has been cool recently, April is never really that warm, but I think you hit the Danube when it was cooler than average and wetter than average. Talking of rain, there has been heavy rain and the river rose considerably in Bavaria yesterday. The wave is leaving Passau and going into Austria as I write. Luckily the level at Passau has stayed below the critical figure of 630cm for river cruise ships (passage under a low bridge). notamermaid

Would be lovely if you could see that. It will be very busy in Koblenz on that day. As regards the sailing - the captain will have to stick to special regulations on that day as the river will be busy, too. I think there will be an NfB, meaning a(n online) notification will be published for river traffic. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

A quick look again at Frankfurt, this article is by Rick Steves. Some nice ideas for a day or two in this city before or after your river cruise: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/exploring-frankfurt-germanys-hub What he does not suggest is the impressive Palmengarten, the botanical gardens. And I cannot believe that I have not mentioned them before. So here goes: https://www.palmengarten.de/en/index.html notamermaid

A National Geographic itinerary with Amawaterways: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/7367/ notamermaid

The "U17" was loaded onto a pontoon yesterday and left Kiel this morning, report from my regional broadcaster SWR: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/u-boot-kommt-von-kiel-nach-speyer-technik-museum-100.html The issue addressed in the video concerns felling trees for the short land transport, according to the lady from Speyer city council all was considered and the decision made in accordance with regulations. River level at Kaub: margin of error changed, now levels are showing 170cm to 330cm. Still perfect. notamermaid

All is good on the Elbe right now it seems. Flooding has gone and the authorities have stopped issuing regular updates on the situation. The levels have dropped considerably. With the current weather patterns - cool to mild, dry but with a hint of rain - we should see only a slow decline in the levels now and indeed the forecast shows this for the Upper Elbe. notamermaid

That is post #428. In post #430 I explained that this is the ex-Prinses Juliana, now River Bär, a ship operated as a hotel ship by the local hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel had to give up the ship due to staff shortages. But it has ended well for the vessel. She has been given back her Prinses Juliana and is now operated as a hotel ship, i.e. stationary, that is still allowed to sail like an excursion boat by what looks to be a Dutch hotel chain: https://enjoyhotels.com/de/enjoy-deluxe-hotelschip-prinses-juliana notamermaid

There is always something happening on the Rhine, from events at or near the river banks to mishaps like a ferry being obstructed by a stranded barge (very unusual) to minor collisions of barges or tankers (not frequent, but as this is the "water motorway" of mainland Europe an occurrence to be expected sort of regularly statistically). An almost once in a lifetime occurrence is the transport of a submarine. And anticipation of the event is rising. The topic now comes up in the papers online quite a bit. The start of the journey of "U17" at Kiel is planned for tomorrow. A look at the river itself. Kaub gauge shows 224cm. The level may rise a little further today. All in all in the week to come we will have a rise and fall of no real impact for shipping, the margin of error gets wider as we go along in the predictions, but the range of between 150cm and 300cm is a perfect one for sailing, so it looks good well into May. notamermaid

Quedlinburg! Bad Schandau! I am envious, I admit. Brave dad, going with three daughters. I am sure you will have lots of fun. Add an excursion boat on the Spree if you have time. A different perspective on Berlin from the river. I hear Spandau is great for a stroll around the harbour (you may even see a CroisiEurope river cruise ship if it happens to dock at that time). Have a great trip. notamermaid

Water buffalo farmer - I would like to talk to such a man, quite unusual. What was special about Loriot (his pseudonym, real name Vicco von Bülow) was that he was a cartoonist, so his fun characters were often cartoons and short clips. Legendary is his "discovery" of the stone louse (zoological name Pethrophaga lorioti). I used to love watching his cartoon dog "Wum" and elephant "Wendelin" on telly. His humor is mostly quiet, witty and often with the nuances of German language that very often do not translate. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loriot notamermaid

Which reminds me that I forgot to mention daylight. mojitoman, would you prefer to see the sun setting during dinner? Try and get a glimpse of the sun as it disappears behind the hills just after dessert? Or do not mind it being dark when you sit down for the starter? For an idea of what daylight and sunset look like you could have a look at the webcam overlooking Koblenz: https://www.feratel.com/webcams/deutschland/koblenz.html notamermaid

You could cross the Danube on a bridge, on a ferry - or on a tightrobe! That is what a circus artist did in Budapest: https://www.euronews.com/video/2023/04/16/budapest-circus-artist-crosses-danube-river-on-a-tightrope-with-only-a-balancing-pole notamermaid

Interesting. A couple of weeks ago I was trying to find info on the new ships Saga had announced last year. In addition to the "Spirit of the Rhine" and the "Spirit of the Danube" they wanted to get a new ship on the Moselle, the Main, the Elbe and the Rhone, the first of them to be ready by May this year. No more news about that, but now the announcement about the "Spirit of the Douro". Apparently, this is not a new ship but one that was built in 2017. The corresponding article on travelweekly: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/cruise/saga-cruises-releases-river-itineraries-for-2024 notamermaid

Castles galore coming up for you in a couple of days time. If I remember correctly you have been through the Rhine Gorge before but have not been on the Moselle. I hope you will find that river delightful. notamermaid

Just to expand a little. The level can get so low that it affects the 135m ships a lot. the 110m ships are less affected. But if you stick to Viking or even choose other North-American lines you have little opportunity of booking a cabin on a 110m ship. All in all it is not as bad as it may sound and the ship swap CastleCritic refers to is usually seamless. River levels get low every year but you can never know if they will get so low that they affect river cruise ships and for how long if they do. Last year there was indeed a short period that was problematic. Autumn 2018 - yeeaaah, that was baaad... I always say that if someone tells you of their dreadful experience ask them what year they sailed. I think you cannot go wrong with any line, the Amsterdam to Basel itinerary is very similar with most lines as regards larger or small popular ports. Personally, I will never sail with Viking as I do not like their payment policy. The product once onboard very many happy people here on this board can testify is great. notamermaid

It would be really unusual, I guessed it could be a reason but I am not convinced. Interesting that the websites should differ in such an odd detail. notamermaid

Thanks people, gives me feelings of happy anticipation of the small chance that I will meet someone Australian some time. River cruise - would be nice to be on an international one. I have had my eyes on a couple of Riviera Travel itineraries, you know, I like to be among the English. While my river cruise was German we nevertheless had quite a few Scandinavians on board and also one Russian couple. The Danish couple was very nice. You know that famous film "Crocodile Dundee"? Yes, I have watched it - twice. But the first time was in German, we dub almost all films that are in English. So no Aussie voices for me on that first occasion either. notamermaid

I would agree with the others and say that they are not needed but you are going on a long cruise and perhaps, just perhaps, there is a (new) excursion like a concert offered in the evening (most likely Vienna) where there is a dress code. It could be the case. Perhaps check on the first evening on board? I packed a clothes item for the gala evening only to find it had suffered too much while packing so I bought a replacement in Linz, Austria. No problem. Or they just prefer you to dress up for the gala evening in which case I would just go for the smart black trousers when packing. notamermaid

Thank you for taking the time to answer all our questions, Mr. Schreiner. Riquewihr is indeed a very charming small place, great to visit in all seasons. Gengenbach is off the beaten track on river cruises. From which port do leave for this excursion and what is that excursion called? notamermaid

Call me weird, but it is due to the fact that I grew up at a time when the internet was little more than an experimental thing of some nerds and setting foot into Australia was an exotic thought among most Germans, that I post the following. I have learnt of the sad passing of Barry Humphries. He was the first Australian voice, together with the actors in "Neighbours", that I heard. It was in the 80's in England when I went there as a tourist and later to live. Dame Edna Average is part of my memories that I have retained from good times. Odd, I know. And although I have met people from all walks of live (including nobility) and many countries around the world I have yet to meet a "proper" Australian. Anyway, when I heard that he has left us it came back to me from a Christmas special (I think): "betta getta poinsietta!" So outrageous, so brilliant this man... And his death was even announced in the German mainstream news, he enjoyed a good following in Germany with apparently some great shows in my country over the years. The broadcaster ZDF says (in my translation): "For Australia his death is as much a loss as for Germany when Loriot died." Germans know what that comparison means. And although both were very different men (and created very different characters) I very much agree. notamermaid