notamermaid

I tend to agree. We say "still und heimlich", meaning quietly and (somewhat) secretively - or away from the public eye... I notice that there is no U by Uniworld website, basically no news about the venture, cannot book anything and the Uniworld website just gives the option of subscribing to a newsletter about U by Uniworld. SijFa specializes in giving their ships as charter to operators, but I see that "the A" (I think it is her) is already available for booking in a brochure that is sort of visible in the background on the facebook page. Looks like a Dutch agent/operator to me for that cruise. notamermaid

And now for something completely different - a quarrel about a ship and its protected status. It is a special "workhorse", the diving bell ship called "Carl Straat". Modern technology has superseded the old, so the Federal Waterways people now have a new one. What to do with the old? Some want it protected, others think it should be scrapped. I personally think it should go to the museum in Duisburg. As of 23 February a court has confirmed that it is correct that it is on the "protected" list. Is the decision final? I hope so. The new diving bell ship was given a propulsion system built by the company Schottel, based in Spay near Koblenz. Since this press release https://www.schottel.de/en/media-events/press-releases/press-detail/new-diving-bell-ship-for-the-rhine-and-its-tributaries-fitted-with-schottel-propulsion-units was written the ship has been delivered, it is called Archimedes and was built by the Dutch shipyard Damen for 24.57 million euros. Should you see something highly unusual on the water during your river cruise... Schottel GmbH builds propulsion for ships worldwide, they have a big portfolio, really impressive. The founder of the company named it after a shallows in the river at kilometre 576.5, which is somewhere here at the end of the Bopparder Hamm (vineyard): From ship technology we move onto - old stones in the Eifel. In this volcanic region of Germany I came across Roman "antiquities" where I had never expected them. notamermaid

APT and Travelmarvel have published their itineraries for 2024: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/apt-and-travelmarvel-unveils-2024-european-river-cruising-programme The new 15 day cruise in Belgium and the Netherlands looks a really in-depth experience, I must say. notamermaid

Great! Thanks for saying hello. So I guess this will be a business trip. If you would like to share your impressions from the Expo and your cruise we would be happy to read them. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Anybody remember this venture? Now it appears the pandemic and perhaps the somewhat unusual idea have ended this. In November 2022 Ellen Bettridge was interviewed by this man: https://www.flusskreuzfahrt-entdecker.de/2023/01/15/ceo-ellen-bettridge-über-ihre-gäste-sowie-die-entwicklung-und-zukunft-von-uniworld/ and the response to the question around U by Uniworld was lukewarm. Now according to the article linked above this has been wrapped up and "The A" and "The B" sold. SijFa Cruises announced themselves as the new owners on Facebook earlier this month (7 February): https://www.facebook.com/SijFaCruises/ Anybody heard or read anything? notamermaid

It has cooled down and yesterday's rain came down as snow in the mountains. After a short rise the level is going to fall, in part due to the cold weather keeping the snow. According to the probability chart we are still going to see a first real low this year. On the 8th of March the level will almost certainly be under 110cm and most likely under 97cm, it is possible that the level falls to 77cm. I will leave it at that and return to the subject when summarizing February. notamermaid

Changing the language? Sounds very Orwellian to me. Never let a Starbucks CEO lay their hands on the Goldilocks fairy-tale. I dare not imagine what they would do to it. 😨 That is quite a difference in occupation to his father then, I mean Kevin being an actor and a musician. No, never heard of this. For the last twenty years much of US entertainment has passed me by. Not going to watch the Academy Awards, perhaps news in Europe will show an excerpt of the nominations and if "Im Westen Nichts Neues" wins anything. The film has caused quiet a stir and attention. I watched a short clip the other day. Even more bleak than "Das Boot", I must say. Not good for my soul in this current frame of mind. Better stick to steam train documentaries. Right, Sunday afternoon, I am off to a village in the hills or have a trip along the riverfront. Have not decided which yet. After a rainy Saturday the sun has come out this morning, but it is near freezing so will need to wrap up a bit warmer. It snowed in Germany yesterday, but only in mountain regions. notamermaid

Caramel Macchiato exists?! I am willing to except this as a life-saving measure, but in non-desparate situations I will remain the woman that stands at the bar/counter feverishly looking for the plain word coffee on the blackboard and paying cash. notamermaid

Probably one of the worst things to happen to Britain these last twenty years - the arrival of Americano. I remember the first time it happened to us in a coffee place, it went something like this "I would like a coffee, please. Waitress: " An Americano?" Baffled silence followed, then a back and forth, till the problem was sorted... You will only ever get me into a Starbucks again if it is the only watering place in the desert. notamermaid

Must admit that Kevin Bacon the musician had been completely under my radar. Only know a couple of his films. Pudding?! Not for me either. The version of Berliner cut in half and cream put in, i.e. sandwiched, is pleasant. Found the Amerikaner, a black and white recipe: https://www.thespruceeats.com/amerikaner-cake-like-cookies-frosted-bottom-1446545 My local baker (that has closed down) only made white ones. They are very sweet and filling. notamermaid

What I am wondering is: why jelly? All the ones I have eaten lately had jam in them. Or at least the thick jelly made from fruits. Which I would not call jelly, but it may be officially jelly. Anyway, love the fun. Did you know that there used to be bakery stuff called "Amerikaner"? Have not had one in years. notamermaid

While most of the river cruise ships of CroisiEurope and the German companies have a break from cruising until well into March, it looks as if Viking starts the season in earnest a week earlier. I see a Swiss Alps to Paris itinerary leaving from 10 March if I have calculated the departure date correctly. So let us have a look well ahead into March in a very tentative way as regards river levels. The Rhine is so low that "my favourite fear mongerer" Bloomberg may well have written another article about it... But it is actually not good for barge traffic. Unusually so at this time of year, especially as not much precipitation has been retained as snow. It is too warm. Kaub is at 121cm, which is below what it should be for shipping companies but poses no problem for river cruise ships. Looking ahead, we see the level rise and then drop to a level that is, well, not good. So far in advance, we look at this in probability terms. So on 6 March the level at Kaub will almost certainly be under 110cm and very likely be under 97cm (!). Am I worried? No. But a bit surprised and will look at this again earlier than I thought I would this early in the year, notamermaid

According to the list of river cruise ships in German, Vodohod still has most of the ships in Russia. The Viking ships were built before the collapse of the Soviet Union and renamed. I do not know why but they were all built much wider than European ships that were almost all limited to 11,40m as that is the maximum size for the locks. On the Danube downstream you can sail with the wider ships but the age of the Russian fleet and the high presence of Viking with their modern fleet on the other rivers, I would say makes a transport to the Danube economically unwise/pointless. notamermaid

The internet says that is around Wells. Interesting, thanks, will note that down. Have not been to Somerset and the area much. Never been further West than Exeter and crossing the Severn bridge (Wales to Bristol, then London). notamermaid

I was in England one year over Carnival and was taught how to make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. I make pancakes occasionally. So what happens when someone from another continent encounters Carnival? Can it work, can they join in? Of course! And this Australian man was invited to do it fully and properly: https://www.dw.com/en/an-australian-visits-colognes-carnival/video-64742923 notamermaid

Oh, yes, him. Perhaps someone should have taught him to say "Ich will einen Berliner" * - and then immediately resign from post as translator. There should be a meme of that wrong phrase - is there? notamermaid *I want a Berliner (German doughnut)

I am afraid, most treats are only available at Carnival. But Berliner and Apfelberliner can be found outside of Carnival, albeit the latter not for a long time. notamermaid

It is Ash Wednesday, Carnival has been "buried", today it was eating fish, as is tradition. Herring, that is. Not for me though, not my taste. I was able to get Mutzen, both the leaves and the almond shaped ones. I tried the Mutzen again but next year I will only get the leaves. Eating them side by side on a plate showed me that my preferences of years past are still the same. If you would like to read about Carnival - which is not over yet actually, in Switzerland it is later than in Germany - have a look here: https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/fasching-and-karneval/ Before we move on to other topics, here is one of my favourite odd things of Rhenish Carnival, the "Schwellköpp" in Mainz: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Mainzer_Schwellkopf_Fastnacht2.jpg These are larger than life size heads (the Mainz dialect word literally means swollen heads) of Mainz personalities, ordinary folk very often, and are made of papier-maché. If you want to look deeper into Carnival traditions when on holiday, you can go to one of the Carnival museums. This is the website of the one in Mainz (German only): https://mainzer-fastnachtsmuseum.de/html/museum.html notamermaid

Yes, that is a selling point. It used to be more relevant when other companies did not do this, i.e. others have picked up the idea. As seen in Canal archive's post about her Scenic experience. May I refine? Always among the first to stop sailing. There are a few ships that appear to be "on a par". I think it is important to note that Viking have stated in the past that they think they give you the best experience by not cancelling cruises and making sure you see all the ports. Which essentially means that in the end you can actually hardly claim you had a less than optimal experience and missed something. They do not cancel a cruise generally speaking, meaning a situation will have to be very dire for them to say they are not sailing in low water. Details to this will vary and - by the way - European consumer rights lead to contracts with the operator/booking agent being different from the US. You can see this by comparing the US and the UK Viking websites. Again, you can have the most amazing experience on Viking but I would say that it is good to "shop around". As this was originally about the months of the year, I would like to come back to that. On a 110m ship I would have no hesitation to sail in any month of the year. Perhaps avoid early March as it is just a bit cold and flooding may be a problem (less fun getting stuck in cold weather than in mild weather). notamermaid

I agree with Coral and hope have been able to expand a little with my comments made above. notamermaid

Yes. There is little record historically of low water but you can experience flooding. However, that is normally shorter in duration. Overall, if you have the choice you may prefer to go in May or June. Also because you have more daylight in June, as suggested. Remember, low water is mostly a thing in Bavaria (but can happen along many stretches of the Danube when it is really low), so any cruise that avoids that stretch in Bavaria is more likely to be not impacted. Amsterdam to Budapest is a much "trickier" cruise than Vilshofen to Budapest for example. I highly recommend looking at the roll call for the Viking Grand European 2022, where people have shared their experiences - not all of them good. Other cruise lines' roll calls are not as extensive but can be helpful, too. For fairness to prospective cruisers, I would like to mention that I do not like the payment policies of Viking so with potential problems in mind for 135m ships, I would never sail with them. Being in Europe I have many choices of other cruise lines. Having said that, so do you in the Americas to a great extent (I myself would be happy to sail on an English or German language cruise) and I thank @Coral for mentioning those. I would add Tauck to her suggestions. You are very likely to have a great experience on Viking, just like thousands of passengers before you, or any other line. Have fun planning. notamermaid

Thank you for referring to the thread. We will cover how the river behaves throughout the year. Welcome to the river cruising forum. We have often talked about the levels, also a bit about statistics, but the topic will not leave us for some years to come (on the Rhine and Danube) so here we go: for your specific cruise, a long one, we have two problem areas. Those are the Rhine Gorge, from Rüdesheim to Koblenz, and mostly the Bavarian Danube, from Straubing to Vilshofen. In past years both rivers had been sort of okay in July and August but in 2022 both began to struggle in mid July. Generally speaking, the Danube begins with problems before the Rhine. For the "Grand European", usually Amsterdam to Budapest or vice versa, a passenger needs to be aware of the low water problems and how the companies deal with this. You may also encounter a heatwave. So in 2022 such a long journey could have been a less than optimal experience for someone who does not like bus trips or standing for a long time exposed to the sun. The roll calls can be very informative... Sorry, that was a long answer to expand on your question. Basically, July should be okay, but may not be, August is tricky on the Danube, less so on the Rhine, September tricky for both potentially. Problems may run into October. Last year, October was actually better than August, that was unusual. Hope this helps. notamermaid

Success! I am one happy girl. Managed to find a bakery that had Mutzenblätter, reserved two bags over the phone. It was getting tight for closure of the bakery so I set off quickly, only to run into a Carnival event and a road barrier. Had to turn round, loosing precious time. Then got stuck behind a slow van. Made it to the shop with one minute to spare. Was the second last customer to leave the bakery (it was still busy) and returned to the car with a big carrier bag in hand - just could not resist buying more goodies while I was there. 🙂 By the way, another WWII bomb was defused a couple of days ago, this one was in Kaiserslautern, a 250kg specimen found while digging in a small street in a suburb. Apparently it was a bit of a difficult one this time, but everything went well in the end. notamermaid

Viva Cruises has announced that Shiri Gordon from a business partner of the company in Tel Aviv will be the godmother. The press release(s) for the Viva Two: https://www.viva-*****/en/press Viva Cruises is going to be present at the ITB in Berlin as well. Wonder what news may come from the ITB this year? The cruise sector is supposed to be well represented again this year, having returned to near normal operations, i.e. like in 2019. notamermaid

Yes, sorry, the link does not work it seems. Good idea, thanks. This is what I can find: https://www.bonn.de/microsite/en/highlights/events-calendar/carnival.php While the capital of Germany is Berlin, Bonn has retained several international institutions. That means many anglophone (and other nation's) expats still live and work in Bonn. Hence the fact that the English website goes far beyond standard tourism and business topics. By the way, the "language" in Bonn is Bönnsch, a Rhenish dialect similar to Cologne's, but more pleasing to the ear I find. Right, I am off to do some shopping and try and find Mutzen(leaves). Had a Berliner yesterday (not the person but the doughnut), really nice. I preferred the dark jam in it to the lighter jam that others contain. notamermaid