notamermaid

Keeping myself busy. Nuremberg to Mainz sounds good. Nice food in Franconia and good wine and beer of course. Frankfurt is an interesting city, check out the Palmengarten if you have time. M6 - mainly to get away from the South quickly. Only from the junction with the M65 to Carlisle if I can help it. I love the hills and enjoy Penrith and Cumbria. From the Limes to Hadrian's Wall I travel, from one Roman border to another. I was last up there in 2019. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Good to hear from you again. Any river cruises planned? Miss coming to your neck of the woods and travelling up the M6. notamermaid

I would agree. I have not been on a ship but they look good and are mostly Scylla (the owner - long term lease to Riviera) ships of a very high standard and modern. I really like the designs, I see them on the Rhine frequently. We have been talking about Riviera Travel a little here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2904120-viking-river-cruises-v-riviera-river-cruises/#comment-64720707 and I started a thread shortly after they came onto the North American market: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2507713-all-things-riviera-travel-uk/ I would love to sail with them, but so far have not got further than initial planning stages. When I spoke to the office on the phone they were very friendly and confirmed that I could book without air or other travel arrangements, just the cruise and book from Germany. notamermaid

Cannot say for sure but there is a general strike in France today. Protesters have blocked a lock on the Rhine this morning. notamermaid

Strike According to the news outlet BFM Alsace the strike in France has affected Rhine shipping. This morning protesters blocked the lock at Kembs and cut the power supply. Info through Basel newspaper: https://www.bazonline.ch/schifffahrt-auf-dem-rhein-teilweise-lahmgelegt-981203466972 notamermaid

Found the info for the excavations container, exact place and opening times are on here: https://lu-erleben.de/ notamermaid

Interesting, the Viking Hilgrim looks just like the other Viking ships but kind of cut off at the back, I guess because the ships have to be so short. A bit weird but cute. @ural guy Hope the scenery and the lovely people make up for your discomfort somewhat. Wishing you a speedy recovery. notamermaid

Wow, a long journey! Would love to see Bucharest. September can have low water levels. But it is far too early in the year to say how things will be. And Viking of course know how to handle low water well. Keep thinking positive, it will be an amazing time. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Hmm, perhaps others who have been on the river in those months can help you there more. I find all three months good as regards the weather from what I know of what Germany is like. In June you definitely have the most daylight so that could be a pro. Con is for September the potentially low water levels. This applies mainly for Germany. A cruise from Vilshofen to Budapest is preferable to one starting in Regensburg and going to Budapest. May and June are months with relatively good levels but there is a minimal risk of flooding which would apply to the whole journey from Regensburg to Budapest potentially. All in all, if I planned to go on a 135m ship upstream from Vilshofen I would choose May or June. A general note on low water. The whole Danube can be low but locks prevent some stretches from getting really low. A long part of Austria almost never has problems. Usually low water is worst between Straubing and Vilshofen, then what appears to be Komarno to Budapest next - not a guarantee, just my observations. According to hydrology and geography websites the Danube delta has a different pattern and can be low at a different time from the river much further upstream. Hope this helps. notamermaid

By the way, the "Achim" was taken downstream and got as far as Linz. As of yesterday afternoon she is still waiting for a ship to take her further. The spot is the commercial harbour at 2129.00 kilometre mark. notamermaid

Welcome to CC and the river cruising board. Thanks for saying hello on this thread. You are right, the lock issues concern(ed) the annual maintenance that always takes place at the beginning of Spring. Luckily somewhat, the barge "Achim" sinking in the lock coincided with the planned closure. Hopefully all goes well from here and the water levels stay good. Generally speaking May is a good month. Have a great cruise. notamermaid

Thanks for saying hello and the info. I had forgotten you would be on the river again, good to hear it has all worked out. Hope you enjoyed Passau and the SS Maria Theresa is splendid and full of good food and people. Have a great time. notamermaid

Amadeus brings back a festive cruise itinerary: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/amadeus-river-cruises-reintroduces-festive-sailing I really like this one. Starting in Strasbourg rather than Basel cuts out a section of the river that is often sailed at night anyway, i.e. the Canal in Alsace. You miss Breisach though, which is a small place and one that I think I would not need to see in winter. It is for warmer days for me. Great ports are visited on the Rhine and Main and stopping at Würzburg is an unusual but nice idea. While Würzburg has no international airport it is a train hub and connections are good for Frankfurt and Munich. notamermaid

Checking briefly on Pfelling gauge. Levels are close to the mean, just fluctuating a bit. All good. Graph suggests a range of levels between 380cm and 420cm Forecast available only for 48 hours at this gauge but the current situation suggests good levels after that. notamermaid

The rolling bridge in Paddington definitely needs a nickname - how about caterpillar? Or does it already have one? We only have mundane bridges on the Rhine as far as I know, I guess the most exotic one is the wooden bridge right up there past Basel. And ordinary ferries. There used to be flying bridges (reaction ferries) and floating (pontoon) bridges. Almost all gone. I think there is one of the former type left in Basel or thereabouts. And normal locks. All those weird and wonderful works of engineering are on other rivers, I posted the Lahn tunnel and the "banana lock" on the Main. I would love to see a ship come down on the slipway at Koblenz. It is obviously a small shipyard for repairs so not sure if I could plan that. Would be plain coincidence I guess. Good Friday I went on a car ferry to celebrate (I have mentioned it) but it was over sooo quickly. Getting photos sorted and will post a bit more. The ferry crossing at Rhinau several years ago, which is in my current avatar photo, took a little longer. notamermaid

From here I cannot find any news, in German language searches it is all quiet. In French, strikes on the Rhone appear to have ended and ships are running again. Nothing new about the Rhine. General strike coming up, not clear if this could affect locks: https://www.cestlagreve.fr/greve-generale-13-avril-2023/ Over to others... notamermaid

End of March is perhaps a bit trickier for proprietors of beer gardens if they have to renew contracts before April. But I would not hesitate to sail in March on an excursion boat. This year I wanted to in the week leading up to Easter. Just missed the first sailings by two days, i.e. I only had time on Thursday and Good Friday when no ships were running near me. A quick look at Kaub: most likely figures are still in a very good range. Inching closer to 150cm towards the end of the month, but not reaching it yet probably. notamermaid

Hope you have all had a weekend with good celebrations. This weekend is important for tourism as - if they have not before - beer gardens up and down the river open. And the season for excursion boats has officially started. A few sail before this but traditionally Easter is the weekend on which to start round trips and the regular service up and down the valley's stretches where the different companies operate. notamermaid

Midnight. It has been an Easter Day with a surprise short visit from a relative and a surprise e-mail from a worried colleague. Good to speak to my folk and try to banish the small problem that needs sorting at work by me (my tourism job demands Easter weekend working). The lamb dinner was good and the small cake from the local baker's a delightful dessert. Good conversations and I have ended the day listening to Händel's Oratorio "La Ressurezione". A work that shows the hand of a young man, with "imperfections" but genius unfolding. Well, cannot listen much longer. Time to go to bed. All the Best. notamermaid

I have posted this elsewhere, not sure that I have done it here yet this year. Perhaps it is of interest. The locks: https://www.doris.bmk.gv.at/en/services/locks-along-the-danube notamermaid

Needed to check this on the map. No locks. Have a look on the map, I have blow it up quite a bit: It would show a small arrow like near Toulouse if there was lock. For fun with maps, including this one called inland waterway routes: https://unece.org/maps-0 Have a great cruise. notamermaid

In the Rhine thread I mentioned the christening of the MS Alisa. She is sailing for the German company Phoenix Reisen. Nice to read that she will feature in another series of "Verrückt nach Meer" (actually, it should be Verrückt nach Fluss) a series that follows a few select passengers and the crew along on a cruise or river cruise. Previous seasons were filmed on other ships in the Phoenix fleet. https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/04/phoenix-reisen-names-new-river-boat-alisa/ notamermaid

My pleasure. And good of Canal archive to check on the Scenic Crystal. Regensburg lock was due to open on 5 April, but it would not have been much point sailing on the 6th seeing that the ship would not have got very far. Straight run through to Amsterdam now hopefully. No idea how long this takes without the scheduled port stops for the passengers. Could be interesting to follow along to see if they sail at night and when she will arrive in Amsterdam. It is about a thousand kilometres with many locks. notamermaid

Thank you. the same to you. Everyone have a great Easter weekend. However you celebrate. notamermaid

Budapest is a fabulous city. Perhaps surprisingly as I have been to Bavaria several times, I have never been to Nuremberg, where there is the German railway museum. Would love to visit that. Have a great cruise. notamermaid