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As far as I´ve heard almost all markets switched to LED lightning to save energy. And instead of having the lights on 24/7 they put it on when it´s starting to get dark and turn it off when the market closes. So many may have limited hours for the lights. steamboats

Actually I´m not sure but you may have to wear masks on busses in Germany for excursions as they might be qualifying for public transportation. steamboats

So here we go - Baseler Weihnacht with the Weihnachtsmarkt Barfüsserplatz in Basel, Switzerland. I only bought two pieces of Pastel de Nata. They took my Euro and have me 2 Swiss Francs in return. That booth did not accept card payment. The ticket machines at all tram stops did accept card payment. steamboats

No masks in Switzerland. In Germany you still have to wear masks in public transportation (medical masks in local and regional public transportation and KN95 in IC, EC or ICE trains). steamboats

I´m on my way back home from a 24 hour visit to Basel (actually I visited 4 river cruise ships of Swiss operator Thurgau Travel - Edelweiss, Thurgau Prestige (ex Tauck ship), Antonio Bellucci and Thurgau Ultra (ex Premicon Queen, ex TUI Queen). I walked back from the ships to the train station stopping at the Basel market at Barfüsserplatz (there´s a second one). I will post some photos later. steamboats

There was a news report in German TV about that turtle shaped design study of a floating city. At the end the moved on to the Icon of the Seas saying the ship is buildt in a Lower Saxony shipyard.... Yes, Papenburg is in Lower Saxony. Yes, Meyer Werft is in Papenburg. But no, the ship is buildt by Meyer Turku in Turku, Finland... steamboats

The markets usually opened Friday of the first weekend of Advent. But now they open on Thursday or even Monday prior to the first weekend of Advent. Some open even earlier but have to close on Sunday (the one before the first Advent Sunday) as it´s our rememberance day. So those which want to open earlier have chosen the Monday after that Sunday. The Nuremberg market did stay with the traditional opening day and does open this Friday. But by this Friday all markets should be open. I don´t remember when they started this earlier opening... It´s all about planning 😉 - I had to go to my old office in downtown and the Residenz is close to that. So I used lunch break for that on Friday. Yesterday I was working from home and went to the Glühwein-Festival for dinner (it´s only 10 min walking from home or two tram stops). steamboats

Made it to market number 2 here in Munich - the closest one to my home - the Glühwein Festival. Forget the drinks... I had a Captain Jack which should have been a hot chocolate made of delicious dark chocolate with Jack Daniels. O.k., the last part was o.k. but the hot chocolate was more milk with a little cocoa powder. But regular cocoa and not dark one. But the food booths are better. I had my dish from Uganda with beef - yummy! I also bought an Arrancino con Spinaci (rice ball filled with spinach from Sicily) and a Sfogliatella con Vaniglia (from Naples). The Arrancino will be my dinner tomorrow night. Three rides for kids. So with small children it's worth going. Tonight our mayor opened the main Christmas Market of Munich. So maybe that's one of the next I will visit. steamboats

Ups, sorry, I didn´t see the "plus". Most of the Whiskeys are above the 15 USD which is covered by the Premium Package. steamboats

First market done - Weihnachtsdorf in der Residenz in Munich. Got my egg nog... Not very many people at noon but most of them tourists. Heard American English, Spanish besides German of course. steamboats

Here are some impressions from the MSC World Europa And The Venom Spiral Drop steamboats

It gets dark by 4 pm so there should be some time to visit the markets lit up. steamboats

@Oz_Steve no, Rotterdam is not a big interporting port. So there won´t be too many people. Fun thing... when the ship returned to Hamburg on Monday all disembarking passengers were checked by customs and many of them had too many cigarettes or other stuff with them. steamboats

Not many... see bar menu here. steamboats

You can get pretty reasonable prices regarding nutcrackers but then they are made in China. German made nutcrackers are more high priced. Hats? Not sure what exactly you are thinking of... Souvenir hats are cheap, a real good handmade felted hat is pretty expensive. But you won´t find those on markets but in specialty shops. steamboats

Remember him from the Serenade where he came to the M&M to see what a bunch of crazy people boarded his ship. And he didn´t ask where the vodka for the yell-o shots came from ;-). Simeon is also great! Met him several times onboard Oasis class ships. steamboats

Also in Germany you will find lots of different types of mulled drinks. Glühwein is the traditional one. Traditionally it´s made with red wine but for years now you also find it with white wine. There´s a market close to my home which is called Glühwein Festival offering 28 different hot drinks with all kinds of alcohol (or without). You can have a hot Caipirina, a hot Daiquiri... and for 20 Euro they are offering a Maß Glühwein (Maß = 1 liter). I doubt I would find my way home after that... Pretty popular during the last years are hot Gin or hot Aperol. steamboats

I don´t like anise so I would leave it off for a home made mix. Really, you never heard of Glühfix? Meßmer has the spices in teabags too. Over here Glühfix is very well known for decades. My parents used it too. steamboats

That´s what I thought too. I wouldn´t have even started yet. steamboats

As expected there is a fee for the bumper cars: 5 Euro/2 minutes (and yes, I asked back, it´s really 2 minutes). I´m not onboard but my DH is. steamboats

Seems like you haven´t been prepared well at all ;-). MSC does interporting in Europe - Med and Northern Europe. For the MSC Virtuosa Southampton and Hamburg are the two major embarkation ports. But you might also board in Le Havre.... or any other port on this route. Not too many people embark there. The Carousel Lounge is the only place you pay for entertainment - actually you pay for the cocktail. It used to be Circe du Soleil but now they are doing their own shows there. I heard about the facecheck nightmare in Southampton on this cruise from German cruisers. But we had the same nightmare on AIDAcosma in February. Lines all around two decks. We were more than one hour late for our shore excursion. And they told us to go 15 min prior to the meeting time ashore. No lines were organized onboard. In fact we were lining up one deck above and had to go down the stairs while other people squeezed in from the lower deck and the elevators. Then there were only two or three immigration officers doing the facecheck. So Southampton is a hit and miss regarding the facecheck. steamboats

Aldi Süd and Nord are working together since a while although they are still different chains. But they advertise together and offer the same products (you will find both logos on the product). Back to the Christmas food... Aldi Süd offers Mini Pannetone for 99 ct in their gourment line. They also offer Glühwein next week for 1.79 Euro/Liter. Anyway Edeka has the same Glühwein next week as special offer for 1 Euro. Not that I would buy any as this is totally oversugared. But for those who want to have Glühwein at home... go to a grocery store and buy Glühweingewürz - it´s the spices you need in a tea bag. Then chose your own wine (red or white) and add some orange juice (and peel) and the "tea bag spice". The spice is less bulky and won´t break in your suitcase ;-). The most popular is called GlühFix by Teekanne. You can also mix it your own... 2 pieces of cinnamon 3-4 star anise dried lemon and orange peel 5 cloves Grind all up in a blender. Optional spices are vanilla (dried powder), ginger (dried), cardamom, nutmeg, allspice. Use one teaspoon of the spice mix for one liter. steamboats

Makes sense to have food venues in the neighborhoods - especially the Surfside. So the families can stay there and don´t have to go up to the Windjammer. Indulge Food Hall onboard Norwegian Prima is really great. The only downside there is that there is not enough seating. It´s so popular that you hardly find a table. steamboats

And those invited passenger don´t have to pay for the drinks... "basically in any bar" is totally correct as there are no exclusions unless it´s a third party brand (like the chocolate stuff Jean Philippe or Venchi, Crepes & Gelato and Lavazza Coffee shop). You may get a gin in the new gin bar but maybe there´s only one brand included in the package... the only limit is the price of the drink 8 Euro. I´m pretty sure the bumper cars will have a fee as all activities have a fee on MSC - zip line, bowling, F1 simulator and so on. But it´s the same as for the bars... the currently invited passengers won´t pay anything. The first cruise with paying passengers isn´t until Christmas - after the soccer world cup. BTW, there are no bar menus currently in the app for the christening event. steamboats

Not yet 😉 , but I don´t want to think about any snow... Maybe the tracks are getting to slippery to proceed? @cleobella sorry, no apple strudel can´t be packed. But Stollen comes in different sizes and tastes. This makes a nice present. You may asked whether it is packed sealed. Baumkuchen is also a nice Christmas bakery item. It also comes as small pieces called Baumkuchenspitzen (tree cake tips). All kind of Christmas cookies... all kind of Lebkuchen (ginger bread especially the one of Nuremberg). Although it´s not German but you might find the Italian Pannetone (Christmas cake) in shops. It also comes in different sizes. steamboats