Rhine water levels 2016 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

While the beginning of the industrial revolution was well underway in Britain in 1815 and would soon be followed by steam trains, continental Europe was of course a few years behind. Here and there efforts were underway to use the new technologies developped in Britain. One such innovation reached the Rhine in 1816 when the boat "Defiance" reached Cologne in June 1816. The boat had been sailing as a steam packet boat between Margate in Kent and London and was sold to a Dutch company. The British naval officer William Wager sailed her to Rotterdam from where she sailed up the Rhine as she was not allowed to sail in the Dutch waters as that would have been competition for the established stage coaches.

 

It was the beginning of the end of the sailing boats on the Rhine; but these were still "test drives" in those days, a full steamer service would take some more years of practice and better machines for the difficult currents further upstream.

 

notamermaid

 

P.S.: the sun is shining it is warm but there is humidity in the air. Thunderstorms are still forecast for today but more in the South, i.e. the Upper Rhine valley, hopefully the Middle Rhine valley will see just showers as predicted. The river level has fallen a bit, meaning at Koblenz the gauge has left the flood warning 1 zone. It is looking good!

Edited June 8, 2016 by notamermaid

[Daisi]

Thanks notamermaid, really enjoying your history about the Rhine. It's always so much more interesting coming from a personal view. Hope the weather holds and the flooding is over.

[notamermaid]

Hello Daisi,

 

Thank you.

 

The river level is still falling slowly. It was confirmed yesterday that day before yesterday in the thunderstorms in the North of Germany a tornado :eek: caused substantial damage in a part of Hamburg. Bremen was affected much by the rainfall. In the area, in a small town 3/4 of it was covered in inches of water, it got the amount of rain in a few hours that normally falls in almost one month.

 

On the Rhine it was quieter.

 

CPTTrips has posted a link in the thread about Viking Cities of Light that intruiged me: http://www.ottosrambles.co.uk/reinland-pfalz.php

 

They are travellers and beer drinkers always on the lookout for good locally brewed beer it seems. :)

 

Above is the link to their page on Rhineland-Palatinate and I must say, they have amassed a list of interesting local places, even the Brauwiesen in Lahnstein are in it.

 

I am not really a beer drinker and do not really go for strong hop taste, but I do not mind the occasional Kölsch or a local one mixed with dark sweet malted beer (very low alcohol that one, even children can drink it). Such a mix is called a "Schuss".

 

On Otto's page the Koblenz brewery Königsbacher I can recommend. They used to belong to a big player but have returned to private ownership which is good and the food is supposed to be nice as well. The brewery is outside of Koblenz a few kilometres upstream on the Moselle river bank. That is a doable trip from a river cruise. You can take a local bus or taxi there.

 

The Vulkan Brauerei in Mendig is great, because you can visit the old wine cellar cut deep into the rock. Not suitable for children. Vulkan means vulcano, named thus because the area is full of extinct vulcano craters. Mending is off the beaten track from a river cruise destination and a bit too far to incorporate into an existing itinerary, I would say. If you hurry you can do it as an afternoon excursion from Koblenz.

 

There are many small breweries old and new in Rhineland-Palatinate, Otto's list is not complete of course.

 

My favourite beer is Westerwald Bräu, brewed by the Westerwald-Brauerei H. Schneider in Hachenburg in the hills North-Northeast of Koblenz. Quite frankly, I buy it from a local drinks shop and I do not know what restaurant or beer garden in the area has it on tap or bottled.

 

So, enough talk about drinking, it is only midday, I am off to find some lunch in my fridge.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

I think it must have been the lack of food at lunchtime, but I said wine cellar in the above post. Of course, Mendig has old beer cellars! Sorry.

 

notamermaid

[notamermaid]

The Rhine has risen again the Upper Rhine valley. It has been raining there more than further North. More rain is forecast over the next few days.

 

Flood warnings are in place in a section in the Upper Rhine valley. A short closure (a few hours) might happen. I have no more details.

 

Everything is fine in the Middle Rhine valley.

 

notamermaid

[Sadie Lady]

Thanks for your posts notamermaid, and hoping you and yours all are safe and sound. :)

 

We begin our journey tomorrow and board our Rhine cruise in Basel June 13. I do hope the bad weather moves away!

 

SunsetBeach Gal,

I am on the Opal on the cruise before you doing Amsterdam to Basel finishing on Monday June 13. We reached Mannheim yesterday and were told the ship could not go on to Basel due to high water and flooding. They are bussing us longer distances to our shore excursions tomorrow in Strasbourg and then bussing us to Basel. Not sure where you will pick up the boat. I seem to remember you were touring Switzerland so hopefully Scenic has tracked you down. If not you may want to call the numbers they gave you.

Sue

[notamermaid]

Hello Sadie Lady,

 

Thank you for your post and informing SunsetBeach Gal.

 

I feared that the ban might already be in place or ,if not, that river cruise ships might already be affected.

 

It does not bode well for cruises starting in the next two or three days in the South.

 

Viking has updated their current sailings page which includes the info on the Mani accident (in euphemistic terms): http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/my-trip/about-my-cruise/current-sailings.html

 

notamermaid

[sunsetbeachgal]

Oh my goodness thank you for posting. We arrive in Basel tomorrow and will have the concierge at hotel find out where to meet the ship. Thanks again for the heads up. We have been in Switzerland this week and have had rain

[sunsetbeachgal]

Our cruise is now leaving from Manheim, Germany, not Basel. Scenic is providing bus transportation from designated meeting spots in either Basel or Zurich. Lots of emails flying back and forth between travel agent and Scenic. I hope we aren't missing too much cruising the first day, but river levels are beyond their control.

Edited June 12, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal

[Sadie Lady]

Our cruise is now leaving from Manheim, Germany, not Basel. Scenic is providing bus transportation from designated meeting spots in either Basel or Zurich. Lots of emails flying back and forth between travel agent and Scenic. I hope we aren't missing too much cruising the first day, but river levels are beyond their control.

 

Sunsetbeachgal,

We've been in Mannheim since Friday night and will be here tonight as well. This morning 120 people left the ship early with their luggage to stay in hotels in Basel or Zurich. They are first going on their shore excursions in Strasbourg/Black Forest/or Mittelberg wine region. The bus ride for those excursions are now more than 1.5 hours each way fromMannheim.

 

Yesterday we had our scheduled excursions to Heidelberg city or castle. That was only about 20 minutes by bus from Mannheim. The Heidelberg castle tour was good with some time in the old part of the city afterwards. Last night very few people opted for the classical concert since it was 3 hours total in the bus.

 

We are docked in a very industrial area of Mannheim that is not really walkable. I hope they get you out of here quickly as long as the river cooperates. The middle Rhine segment was spectacular even with the high water.

Let me know if you have questions.

Sue

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks again for all of your help. We are in Basel and the Rhine is really flowing! Not looking forward to the long bus trip, but at least it is from Basel and we are with friends. Must stay positive and make the best of it.

 

Safe trip home!

[notamermaid]

It has been raining heavily today and the weather forecast is looking miserable for tommorrow. The Middle Rhine valley is still fine for cruising, but the Upper Rhine is having problems.

 

Reports are coming in from the Frankfurt area of heavy rain. So more water for the Rhine from the Main.

 

More rain and thunderstorms are forecast for Wednesday.

 

notamermaid

[Spartantartan]

Again, thanks so much for these reports. We are booked for a Basel to Amsterdam cruise starting June 26, so I'm hoping for some drier weather coming up.

 

 

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Edited June 13, 2016 by Spartantartan

[M&Rsquared]

Again, thanks so much for these reports. We are booked for a Basel to Amsterdam cruise starting June 26, so I'm hoping for some drier weather coming up.

 

 

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Yes, thanks for all the information notamermaid.

 

 

Spartantartan, You should join our group at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2230700

 

Lots of information on this thread. When is your cruise? We are July 10 on Kara BSL-AMS.

[Spartantartan]

Thanks for the invite but we are going on Avalon, not Viking.

 

 

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[notamermaid]

Yesterday saw rain by the bucketload in many places, also where I live. The temperatures have fallen a little throughout the region. Right now it is sunny here but that will likely not last soon.

 

The river level has risen in most places, Maxau is getting very close to closure. It is predicted that at lunch time the river will reach flooding level 2, which stops all river traffic. That is likely to last for around 24 hours. All tentative. All depends on the water from the tributaries and the amount of rain in the next hours.

 

Viking, by the way has published on their website high water issues around Basel.

 

Expect problems in the Upper Rhine valley.

 

notamermaid

[Tmaccruise]

Hello we are currently cruising on the Rhine River from Bazel to Amsterdam. We have had rain showers every day but the sun has managed to come out just at the right time. Today we cruised through the middle Rhine and as we sat on the top deck looking at the castles the sun was shining in. Most mornings we wake up to rain and the river levels are very high. Our ship has continued on The river with a few different port stops because of the water levels. Some boats have been stuck and missed a few days because of high water. We are currently in Koblenz heading north. Viking is doing a great job and our cruise has been fabulous! It is a rain spring/summer and if you are cruising in the next few weeks I would definitely bring raincoats!

[pully8]

http://www.bafg.de/DE/06_Info_Service/03_Webcam/webcam.html 3 river ships on the Koblenz webcam. yes the rivers look high.

[Cobbie48]

http://www.bafg.de/DE/06_Info_Service/03_Webcam/webcam.html 3 river ships on the Koblenz webcam. yes the rivers look high.

 

What is the cable car shown on the web cam? Where does it go??

[Orlando Greybeard]

What is the cable car shown on the web cam? Where does it go??

 

It goes to the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. If you google Koblenz Cable Car, then click on "Images for Koblenz Cable Car" you can see what it is about. The fortress is an optional tour in Koblenz that we signed up for as we were at Marksburg Castle before and didn't feel like we wanted to do that grueling tour again. Jim

[notamermaid]

Thank you for the link, pully8.

 

It is the official water authorities that provide this webcam on their website. It shows the Deutsches Eck. The Rhine flows from left to right and the Moselle enters the Rhine from the middle of the picture. You can see the first bend of the Moselle towards the top right corner of the picture.

 

The picture is refreshed often, I think it is every ten minutes.

 

On the Moselle most river cruise ships dock, on the Rhine you can see the Viking dock, as I write there are two Viking river cruise ships rafted there.

 

The webcam is positioned on Ehrenbreitstein, the hill with the fortress overlooking the valley. In the picture in the middle of the bottom you can see part of a tower that is halfway up the hill.

 

Cobbie48,

 

the cable car connects the (old) town and the embankment in Koblenz with the fortress Ehrenbreitstein. The base is close to the Viking dock, left of it but out of the picture. I think it might be a four minute walk: http://www.seilbahn-koblenz.de/home-page.html

 

It does not run in winter, in winter you can take public transport or taxi. Or you can walk up from Ehrenbreitstein at the bottom of the hill. Very strenous and certainly not recommended in winter, unless you want to workout on your river cruise.

 

On top of Ehrenbreitstein is, well, a magnificient view over the valley and a café and a museum, as well as a youth hostel, on top of there being one of the largest fortresses in Europe (in the 19th century): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehrenbreitstein_Fortress

 

If I had only three hours in Koblenz on a river cruise I would skip a guided tour and walk to the Deutsches Eck for 10 minutes and then take a trip onto Ehrenbreitstein instead.

 

notamermaid

[sunsetbeachgal]

I am on Scenic Opal and right now we are in Mannheim, will be here tomorrow as well since we had to be bussed here to meet the ship. The ship sailed down to Speyer and back during the day.

 

I hope the river level doesn't disrupt any of the rest of our trip up to Amsterdam. Thanks as usual for the updates, all.

[notamermaid]

Hello sunsetbeachgal,

 

good to hear you have made it to the Scenic Opal and I hope you are settled into your cabin o.k. and are ready for this adventure. It is great that you were able to sail upstream to Speyer. Just stressing this as it means that you were able to sail towards the area with the highest water level. I expect tommorrow will be your trip to Heidelberg? Or do you have another itinerary, amended due to the current situation or not?

 

You are currently downstream from Maxau where there was going to be a ban. Have not seen a confirmation that it is in place, perhaps the crew can tell you if it is and how far downstream it extends.

 

Hope you can see the famous castles unimpeded.

 

Have a good evening.

 

Oh, and it is raining again.

 

Look out for rainbows, could easily happen in this very changeable weather.

 

notamermaid

[sondi 14]

We are currently on the Viking Eir and we are docked at Speyer. We arrived yesterday morning and we've been told that this is as far as we are able to go enroute to Basel. Yesterday we had our normal tour and day in Heidelberg. Today they will bus us to Strasbourg as planned with the necessary time adjustments. They are making decisions day by day but it looks like they will be making plans to get is to Basel from Speyer on Friday. There are several other boats docked with us in Speyer.

[sunsetbeachgal]

It is sunny today in Mannheim, hopefully it will last or at least no more rain for awhile. We are off to Heidelberg shortly.

 

Notamermaid, where exactly is Maxau? I have tried to find it but was unsuccessful. Fingers crossed for no disruptions.

 

Sondi14, we were in Speyer yesterday, hope you got into town, it is adorable. Those on our Scenic ship who did the Strasbourg excursions, since the ship couldn't sail to Strasbourg, said it involved long bus rides. We opted to cancel our tours and spent time in Speyer then back on the ship, which turned out to be an excellent decision! After a very long bus ride to join the ship from Basel, we were not in the mood for another long bus ride two days in a row

Edited June 15, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal