We had long thought about going on a river cruise, but the cost had been putting us off. That and the thought of being shepherded around on the daily excursions which most of them seemed to include. Then Jill stumbled across this one with Tui. A river cruise of the Moselle and Rhine valleys, at a reasonably affordable price and with all excursions optional. It was also a bit of a treat to celebrate my retirement.
Thursday 15th London & Heathrow
It was a casual start to the day with a 12:30 train to King’s Cross. It would have been more casual however had we not packed far more than we needed.
The plan was to take the Piccadilly Line to Hatton Cross, then a bus to our overnight stay near Heathrow. The flight was 6:50 am so we didn’t have much choice but to book a room for the night.
Things soon started to go pear shaped when we were evacuated from King’s Cross owing to a fire alert. We thought about walking to catch the tube from Russell Square, but opted instead for a pint in the nearby Wetherspoons while waiting for the station to re-open.
Once on the train, we were dismayed to hear the destination of Hatton Cross suddenly change to Northfields. We had to get off and change for another train. The arrival board said 3 minutes. 20 minutes later, it still said 3 minutes. We were starting to get flashbacks from our New York debacle.
When the train did turn up it was crammed, but thankfully we didn’t have much further to go.
The next leg with the bus went without a hitch and didn’t take long.
The Thistle Hotel looked pretty dodgy from the outside, but thankfully the interior was much nicer than the outside. We were concerned about the ear-splitting noise of constant jets flying low overhead. But 2 lots of glazing and a bottle of red helped us sleep through it.
Friday 16th Frankfurt
It was a very early start, leaving the hotel at 4:45 am. Transfer to the airport was via a small driverless pod just across the car park.
Heathrow is vast, almost a city in itself. After the pod experience I felt like I was in a sci-fi movie, especially when I had to step out of the way of an R2D2 type robot that was sweeping the floor.
We had planned to have breakfast, but realised we wouldn’t have time. We found that terminal C66 was the furthest one away (again). We had to catch an internal train to get there! We were still drinking our coffee and carrying sandwiches as we boarded the plane.
The flight was delayed, but the pilot made up most of the lost time as we arrived in Frankfurt where the weather was scorching.
A short transfer took us to the boat, which after cruising the ocean on the 20 decker Norwegian Joy, looked more like an elongated barge with an extra deck. It didn’t take us long to explore what there was of it, and I couldn’t but feel underwhelmed. I guess we had just been spoilt on other cruises.
Our first taste of lunch was a big disappointment however. The serving area was cramped, the choice was limited, and the quality was poor. We could only hope the evening meal would be better.
Our initial plan to visit Frankfurt’s ‘new’ old town was shelved in favour of lounging around on the boat. We did however, manage a late afternoon stroll along the river in scorching heat.
The evening meal was a vast improvement on lunch, and we followed this with an entertaining evening in the bar. A superb local act who did a medley of popular songs Ed Sheeran style with numerous loop recordings. We also took part in a live scored quiz to win a fridge magnet. We led the league for most of the way through before falling at the last couple of hurdles. A disappointing finish to a really enjoyable evening!
Saturday 17th Koblenz
We were woken by our breakfast alarm. In Frankfurt, our view from the cabin amounted to nothing more than the harbour wall. But in Koblenz, I cracked open the curtains to be greeted by a duck peering in through the porthole window.
Rain was forecast for later in the day but it was a hot and humid start as we gathered for our excursion. We were disappointed to find that it was a walking tour we could easily have done ourselves. It basically consisted of a stroll along the river to the cable car which took us up to the imposing fortress which overlooked the town. Then back down to earth and a walk through some picturesque gardens. The guide was difficult to understand at times, and although it was still enjoyable we would have preferred more time to explore at our own leisure.
We stayed out for a refresher in one of the beer gardens as Jill wanted to try the local beer. It was a lager much like any other, I enjoyed a sweet, but very tasty marzenbier.
We got back only just in time for lunch. The proposed BBQ had been cancelled due to the forecast, but the rain never turned up apart from the occasional drop. The heat however, was still very much in evidence.
Later on, as I stepped out of the shower to drip dry in the heat, a swan appeared at the porthole peering into our room. I whipped off my towel to give it a full frontal just as a sightseeing boat full of people starting passing by!
We had another enjoyable meal, sharing a table with a couple we had got to know. Then on to the lounge for a while before retiring to a smaller quiet bar for a nightcap, where I was soundly beaten in an electronic game of whack-a-mole by Jill and the Kenyan bar lady.
Sunday 18th – Traben-Trarbach
We awoke to the sight of the picturesque towns of Traben and Trarbach either side of the ship. It wasn’t going to be a long stay here with the departure set for 2pm.
A 3 mile stroll took us through the most attractive parts of the town. We chickened out of the walk up to the long steep hill to the castle ruins.
A lovely fish and chip lunch was followed by a lazy afternoon on the upper deck.
The scenery was stunning. Pretty towns and villages, tree-lines hillsides, and millions upon millions of grapevines covering every spare bit of land. Some of the vines were on such steep and high slopes, that they could only be reached by rope ladder or by abseiling down to them.
We went through a number of locks and under many bridges, one of which was so low that passengers had to duck to get safely under it! A deck hand came round to forewarn us, but I was very surprised that they hadn’t cleared the upper deck as someone could easily have been seriously injured.
Monday 19th – Trier
I woke with a very sore throat, feeling very much under the weather. We were in the middle of an ugly industrial area, dominated by metal recycling facilities. But on the plus side, a shuttle bus was laid on into the town of Trier.
The town is apparently one of the oldest in Germany, having been established by the Romans. The only surviving relics of that empirical occupation were the Nigra gate and the ruins of the grand baths which were never actually used by the people who built them.
We did a fair bit of exploring, ending with lunch at Morino in a bustling square. The food was good but the service was appalling. Even when we asked for the bill, the waiter ignored us and attended 3 other couples who had asked around 10 minutes after us. We were the only English people eating and there was obviously a bit of prejudice on show.
Trier was a nice place to visit, apart from the restaurant! Back at the ship we both had a snooze to get ready for the evening entertainment. And what an evening it was!
As we were about to go up for a pre meal drink, I heard a man full of complaints at the tour rep’s desk. He had many, but in particular I picked out the one about the low bridge.
A short while later, an announcement came over the ship-wide system that the top deck was closed for the remainder of the tour. Following this in the lounge, there was almost mutiny as passengers complained and the rep tried to justify the decision. Apparently a few people had complained, and someone had posted a video on the cruise Facebook group of the narrow escape we had had.
The mood turned ugly. But I have to say that this was entirely down to bad management.
Another local act was due tonight, who was over half an hour late getting started for various reasons. Thankfully her performance helped to quell the angry crowd. A mixture of old and new tunes were played to backing tracks on violin. And a standing ovation meant that the crowd went home happy, and somewhat diffused.
Tuesday 20th – Traban-Trarbach (again)
We were supposed to be docking at Bernkastel today, but Viking Cruises, the owner of all the berths, had apparently pushed us out. It was still possible to travel by bus but Tui refused to lay on a shuttle, further adding to the onboard discontent.
There was also a problem with a lock, resulting in a lengthy delay, and a backlog of waiting ships.
Strangely enough we were not cleared from the top deck as we went under a low bridge. There was cheering and applause. We hadn’t heard an announcement, but it seemed there had been a change of policy from someone to prevent a possible mutiny!
Tuesday 20th – Bernkastel
Yes, we made it. Because of the lock delays, we were going to arrive later than expected. Viking had graciously allowed us to berth. For 15 minutes. Tour parties would go ahead, and they would be driven back to the ship which was returning to Traben-Trarbach. The rest of us could disembark, but we still had to make our own way back by public transport. We opted to do that, but I think most stayed on board.
It was worth the effort. Although very small, Bernkastel was stunning. It was full of winding mediaeval streets full of leaning half-timbered houses. A real fairytale town.
We had planned to spend the afternoon there and take in a meal, but it just wasn’t big enough to occupy us for that long. We got the 7:15pm bus back to Traben-Trarbach along with a small number of fellow passengers and dined on the ship.
After our meal we went through to the bar, where the crew were going to perform a medley of ‘stadium rockers.’ They did a really good impression of drunken karaoke singers murdering a selection of classics. We opted instead to retire to the quiet lounge for a nightcap.
Wednesday 21st – Cochem
After surviving the morning toaster queue, we made an early start into the old town. There were some picturesque parts, but it just wasn’t in the same level as Bernkastel. It didn’t take long to tour the points of interest from the street map; so we decided to head up to the castle.
There was a shuttle bus we could catch, but it took a while find the stop. We later found that we could have walked, but I don’t think we would have made it up the hill.
The only option at the Castle was to pay for a guided tour which was in German. We were given translation sheets however, so still enjoyed the experience despite not understanding a word.
Although we had paid for a return ticket, we chose to walk back down. There were a lot of people waiting for the shuttle and we could have been there quite a while. It was quite long, and very steep all the way, but definitely easier than trying to walk up it.
Then it was back to the ship for lunch, a snooze, then getting ready for the gala evening.
A 6 course meal was followed by a couple of nightcaps in the quiet bar, talking to a couple of Brummies. We passed up on the opportunity to be entertained by the stage crew after previous experiences.
Overall we’d had a tiring but very enjoyable day, with only one more to go.
Thursday 22nd – Boppard & Rudesheim
First stop today was the pretty little town of Boppard. We woke up moored alongside the S.S. Antoinette, which we had to cross to reach the shore. This ship was altogether in a different class to the Tui Isla. They had guards to make sure we didn’t loiter.
Back on board after a short stay and we were off to Rudesheim.
We had taken shelter in the lounge on the way there as the sun was still very much in attendance. We had really been blessed with good weather on this trip.
Rudesheim was one of the highlights of the holiday. Narrow cobbled streets festooned with grape vines, and lots of bars and restaurants; very atmospheric.
We also enjoyed a cable car ride up to the Niederwald Monument which was built between 1871 and 1883 to commemorate the Unification of Germany. There were spectacular views across the river, and the monument was pretty amazing too.
Back down to earth and we finished our trip with a swartzbier at the Gasthaus Winzerkeller, where I attempted my German on the waiter.
Then it was back to the ship for our final meal and a nightcap before packing for the journey home.
Friday 23rd – Frankfurt & Home
The end of a really enjoyable holiday, and already we were thinking of booking another river cruise. We had really enjoyed the riverside towns of Germany, with their half-timber lined, cobbled streets full of cyclists and wine bars. Definitely a place to remember, and quite possibly to return to.