We boarded the Viking Sigrun river boat at 4 PM yesterday and at 6 PM. We had our first trip briefing from the Cruise Director. He opened with the disappointing comment, but after six weeks of carefully monitoring the rain, River water levels and still making the passage from Amsterdam to Basel and from Basel to Amsterdam repeatedly, Viking has determined that continually has to end with this voyage. He told us that on Saturday at Koblenz, the plan stop south of Cologne, we would need to be transferred to another identical Viking long ship 180 miles south on the river. That would be a bus ride of two hours and 40 minutes being reasonably well studied in river cruise itinerary, I have two questions. I asked what city we were being transported to, and whether that would mean we would miss seeing the Rhine Gorge, which is where the famous castles all sit. It was immediately clear that those were the two questions the Cruise Director did not want to field. His promise to the group of total transparency required him to tell us that we would be transported to Strasburg but as for the Rhine Gorge, he said he had no information on that detail. The Cruz itinerary was intended to take us from Koblenz to Strasburg with two stops in between in Rudensheim and Speyer. What that means is that we will sit on our new river boat in Strasburg for two days before carrying on to Breisach and then Basel. What we will be doing during those two days is not yet disclosed to us, but you can be sure that Viking is busy scrambling with their Plan B so that they will not have 170 very upset high paying passengers. At one point, the Cruise Director said, “this is not our first rodeo”, and I believe he’s right. But what I also believe is the this cowboy we’ll be sitting in the dust of the ring for two days in this particular rodeo.
We have known for the better part of two months that this was a risk of this cruise. Global warming, the unusually hot weather in Europe, and the resultant drought has had a big impact on the region and especially on the river I determined along that I would just take events as they came and was particularly helpful when the Viking email of a week ago told us that the cruise was going forward as planned. I believe the Cruz Director when he said that they were only informed that morning by the Viking logistics people that this cruise would have to be altered. But I must admit that I am very curious how the rodeo management team plans to fill our two days in Strasburg with castles and activities that will meet her expectations. The good news is that the Viking Sigrun is a very comfortable ship and I am certain that it’s slightly newer sistership to which we will transfer and Strasburg will be equally comfortable. I just hope that bus with our name on it will be equally comfortable and that the activities Viking is planning for us for those two days will lift rather than deflate our spirits.
It’s always fun traveling with cousin Pete and Nancy and this trip is proving to be no different. So far, they are very pleased with their accommodations on the ship. I can see things like the service in the dining room last night. It It’s always fun traveling with cousin Pete and Nancy and this trip is proving to be no different. So far, they are very pleased with their accommodations on the ship. I can see things like the service in the dining room last night is very special to them. The dining room is configured with open seating and mostly larger tables so we sat at a table for six and were joined by two women from Australia, Pat and Carmel. It made for a lively dinner conversation of a very global nature where we discussed our various travels around the world and the geopolitical environment in which we all live. Fortunately, Pat and Carmel were very much on the same wavelength as us about Donald Trump and his shenanigans. At one point, Pat asked if Americans realized that what Donald Trump was doing was not just affecting America, but was impacting the entire world. I think that was irrelevant comment that represents the sentiment held by most thinking people in the world that are living through this moment. The corollary question that I would ask is whether Americans realize the extent to which the citizens of the world are displeased in the extreme by what Donald Trump is doing to the world.
Today we are stopping in Kinderdijk to go spend a few hours looking at windmills and learning about the lowlands of Holland. We will spend the morning below sea level in a land that has fought against the incursions of the sea for six centuries. We will then get back on the river boat and await the next installment of information from the Cruise Director about what is being planned for our lives over the weekend. We likely middle Europeans in the ninth century, our entirely in the hands and at the mercy of the Vikings as we metaphorically are standing on the riverbank of the Rhine. Having written yesterday on the topic of environmental reparations, I’m beginning to wonder whether or not we will have a claim to place to the international tribunal of damages for the disruption of our cruise created by global warming. Maybe Exxon Mobil and Donald Trump will pay us for whatever discomfort we suffer on our upcoming bus ride to Strasburg. I guess is that in the rodeo business it’s best not to hold your breath and to make the best of the riverbank that you can.