Scenic Cruise excursions along Rhine in Germany reveal treasures

The Scenic Opal’s sleek design inspired its Spaceship nickname.
Werney Beyer

As soon as we discovered that the small swimming pool on the Opal’s sun deck was really a large, heated whirlpool, our attitude toward the rain changed.

Sitting in the hot, swirling water with a glass of wine as the rain fell on our shoulders was a truly sensual experience. Ship’s staff delivered glasses of wine or coffee at the whim of passengers, and spirited conversation and the scenery of passing German villages along the Rhine made the experience almost surreal.

Southern Germany was drenched with a 100-year flood, so we joined the Opal in Mannheim after Scenic Cruises bused us to a wider part of the river. That area was not as impacted by the high water that prevented many other river cruises from passing beneath bridges and through locks farther south. In mid June, the river’s muddy water was high and filled with pieces of floating trees eroded from the river bank.

But the Opal, dubbed a “space ship” for its sleek lines, proved a cozy sanctuary from the rain. Read more about the ship and its jovial passengers here.

Passengers, mostly veteran travelers, had packed appropriately for the rain, so a veritable fashion show of raincoats paraded ashore for excursions as we dodged the raindrops. The cruise line handed out umbrellas as passengers went into towns, but I declined to keep my hands free for note taking and photographs.

Among other things in Mannheim, our guide pointed out a statue of the first gasoline-powered automobile, patented in 1898 by Karl Benz. It later was named after his daughter and became Mercedes Benz. His wife, Berta, drove it to visit her parents on the first-ever road trip, unclogging its stuck valve with a hat pin when the car stalled.

Shore excursions not only are included in the cruise fare with Scenic, but the line gives passengers a choice of three or more in each port. Passengers also can go ashore on their own, guided by the GPS technology of personal hand-held devices called Tailormades (Currently an app for your smartphone). Motorized bicycles also are available for passengers.

One nice thing about river cruises is the ship usually moors in the middle of town and rarely cruises at night. So passengers can go ashore to enjoy nightlife and dinners out, if they wish.

The charming wine town of Rudesheim is one of the most popular for visits along the Rhine River, even though it has only about 10,000 residents.
Janet Podolak

The Opal’s visit to the classic wine village of Rudesheim came during a break in the rain, so we were able to stroll the cobbled streets and enjoy tastings of local wine and the Asbach Uralt brandy for which Rudesheim is known throughout Germany. A small tourist train met us at the ship to take us uphill to the heart of the picturesque village, where a visit to a Sigfrieds Mechanical Music Cabinet Museum was more interesting than it sounded. Only 10,000 people make this village home, but it’s one of the most visited by those traveling along the Rhine.

Our cruise director said he’d never seen it so empty. Many ships were stuck on the lower Rhine because of the flooding, but thanks to our captain’s good thinking, we were seeing the sights we came for.

A chair lift takes Rudesheim visitors up over the vineyards to a monument atop a mountain.
Janet Podolak

The sunshine continued, so we boarded a cable car over the vineyards and up the mountain to the Niederwald Monument, which is dedicated to German soldiers lost in war. From the open-air cable car, we could hear the lapping water and birdsong, watch vineyard workers below and look for our boat on Rhine. It was great to stretch our legs and look over gardens on the mountain.

The Rhine River runs from south to north, so the flooding near its source continued up river to submerge islands and flood the shoreline. When we reached Koblenz, at the confluence of the Moselle River, we knew without being told that a cruise up that river would not be possible. Looking up the Moselle we could see the river was so high that passage beneath bridges would be impossible.

But the Opal’s crew had arranged for us to take a bus up the rugged river valley from Koblenz.

When the long-ago Romans settled this area, they quickly realized the steep sides of the river valley would shelter it from northerly winds and provide a longer growing season for the grapes they grew for wine. The sediments of slate and quartz on the hillsides also served to to store the day’s heat in the soil, radiating warmth throughout the nights.

The valley’s full-bodied Riesling wines are legendary, but Pinot Noirs and sparkling wines also are made here. The hillsides are so steep that cultivating the grapes is something that must be done by ladders that snake up the hillsides, with grapes being brought below by a small monorail. Each vineyard carries the name of its wine spelled out in stones on the hillside for passersby to see.

En route to Cochem, an hour drive the next morning, we passed an island campground where motorhomes were stranded by the floodwaters. The Moselle’s 17 locks were closed by high water, so we saw only an occasional pleasure boat.

Visitors take advantage of a break in the rain to gather for a drink at the central plaza in Cochem along the Moselle River
Janet Podolak

High above the town of Cochem, the Thurant Castle was begun about 1200 and named after a fortification that was besieged without success during the Third Crusade.

Our castle exploration time was limited because the Opal was due to depart for Cologne after lunch. So we oohed and aahed over the gardens and castle artifacts, which included a suit of armor for a knight who had been 7-feet-11-inches tall.

Gargoyles near the roofs of the Cologne Cathedral catch rain to protect the lacy stone walls.
Janet Podolak

We saw the magnificent Cologne Cathedral, a Gothic wonder with its pair of filigreed towers, before we reached the mooring at dusk. In our afternoon shore talk en route, we learned Cologne’s status in the Middle Ages is reflected in the presence of 12 Romanesque churches. It’s also quite the city for beer, competing hardily with Dusseldorf for the country’s best beer.

Several passengers said they would rather explore Cologne’s beer scene than the cathedrals, which was quite OK with the cruise line, which scheduled an evening beer tasting and talk about how beer is made.

But the gargoyles, apsides, frescoes and towers were an impressive refuge from the rain, which began in earnest the next morning. My friend and I chose different walking tours — one of them slower to accommodate my aging knees. We both saw the oldest houses in town and visited the gothic Cologne Cathedral, where we saw the shrine of the Three Magi. We learned how the origins of cologne (open sewers in the 1400s caused a desire for sweet scents) created a fragrance that could soak handkerchiefs to alleviate the smell.

A spot is marked where John F. Kennedy spoke in 1971. “He spoke in German,” our guide told us. “He said, ‘I am a jelly donut.’” He apparently meant to say “I am a Berliner.” We saw the artifacts excavated when a Roman palace was discovered where Cologne now stands, and we found a favorite gasthaus where beer-loving passengers were holed up away from the rain.

Cathy Knezevich of Mentor, Ohio checks out the locks that lovers have attached to the Hohenzollern Bridge to pledge their love after which they toss the key in the Rhine River below.
Janet Podolak

In our free time, once our tours were done, we searched out a bridge over the Rhine that was covered in locks, many of them engraved. The custom of pledging love, attaching the lock to the bridge, locking it and tossing away the key has spread throughout Europe, including here. In Paris, officials broke off the locks on some bridges because they were weighing them down.