For the 6th year in a row the 'gang' (Gaynor & Jean, Marion & Ed, Nick & Olwen, Alan & Dawn, Mark & Michelle and ourselves) met up at Folkestone Stop 24 with our drivers John and Tony for another rioutous trip to the Rhine to celebrate New Year on the Rhine Princess. We had decided that this was to be our last New Year's Rhine Cruise for a while so we were determined to make the most of it. This year (2020) my mother will be 100 on December 29th and we will be having a big celebration to mark this momentious occasion; however, I'm sure we will come up with some sort of plan to combine celebrating Xmas/New Year with our friends as well.
This year we had the pleasure of travelling in J & T's new Luxuria coach which has large comfortable seats as well as individual built in tablets loaded with TV programmes and films to pass the time; however, there is no rear lounge for passengers to stretch their legs and socialise with others during the journey, as with Silver Service coaches, and from a personal perspective I think I prefer the latter. Also this year we crossed the channel by ferry instead of train which adds time to the journey and we were pleased to arrive at the Rhine Princess where as usual they had laid on a nice hot buffet after which we enjoyed our first cocktail in the bar before retiring to our cabin for the night.
The itinery for the trip has changed little during our travels with Leger (why change a good thing I suppose) and as usual we walked into Cologne during the morning before the boat left for its first overnight stop at Andernach. During the evening we had planned a fancy dress for our gang around the theme 'Oktoberfest'. This involved ladies dressed as Bavarian wenches and men in lederhosen; I chose a Leprechaun Fancy Dress Piggyback Costume to avoid exposing my legs which surprised our friends as I had vowed not to dress up. We had an excellent evening and I can't help but think that with us absent in 2020 things won't be quite the same.
The following day (New Year's Eve) we made our usual trip for a customary Rudesheim coffee, which consists of Asbach brandy with added sugar, set alight at your table to caramelise the sugar and then topped off with coffee and cream; it is very sweet and not to everyone's taste (mine included) but customs must be maintained. We were slightly disappointed this year as there has always been a live band in the Continental Hotel in past years which was absent; who can forget the entire hotel singing at the top of their voices 'Who the f--k is Alice' a couple of years ago.
The evening is why we have been on this cruise every year for the past 6 years. On arrival back at the boat, which was moored in its customary berth by the quay at Koblenz, we prepared for the formal evening ball which is definitely my favourite part of the trip with the men dressed in their tuxedos and women in glamorous dresses (or is it the other way round!); the theme was 'blue' which meant the men having blue bow ties, matching hankies and masks and the women in blue evening gowns with masks. I have to say we look great (and the ladies weren't bad either) and once again I think we will be missed next new year. After an aperitif, we sat down for our Gala Meal, which for some reason always seems to be a selection of dishes I'm not keen on; however, they are always very accommodating and prepared an alternative for me and others.
After the meal we found our seats in the lounge and prepared for an evening of music and dance with the resident musician Jan (from Croatia) as well as Tony's superb disco dance collection during breaks. As The New Year approached we all gathered up our coats before venturing up on to the top deck for the firework celebrations. As I've described in the past this is the best display I have ever seen and can be viewed in a 360deg panorama as the whole city of Koblenz celebrates the New Year; the quayside is packed with locals letting off their own fireworks with rather dubious safety in mind. After kisses all round and a glass of champagne we retired to the lounge to await the British New Year (1am German time) when the obligatory Auld Lang Syne was sung followed by the Conga and further copious drinking and dancing prior to collapsing in our cabins for what remained of the night.
The following day on a nice crisp morning, we went for a walk into Koblenz before returning to the ship for the afternoon journey to Bonn and our drive back to Calais and home the following day. I think we will miss this trip come December 2020 and will have to find another way for our gang to celebrate the New Year. I have my mother's 100th birthday to celebrate on the 29th December but that still leaves time for someone to come up with an alternative plan for New Year's Eve.
As I didn't take very many photos this year I have been very grateful to Nick and to Mark and Michelle for sending me their photos. Also I have just uploaded a video given me by Dawn of the fireworks. hank you my friends for a wonderful holiday and I hope we will meet up again next year even if it isn't on the Rhine Princess - xxx.
