Permission to Come Aboard, Sir!

In April/May 2018, Debra and I cruised the Rhine River for eight days on the Viking Mani. We sailed from Basel, Switzerland to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with port stops in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Click HERE to read a short introduction about this fantastic cruise.

This story, which is part of a series, is about our sail-away day from Basel.

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Basel, Switzerland (April 27, 2018) Debra and I had a wonderful time in Basel, which served as our “home base” for five days of sightseeing in and outside the city. But it was time to say “auf wiedersehen” to Switzerland and “hallo” to the Viking Mani, which we would call home for eight days as we cruised the Rhine River.  
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It was a 15-minute cab ride from Hotel Spalentor, where we stayed in Basel, to the pier. The temperature was in the low 60s and the sky was mostly sunny, with a few puffy white clouds. We boarded the Viking Mani near noon; check-in was a breeze. We stowed our luggage in our cabin and headed to lunch at the ship’s restaurant. Seated with a couple from the States, we struck up a jovial conversation. They would be our shipboard friends for the duration of the cruise. 

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Viking offered a couple of optional shore excursions in Basel for guests who arrived early, but we had seen the sights that those excursions covered, so we opted to stay on board to familiarize ourselves with the ship and meet other passengers. The Mani is a tight ship – not too long, not too wide, not too tall – and well-organized. Every place on the ship we could be – front desk, restaurant, library, lounge, and observation deck – were all within minutes of our cabin.   
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We stopped in the ship’s library, where later in the cruise Debra presented Captain Scheller with a copy of her book, Bio Touch: Healing With the Power in Our Fingertips. The good Captain, an affable fellow from Germany, said he would take the book home to share with his wife. 

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In the library I learned that the Mani was named after the moon god in Norse mythology. Mani (the moon god, not the ship) drove a chariot that was pulled across the sky by two magnificent white horses. His sister was Sol, the Sun goddess; her chariot was drawn by two golden horses. The gods thought Mani and Sol’s father, Mundilfari, arrogant in naming his children after the two celestial bodies. As punishment, the gods banished Mani and Sol to the Heavens for all time to guide their namesake orbs across the sky.

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For the next couple of hours, Debra and I explored the ship, unpacked our luggage, lounged on the Sun Deck, and talked with fellow passengers. Then? Well, we attended a cheese and wine reception at 3 and cocktail hour at 5. I know, I know...it’s a hard knock life! Oh…and we enjoyed a delicious dinner of prime paired with a red wine.

The Sail-Away
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With a blast from its horn, the Mani set sail at 9. The weather was beautiful as Debra and I watched the sail-away from the Sun Deck. We loved the nighttime skyline – a few taller buildings backlit by a deepening purple sky. The windows in the wheelhouse (the ship’s “bridge”) reflected the lights from the city. As we got closer, we spotted the Captain and Navigator seated inside, almost obscured by the reflection of the Basel’s night lights. The Captain had an open-door policy – passengers could talk with whoever was in the wheelhouse as time and attention to navigating permitted. We took this opportunity to share a few words with Captain Scheller. 

Small talk led to learning, with the Captain as teacher and Debra and me as students. He told us that the ship must pass through 11 locks as the river drops from about 800 feet above sea level in Basel to seven feet below sea level in Amsterdam. And here was the kicker: We were just an hour away from the first lock. This was likely the only lock that Debra and I would see, as the ship would navigate the other locks during the wee hours of the morning or when we were off the ship. We had never sailed through a lock, so we looked forward to seeing how that process worked.  ​

We watched as the Mani approached the lock, which at first was nothing more than distant lights on the river. The lights got clearer and brighter as we got closer, and then we saw the downstream gate. The ship came to rest, and we waited a short time for other northbound ships to pull alongside.

The downstream gate opened, we sailed into the chamber, and the gate closed behind us after all the ships had entered. The Mani was at the wall to its port side.  A valve opened and the water began to flow out of the chamber. The water dropped about 25 - 30 feet. It was a slow process, and we didn’t feel any motion. But we marked the drop against the walls of the chamber as the Mani and other craft were lowered. The ship was close to the side of the chamber – so close that we touched it. 

Then the upstream gate (the one in front of us) opened, and the Mani moved forward through the gate. For some, I’m sure this process might be akin to watching paint dry – but it was interesting and fun for Debra and me.  

By the way, it was a tight fit under the upstream gate – so tight that the wheelhouse was lowered flush with the deck. And those of us standing on the deck? A steward came by and told us that we must sit on a chair or run the risk of being decapitated by the gate. Aye, aye, Steward!!

Navigating the lock was a great way to end a glorious day, a day in which we transitioned from our stay in Switzerland to the start of our eight-day cruise. Tomorrow we would be in Breisech, Germany, our first port of call.