Book a window seat with Rhine air
Andy Lines joins a magical river cruise on new ship Emerald Luna
Ipressed the switch on the wall and the 10ft panoramic window – the entire length of the cabin – immediately opened. Our indoor cabin had quickly, and very impressively, become an outdoor one. It meant my wife Lois and I could sit sipping a glass of very decent German white wine and watch the world go by on our cruise down the Rhine.
The new Emerald Luna ship is full of such simple but brilliantly innovative technological ideas.
I’d never been on a cruise ship where the flick of a switch dramatically changed your cabin – with the “magic window”, as I dubbed it, allowing fresh air inside.
We were barely a yard above the waterline of the world-famous Rhine and it certainly gave us a very special experience on the entire journey from Holland down to the Swiss city of Basel.
The Rhine really is a magical river. It rises in Switzerland and joins the North Sea in Rotterdam and there are a huge number of vessels that use it on a daily basis.
From the kayaks, canoes, speedboats and jet-skis to enormous petrol tankers, freight carriers and cruise ships, every section we travelled on was in extensive use.
There are stunning riverside campsites right next to huge car factories.
From leisure to industry, this river is the lifeline for hundreds of communities throughout Holland, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Our own voyage started in Amsterdam. We enjoyed a quiet day by the canals before we returned to the ship and headed south.
Our first stop was Cologne. The bars and cafes around the stunning cathedral were teeming with locals and tourists enjoying a