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Emerald Star Cruise Photos

From: Emerald Waterways cruise review: Nuremberg-Trier

Day 1: Departure (Nuremberg)

Our first day began with a satisfying breakfast at the Hotel Drei Raben (a boutique hotel near Nuremberg's main railroad station, within the historic city walls).

We rode U-Bahn (subway) line U2 from the main railroad station to Nuremberg Airport, a trip that took 12 minutes and cost only a few euros.

At the airport, we looked for a bus or van driver with an "Emerald Star" sign in the arrivals hall. (Emerald Waterways provides free airport-to-ship and ship-to-airport transfers to all passengers.)

After a drive of 20 minutes or so, we arrived at Nuremberg's cruise port on the Main-Danube canal.

Emerald Star was moored at Berth 1 of the cruise port, next to a road that doubled as a pedestrian promenade and bicycle path.

As luggage for our cruise was being collected from the bus and loaded onto Emerald Star...

Passengers from the previous cruise who had afternoon flights were boarding a coach for the airport.

We'd read that Nuremberg's cruise port was an "industrial port," but that was a misnomer. The only industry we saw was on the canal's opposite bank, which also had a large, modern fire station.

This panoramic photo shows the cruise port from Emerald Star's sun deck. (Click here and maximize your browser window for a larger image.)

In this photo, most of the sun deck's railings, furnitures, and other fixtures are folded flat against the deck, as they would be for the first four days of the cruise because of low bridges on the Main-Danube Canal. (Click here and maximize your browser window for a larger image.)

We'd expected to wait a while for our cabin to be cleaned, but it was ready for us almost immediately after we boarded. A housekeeper showed us how to operate the door lock, which used a magnetic fob instead of a key or a plastic card.

Our cabin, No. 217, was a "Panorama Balcony Suite" on Vista Deck, the middle of Emerald Star's three decks. (Click here and maximize your browser window for a larger image.)

A mirrored panel on the left side of our the cabin made the room feel even bigger as it reflected the view of scenery that we'd just passed. (Click here and maximize your browser window for a larger image.)

Here, you can see Emerald Star crew members washing our cabin's glass wall in preparation for the cruise.

Our bed was set up as a queen, with separate duvets and a pair of bathrobes.

On our coffee table, we found a detailed Trier to Nuremberg river map and a 448-page Amsterdam to the Black Sea guidebook that covered all of Emerald's routes on the Danube, Main, Moselle, and Rhine.

Another cabin amenity that we weren't expecting was a pair of name tags. We did our duty by wearing them for a day or two, but then we got out of the habit (as did most of our fellow passengers).

Our cabin was roomy (it felt bigger than any standard cabin we'd encountered on a river ship), and it had plenty of storage--including a closet with a safe and minibar and a built-in dresser with six large drawers.

In this photo, you can see bottles of natural and fizzy water (replaced as needed during the cruise), the big flat-screen TV, and a thoughtfully-provided shelf for hats and other objects.

The right side of the dresser top was occupied by a telephone and a pair of receivers for walking tours on shore. The wall had power outlets for European, American, and Australian plugs.

The bathroom had more than enough space, including two mirror-fronted medicine cabinets on the left (out of view). Storage shelves beneath the sink would have nice, however. Maybe Emerald Waterways can add shelves or vanities during a future refit.

The glass-doored shower stall was spacious, with thermostatic temperature control and a retractable clothesline for do-it-yourself laundry.

After unpacking, we went up to the Horizon Lounge for a buffet lunch.

We stopped off at the cruise director's desk and picked up assorted information sheets, such as a guide to the itinerary's locks and a glossary of signs used on European inland waterways. (There was even a sheet with descriptions of German beers.)

No events were scheduled until the welcome briefing and safety drill at 6:15 p.m., so we went ashore for a walk.

As we left the ship, we noticed a plaque on the hull of Emerald Star, which was built in 2014 at the Shipyard De Hoop in Lobith, Netherlands.

The promenade alongside Emerald Star attracted a sparse but steady stream of pedestrians and bicyclists.

In this photo, Emerald Star is moored behind a German river vessel. Bellejour, in Nuremberg's cruise port along the Main-Danube Canal. (Our berth was No. 1; the port has 10 numbered berths in all.)

See our Nuremberg Cruise Port guide for more information, including transportation advice.

We discovered that each of the 10 berth markers has water hook-ups for river vessels.

Another port amenity is Uschis Treff, a snack bar and beer garden above the waterfront path.

We resisted the temptation to visit Uschis, since we knew we'd be getting plenty of food and drink on board Emerald Star.

Cheryl posed for this panorama with Emerald Star after we'd spent an hour or so walking along the Main-Canal and taking photos for our Nuremberg Cruise Port guide. (Click here and maximize your browser window for a larger image.)

Emerald Star left Nuremberg at 6:45 p.m. A sailor stood on the steps to the sun deck, where railings and other deck fixtures were folded down to allow clearance under the bridges ahead.

Officers on MS Bellejour, a passenger ship of the German cruise line TransOcean, waved good-bye as our captain steered Emerald Star away from the quay.

We passed the cargo barge Kilian on our way downstream.

A police boat (the first of many that we'd see during the cruise) patrolled the canal as we cruised toward Bamberg.

On shore, a suburban hillside was covered in solar panels. (Germany is a world leader in solar power generation, with more installed capacity than any other country except China.)

Later, after dinner, we enjoyed panoramic views and hot chocolate on The Terrace, just behind the ship's bow. (We ended up here most evenings, usually going inside only after the sun went down.)

We reached our first lock, Schleuse Kriegenbrunn, around 9:30 p.m.

During our cruise, we'd traverse 50 locks: seven on the Main-Danube Canal between Nuremberg and Bamberg, 34 on the Main River between Bamberg and the Rhine, and nine on the Moselle between Koblenz and Trier. We'd drop from an elevation of 303 meters (994 feet) above sea level at Nuremberg to 74 meters (243 feet) at Koblenz.

The lock's gates closed behind us, and the ship began to drop as water poured out on the downstream side.

We've been on a number of river and barge cruises, but the locks on the Main-Danube Canal were more impressive than any we'd seen on our previous trips. (Schleuse Kriegenbrunn, for example, was 18.3 meters or 60 feet deep.)