Schmitz hopes to get back to the level of 2018 for this year's season, which started at Easter: "That was a super year then." He says bookings in the charter sector from companies and wedding parties have picked up significantly again: "We're already above pre-Corona levels now.“

Bonner Personen Schifffahrt (BPS) has been a cooperative of four ship-owning families since 1929. The scheduled trips are scheduled and coordinated in rotation. The fleet departs four times a day from Alter Zoll. For the coming season until the end of October, the skippers are relying on their tried and tested programme of themed and scheduled trips. From May onwards, the ships will sail daily. Tuesdays, however, are a day of rest. The captain is glad to have left the winter season behind. The passenger-free period was used for regular maintenance work, also on the ship's engines. Two MAN diesel engines with 380 hp each power the ship. All the landing bridges on the routes were prepared.

Now and then, children and their parents drop in on him on the bridge. "They're happy to see my Captain Blue Bear." A large rag doll sits on a bench behind the helmsman. He would most often be asked about the blue board that is occasionally unfolded during the tour. Then he patiently explains, "It's an encounter sign."

The captain finds that trips in spring, when the leaves of the trees on the banks have not yet developed much, are particularly appealing: "You see things then that are otherwise not visible, which is exciting." The staff below deck, who are involved in catering for the passengers, have other things on their minds. "When I'm behind the counter, I don't see much," says Lena Schmitz. She is the captain's daughter. For the company's social media presence, however, she does take in the beauty of the landscape again and again. Manuela Schmitz, the captain's wife, is in charge in the galley. "Sausages with potato salad are the perennial favourite. You can do whatever you want there," says the restaurant manager with a smile.

In the lounge, as the Siebengebirge landscape slowly passes by, sits the Spitz family. Eight-year-old Linda Luisa beams: "The view is super." Three generations on an Easter outing. Undine Spitz highlights the advantages of a boat trip: "Here you don't have to move." Linda Luisa's grandfather is not doing so well any more.

One table away, Eberhard Heiland is celebrating his 89th birthday with his family. Again, the same reason, as his wife Erika says: "Grandpa has a walker. It's tedious." The tour on the Rhine is a good alternative to the Easter walk for the Heilands. Tickets for the round trip cost 20 Euro, including coffee and cake.

Majed Mihoub takes his Tunisian visit out. Asked why he chose a boat trip, the man from Bonn says: "The atmosphere is very relaxed." He says a cruise on the Rhine is a great way to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a while.

While the BPS ticket office on Brassertufer has already opened for ticket sales and is advertising the upcoming highlights of the season with flyers, the neighbouring pavilion of the Köln-Düsseldorfer Schifffahrtsgesellschaft is still sleeping beauty. Anyone who wants to enquire about the KD line there will currently only find an outdated timetable from 2022 on the notice board. The KD will not resume operations in Bonn for another three weeks from 29 April.

(Original text: Stefan János Wágner / Translation: Mareike Graepel)