River Cruising on the Rhine
Today I was thinking ahead about our XMAS Mkts cruise on the Rhine which is a loooong way off because there are no XMAS Mkts cruises in 2021, they don't start again until December 2022- in 568 days for us! 
As many already know, the southbound and northbound XMAS Mkts cruises start and end respectively in Dusseldorf, not Cologne like in previous years.
Anyway, I was wondering where the boats dock in Dusseldorf, how far it is to the airport, etc. Awhile ago I discovered I could often get a good idea where the boats dock by looking at the riverfront on Google Maps satellite view and looking for river boats. I didn't see any boats in the current satellite view, but I learned the boats dock along the east bank for quite a distance both north and south of the Altstadt (Old city) as I suspected .
How did I "learn" this? Well, I clicked on the Rhine embankment promenade photo spot (see at this link) near the Maritime Museum tower and look what appeared as the fourth photo! 
It is MS Treasures, one of the Tauck branded boats subsequently transferred by Scylla to VIVA Cruises (the photo was taken Nov 2019 so the boat hasn't been repainted yet and is still sporting the Tauck compass rose.) For those who remember the forum posts by me and terrilynn back in Jan/Feb, when Tauck (prematurely?) cancelled the 2021 Rhine XMAS Markets cruises, check out the VIVA banner in the side view photo of Treasures. The bow of the MS Esprit, which is moored aft of Treasures, is just visible at the far right of the thumbnail photo.
Comments
Alan, This is off-topic, but wanted to offer a bit of Dusseldorf trivia, should you have any time there. Dusseldorf has the largest Japanese population in Germany. In 2019, seems so long ago, I spent a few days there, even staying at the Hotel Nikko, on a leisurely self-designed "land cruise" that also included Utrecht. I decided I could visit several smaller towns easily from Schiphol and perhaps crazily did not even go into Amsterdam. I have been to Japan and it was fascinating exploring the mingling of cultures.
We were in Düsseldorf in 2019 on our Rhine Enchantment cruise. It was Japan Day. Wall to wall people. Many of them in costume. It was crazy but fun.
Our northbound XMAS Mkts cruise ends in Dusseldorf. We'll be leaving the boat the first opportunity and taking the train to Hamburg to see Miniatur Wunderland . We will fly home from there the next morning-
BSP, always nice when a tour coincides with a special event. I chase outdoor markets, once even convinced a TD to add a market to the itinerary. Can't imagine visiting France without the markets!
And Alan, you are the all-time LT travel planner lol.