Disclaimer // I was invited to stay on A-Rosa as part of the CLIA River Cruise conference, however was not asked for any content and all opinions are my own!
Cruising in general carries with it a lot of stereotypes, mainly with regards to the age group cruising. It’s only just crossed my mind that I dismissed these stereotypes of a predominantly octogenarian audience for ocean cruises a fair while ago. Why then did I still have that perception of river cruising? I always thought the river cruising was a much more sedentary way of travelling, with not as much to do.
I wrote about a year ago about wanting to give river cruising a go. I have had a taste of river cruising before when I first sailed on P&O Adonia with my parents – we sailed up the Garrone river to Bordeaux. That day of scenic cruising was heavenly! Sat on the balcony with a gluten free beer in hand, feet through the railings, just existing and watching the world go by.
When we docked, we were right in the centre of the city, no long walks through puddle filled industrial ports or sitting on a shuttle bus. River cruise means you’re right in the heart of the action right from the very beginning!
With this experience, it really should be no surprise that when I was given the chance to sail from Cologne to Amsterdam on board A-Rosa Flora I jumped at the chance!
Who are A-Rosa River Cruises?
A-Rosa isn’t a brand I had come across before – it’s a German cruise line, with a fleet of 12 river ships sailing the European rivers of the Danube, Rhine, Main, Moselle, Douro, Seine and Rhône.
The Ships of A-Rosa River Cruises
Whilst A-Rosa is a German line. there are a selection of international ships in the fleet where English is spoken and international hosts are on-board to help you.
Sailing the Portuguese Douro is the 126 passenger A-Rosa Alva, on the Danube you’ll find A-Rosa Donna and A-Rosa Silva, the latter of which also sails the Rhine with A-Rosa Flora and A-Rosa Aqua. A-Rosa Viva cruises the Seine with A-Rosa Stella gracing the Rhone.
What’s on board the A-Rosa Flora?
As I understand it, there’s only so many sizes to European river cruise ships – they have to be pretty standard to fit through locks and canals. There are some larger ones, and some river cruise ships can also cope with ocean waves, like CroisiEurope’s Belle de l’Adriatique. Generally river cruise ships are built for the rivers they will be sailing on.
A-Rosa Flora comes in at 4 decks high, 135 metres long and 11.4 metres wide. She carries a maximum number of 186 passengers.
The cabins on A-Rosa Flora
A-Rosa Flora has 89 outside cabins, 4 junior suites and 2 balcony suites – no inside cabins!
I was lucky enough to be put in a juliette balcony cabin – it was spacious with plenty of storage- the bathroom was a nice size with a shower cubicle without a shower curtain!
The Juliette balcony cabins feature a sliding door where you can sit and watch the world go by! Our cruise was rather busy, I would have loved some more time to do just that!
The decor wasn’t really to my taste in the cabin, but that sort of thing doesn’t really matter to me too much. The decor throughout the ship is a lot of pink and green, it brought to mind my 13 year old self Bang On The Door inspired bedroom!
The plugs in the cabin are 220 V EU sockets, so remember your travel adaptors.
The Facilities on A-Rosa Flora
Sitting at a window watching the world go by is one of the best parts of sailing on a river cruise – although we were sailing down one of the most industrial parts of the river it was amazing to see towns and cities going by, as well as other river ships – we did do the odd popping out on deck to see some particularly beautiful areas of trees going by.
We mainly hung out in the lounge area on deck 2, a light area at the front of the ship with a bar and small stage for guest entertainers.
British passengers booking through an A-Rosa travel partner get to go on an all-inclusive board basis, which gives you FREE drinks on board, including beer, sparkling wine, wine, selected spirits and cocktails, as well as still and sparkling water, soft drinks and speciality teas and coffees.
We got a great giggle from the list of “ladies drinks & spritzers” section on the cocktail menu – the gents were putting down the Aperol Spritzes as much as the ladies though!
This is where we spent a lot of our time hanging out and chatting, watching the world go by! A-Rosa Flora’s lounge and bar area
Downstairs on deck 1 you’ll find the A-Rosa Spa and wellness area, something I was quite surprised to see the size of! There’s a small gym (you know, if you fancy being a bit active on your scenic cruising days!) a massage/beauty treatment room, relaxation area and sauna! Donna, Kathy and I enjoyed a little pre-dinner sauna on our first night – it gets very toasty in there! There’s a large window to watch the world go by whilst you’re relaxing – don’t worry, you can see out but people on shore can’t see in!
Up on deck 4 you’ll find an outdoor restaurant and bar area for warmer weather, a pool, giant chess board, mini golf and lots of sun loungers – it wasn’t the sort of weather where you wanted to get your towel down early!
Dining gluten free on A-Rosa Cruises
On deck 2 on board A-Rosa Flora you’ll find the buffet and restaurant area. All meals on board A-Rosa Cruises are buffet style, meaning you can eat whenever you like during the dining hours and can dine with who you like.
The buffet area includes live cooking for some options (such as eggs in the morning) – it also includes a tea and coffee station so you can help yourself to hot drinks throughout the day.
Although the buffet trays themselves weren’t marked, there are menus on the table explaining all the buffet option for that meal, which is fully allergen marked. On top of that, the head chef was always happy to come out to explain the foods – whenever I was up getting my food one of the chefs would ask if I wanted some bread rolls defrosting, and I was informed there is pretty much always gluten-free cookies, crackers, cereal, cake, pizza and pasta available on request.
The staff were very attentive and happy to prepare something fresh, one breakfast time the chef caught my attention to let me know the bacon out on the buffet wouldn’t be suitable as there was bread in the tray to soak up the grease, but they would cook me up some fresh bacon.
Lunch on A-Rosa Flora You can enjoy eggs cooked to order just how you like for breakfast The cheese spreads on A-Rosa Flora were out of this world! DIning on A-Rosa Flora is buffet style
Check out my mini ship tour!
We all know I don’t like video editing, and there are plenty of cruise bloggers out there that do much better jobs of ship tour videos than me (check out Emma’s ‘Cruising Isn’t Just For Old People’ Youtube Channel and Cruise With Ben and David!)
Nonetheless, I did do a little Facebook live on the morning we were in Amsterdam showing some of the ship!
My thoughts on my taster A-Rosa River Cruise
Our A-Rosa Flora sailing took us from Cologne to Amsterdam – being November we couldn’t spend an awful lot of time up on deck but we did get to see some incredible scenery as we left Cologne, gorgeous autumnal colours on the riverbank and even got a glimpse of some Christmas markets as we sailed through Dusseldorf (now that’s something I never thought I’d say!)
Sailing through Dusseldorf was bizarre!
I’ve always said the reason I love cruising is because backpacking wouldn’t be my style, although I have always admitted that it does rather restrict you to the coasts of most countries! As someone said at the CLIA river cruise conference, ocean cruising takes you TO countries, river cruising takes you THROUGH countries. You wake up in the heart of a country – your ship usually has local guides on board – all offering a truly immersive style of travel. The cruise can be as active or sedentary as you want – wander the streets slowly from your ship or why not try exploring a city by bike?
During our weekend at the CLIA River Cruise Conference in Amsterdam, we were given the opportunity to explore some more river cruise ships – CroisiEurope’s ‘Douce France’, AmaWaterway’s ‘AmaKristina’, Amadeus’s ‘Amadeus Silver III’ and Crystal Cruises ‘Crystal Bach’. The latter couple are definitely out of my price range but I’m really interested in looking into a cruise with A-Rosa River Cruises, CroiseEurope or new line TUI River Cruises, which launches next year!
How can Brits book an A-Rosa River Cruise?
At the moment you can’t book direct with A-Rosa, however there are plenty of travel partners you can book with.
- Book A-Rosa River Cruises with Shearings Travel
- Book A-Rosa River Cruises with Newmarket Holidays
- Book A-Rosa River Cruises with Titan Travel
What is the currency on board A-Rosa River Cruises?
Being a German cruise line, the currency on-board A-Rosa River Cruises is the Euro. Much like ocean cruising, you register a credit card at the beginning of your cruise and then you can use your cabin card as payment – any drinks or excursions will be billed to your cabin account.
What is the dress code on A-Rosa River Cruises?
A-Rosa River Cruises has a casual dress code both on board and on shore excursions. You may want to bring some warmer clothes for sitting on deck and watching the world go by. Don’t forget, there’s a swimming pool and spa on board, why not bring a swimming costume? (I forgot mine and opted for undies and a towel in the sauna!)
The only thing to note is that shorts are not allowed in the dining room! (Quite right, but then I’m on that team, avid cruisers will know how divisive this topic can be!)
What nationalities sail on board A-Rosa cruises?
As I mentioned although it is a German brand A-ROSA has the five ships which are dedicated to the international market – on these ships guests tend to be mainly from Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Isreal and the United States. You will have an international host on this ship that will be able to speak English – all staff that we interacted with on board spoke English.
What is included on A-Rosa cruises?
River cruises are front heavy, meaning they often appear a lot more expensive than ocean cruising. However, when you book A-Rosa you are getting their Premium All Inclusive package! This means all your food is included, plus drinks including beer, sparkling wine, wine, selected spirits, cocktails, still and sparkling water, soft drinks and speciality teas and coffees.
You also get FREE WiFi and massage and beauty treatments available at a discounted rate.
Are A-Rosa River Cruises suitable for families?
YES! This is one of the things that surprised me the most about A-Rosa! The ships sailing the Rhine ships all offer two cabins with connecting doors on each deck, which are well suited for families with children, whilst A-Rosa Flora has two family cabins onboard the A-ROSA FLORA, which accommodates up to 2 adults and 2 children. What’s more, if you are going ‘All Inclusive’, children 15 years old and under travel for FREE on the Rhine, Rhone/Saone, Danube and Seine itineraries.
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Very engaging article. Looks like A-Rosa is quite a good option if considering a river cruise. Not thought of them before.