Arosa Cruises

[Globe]

Wondering if there are any comments or info about Arosa River Cruises as we had been looking at Amadeus/Luftner but now considering Arosa for a Danube cruise from Passau, Germany, as it seems the available sailing dates with Arosa will work better for us. The vessel is the newer Silva.

 

Many Thanks

[steamboats]

A-Rosa is a German river cruise company. They only sell some specific cruises on the US market. On a regular cruise you won´t find any (native) English speaking passengers onboard.

 

steamboats

[Globe]

Thank you steamboats. I just viewed a North American brochure for the company and I think announcements etc. will be in English and German as well as both languages from the crew. Not too concerned about this issue though as my spouse is a native German, so I have my own personal translator:):).

 

I just wondered what the overall experience might be like on one of their vessels, but it looks like they are very new to the N. American market, so not many reviews or opinions available.

 

This will be our first River Cruise experience and most of our Ocean cruises have been with Oceania, as we prefer the smaller vessels and casual dress codes. We are booked now, so I hope this will be a pleasant experience.

[steamboats]

A-Rosa is usually a buffet only leisure cruise. But for those cruises marketed in the US they do have a seated dinner (breakfast and lunch are buffet style).

 

I think they do not sell those US adapted cruises on the German market. Therefore announcements will be in English and there might not be many (or even none) German guests onboard.

 

You will find some photos of the A-Rosa Silva here. On the German market they try to draw a younger crowd offering shore tours which are more on the active side (bike tours...). They do carry bikes onboard too.

 

Actually the German and the US market are totally different. On the German market shore tours are not included neither are any beverages. So I assume that the A-Rosa cruises offered in the US have been adapted to the US market (including the seated dinner).

 

Ships are pretty modern and nice in design.

 

steamboats

[Globe]

Thank you again steamboats. We have been told that our cruise is all inclusive and it was actually booked overseas through a German agency, so I assume this particular cruise might not be one specifically marketed to North Americans. I expect there will be a lot of Europeans on board. The ship does look comfortable and modern in the pictures.

 

Globe

[Floridiana]

Globe, please write a review after your trip. I am very interested in a German speaking river cruise and have looked both at Lueftner and A-Rosa.

[caviargal]

Thank you again steamboats. We have been told that our cruise is all inclusive and it was actually booked overseas through a German agency, so I assume this particular cruise might not be one specifically marketed to North Americans. I expect there will be a lot of Europeans on board. The ship does look comfortable and modern in the pictures.

 

Globe

 

I have seen their boats several times in port and they do look very nice. I like their focus on a younger clientele as well. For us, the deal breaker is the focus on buffet dining. Read from someone just on an A-Rosa that to avoid buffet at dinner you have to make a reservation and seating very limited. And that was a cruise marketed to North Americans. Just not for us.

Edited January 22, 2015 by caviargal

[Hoyaheel]

Read from someone just on an A-Rosa that to avoid buffet at dinner you have to make a reservation and seating very limited. And that was a cruise marketed to North Americans. Just not for us.

 

Darn! You were so hopeful about this line! We too saw them in port in December and thought they looked nice (though honestly I must admit that I thought all the boats looked nice in port or cruising by on the rivers - it was when we peeked into the cabins where I saw layouts and tiny spaces I didn't love as much on some of the boats ;))

 

Since we were on a Christmas markets cruise, it was fun to see everyone's different decorations!

[caviargal]

Darn! You were so hopeful about this line!

 

Yes, both curious and hopeful.

 

Looks like I be sticking with a sure thing.:)

[Host Jazzbeau]

I was wondering how smooth the transition could be from a buffet-only cruise to a sit-down dinner cruise: it must take the newly hired dining room staff some time to develop their skills and a rhythm. Perhaps Arosa should dedicate one ship to the North American style instead of switching back and forth.

[caviargal]

I was wondering how smooth the transition could be from a buffet-only cruise to a sit-down dinner cruise: it must take the newly hired dining room staff some time to develop their skills and a rhythm. Perhaps Arosa should dedicate one ship to the North American style instead of switching back and forth.

 

I assume they were testing the waters to see what the response would be in the North American market as it would be pretty expensive to experiment with a boat dedicated to this market full time.

 

I imagine going back and forth is confusing to staff. It does not really allow a system to be established enough to run smoothly all the time. :confused:

Edited January 22, 2015 by caviargal

[Floridiana]

Buffets need less staff unless almost everything on the buffet is served as it is in the Terrace Café on Oceania ships. For me, it's all about the quality of the food on that buffet. I would really like high quality local dishes.

[notamermaid]

Hello,

 

Wondering if there are any comments or info about Arosa River Cruises as we had been looking at Amadeus/Luftner but now considering Arosa for a Danube cruise from Passau, Germany, as it seems the available sailing dates with Arosa will work better for us. The vessel is the newer Silva.

 

Many Thanks

 

I have had a look at the feedback from some customers on an Arosa Silva cruise. It seems that it having been the Silva's first year there were some hiccups in the service. Reviews are therefore mixed but overall still favourable. The reviews are all in German so I am not giving a link. You might get the same people in service in 2015 as in 2014 or different ones. The slightly older ship on the Rhine, the Arosa Brava, gets better reviews, for example.

 

Although not new now, you might like to have a look at Ralph Grizzle's journey on an Arosa ship:

 

http://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/2013/08/all-inclusive-river-cruises-introducing-a-rosa-stella/

 

Perhaps from there look for more recent articles on Arosa on that website.

 

notamermaid

 

A slightly misty day in the Rhine valley with sunshine. Where is the snow and the bitter cold wind??? Nowhere to be seen...

[DrivesLikeMario]

From experience, I can tell you that their booking agents in the US are not very knowledgeable. They have to call Germany for exceptions, questions and help. This causes a great delay when trying to book due to the time difference. I was not impressed with them at all when dealing with them. The added costs for shore excursions could get rather pricey, even with the meager allowance they give you towards them. I just think there are much better options out there right now for river cruisers.

[marty's mom]

we were looking at arosa but the dates didn't work. we are booked on Amadeus for the summer, Nuremburg to Budapest.

 

our ta has sailed with them and was impressed.

 

fingers crossed

[Globe]

Thank you Notamermaid and others for your comments and appreciate the link. As stated, it does seem there are positive reviews overall and I do hope some of the initial kinks have been worked out!! Now know that the all-inclusive we will be getting does include all alcohol ( wine, beer, spirits ) but just one excursion. Not much of a drinker at the best of times but I guess it's a nice perk to have. And we haven't often done organized cruise line excursions in the past as we prefer doing these on our own using small private outfits, as well as wandering around on our own, which I'm sure can easily be done on this type of cruise. On our first river cruise, I will look forward to an enjoyable time overall with some lovely scenery, comfortable accommdations and hopefully tasty cuisine...:):)

[Globe]

For anyone who might be interested in Arosa, I have finally written a little review ( in river cruise review section ) of our experience on the Silva vessel during a Danube cruise last Spring.