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Stella

Viva

Aqua

Silva

Brava

Donna

Flora

I liked the ports of call, especially Costa Rica & Cartagena.

The service was excellent - all the staff were friendly and treated us like we were special.  Food was diverse and well presented.

Captain Matthias was always informativeand greeted the guests on several occasions.

Our cabin 5122 was a little tight but we got used to it- between the bed and mirrored desk/dresser.  The cabin was quiet and our steward Paul very helpful.

The highlight were the fabulous shows with the Norwegian cast dancers and singers.  Very professional, talented and their costumes exquisite.

The entertainment coordinator Roberto was always organizing fun activities for everyone.

My Meet and Greet get together was successful thanks to Bettina (forgot her spelling). 

I would recommend this cruise to anyone wishing to see these ports.  Only wish we would have had more time in Guatemala - we visited Antigua and only got to see the jade museum and the famous hotel

Much better than expected

We chose it as we wanted to revisit an area of France we knew well from at least 25 years of camping among the vineyards of southern France. 

We arrived in Lyon on excellent Eurostar direct from St Pancras. 

We were met and whisked swiftly through the lovely city of Lyon to the pretty riverside, to embark on A-ROSA Stella, emblazoned with ( rather naff looking ) red lips! 

We were swiftly given our cabin key cards and made our way down to our river view cabin, with 2large circular windows at river level. Decor was very 70s beige and mustard, the bed was hard, facilities minimal, and we were glad we’d brought some favourite Bulgari toiletries with us. On exploring the ship we found a busy bar, a cramped lounge with seats too close together, and wide open viewpoints all around on the sun decks, where there was a tempting looking swimming pool.

To our horror, we discovered that smoking was permitted in all outside areas. Had we been advised  this we would not have booked this river cruise. We both hate smoking, and I suffer from pollution induced asthma. Our previous experiences of river cruises have been on ships that allow smoking only in limited areas. 

After an indifferent  buffet dinner, we made our way to the prow to see the amazing beautifully lit  up city of Lyon as we set sail, happily drinking a glass of the included basic wines on offer. After a long day, we were later glad to retire to our cabin, but found sleep difficult on such a hard uncomfortable bed, at least were soothed by the sound of the gently slapping river current. 

Each day brought amazing views, and incredible lock technology on this well tamed river. It was a surprise to realise that the locks were centrally controlled all along the river, so no lock keepers cottages and cheery keepers to wave to. We first sailed north to explore the river Saône, enabling us to revisit pretty Macon, a city I’d visited often in my youth, and to reacquaint ourselves with some excellent Burgundy wines , buying some bottles to enjoy on board. We had sought permission to bring these bottles on board, and a kind barman opened them as needed. 

The ship eventually returned to Lyon to carry on further south on the mighty Rhone, tamed by enormous  locks along its length, including the astonishing 40m drop at Bollene. The power of the water was apparent as we watched the swirl of the deep fast flowing river currents as we sailed under many bridges, some beautiful, others more utilitarian. 

All along it’s length the Rhone is used by a large variety of crafts, loaded barges, many pleasure craft, small local boats and of course lots of river cruises. 

It was wonderful to moor right outside the vast walls of beautiful Avignon, so that we could explore this fascinating city its with its rich history of papal power. Our favourite river port was the lovely city of Arles, settled for millennia , with its legacy of Roman history including an astonishing arena, delightfully used by parties of school children enacting Roman gladiatorial contests. There are many Roman artefacts in this city needing many hours and days of thorough exploration. As we only had a few hours, we settled for just the arena and a walk along the streets immortalised by Vincent Van Gogh in his glorious paintings. It was enchanting to sit sipping chilled white wine in the shade of oft painted Cafe de Nuit.

We enjoyed sitting in the evenings on the quiet sun deck after buffet dinner, with a glass of local wine we’d purchased along the route. Apart from one evening of a good deck barbecue, all meals were similar buffet style, and though adequate, were hardly gourmet. We had not expected this to be a “ foodie” cruise, but were very disappointed with the choices on offer, with a heavy emphasis on cheese, sausages and stir fried style vegetables. Sailing through such wonderful countryside, from the gourmet city of Lyon, it was disappointing to realise that , on board , we were not to taste the delicious French food from this wonderful region of the country.

Wonderful area, interesting river on a mediocre ship

We took advantage of a special offer via Imagine Cruising a company we use and trust for this river cruise.We arrived at Lyon and boarded quickly and were very pleased at our cabin which was spotless and very welcoming with nice decor etc.We enjoyed the pleasant public areas and especially the sun deck with good seating and a lovely shaded area with also small but well presented pool to cool off in everyday.All meals and most drinks are included and were of very good quality.We enjoy different cultures and the food offered and like to try different tastes and always found something tasty at meal times.Salads.meats,fish desserts.cheeses including the breads were good.Tea and coffee are available at all times.

We visited the South of France area from Lyon through Avignon,Arles etc down to the Port st Louis area which was the only port to disappoint.We think this last stop should be excluded from the itinerary as it's too industrial in this part.We enjoyed two trips outside of the towns that we moored in the centres.the first was to the Camargue area ending up in the lovely little seaside town of St Marie de la mer which is beautiful.The second was to Marseille but was too rushed and a bit frustrating as we only had 25 minutes around the port area which was the most interesting part of the city.

The clientele are largely German with a few other nationalities and about 25 percent British and there was little mixing ,probably due to the language barriers and it was difficult to communicate and people gathered in the evenings in their own language groups.I hoped for more mixing

It was very pleasant to sit to enjoy sunsets and the passing countryside as we leisurely sailed the river.All the main cities including Lyon and Avignon are easily explored from the boat and we have lovely memories of these beautiful places.

the evenings were simple with light music playing as we enjoyed the company of fellow cruisers with inclusive drinks and food at hand at all time.

We will certainly river cruise again and we hope with Arosa in the future.104

First river cruise

Having been on 3 other river cruises, we found one that went down the Rhone, which we had not gone on before. The Rosa Stella is about 12 years old, but extremely well kept and very clean.  In fact it is the cleanest cruise ship we've ever been on.  Our cabin was a decent size - not large but well appointed and the beds were comfortable.  We had a French balcony, meaning you could open the doors for fresh air but not sit out. We kept them open with the screen as one of the enjoyments of a river cruise is watching the shore line and hearing the water gently move.  The staff was superb - they went out of their way to be accommodating and were friendly, smiling and efficient.  Louise was the person who interfaced the most with us and she gets a gold star.  The spa, run by Nadya, was heaven and I had three massages for a reasonable price. The service was excellent.  The swimming pool was my favourite - larger than most and warm.  I spent time every day in it.  There is also a fairly wee equipped gym and a sauna.

This is a German ship, so the food, though we were in France, was mainly German, as was the major language.  Food was buffet style but they also grilled fish and meat as the buffet and in special dinners on the deck for BBQ.  Plenty of meat suited my carnivorous husband and fresh, lovely salad bar every day suited me.

Excursions cost extra, but, since the ports were all in town, we walked and explored without guides.  The best ports were Avignon, Arles and Lyon which kept us busy for the entire times were there.  People who went on shore excursions said they were happy, so I can only rate them based upon the experiences of others.

So, would we take another Stella cruise?  Yes because it was extremely good value and was a wonderful experience and I cannot say that about every journey we have taken over the years.  Full Marks, Rosa Stella.

Great cruise, good value

Corfu

The pre cruise 3 day stay in Prague, together with Vienna and Budapest were the high points of this, our second river cruise. The views from our Juliette cabin window were magnificent and come highly recommended.The weather was typically very hot but the air conditioning kept us all cool until one evening it broke down for a few hours. Generally however, the facilities onboard were maintained to a high standard.

The transfer to Passau from Prague by coach was over 5 hours, having been delayed for an hour when one of our party sadly became ill. Similarly our transfer from the boat at the end of the cruise to Munich Airport by "Imagine Cruising" was rather too long. We lwere required to vacate our cabins by 9.00am, then waited (without further refreshments) in the ships lounge until 11.00am, when we began the transfer to Passau Centre for a walking tour. We then completed the journey to Munich airport at 2.00pm, arriving at 4.00pm for our 8.15 pm BA flight to Heathrow.

This river cruise was on Arosa Donna, with an equal number of German and British passengers. Info was delivered in two languages, but translation sometimes less than transparent.The crew were a mix of nationalities, but key posts were filled by German staff.

Embarkation, cabin, boat and itinerary were generally good. The food, at best very ordinary.Never the standard we experience on ocean cruises. Afternoon tea is composed of rather plain cakes. Entertainment on board consisted of a very noisy , poorly attended disco every night -  until midnight. "Ports of Call" and Excursion information delivered by one very good and one very weak member of staff. Really surprised that in Budapest no evening cruise available, given the beauty that is Budapest at night. Excursions are booked when onboard.

The crew, particularly in the restaurant and bars  were unusually a rather grumpy, unhelpful bunch, who were rarely seen on the upper sun deck taking orders. Staffing , particularly in the bars , appeared to be a real issue during our Donna cruise and it was never easy to get a drink , without queuing a long time on this " all inclusive" cruise. Similarly the cruise line ARosa  / Chef appeared " to struggle" with those, like my wife, with special dietary requirements e.g. Gluten Free. But food dishes on the daily menu  did have allergens identified.

Overall, although we enjoyed the boat, the cabin, the cruise , the places visited - we would be unlikely to choose ARosa again.

Wonderful Prague Stay and Disappointing  ARosa Donna 8 day Danube Cruise

I'm not sure why A-rosa is bunked for Americans...in fact, I wondered why more English speaking cruisers weren't on board.  The staff all spoke English as well as German (most of the  crew were Eastern European) and the service was excellent.  We appreciated the spotless ship; the accommodating service from all the staff (constant attention to detail...fabulous hard working and conscientious).  The rooms were the same size as higher end cruise companies and we had 2 upper cabins with french balconies (full balconies are really unnecessary on these cruises as you loose precious cabin space and when you can open your french balcony windows its as if you have an outer balcony anyway).

While some purists might say the food wasn't "french enough" and, while I love French food, the quality of the food was excellent, presentation always good and they did make an effort to serve french specialities.  All meals were buffet style but never tacky and really fresh and well presented food.  The cheeses were good, the seafood was very good and the salads and breads always nice.  The bar opened at 10 in the morning (although if asked, I'm sure they would've made a mimosa for breakfast) and the mixed drinks and liqueurs were very good.  The wine was okay, but one could always upgrade for small charge (anywhere from 14-25 euro for a bottle...still a deal).  We had an all inclusive premium package and I felt sure we were going to be charged for extras at the  end...but no!...we even had a small break on spa services.  Tipping at cruise end was expected but not forced (not automatically added to your bill)...and frankly the service was so good you wanted to tip them.

The only really bad downside was the ship wifi only seemed to function well for about 2 hours a day (generally when in a major port)  This makes sense as I think many river cruise companies have issues with wifi when outside of a city.  Really unacceptable for us because we were trying to communicate with work back home and could barely do so....be advised that you should probably hire your own "hotspot" if you're coming from the United States.  that might function better....there are a number of companies that will rent you a wifi hotspot in France.

The other plus, unheard of really...was that our children were free! On premium inclusive cruises children 15 and under were included in the adult rate so our cruise was significantly more affordable than any other river cruise company.  There were a few other teens on board and that was nice for our kids. They enjoyed ordering specialty non-alcoholic drinks from the bar freely.  The DJ worked hard to include them in the music selections at nights (sometimes the choice of music was "schmaltzy" during the day)...but we warmed up to the DJ and had lots of fun with him. I'm sure in the summer there are more mixed family groups.  This river cruise company is pitching itself to families so I think that they tend to have a more diverse group on board than some companies.

Port time was limited in some spots, but we didn't feel that we didn't have enough time in any location except Arles (It was Easter and it rained so we didn't get to go to an Easter service because we were leaving in the early afternoon).  They gave us port information for the activities of the day in each place in English.  In Arles, there was bullfighting on the day we were there and Easter activities  and some things had to be cut short because we were leaving for Avignon, but Arles was miserable in the cold rain...so in the end were happy to be back on board.  Avignon was beautiful at sunset...not to be missed, so I understand they were trying to reach Avignon at the right time to see the Pont at sunset.

  We didn't use their excursions because we opted to do most touring on our own and that was fine too.  I do think the bike excursions are nice when the weather is good (and the guide would've done them in both english and german).  Bikes can only be take with the guide because they had a lot of thefts of bikes rented without the guide.  But most towns had "city bikes" which are also accessible if you just wanted to do it yourself (be are velopop in Avignon is a little difficult if you are renting 4 bikes at a time).

Another plus was the open pool on the top deck...none of the other cruise companies that we docked next to could brag that feature (Viking, Ama, Avalon, Croisi)...and it was a blast swimming in the heated pool viewing the lights of Lyon.

I would go with A-rosa again...super service, good food and really relaxing.

Fabulous Value; Relaxing and Nice Experience for the Whole Family

I knew that Arosa is German owned and operated when I booked the cruise.  I did not realize the extent to which that would matter until too late.

But's let begin with the positive.  The room was stylish, very clean and more spacious than I had expected.  The bed was comfortable.  The French doors could be opened completely, allowing us to bring the countryside into our cabin.  We had no complaints abut the bathroom or shower.  We were very happy with our cabin.

The food tasted excellent, the variety (excluding desserts) was sufficient and presentation was as good as good can be for a buffet.  But that was the problem; every meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner for seven days was a buffet, unless you paid extra for an a la carte dinner.  And the food was German, making for the surreal experience of eating sauerkraut and schnitzel while cruising the French countryside.  

Even though the vast majority of people on our ship were English speaking, German was the first language.  The poor grammar and vocabulary in the materials translated into English should have been embarrassing, though we found them funny.  What we did find annoying was the announcements being in German first, particularly when sitting on deck, watching the sites.  We would see a castle; an announcement in German would describe it.  Then the English announcement would be heard, by which time the castle was no longer visible in the distance.

The day trips by bus were excellent; all of our guides were good and one was amazing.  One of our big disappointments, though, was that the guided bike tours that were to have been included (and were one of our main reasons for choosing Arosa) were not offered on our trip.  And the evening entertainment was non-existent or awful.

Finally, connecting to the internet was impossible all week, not just for us but for everybody.  When I holiday, I do not expect to check emails all the time, but we would have liked to have been able to share our experience with family and friends, particularly given that I paid extra for European cellular service.

Our cruise was not terrible; neither was it great.   In future, we will choose ships that are English owned and operated.

France, German-Style

Jost Van Dyke

When we booked this package in April 2015 it was advertised as starting from Amsterdam on 21st August with an overnight stay in port and departing later the following day - this was exactly what we wanted as this was during Sail Amsterdam 2015 which was an event that only happens every 5 years and was the main reason for booking the cruise.

Some 3 weeks before the event we received notification from AROSA that the embarkation point had been changed to Utrecht that was some distance from Amsterdam - the reason stated was because of Sail Amsterdam 2015. The letter also indicated that it had been written some months prior to when we had received it and so I wrote to AROSA expressing our disappointment and asking when they knew about the change of embarkation port but they failed to answer this and did not reply to 3 further emails.

I then directed the questions to the UK cruise company that had sold the cruise as part of a package and after a number of emails they finally admitted the following "After having a look in to the situation I can confirm there has been a miscommunication between both parties and the embarkation port has always been Utrecht. The miss communication between ourselves and A-Rosa is ongoing and something that we are discussing." Obviously, this change caused both ourselves and many other passengers great disappointment and to embark on a cruise in an area that that the ships crew described as unsafe was not a great start to our cruise and we would certainly not have booked it had we known that it was not starting in Amsterdam.

The A-ROSA FLORA is only 2 years old and was a nice ship with a very helpful crew of mixed nationalities. Our cabin was spotless and well maintained for the 7 nights we were on it and the only problem that we had together with some of the adjacent cabins was a failure of the vacuum toilet system that was soon rectified. The food was a buffet style self service arrangement that was well presented and sufficient and of good quality and typical of German food.

As with the crew, there was a mix of nationalities amongst the passengers with German and British forming the majority and others from Russia and the USA.

The ships announcements were firstly in German and then English but most of the crew spoke good English so this was not a problem. The evening entertainment was limited to one person playing records and various musical instruments and the general criticism here was that it was very limited and lacked much variety.

The excursions were good with very good guides on most of the ones that we went on and when there was a mixture of German and English passengers they provided two guides who gave individual commentary via personal audio devices, which worked very well. Our favourite excursion was Strasbourg. A number  of passengers made their own excursion arrangements that worked out a lot cheaper than the organized ones. Some of the passengers did encounter difficulties researching rail times when the Wi-Fi on the ship was down for a couple of days but they found the rail system very good.

With the included drinks package, free Wi-Fi and one free excursion together with good weather this was a nice cruise let down by misleading adverts and poor communication.

Rhine Cruise; Let Down by Misleading Adverts and Poor Communication

Overall:
I think it is very tricky to try to add Americans to what was once a mainly German cruise line. The announcements were in English and German and all the printed materials were in English and German.
We did get an all-English newsletter every day and an all-English “Daily Calendar”
The staff was pretty much bi-lingual, but their first language was German, so they spoke to one another in German.
In spite of all that, this could be a good cruise for people who are looking for a middle of the road cruise. The pricing is lower than AMA or Avalon and the inclusion of all alcoholic beverages could be a plus for some travelers.
In speaking with another agent on board, she said that her experience on the newer ship on the Rhine was much better. The food was far superior and cabins were nicer.
Lounge:
The lounge and bar area seems to be quite small. It was always well used. At times there was nowhere to go to find a quiet space to check emails. In the front of the boat, the lounge looks over a lot of equipment, disrupting the view.
The dining room:
The dining room was attractive and set up for people to interact. After any meal they did ask you to leave so they could set up for the next meal. This happened several times, and we moved to the lounge where it was difficult to have a quiet conversation.
Sun Deck:
This space has a large seating area and a pool with lounge chairs. The weather was cool and rainy, so no one used the pool. On good days people sat and visited. Since smoking is allowed on the sun deck and there were numerous smokers,we opted to stay in the lounge most of the time.
Meals:
Breakfast and lunch were served buffet style, with no ordering off the menu. There was an option for egg dishes like omelets and scrambled eggs made on the spot to your specs. Breads, cold cuts, cereals and fruits were available. Regular coffee, hot chocolate and tea were available. Generally no pastries were offered in the morning, only muffin halves.
Dinner was buffet on three nights and on the other nights there was a set menu with three choices: meat, fish or vegetarian.
I was quite disappointed in the food. The cereals offered for breakfast were: mueseli, corn flakes and cocoa puffs. There was a pot of porridge available. We thought it tasted like gummy oatmeal. The yogurt was put in a large bowl to ladle out by ourselves and was poorly labeled.
Many times the food was cold by the time I got it to our table as there were many people trying to get at the buffet.
Since this is a German company, there were foods offered that were not usually part of the American diet, such as herring for breakfast and rabbit for dinner.
Dessert mainly consisted of cakes and puddings.
There was a mid-afternoon coffee and tea service that included cakes and desserts.
Excursions:
Excursions were set up so that the English-speaking people were on one bus with one tour guide and the German speakers were on another bus. The German bus had about 12 people and the English speaking bus had about 33 people. There was no differentiation in the large group by abilities. (no gentle walker or active walker groups) so we kept to the pace of the slow walkers, some of whom used crutches. This made the tours tedious for people who wanted to see more. In Arles, we decided to just walk the town on our own.
Americans were treated to lunch at Paul Boucuse Restaurant in Lyon. Paul Bocuse is a 3-star Michelin chef, so lunch was a fabulous treat. I would say that it was one of the highlights of the cruise. The other guests were not invited, nor were aware of this excursion until the Americans returned and were gushing over the wonderful food.
The excursion to the Ardeche, which included a visit to the Lavender museum and lavender fields was well worth it, although we spent a lot of time on the bus.
 

Disappointed

I wanted to give you an update of our experiences on the Arosa Bella cruise on the Danube. Let me start out that there were 5 of us traveling in 3 cabins. We are all in our late 40's-early 50's. We got a text the night before the cruise was to start while we were in Munich that the locks were down in Slovakia and the boat could not get to Passau so we would be bussed to the boat in Hungary. This ended up to be a 6 hour bus ride to Komaron, Hungary. We were not happy at all with the way they handled the lock closure. When we got to Passau as we were instructed, the Hotel Director, Michael was unwilling to speak with us to explain what was going on because we spoke English. To quote him "I will only speak to the German guests now, you can wait." Now keep in mind we are in a strange country where we don't speak the language. Dozens of people are milling around trying to find out what was going on and many were mad that they had not been contacted. We were not mad, but did want to understand what they were saying. We were lucky in that about 20 minutes after standing there, a person that was going on the cruise that spoke English finally translated for us. He told us to tag our bags and put them on the bus and just to get on the bus. The Hotel Director kept telling us to wait even after I called the cruise line contact that had called me about the change and she promised to call Michael to have him talk to us. I saw her call him and heard him answer and he then still chose to ignore us. If it wasn't for a very nice German man that had lived in Fort Lee, NJ for a time, we would have had no idea what to do or where to go until they decided to talk to us.
On the cruise itself many times we felt a burden to the cruise line because we spoke English. Because of the change in itinerary they did give a lovely tour in Budapest in English that we were not expecting. What we didn't realize was if we didn't take the German tour we would not be allowed off the ship in Melk & Krems. We ended up taking the German tour because we wanted to get off the ship, but in Esztergom we almost had the same problem, but I forced the to call us a cab to take us to Basilica. That information would have been helpful before we went so we were prepared. I had originally had some tours planned but due to the change in itinerary we had to cancel them.
We did have a great waiter every night who spoke English and got us an English menu every night. The ship itself was lovely. The passengers were friendly even though many did not speak English. Food was generally good with only a few times that there was little to eat for my husband since the gluten allergy. They had a hard time understanding the gluten allergy depending on which chef was there as some did not speak any English and could not tell my husband what foods were safe and what weren't. The itinerary was great and we loved that we were overnight in Vienna and Budapest. Wifi didn't really work well so I wouldn't tout it much. We had a full drink package so all our drinks were included. This was great and not something I was used to on a cruise. We had lots of great local wines and schnapps. The cabin was comfortable and clean and very well kept. We loved being up on deck as we went through the locks on the return trip.
The cruise line did give us an OBC for our troubles of the 6 hour bus ride to Komaron and a discount on the spa. We both had massages which were nice while on the river. I only wish we had some English tours to use the money on. We ended up with beach towels, but I would have preferred to see more of the cities. I did take 1,529 pictures and it was an awesome trip. We have decided we would do another river cruise in the future, but will be trying a different cruise line in the future. We got to see a lot of them, as in many of the cities, when the boats docked, you walked through one to get to yours so you got to at least see their lobby.

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