Arosa Danube

[Dem920]

We are doing a Danube cruise July 30th on Arose a German line I think. Looking forward to it but really have no idea what to expect of a river cruise. I'm getting excited and scared all at the same time. We are a couple in our mid 40s and it is a bit overwhelming planning excursions in the cities we will be visiting without knowing what to expect. We overnight in Budapest and Vienna. Will we be able to eat dinner off the ship? Does the cruise line have activities while sailing? We got all our drinks included so do I just sit on the deck and drink wine? What can I expect. Sorry for all the dumb questions.

 

Teresa

 

 

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[caviargal]

Use the search feature as there have been a few posts about this line, and a review by one of the editors, Caroline, who sailed with A-Rosa.

 

Not much available yet unfortunately.

 

I have seen their boats in port several times and they do look lovely and contemporary.

 

You can always choose to have dinner off the ship as long as the timing works. You are not required to have meals on the ship. We opt to do that on occasion as well.

 

As for excursions, not sure how much you have to pre plan. Are they not included? Generally they are and if there are choices of included excursions, you likely will not have to decide in advance.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Dem920]

Caviargirl

 

Thanks. There are some walking tours included but they will be in Sherman which we don't speak according to our TA so I was planning to plan some things on our own. Thanks. I can't figure out how to search on this iPad app. Lol. Have yo figure it out.

 

 

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[jacksonnh]

Dem920-

AROSA is trying to break into the USA market. I seems strange that their daily tours are only in German.

[caviargal]

Dem920-

AROSA is trying to break into the USA market. I seems strange that their daily tours are only in German.

 

The have a limited number of sailings designated for the North American market. The ones that are not are buffet dining only and the main language is German. The NA sailings offer ala carte dining service and English speaking tours.

 

To the OP, it is Carolyn Spencer who was aboard one of their NA sailings.

 

You might also want to check out Ralph Grizzles River Cruise Advisor. He has articles about it posted.

[Dem920]

We looked at the North American sailing but the dates didn't work for us so we are going on one of the International sailings. We only have 5 people in our group. If we had gotten 10 they would have gotten us an English guide, but alt of our regular traveling group didn't want to do a River Cruise. Thanks for all the help. I am on the cruise critic app on my laptop so I think I can search.

 

Teresa

[HDS]

Have you tried the Trip Advisor website (http://www.tripadvisor.com) for information about your destination ports? On the menu bar the "Things to Do" heading provides a selection of local attractions and the "More" heading has a section "Travel Forum" which is similar to the Cruise Critic boards.

[steamboats]

Teresa,

 

Yes, there should be some onboard entertainment but the entertainment during the day will be in German only. In the evening you can expect a musical entertainment (meaning a singer at a keyboard).

 

A-Rosa does have bicycles and usually they do offer more active tours (as their aim is to attract a younger crowd - actually it´s an aim...).

 

With an overnight stop of course you can go out and have dinner in town.

 

All meals onboard are buffet type. But the quality is pretty well.

 

For learning more about the towns you visit search for the town name and tourism. Usually you will find the official tourist website. They usually do offer information in English too including leaflets with city maps or even tour suggestions.

 

Here are some examples:

 

http://www.tourism.passau.de/Home.aspx Passau

http://www.vienna.info/en Vienna

http://www.budapestinfo.hu/home_en.html Budapest

http://www.budapest.com/travel/tourist_information.en.html another Budpest website

http://visit.bratislava.sk/EN/ Bratislava

http://www.hungary-tourist-guide.com/esztergom.html Esztergom

http://www.krems.gv.at/system/web/zusatzseite.aspx?menuonr=218454466&detailonr=115943628 Krems

http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/index.html Melk Abbey

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

Hello Dem920,

 

I could not find your cruise in the catalogue, i.e. my German paper format version here at home. It lists the international sailings as well. Where do you start your cruise and how long is it? Which ship are you on?

 

Perhaps you have done this already, but the German site of Arosa ending in .de has an english language version. Some of your questions might be answered there. I can understand you find it a little daunting. I did not know what to expect on my first river cruise.

 

On my ship, the Belvedere, there was an international crowd, but no English native speakers. As there were about twelve we had guides who did the tours in English and German, alternating languages every few sentences or lecturing for five minutes and then addressing the other language group. It workde well. We had designated groups for German and English in Melk. Perhaps you will have those bilingual guides. Other than that, steamboats suggestions are great.

 

I do wonder if closer to the date you might like to check again if there are more English-speaking guests booked on this sailing. Could make it up to ten then.

 

On my sailing we had English menus and all the information over the sound-system was both in German and English.

 

Apart from Bratislava, I never encountered any problems with speaking English. In Budapest it is easy to explore the city on foot or by tram. In Vienna you might be out in the port of Nussdorf from where it is a little tricky to find your way into town, but the cruise director provided us with maps and helped with directions. In Vienna we had the optional excursion of a wine and song evening in a tavern, but we did not go as we were too tired from the long bus excursion and exploring the town during the day!

 

On the sail-only afternoon we had the chance to talk to the captain on the bridge, that was very interesting.

 

As the others have said, of course you can eat out in town. On our cruise they asked as in the morning if we wanted to skip meals. No problem.

 

notamermaid

[HDS]

Dem920,

Check the Roll Calls All River Cruises board. There is a post there re the A Rosa Danube Delta cruise July 30 by Cindy.

[cindilouwho]

Dem920,

Check the Roll Calls All River Cruises board. There is a post there re the A Rosa Danube Delta cruise July 30 by Cindy.

 

I am on the July 31st sailing from Bucharest to Passau on the Silva. I don't think the OP is on that sailing, mine is a North American offering.

 

All the reviews have been excellent but ARosa is trying to break into the North American market and their admin here is really nice but I think they have to really work on their "polish". Even my agent said their marketing set up is totally weird.

 

I am just counting on a wonderful cruise experience and trying to overlook the shoreside experience!

[cindilouwho]

On the arosa Silva now. Interesting cruise. Not as advertised most certainly but worth the price paid. Will review once back as Internet spotty.

[nana541]

Not as advertised does not fill me with warm fuzzies....

 

 

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