A-Rosa completes first Rhine and Danube cruises after restart

 A-Rosa River Cruises has completed its first cruises following its restart and received positive feedback from the guests on board – providing hope to the river cruise industry which is tentatively restarting.

This week, CroisiEurope announced that it would start cruising again in July, following the announcement by the French government to allow river cruises.

Lucia Rowe, managing director of A-Rosa River Cruises UK & Ireland, said:“It is so encouraging that our initial feedback from our German speaking guests has been so positive. Many of our guests are quite emotional when they get back on board and just so very grateful to be back sailing on the rivers.

“With the changes to Foreign Office advice and England’s quarantine measures for arrivals being removed for over 50 countries from 10 July, we really hope that this positive feedback will give agents the confidence to begin promoting and selling our river cruise again through our trusted partners. We can’t wait to welcome our UK guests back on board and offer them a relaxing and enjoyable holiday, safe in the knowledge that we have their health, safety and well-being at the very heart of all we are doing.”

The first cruise on the Rhine – a 10-day Experience the Northern Rhine and Moselle on board A-Rosa Flora –ended on June 28 in Cologne as planned. The Schauder family from Berlin said: “We had reservations about our trip in advance, but we are really glad that we bit the bullet. The atmosphere on board was really friendly, and while all of the hygiene protocols were obeyed, there was still the opportunity to meet new people and enjoy getting to know them.”

The first cruise on the Danube – an an eight-day Classic Danube itinerary – returned to Englehartzell on June 27 2020, as planned. “Our hopes for a great holiday post lockdown were fulfilled and we didn’t really feel any restrictions whilst cruising with A-Rosa,” said Ute and Andreas Uhlich. Renate Lange Heinicke and Jurgen Luce said: “We really appreciated how the crew worked in perfect unison and the service was always friendly and helpful.”

A-Rosa has now restarted on the Douro, Rhine and Danube with the French rivers currently scheduled to begin again on 11 July 2020.