Jane Archer takes a look inside the new A-Rosa Sena, which launched last year
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Wow factor: It depends who you are. For adults with wellness on their minds, it’s the fabulous spa, which has two treatment rooms (massages from €39 for 25 minutes), a sauna, ice room, relaxation area and large gym. For children, it’s the kids’ club, which spans the width of the vessel and has a slide, climbing wall and large play area.
For techie sorts, it’s the ship’s cutting-edge features: Sena can get in and out of ports emission-free using batteries, partly charged using surplus energy captured from the engines.
Design: This is an A-Rosa vessel, but not as you know it. There are occasional echoes of the bright colours that set its river ships apart, but the rest of the decor is contemporary with a cream and brown colour palette and beech wood finish – all set off with modern fi ttings and furnishings.
Highlights include an eye-catching spiral staircase in the atrium, a winery for tastings and a sun deck bar that folds down when the ship goes under low bridges. Sadly it was too cold on my winter cruise for the bar to open.
Food and drink: Breakfast, lunch and dinner are self-service, with dishes spread out over four main areas – two for cold meats, bread and fruit, one for hot meals and a kids’ corner (which often had the best food). It is crowded at peak dining times, but splitting the restaurant into sections, including a garden-style Pavilion enclosed by a metal trellis, gives it a more intimate feel.
Tables are reserved for those in suites and family cabins; otherwise it is free seating. The Sena Grill, a reservation-only restaurant, seats just 24 people and serves steaks and fish for an extra €39 for three courses.
Accommodation: There are two decks of standard cabins, although calling them ‘standard’ doesn’t do them justice. They are spacious, with balconies, sofas, plenty of storage and en suites with glass-enclosed showers. Seven suites are a third bigger again and hold up to four people.
On the lower deck, in place of the usual entry-level cabins, there are 12 family cabins that sleep up to five people (beds for parents, bunk beds and pull-out sofas for the kids) and separate bathrooms and toilets.
The facts: A-Rosa Sena launched in 2022 with pioneering hybrid technology that uses battery power to lower emissions. The vessel is almost twice the width of most river ships and has four inside decks, instead of the usual three.
It has 12 family cabins that sleep two adults and up to three children and can hold 280 passengers based on double occupancy, but accommodates more if the family cabins are full.
Book it: A-Rosa Sena offers seven-night Rhine Discovery cruises to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Dordrecht and Antwerp round-trip from Cologne. A family cabin costs from £5,649 for two adults and two children sharing, departing May 27. Prices include flights, transfers, unlimited drinks, a 15% discount in the spa and Wi-Fi.
PICTURES: A-ROSA Flussschiff
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