Page 16 - 2026 European River Report

A-ROSA had 40 kids onboard. It was re-
freshing, dynamic and nice to have
the crowd onboard,” he added.
KNOWN AND dards with sustainability and flex-
“We combine high service stan-

ibility regarding our packaging,”
PROVEN Sprunk said.
He said that the company’s buf-
fet is another differentiator, as it is
not a seated dinner.

2026 ITINERARIES
“We are expanding our offer-
ings in France and adding themed
cruises: We have yoga, dancing
and lectures with authors. We even
have a famous news anchor com-
ing onboard,” Sprunk said. “We
are working on our A-ROSA app,
which is good for our digital im-
provement. Guests now have the
chance to book additional services
via the app.”
According to Sprunk, the com-
pany’s portfolio includes over 60
itineraries on 15 vessels. He high-
lighted the nine-night voyages that
offer relaxed cruising.
“You can stay nine days, a bit
Stefan longer in the cities. And one of
Sprunk, our gold nuggets is the northern
sales Rhine,” he added. “The interna-
director tional market especially wants
to have a mixture of tiny, small
“We have very strong post-pandemic demand; we ports and cities, and the big cities
are back on track. This year, we’re surfing on a big in Europe like Amsterdam, Rotter-
booking wave,” said Stefan Sprunk, sales director dam, Antwerp and Brussels.That’s
at A-ROSA. working quite well. That’s maybe
the most important thing for next
year.”
e were up 30 per- product. Our USP (unique selling
cent in the first proposition) is being multigener- TRENDS
“Wthree months. ational,” Sprunk said, adding that “What we can see is that mul-
That is in comparison to last year, there is a strong focus on couples tigenerational traveling is trend-
which was good,” he added. and families. ing. We see that slow cruising,
“We also have a new CEO, Di- “We love to have kids and cou- relaxed travel, is really important,
eter Maltzahn. It’s really good to ples onboard; that’s our business. the traveling itself is the event,”
have him here,” added Sprunk. Our all-inclusive concept is work- said Sprunk.
ing well,” he added, noting the kids’ He also indicated that custom-
DIFFERENTIATION buffet as another differentiator. ized travel is a leading trend.
“We position ourselves as a “When I was on the Seine with “Our guests want more mean-
premium yet relaxed river cruise my parents and my daughter, we ingful, flexible and eco-friendly

26 Cruise Industry News: 2026 European River Market Report