Arosa Clea

The 2009-built Arosa Clea cruise ship (fka "Monarch Princess" and "Avalon Creativity") operates voyages on the rivers Moselle and Rhine, along the inland waterways of Holland, France, Belgium, and Germany.

The vessel (ENI number 2331194) is currently Germany-flagged (MMSI 211464150) and homeported in Cologne/Koln Germany.

Until 2019, the vessel was chartered by Avalon Waterways from "MS Rhein GmbH & Co KG Hamburg" under the name "Avalon Creativity". In 2019, the riverboat was chartered by the tour company "Gate 1 Travel" under the name "Monarch Princess". Gate1Travel's river cruise fleet also includes the former Avalon ships Monarch Countess (Felicity), Monarch Governess (Affinity) and Monarch Duchess (Luminary). Creativity's fleetmate and sistership Avalon Scenery was sold to HTL Cruises and renamed MS Leonora.

In 2024, Arosa Cruises chartered two Avalon Waterways-owned (2023-acquired) ships - Monarch Princess/Avalon Creativity (renamed/traded as "A-ROSA CLEA") and Monarch Governess/Avalon Affinity (as "A-ROSA ALEA"). The news was officially announced on September 21, 2023. Both 2009-built sisterships were out of service since 2019.

Unlike AROSA's owned boats, Alea and Clea are with a classic design. The main restaurant is on the Middle Deck, the forward-facing bar lounge (with a Bow Terrace) and the aft-facing lounge are on the Upper Deck. The Sun Deck has a jacuzzi/outdoor whirlpool. Both chartered by AROSA boats are also smaller-sized (LOA length 110 m) and with smaller capacity (138 passengers max).

Starting revenue operations for AROSA in April 2024, Alea (maiden voyage on April 5th) and Clea (maiden voyage on April 14th) are deployed on Rhine River. In 2025, one of the boats (Arosa Clea) will be redeployed in France, for Seine River cruises out of Paris (replacing Arosa Viva/to be transferred back to the Rhine River). In 2026, the other boat (Arosa Alea) will be also deployed in France, but in Bordeaux, for cruises on the Gironde and Garonne rivers.

Cabins

Arosa Clea staterooms (70 total) are well-appointed and spacious, most of them feature a large sliding-glass door (floor-to-ceiling) opening to a French Balcony. Of all passenger cabins, 28 are Suites, 30 are French Balcony, and 11 are with non-opening windows.

Cabins Types, Sizes, Categories (high to low):

• amenities in all types of staterooms - 2 twin beds converting to queen-sized, 3-door closets with shelves, private bathroom (glass-door shower, hairdryer, bathrobes, slippers), sofa, coffee table, flat TV, vanity/writing desk, private French balcony (floor-to-ceiling sliding door), individual climate control, phone, minibar, safe, deluxe pillow menu, complimentary bottled water. Cabin occupancy - 2 guests in a room.
• Suites - (x4, JR), size 258 ft2 / 24 m2)
• Deluxe Staterooms (category, number) - P (x24), A (x18), B (x12), E (11) - size 172 ft2 / 16 m2)

The boat has 4 decks, of which 3 are with cabins.

Shipboard facilities and amenities

Shipboard restaurants are two - Market Restaurant (Dining Room with Buffet stations) and Sky Bistro (alfresco). The boat also has Bar Lounge (indoor observation venue with floor-ceiling windows and Bow Terrace/outside viewing deck), Club Lounge (with 24-hour beverage station), Library/Internet Corner, Atrium Lobby (glass-walled and covered by SkyLight), Hair Salon, Gym/Fitness Center.

The Sun Deck houses the Sky Lounge & Bistro, Whirlpool (outdoor jacuzzi), sunbathing area (with recliners/loungers and deckchairs), shaded seating area (retractables awnings, deckchairs, tables), deck games area (Giant Chess Set).

One elevator (glass-walled lift) connects all cabin decks.

Free Wi-Fi access and complimentary Internet are provided throughout the ship.

Gate1Travel river cruise deals are inclusive of Wi-Fi Internet, room service, all land tours and excursions (by certified local tour guides), motorcoach transfers, live evening entertainment (local performers), daily enrichment lectures, Creativity cruise ship tour ("behind-the-scenes"), food and wine tastings, 24-hour premium coffee/tea/hot chocolate, replenished daily bottled water.

AROSA cruise itineraries

Arosa Clea's itinerary program starts with the Maiden Voyage on April 14, 2024. The 7-day Rhine cruise (roundtrip from Cologne) visits ports in Holland and Belgium, including Willemstad, Gent, Antwerp (overnight), Amsterdam (overnight), Hoorn and Nijmegen.

During the inaugural season (2024), Arosa Clea's itineraries (all roundtrip from Koln) were themed as (5-night) Rhein Romantik, Mosel Erlebnis, Rhein Adventszauber, and (7-night) Mosel Romantik, Rhein Erlebnis Sud, Rhein Erlebnis Nord.

AVALON river cruise itineraries

Follows the list of Avalon Creativity itineraries when the ship was operated by Avalon Waterways.

(7-nights cruising) "Paris to Normandy Landing Beaches" are 8-day Seine voyages from Paris (round-trip, code WPP).

(Two ships, 14-nights cruising) "Grand France" are 16-day combined Seine-Saone-Rhone voyages from Paris to Cote d'Azur (Southbound, code WPL), and the reverse from Cote d'Azur to Paris (Northbound, code WLP). This is a "back-to-back" river travel option combining the Creativity's Seine river cruise with the "Burgundy and Provence" route operated by another Avalon riverboat. These cruisetours offer embarkation and disembarkation in Paris, Chalon, and Arles, with included TGV train (speed train) travel Paris-Dijon or the reverse Dijon-Paris.

The riverboat Avalon Creativity is in the same vessel class as the Avalon ships Affinity (now Monarch Governess), Felicity (now Monarch Countess), Luminary (now VistaNeo/Monarch Duchess) and Scenery (now Leonora). Creativity was the second-oldest vessel in the Avalon Waterways fleet (after Scenery).

Each of these vessels is equipped with two Caterpillar Marine diesel engines (type "C32 ACERT", total power output 1420 kW / 1930 HP). The propulsion system is diesel-electric, with an azimuth thruster and an SDS ("Silent Drive System" separating the ship's engines from passenger staterooms).

Note: You can see CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.