We Took Our 5-year-old Son on a European River Cruise — This is Why It Was the Final Household Trip

“Sustain, mummy,” bellowed Sebastian, my fearless 5-year-old, as he and my husband, Eamonn, descended into Antwerp Cathedral’s eerie crypt. This subterranean vault, accessed by way of a slim coiling staircase off the church nave, is a small room with a low ceiling and crumbling hole tombs. A shiver crept up my backbone as I stood among the many stays of this former burial chamber. This was my cue to return to the bottom flooring of Antwerp’s extraordinary Gothic cathedral. 

Whereas Sebastian and Eamonn explored the dimly lit crypt, I took the chance to gaze on the church’s three Baroque masterpieces by Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, earlier than we reconvened on the cathedral’s bar and bistro, De Plek, moments later. The bar, inside a chapel of the cathedral, serves the church’s personal brews, together with a darkish and blond ale. Solely in beer-loving Belgium, I assumed to myself, would you discover beers served inside a church. 

We had been visiting Antwerp on day six of a seven-night household river cruise on the Rhine aboard A-Rosa Cruises‘ A-Rosa Sena. Beginning in Cologne, Germany, our voyage would take us northwest to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Dordrecht within the Netherlands, then to Antwerp earlier than returning to Cologne. 

River cruising and households do not — usually — go collectively, with most river cruise strains catering to a a lot older market and providing few household amenities, if any in any respect. German river cruise line A-Rosa Cruises has set about altering this with the launch of the family-orientated A-Rosa Sena, which debuted in June 2022. 

The hybrid ship, partially electric-powered, is the biggest on the Rhine, carrying as much as 280 company, and the vessel additionally boasts some nifty trade firsts. There is a jaunty youngsters’ membership; 12 giant household cabins measuring 301 sq. ft, sleeping as much as 5 with built-in bunkbeds; and a devoted youngsters’ splash pool on the highest deck. 

The primary pool, adjoining to the splash pool, is sort of 250 sq. ft, making it large enough to swim quick laps. For grown-ups, there is a spa, a buzzy lounge, a solar deck bar, and a wine room for tasting native libations.

It is all a part of A-Rosa’s mission to attract extra households to river cruising — and it is working, says Serkan Bilici, A-Rosa Sena’s assistant resort supervisor. “We presently have 32 youngsters onboard, and all of our household cabins are occupied,” Bilici advised Journey + Leisure. “Throughout summer time, this was even increased, with over 40 youngsters crusing, from infants as much as teenagers, and company from over 20 completely different international locations.” 

“We additionally provided swimming classes aboard chosen sailings in August, which had been highly regarded,” Serkan provides. Certainly, there have been infants, toddlers, older youngsters, and teenagers on our weeklong October crusing. 

The ship, which primarily operates in English and German, ensures that youngsters are nicely taken care of. Usually, there are two hosts on the youngsters’ membership, and on our crusing, host Mai organized a “Meet the Captain” occasion, treasure hunts, and humanities and crafts classes. The kids got independence too, free to decide on precisely how they spend their time on the membership, with video games, books, and loads of house for younger passengers to loosen up.  

The children’ membership is an actual deal with for households. Embellished with nautical-themed art work, the house is gentle and alluring, with youngsters studying, coloring, and constructing dens whereas we performed numerous rounds of Snakes and Ladders with Sebastian.  

It wasn’t the household amenities alone that lured us in, although — our voyage, “Rhine Expertise Amsterdam & Rotterdam,” was a giant pull.

Admittedly, this northwest part of the Rhine, flat and extra industrial, does not have the cinematic drama of the extra southerly stretch, the place vineyards, castles, and medieval cities flank the waterway. However with in a single day stays in ludicrously fairly Amsterdam and trendy and buzzy Rotterdam, our itinerary excited us. 

We explored Cologne’s ravishing twin-spire cathedral on a gloriously crisp fall day. Later, we roamed Rotterdam’s well-known Piet Blom-designed dice homes and the town’s wonderful Maritime Museum, the place the whole rooftop is devoted to youngsters.  

Lesser-known Dordrecht, one of many oldest cities within the Netherlands, felt like wandering a real-life fairytale. Compact and walkable, its cobbled streets are jam-packed with wonky, characterful service provider homes, vintage shops, artisan workshops, and quaint cafes. 

We break up our day right here between exploring the city’s enchanting streets and De Biesbosch Nationwide Park on the sting of Dordrecht. If it hadn’t been lashing down with rain, we’d have cycled from Dordrecht’s heart to the reserve, which takes round 40 minutes. As an alternative, we made the breezy 10-minute journey by way of the native Waterbus service.  

We would simply heard of De Biesbosch a couple of weeks earlier, but it is amongst Europe’s largest freshwater tidal zones, house to some 300 dam-building beavers. Made up of round 22,000 acres of streams, rivers, willow forests, marshes, and meadows, it was a welcome discovery.

In addition to beavers, the reserve is wealthy in birdlife, together with osprey, sea eagles, kingfishers, and kestrels. Canoes and boats may be employed and are one of the best ways to discover this huge community of swampy paths and islands. 

A-Rosa gives some excursions geared in direction of households, akin to a visit to Antwerp Zoo or Madurodam, a miniature park within the Netherlands. We opted to do our personal factor at every vacation spot, rigorously balancing time onboard with time in every river port. 

“However I don’t need to go away the boat,” Sebastian would grumble every morning we left the ship. Nonetheless, his reluctance was quickly forgotten as we explored family-friendly museums and thrilling nature reserves, and he was handled to a heat waffle with lashings of chocolate in Antwerp.

Early on in our voyage, after a lower than harmonious evening’s sleep that noticed Sebastian climb into our king-size mattress at 2 a.m., I virtually wept with gratitude after I remembered the children’ membership had programming begin proper after breakfast. So, whereas Sebastian fortunately performed, we caught a blissful additional hour of relaxation earlier than heading to the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam, a giant hit with households due to its 5 flooring demystifying sciences. 

Our penultimate day aboard noticed us spend a complete day crusing. It was our probability to carve out time to loosen up. My husband joined a salmon-curing class whereas I visited the sauna, the place I used to be immediately reminded that A-Rosa is a German tour operator — with largely German passengers — which means bathing fits are optionally available and infrequently worn. I additionally indulged in a Thalgo facial, the place Jelena, a former spa supervisor with Cunard and Movie star Cruises, gave my dull-looking pores and skin a blissful facial therapeutic massage. 

We accompanied Sebastian to a pizza-making class with a number of the different youngsters led by the chef within the ship’s pastry galley. His jaw dropped as he skilled a real-life Willy Wonka second; solely the chocolate-filled conveyor belts had been changed with vats of colourful churning ice cream. 

As he ate his chaotic-looking pizza along with his newfound buddies, Eamonn and I contemplated whether or not to decide on a sliver of dressed salmon, pork goulash, or each for dinner. One other mealtime spotlight was osso buco, a divine sauce-laden veal shank. 

Veal was a reoccurring theme, with juicy, seared cuts of the meat served one night and meatballs one other. A nightly youngsters’s buffet additionally featured in style dishes akin to spaghetti bolognese and macaroni and cheese. A spotlight for Sebastian: the three do-it-yourself ice lotions set out every night, full with numerous toppings. Along with the principle buffet restaurant, A-Rosa Sena has a specialty steak restaurant the place passengers can dine on salmon sashimi and beef entrecôte for a further charge. 

One night, we dined off the ship in Amsterdam and ate supper at a comfy bistro on a nook of Prinsengracht. Eating on bowls of flippantly curried mussels at a sun-dappled canal-side desk, we imagined milestones and romantic dinners had been celebrated over the restaurant’s intimate candlelit tables inside.

Later, as an alternative of becoming a member of the quiz within the ship’s lounge, we crashed out in our cabin to look at one of many household films (“Peter Rabbit” was chosen by Sebastian). Our Deck 3 room had a balcony, loads of closet house, a settee mattress, and a flatscreen TV as huge as you’d discover in any luxurious resort. Some nights, we drifted to sleep with the blackout curtains barely ajar, permitting moonlight to float in as we lazily floated alongside the Rhine.

Pondering of our total journey, touring to 5 cities in three international locations over eight days some other approach would have been, frankly, whiplash-inducing and undoubtedly exhausting, However this fashion, taking within the mild bends of the Rhine, felt unhurried, completely punctuated with cities that matched the power and curiosity of our virtually 6-year-old.

Ultimately, it wasn’t simply the sights that made the journey memorable, however the serene tempo of the river that allowed us to really savor every second with our son.