Our First Rovos Rail Luxury Train Experience

An Interesting First Rovos Rail Luxury Train Experience

We enjoyed our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience and were glad we add this to our African adventure.  The journey on the Rovos Rail Train from Pretoria To Victoria Falls turned out to be about what we expected when we planned our African adventure.  But even with a lot of research in advance, we learned some things on this trip that would have been helpful to know in advance.

The setting and customer service on the Rovos Rail train was indeed high end in most areas.  But travelling on the train did not always feel like a luxury experience.  We enjoyed the view from the train and the chance to get off for day trips.  It was great to have an all inclusive trip that covered all food and virtually everything we could drink.  But we often did not get full value from all inclusive packages.  Being unconnected to the internet for 4 days was a nice break.  But it did have its downsides too.

A little more about our first experience …

Boarding And Departure Were Handled Seamlessly

When we arrived at the Rovos Rail station in Pretoria, our bags were quickly tagged and taken away.  We kept one bag with electronics with us because we never let those bags out of our sight and we worried about rough handling of these bags.  This meant we toured the station, the museum and the rail yard with a heavy bag in tow.  But that was our choice.  When we arrived at our cabin on the train, we were delighted to find our bags already there.

When it was time to depart the train, we had our bags ready for pickup a mere hour before the planned arrival at the station in Victoria Falls.  We were used to other land tours and cruising where bags had to be packed for pickup well in advance.  So we were delighted to have the time to pack in the morning.  We even got up early before the train started moving to pack when the train was more stable.  

We had a short delay when we arrived before all bags were unloaded at the Victoria Falls hotel.  But all bags arrived with no damage.  The baggage handling on the Rovos Rail was certainly much better than many air or cruise line voyages we have taken.

The boarding and departure was handled perfectly on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience. 

Customs Clearance Was All Done By The Train

Travelling on the Rovos Train from Pretoria to Victoria Falls we crossed the border from South Africa to Zimbabwe.  When we boarded the train we handed in our passports.  And completed customs paperwork for entry to Zimbabwe.  The only question we had was what type of visa we needed.  We were not sure if we needed a multi-entry Kaza visa since on our safari stay in Zambia we would likely cross back into Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls.  Two different Rovos Rail staff told us that a single entry visa would be fine. Sadly we later learned that the Kaza multi-entry visa was a better choice.

We were told that the border crossings processes would be handled by train officials.  Unless there was a customs or immigration issue.  We stopped in Musina to exit South Africa.  And then after crossing the Limpopo River, we stopped again in Beitbridge to enter Zimbabwe.  We were fascinated when we saw so many people crossing the border and the bridge on foot.

We had quite extended stops at both border crossing stops.  Although we were told there were times when the processing time was even longer.  But all passengers were cleared by the train staff without a personal interview.

Happily we were allowed off the train in Beitbridge while the Zimbabwe process continued.  We stretched our legs and checked out the train from end to end.  And we even caught sunset over the train.  

Our passports were available for pickup later in the day.  We paid the $75USD per person Visa fee and got our passports back. We found it an easy and painless border crossing on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience. 

Customer Service And Attention To Detail On Our First Rovos Rail Luxury Train Experience

In most instances, we were delighted with the customer service and attention to detail we found throughout our journey.  The staff quickly learned our names and preferences.  The staff went out of their way to try to meet any request we had.  If it was available on the train, they went to get it with a smile and a gracious manner. 

We got a visit from the chef at the beginning of our trip to check on any dietary issues. This was something we had not experienced before on our luxury travels. And the staff all seemed to know once we were seated that special dietary concerns were noted for us.  

We were disappointed that we saw little supervisory or senior leadership presence on our trip.  Great service was generally delivered with little visible oversight.  But we found that the lack of supervision meant nobody was watching or proactively communicating when we had a few service fails repeated two days in a row.  

Our cabin was well serviced several times a day.  But we were surprised that the few special simple requests we had were never met.  This was not enough to ruin our trip.  But after the second reminder we stopped asking. We were surprised occasionally with special treats on our bed at night.

Overall, the customer service met our expectations on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience.  But we felt that the lack of visible leadership guidance meant that Rovos Rail missed the opportunity to deliver service excellence.

Good Public Spots To Enjoy The Passing Scenery

When we planned our great African adventure, we really had no idea how many people to expect aboard our Rovos Rail luxury train.  All of the videos we watched showed uncrowded public spaces.  But when we boarded the train and saw the large group of almost 60 passengers, we were not sure how crowded spaces would be.  We were sure glad that it was not at maximum capacity with 2 more train cars! 

The found the Lounge Car and Observation Car at the back of the train on the first day.  But we did not find the second Lounge Car by the Dining Car until our second last day.  

We were delighted that we rarely found any of the public spaces crowded or with no available seating.  There were large windows in all of these cars and most people were content to watch the scenery go by the windows on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience.

Outside Space Was Available But Limited

We were delighted to find the small outdoor lounge at the back of the train.  It reminded us of the amazing marina platform at the back of our expedition trip to Antarctica.  Most times, this area was not overcrowded and was a good spot for some fresh air.  But when we passed by unique sights, it was a very small space for all those who jostled for a spot for a view or photograph.

We were a bit surprised that this open area was not larger.  But one night we ventured back to the open area after dark and had the platform all to ourselves.  It was an awesome spot for some night sky views.

Hanging Out The Train Windows

When we did our research on the Rovos Train we saw people with their heads out of their cabin windows. Our room even had goggles supplied and we were instructed not to stick our heads out of the train without the goggles on.  Our cabin windows did not open and we were not sure how you plan to get a cabin with opening windows.

If we really wanted an open window, we went into the cabin corridors.  During the day, we found a few windows left wide open to air and cool down the train. Some people managed to hang out these windows for a view!

While it was easy to see the passing scenery through large windows, if we wanted good photos from an open air spot the options were more limited on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience.

It Was Great To Get Off The Train For Day Trips But Quality of Day Trip Excursions Varied

When we planned our Africa adventure, we looked at several different Rovos Rail routes.  Initially we looked at the train from Cape Town to Pretoria.  But when we saw the daily schedule for the Pretoria to Victoria Falls route it looked far more exciting.  The route included day trips off the train on two different days.  After bouncing around the train for days, it was great to leave the train.  Even if the bouncing continued on jeeps!

On our first day trip we visited Matobo National Park.  We knew this was less about a rhino game drive and more about seeing the native bushman art in hieroglyphics and cave paintings.  But after only one rock painting and no rhino sightings we were a bit disappointed in this stop.  Although we did get one market stop!

On a second day trip, we did a game drive in the Hwange National Park.  This was great practice for the game drives we later did on our African adventure.  We drove and often found the wildlife off in the distance.  But we sure got some early animal sightings that got us excited for our coming safari lodge stay in Zambia and later near Kruger National Park in South Africa.

On our day trips, we were introduced to an iconic African experience – the “Sundowner”.  On a day trip, there was a stop as the sun set.  The Rovos Rail train staff brought a complete bar setup and snacks for this lovely end to our excursions. 

We were glad we picked an itinerary that included some different day trip excursions for our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience.  It was great to get off the train for part of a day.  And it was a wonderful teaser for all we found on our African adventure.  

Meals Were Great But Service Was Slow And Dinner Late

The Dining Car was set with style.  And at dinner, the guests were equally dressed up.  It was nice to finish our days in such a classy style.  But it meant that David had to carry a suit jacket with tie even when our baggage was quite limited for our Africa travel.  It was easier for me to pack dressy mix and match items that could be used for our full Africa trip.

For lunch and dinner we had two menu choices and we were totally pleased with the choice and meals.  After our meeting with the chef on embarkation, we were never served a hot spicy dish.  And the kitchen seemed able to meet the many special requests we saw at meal times.

The wait staff usually did an amazing job of serving the passengers on our train whether the train was stationary or bumped along.  The biggest issue was the fact that there were two full Dining Cars.  Each course was served to all passengers before the next course was served.  We could not skip a course and move to the next course.  If we took all 4 courses, lunch typically took 1.5 hours and dinner was 2 hours or more.  A small kitchen and this method of serving really did not work once the passenger demand required two Dining Cars.

The start time for dinner varied depending on what the agenda was for the day.  Dinner started twice at 8pm. Eating this late was not good for us. So we started skipping the cheese and dessert courses to finish earlier.  

One day trip ran late, so dinner was moved out to another 8pm start.  We were so exhausted we could not muster the energy to start dinner that late.  Luckily, even without any room service offered on the train, the staff found a light meal for us that night.  

If you are used to eating late and are a night owl you may be just fine.  This was a challenge for us on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience.

The Train Ride Was Not Always A Luxury Experience

When we got our tour of the Rovos Rail train yard in Pretoria, we learned about the state of the railways in South Africa and Zimbabwe.  In South Africa, the rail service had degraded over the years.  And Rovos Rail was not allowed to pull the trains with its own engines.  So we experienced rough track, two stops to switch out train engine cars and train rides not fully under Rovos Rail control.  

Once we crossed into Zimbabwe, the initial train tracks were well maintained as they were used for commercial traffic.  But over the trip, these train tracks degraded significantly.  Although when we travelled at a measured pace through the Hwange National Park, the slower transit was perfect.

Throughout the day and often at night, when the train moved quickly over the not-so-great rail lines, the cars rocked and bumped quite a bit.  A few times a day we were jarred quite hard.  

We were used to quite a bit of motion from our days ocean cruising.  But even with that experience we felt quite beat up from the movement over many days.  If you have any stability issues, you may find the constant train motion for 4 days a challenge.  It was quite a long walk through the moving train to visit dining cars, lounge cars and the observation car.  And not always easy as the train rocked and rolled.

When we planned our African adventure, we thought that the train stopped every night.  But delays during the day kept the trains running much later and some stops at night were quite short.

When the train moved at night, we also found it quite noisy.  We were not sure if it was our cabin location but we seemed to feel and hear any bump they hit.  And the train wheels squealed a lot.  Ear plugs or noise cancelling headphones certainly helped.

We have travelled on trains around the world and really have not found the motion or sound to be an issue.  But on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience we were surprised at how uncomfortable we were during transit.  It did not always feel like a luxury experience.

The Value Might Not Be There For Some People

We always know in advance that all-inclusive pricing is not great for us.  We are not big drinkers but the trip cost for this trip sure factored in a lot of drinks.  One or two drinks a day is far more than we have at home.  On the Rovos Train we got two bottles of sparkling wine in our cabin and other alcoholic drinks in our fridge.  We found wine, beer and spirits available at all times.  Lunch and dinner each had 4 course and free-flowing wine pairings were done with each course.  We passed on many of the wines and only had small samples for others.  And only ordered a few other drinks for the 4 days.  There was certainly money made on low alcohol consumption for us.

The 4 courses for lunch and dinner generally offered good choices.  For both meals, we often passed on both the cheese and dessert courses.  Often the main courses were big enough that we did not need more food.  Sometimes we needed to have a faster meal service.  But mostly when food service approached 10pm, we simply could not eat that late.  One night we skipped the full dinner meal service and had just a sandwich.  So overall, we probably did not eat our share.

So for us, we probably did not get full value from the all inclusive food and drink on our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience.  But we knew that when we booked this trip. And many others made up for our lighter consumption.

Pros And Cons Of Being Offline

The Rovos Train was marketed as “maintaining the spirit of travel of a bygone era”.  There were no radios, televisions or WiFi onboard.  And none of the station stops had WiFi.  It was strongly recommended that no electronics be in the public spaces.  Of course cameras and cell phones were out all the time for photos.  For those that had cellular service during the journey, we were asked to make sure that no phone calls were done in public space. 

In advance of our trip, we looked at the ESIM options for providing cellular connectivity during our African adventure.  For this trip, we tried Airalo for the first time.  One ESIM provided access in a number of African countries and covered our travels in South Africa and Zambia.  When we had to purchase a separate ESIM for Zimbabwe we knew that cellular connectivity might be an issue there.  As the train moved through South Africa, we got intermittent cellular service.  In Zimbabwe we had maybe a few minutes of connectivity over 3 days.  Certainly not worth paying for the ESIM on our train travel from Pretoria to Victoria Falls.

It was quite relaxing to be offline for most of 4 days.  Our friends and family knew we were out of touch so they did not worry at our extended silence.  And for two weeks on this trip, we chose to be quiet on blogging and social media.  It certainly was wonderful to not have to deal with people on phone calls and FaceTime at full volume in public spaces.  

But a little WiFi connectivity would be nice onboard the Rovos Train.  Even the luxury cruise ship in the far south on our cruise to Antarctica had a bit of connectivity.  With enforcement and some respectful behaviour from guests, access norms could be in place to not impact the general quiet and atmosphere of this luxury train.  

Much Learned On Our First Rovos Rail Luxury Train Experience

We were glad we add the Rovos Rail luxury train trip from Pretoria to Victoria Falls to our African adventure.  We wanted to try a luxury train trip for some time.  It was an interesting way to move us from South Africa to Zambia.  

While some parts of the journey lived up to the luxury we expected, other parts of our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience were a bit disappointing.  With the expansion of the train sizes, the train service felt a bit strained.  And the condition of rail lines in Africa sure impacted the train travel experience.  Next time we consider luxury train travel we now have some new things to consider when planning.

Were you surprised by our first Rovos Rail luxury train experience?  Is there something else you wanted to know?

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