Scenic Anmeldelser 

Last river cruise was disappointing and certainly not an ultra luxury river cruise. The food was again average and certainly not fine dining- the range, style and flavour fell far short of 'fine dining'.
The excursions were generally poor, with guides just touring the streets and taking us around the exteriors of historical buildings whilst giving brief explanations.
The service levels throughout the cruise were excellent, however, and the cruise enjoyable, although the evening entertainment struggle to succeed.

Staff were great. Food was delicious. Weather wasnt marvelous but our holiday was so relaxing on the ship it didnt really matter.

The whole experience was wonderful. The ship, the staff, the food and the attention to detail was all first class.

Germany to Budapest. It was truly wonderful. Beautiful ship and staff could not do enough for you. The food was fantastic

As usual Scenic provided first class service. We have travelled many times with Scenic and would always look to do so.

Overall it was good. The walking tours were not great. The guides rather overload you with facts and standing around was tiring for some of the group.
Dinner took ages. There did not appear to be enough staff to serve everyone. It might have been better not to have a set meal time. Just filling up our wine glasses didn't make up for the lack of food.
Entertainment really very poor apart from a classical music duo.

Excellent communication from the start to end of holiday. Very friendly and helpful staff on Scenic Jade River cruise. Good towns and locations. A great variety of meals each day.

We generally enjoy Scenic’s holidays. The beds on the ships are comfortable, the food is good (not always outstanding, but there’s nothing to dislike, and most dishes are quite tasty & nicely presented).
Paperwork arrives quite late, (via email to save them costs). Don’t expect luggage tags, bags etc - that’s gone in their cost cutting drive. Be prepared to discuss the flights with them and pick the ones that suit you (they seem to pick cheaper flights or don’t think about the best solutions).
The Pearl is very outdated. Very few sockets in the cabins, and not a lot of thought has gone in to where they should be. Not enough wall storage in the bathroom (I don’t want to bend down to a low cupboard, nor have everything out on the surface) and there is no storage near the plug where you’d expect to dry your hair, so you’ve either got to put it in the wardrobe, or leave it out. Insufficient drawers in the cabin for little things (like pills, chargers).
Decor throughout the fleet- seriously dated. Generally, grey and chrome. Most boats on European rivers don’t have a pool (although we’ve been on an Emerald ship, and it had a lovely pool area which was nicer than ANYTHING on Scenic’s ships in Europe).
ESPA toiletries, but no comb, toothbrush, razor provided.
The staff on board are excellent. Friendly, efficient and polite- they go a long way to make things great. Sometimes, ships are understaffed, and the the much vaunted “butler service” is almost non-existent (for example, I asked ours to bring us coffee every morning at a particular time. He said he couldn’t , and we’d have to put the breakfast order card out each night. As I have an atrocious memory- not remembering until 2 or 3am when it was too late to put the card out, and had told his this when I requested coffee, I felt it was a little unhelpful. Sometimes, service for drinks in the lounge was a little slow (due to it being busy and there being too few staff available) but this isn’t a a huge issue.
Evening entertainment lasts around 50 minutes. Over the week, there’s usually 1 or 2 evenings when invited guests come on board to perform after dinner (music or a dance performance), an “Enrich” event off the ship (think chateau/ church/ sound & light show) and there are usually 2 or 3 quiz evenings and either the enrichment manager or cruise director will perform once or twice. On sailing afternoons, there may be an activity (crafts or tastings) once or twice during the week. (FYI - similar amount of entertainment on the Eclipse, although the cruise directors do all the music, for around 50 mins and there may be a daily quiz in the afternoon.)
Trips are good, but short (we have to hurry back to eat). A few trips include tickets inside places, but many don’t. The enrich experiences are good (usually involve champagne on arrival, and maybe canapés, and music). There are e-bikes on board (small, folding ones) which can be borrowed at most mooring places.

The loyalty system is not very good. They’ve cut back on perks, and increased the points needed to achieve each level - and no “grandfathering” for established loyalty members. Essentially, it means guests have to stay an extra 30 to 40 (1 sig.fig) days before reaching the next level - often to get the same perks they used to get at the previous loyalty tier. Perks now include “invitations” to marketing events, or cruises (full price to be paid) with a senior member of Scenic’s staff (think owner, CEO) on board, possibly some additional laundry at Emerald tier, priority boarding of the ship - wow. (Underwhelming). I think they’ve cut the free chauffeur allowance. At platinum level, it was 75 miles free, then diamond 150 miles. As we reached diamond, they cut this to 75 miles as well.
I’m actively booking other cruise lines and luxury land tours now, but will take any offers Scenic advertise if the destination is one we want.

Great service comfort and scenery along beautiful waterways

Lovely holiday. Great food and service. Interesting tours. Staff helpful and cheerful. Also journey made easier being offered business class flight as we both have some mobility problems where long time queuing is difficult. Booking easy as done by phone rather than online. Thank you Scenic.

Very efficient & comfortable & excellent cruise director

The ship was immaculate, the balcony suite was spacious with lots of storage space. The staff were so friendly and welcoming, nothing was too much trouble . The food was exceptional with a large selection of eating options. The trips offered a wide choice with excellent guides. The whole trip was a real delight it made our golden wedding anniversary very special.

Generally excellent, but let down by spending extra time on coaches for arrival and some tours.
We are aware that this was beyond your control due to Amsterdam Port refusing the ship docking authority,

Great location, great activities, very good accommodation, very good guides and lovely people on my tour

We have done many sea cruises with many different companies, but this was our first river cruise. We now much prefer river cruising because the smaller boat lends itself to a more convivial atmosphere on board. The staff on the boat were really good and on occasions were exceptional. My wife wanted to go to church on Easter Sunday in Lyon and a member of staff sourced an English speaking within walking distance of the mooring and accompanied my wife to and from the service.
The food was excellent and each evening the Head Chef and Restaurant Manager took the time to enquire amongst the passengers that they were satisfied with their meals.
Cabin staff were attentive without being obsequious.
The trips were excellent and well organised with an interesting variety of options. The French guides on all the tours that we joined were very knowledgeable, very affable, a pleasure to be with and they enhanced the experience of the trip.
We attended a couple of Enrichment Evenings which were unusual and very interesting.
Everything was included in the price which made financial planning so much easier. There were no hidden extras.
We enjoyed it so much that we purchased sales vouchers for a future cruise that we will definitely be doing.

Scenic are just such a great business.
Outstanding.

All the crew on board did very well to give us a great time.
Well organised trips and evening events.
Very difficult to improve anything, except the weather of course!
We’re going again!

Brilliant ship brilliant staff wonderful cruise

1. It is a true "inclusive experience"
2. Ship.is first class.
3. Crew are all 100% welcoming and professional.
4. Food is excellent.
5. Everything is provided for us as guests.

Everything was first class. Accommodation, food, service from the professional and friendly staff and all tours were superb. Our 5th Scenic riverboat cruise and we will certainly be doing more trips with them. Have no difficulty recommending this company for 5 star holidays