Kristelle

I was only joking notamermaid as I'm sure CPT Trips was asking facetious question too. Other than the 3 nights on River Murray I don't call any of the others river cruises - dinner cruises, one nighters, ferry trips etc are not really river cruises to me either

In that case my trip isn't my first river cruise either - have done 3 nights on River Murray and a dinner cruise in Sydney Harbour and one on Swan river, Perth ( all in Australia, of course ) and an overnighter on Halong Bay, Vietnam Gosh, I'm an experienced veteran really.

Is that too low to sail?

Day 2. Choice of Amsterdam excursions -1. canal boat ride, 2. walking tour of Amsterdam, 3. cycling tour 4. bus trip to villages, go inside traditional windmill /walking tour of historical village. We did 4. very interesting. But voice guide devices glitchy, guide was very good but we missed some of what she was saying Breakfast and lunch both buffets although there is a menu you can order from as well. Sailing after lunch, string quartet came on board and played for about an hour. Enjoyable. Then mandatory safety drill, mock evacuation to sundeck, put on life jackets. Captain has a light humoured touch and makes things like that fun ( maybe not for people who have done many cruises and done that umpteen times but for newbies like us) Captains welcome dinner tonight, am dressing up a bit Quite hot here, 30 deg, so I doubt anyone will wear anything too formal.

Have spent 3 nights in London, 2 nights in Paris, boarded Scenic Jewel this afternoon ( was originally going to be Scenic Jade but received email few days ago advising of change to Scenic Jewel) Butler came to our room and did introduction and explanation of services, how air con works etc. Safety briefing, captains talk, cruise directors talk, chef's talk, maitre de talk ( whole thing of all of them went on bit long really) followed by really nice dinner We have balcony cabin on Sapphire deck, room seems reasonable size, bathroom not as pokey as I was expecting, shower size generous. One odd thing - bed is 2 single beds joined together, ridge in middle and each bed made up with single quilt Not sure how well that will work. Was at Moulin Rouge last night, not in bed till 2 am and up at 7 to catch train. Going to bed early now after dinner. Report further tomorrow.

Yes I was quite happy with it.

I agree it doesn't matter if you test if you are going to self quarantine anyway. It is people who have symptoms but don't test and don't isolate that are the issue.

Thank you. Yes,very enjoyable. Had 3 nights in London, and now catching Eurostar to Paris, 2 nights there then board river cruise in Amsterdam.

Strand Palace Hotel in central London. Daily room service the norm, unless one opts out, no mention anywhere of twice daily The day we left the opt out of room service sign on the door, they left a voucher for £7 next to it which we had taken off our restaurant dinner price.

Nowhere I have stayed on land in Australia or elsewhere has done so. if it has been available on request I have never noticed that nor would I take it. Am currently in good hotel in London - daily room service with opt out option, and £7 restaurant or bar credit if opt out option taken.

You usually get daily room servicing in Australia although one can opt out of daily towel changing for water conservation - however my point was that twice daily isn't the norm on land nor something worth getting anywhere, land or sea, IMO.

Nowhere I stay on land or anywhere do I need or particularly want twice daily room servicing or bed turndown. These are things I would quite happily forgo and don't see as beneficial to me.

Hi Ural guy. We are not retired but can relate to the dog sitter thing. Kids are all grown up and left home but still need to organise a dog sitter LOL I will start a live thread when our cruise starts, in London for family catchup firsts and then 2 nights in Paris before river cruise starts 6th Sept.

Got an email from TA today saying our ship will not be ScenicJade now but Scenic Jewel. Cruise starts 6th Sept. Am currently in lounge at Singapore airport on route to London.

Looking forward to your review Mark.

Just on the point you raised about visible tattoos - surely these are a non event for everybody now , so many people have visible tattoos that it is unremarkable, on a cruise or anywhere. My husband has a couple of visible tattoos - haven't noticed anybody being even slightly interested or bothered by that. And too bad if they are.

are selfie sticks still popular? I used to see a lot of them a few years ago but not many at all now have been to touristy places in Australia - but not in other countries since before Covid, so not speaking for everywhere else

Sure, not everyone's situation is the same. I don't think there was any criticism though just relevant things to consider - or not, if not applicable.

whogo has a point though. Probably not about the separate deck but about doing some things not together. even when you adore spending time with someone, suddenly spending nearly all your time together can lead to friction. I adore my own husband but as I have mentioned before, sometimes end up having silly arguement part way through a trip because too much togetherness - better to be realistic about this and plan a bit of own space time.

who knows? is it a common drink around the world? They cant possibly know every variation of every drink everywhere. if you know what you want in it, just bring a little instructions print out or such like and ask for that recipe to be made up

thanks for your review - am avidly reading all river cruise reviews to see what appealed to people and what didnt. Some of your comments do relate to just not being a good fit for you and you have acknowledged that - always good in reviews, I think, when people are aware something is their subjective view rather than an intrinsic bad thing. (cant see 30 mins stuck at one portion of a guided tour as appealing to many people though 🙄) we are heading off on our first river cruise in 2 weeks, (different company) - hopefully there will be active options as we like doing active things, although we are 20ish years older than you Thanks again for taking the time to explain what you did and didnt like about your trip.

Mekong river cruise is on my 'to do list' we have been to Vietnam before on land trip with Wendy Wu (very good) but not to Cambodia so our intention is to start Ho Chi Min City and sail to Siem Riep, spend few days on land there. or reverse itiniary, which ever is available. Both Scenic and Wendy Wu do combination land/ river trips of above.

Thank you so much for your review. we are doing Amsterdam to Budapest on Scenic Jade next month , also newbies to cruising - which covers same route as your trip as well as the additional week on the Rhine - so reading your detailed review was really interesting and helpful.

^^ But all that isnt really a Viking issue - all lines have issues from water levels and low bridges and could involve bussing alternatives/ship swaps dependant on weather conditions beyond their control and mooring side by side happens to all of them too. These are simple common issues that I'm not sure how anyone can claim they were upset about because it wasnt known to them - the slightest bit of research about river cruising reveals this in advance.

yes this does all sound a bit snobby Certainly in Australia (not sure about Australian cruise ships but on land so I expect on ships here too ) responsible service of alcohol laws apply to all licenced serving everywhere (I have a Responsible Service of Alcohol badge) - whether it is Walmart territory or upper crust exclusive clubs - I doubt anywhere would be allowed to serve you a glass full of undiluted spirit