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That’s strange as in our two Scenic trips, we only had to use the third deck once. Every other departure was from the second deck. Once we rafted and departed from the sun deck but went directly onto that ship’s top deck and down their inside staircase to their second deck. So I wonder if it is itinerary specific. I wouldn’t be happy with using the sun deck to disembark daily.

It’s the train I’m trying to figure out if I can tolerate. I need 3-4 days to recover from an overseas flight before embarking because of my medical condition. We usually fly direct into the port city but we can’t fly into Lyon from Toronto.

Thank you so much for posting this. I haven’t found anything this specific in my searches but, then again, I may be putting in too general searches. I did look into the Geneva option as it is only just over 100 km from Lyon but the train takes over 3 hours. So that’s not an option.

I use a cane and did the 11 day Paris to Paris itinerary in 2019. I had no issues with any of the walks around the beaches and went down onto the sand on Sword (could have been Gold) but not at Juno. But because we were on Scenic, our bus fried from Honfleur was quite short.

Yes we can. But because of my medical condition I am not supposed to go on trains (the side to side swaying sets off my vestibular issues/vertigo). But I have never been on a high speed train. Do they feel different than regular trains?

It’s not really thinking of things that can go wrong, but incorporating extra time, in this case, for jet lag.

We always fly in 2-3 days early. I guess the winter weather delay potential never really leaves my mind even in summer. Our next cruise is on the Rhône next June. I need to fly direct due to a medical condition which we can’t do from YYZ. So we will fly somewhere (Vienna, London, Geneva) and stay a few days and then fly directly into Lyon. My question is: is there a need to stay the night before in Lyon or is it relatively risk free to fly within the EU on the day of the embarkation?

My mistake. The ID card is used to open cabin doors too. But I saw no lanyards in April. In August 2019 our ID cards were not reusable, had our pictures printed on them and came on lanyards. The picture made it easy to tell whose card it was in the cabin and the lanyard made it easy to hang them up by the wall hook by the door. We did have to fake scan off the ship a few times to ensure we hadn’t switched cards in April. Plus I misplaced mine a few times in the cabin as they are now black, the same colour as most of the stone countertops while in 2019 they were white.

No lanyard on Scenic in April. Just a reused credit card sized ID badge used to scan off and back on the ship. It isn’t used for anything else.

UPDATE: I just wasted 25 minutes on the phone with a Scenic phone agent who appeared to know less than me. We have booked a Spectacular South of France river cruise which goes Lyon to Lyon. The agent kept putting me on hold to research but did not identify that she was new. She tried to tell me if I took the Paris Extension the boat would meet us in Paris! Then she said we would go by coach to Lyon. So I informed her that it was an hour + flight so I was put on hold again and she came back to say that it would be a high speed train but no extensions are available in Paris for our trip in 12 months. She said her supervisor said that we ONLY accrue loyalty points for sailing days therefore pre/post hotel nights or extension tours do NOT count for loyalty point balance.

This is very true. I have a vestibular issue and someone grabbing my seat for support in a non-emergency would set off vertigo in an already moving plane.

I had an accident on a Scenic boat in April. I broke 4 bones (2 in my left foot, 2 in my left hand). This happened on day 2 of our 7 day trip. My DH enjoyed our excursions while I stayed onboard in the lounge or with it elevated with ice in our cabin. It wasn’t an issue. Tell her to bring a few things she likes to do: book, tablet, knitting, etc. Just try to get a wheelchair in both airports as it will really help.

Thanks. I have searched the website (which I find problematic in Canada anyway) and only found something on using Scenic hotels to bump up to 20 days and get those perks. i will call this afternoon after their US office closes so I can speak to the Canadian office in BC.

Does anyone know if you accrue loyalty points for city extensions? We booked our 3rd river cruise with Scenic in June 2025 and I noticed on the invoice that we will be about 350 points from moving up a level. So we were thinking of taking the Paris 3 day extension or booking the Scenic Lyon hotel so I could search out some silk.☺️

You will find most shops open late on Mondays so plan on a leisurely breakfast on Monday morning or book a tour.

It is an overwhelming decision to book your first river cruise. As others have said, it is helpful to know what you want and go from there. For our first we wanted to do the Seine return from Paris. Scenic was the only company that offered an 11 day itinerary, had an excursion to The Somme battlefields and one of only 3 (at the time) that could dock directly in Honfleur. Also not going to Juno Beach would have been a deal breaker. Scenic filled all our must haves and all of our wants. Plus the larger cabin sizes were attractive to me as I use a cane and can fall easily. They even threw in a free bag of laundry which was so appreciated as we spent a week pre cruise in Paris. Now it is a free kg of laundry but in April that was enough for our needs. I suggest you do a Google search on river cruise comparison chart and look at what each line includes to find out which things are important to you. We left our 7 day trip on Scenic with a 0 balance owing in April. That is very important to my DH.

He also meant, now that I have had time to think and remember, the Seine is not reliant upon snow melt and rain for replenishing its water as the Danube and Rhine are.

I was worried about our August 2019 11 day Seine River cruise in the months leading up to departure. My husband happened to have a client who knew a lot about navigation. He told us that since the Seine connects to the English Channel, the world would be in a dire state before there are any water issues on the Seine.

We stayed at the Hilton Doubletree Centraal Station in April this year for 3 nights before our river cruise. It was the suggested hotel with free airport transfers and port transfer but we walked to our boat in less than 10 minutes. Good location and free breakfast in a corner king room. That breakfast buffet was extensive and very good.

That’s what we were told in April too (to take a photo from the tv). But they also said Tailormade was just being updated and since we were the first cruise of the season it wouldn’t be available for another month. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here is the ramp of a Gate One River boat on Day 1 as we passed to reach our boat, which wasn’t bad. Upon return to Amsterdam a set to two aluminum steps had to be used for the ramp wasn’t long enough to reach the dock without the steps. The ramp was steep. These aluminum steps had no railing. On the Seine river, the closer we got to Honfleur, the more the boat was affected by tides. So we may have been able to walk off the sun deck in the morning but may have a very steep ramp to reach the middle deck upon our return.

@DASI photos are indicative of the first set of stairs on Scenic boats with the exception of the railings which are attached to the stairs themselves, not the boat infrastructure. This made me let go of the railing to get down the last step, which is why I fell. I now have 4 broken bones. My 2 fingers on my left hand and my ankle plus a bone on the side of my left foot. I have 9 sets of physiotherapy exercises to do each day trying to recover mobility and I will be in an air boot until at least July 2 when I go back to the fracture clinic next. I have attached pictures from different Scenic boats as my accident happened on day 2, I didn’t get any photos from the sun deck on the Jade. I have not encountered steps as steep as those with the aqua arrows. That said, the stairs are steep from the lobby deck up to the lower sun deck and less steep from the lower sun deck to the upper. I fell on the steps from the upper sun deck to the lower but these stairs were covered in wet astro turf.

I had to look back to page 6 of this thread for the information. I booked the tour through TripAdvisor, post #134 (I think). Search on WWII history tour. It was excellent and they send a document with all photos and information discussed during the tour. Although it is an excellent tour it is not a typical happy tour.

We loved our 11 day Seine voyage on Scenic. It is one of only a few that sails directly into Honfleurs and you spend 2 nights there. Beautiful place, especially when all the coaches from the other riverboat companies leave.

In my experience, only on Scenic, the cabin attendant cleans the cabin and makes the bed. The butler does everything else. Our butler also worked in the dining room and served at Table La Rive. We called for ice many, many times after my fall and it was mostly other butlers that brought it i wouldn’t book Scenic because of the butlers but it is nice to know they are there if you need something or an unplanned event occurs.