Scenic Diamond Review- 5/31-6/14

[kiawahdon]

We returned June 14 after 2 weeks on the Scenic Diamond cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest. This review will focus on what you cannot learn from Scenic’s brochure and our personal observations. First, let me say that Scenic is one of the best kept secrets from the US market. Starting next year when the Scenic Pearl comes on line, they will begin marketing in the US. Scenic targets Australian clients which was proven on our cruise with about 145 out of 160 passengers being Aussies. The balance was a smattering of Canadians, Brits and Yanks. We had a ball with the Australians, not one instance of “attitude”, extremely friendly and welcoming, and a very active crowd on balance. I would cruise with them again, anywhere, anytime!

 

Our cruise with Scenic had so many strong points it is difficult to mention them all, but here are some of the main ones. First the cabin balconies were great for relaxing and reading- 2 teak chairs and a table. The cabins were well organized and comfortable even though they were not as large as your typical ocean liner cabin. More than enough closet space and a safe. However the safe is on the floor of the closet which requires some gymnastics to open.

 

Next would have to be the food which was consistently of a very high quality with nice presentations. While the portions were not huge, they were more than adequate. Plus, the staff at dinner always came to each table asking if anyone wanted another entree. Dinner typically consisted of a choice of 1 of 2 appetizers, 1of 2 soups, a salad and an entree which generally included a choice of a fish, meat or vegetarian dish. In addition, if none of the entrees pleased you, one could order either salmon or a filet as an entrée. Lunch and breakfast were buffets with good selections. Also there was an egg station at breakfast where you could get omelets or freshly prepared eggs. Lunch also had several made to order hot entrees in addition to the buffet items of soup, salads, pasta, fruit and sandwiches.

 

One caution regarding meal times and Scenic’s brochure: Scenic gives the impression that all meals are anytime dining. This is somewhat true for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is served to all passengers at 7 pm each evening. It is leisurely with much wine consumed and generally lasted close to 2 hours each evening. All meals are open seating which allowed us to meet a number of very interesting fellow passengers. Dinner is preceded each evening by a short update from the Cruise Director at 6:45. Our CD, Marry Ann, was excellent. She briefly talked about what we did that day and then went into detail about what was coming tomorrow. She always finished by giving us a preview of tomorrow’s daily log and noting the times of all our activities for the next day.

 

Another strength of Scenic is that your cruise fare covers EVERYTHING- No worrying about tipping anybody from ship’s crew to guides; all tours are included; and wine and beer at lunch and dinner is included (many glasses!). Our shipboard charges for 2 weeks were less than $250 which was a record after 25 cruises. Another related plus with Scenic is that on several occasions passengers are given a choice as to which of several tour options to take. For example while in Vienna, we chose to go to Bratislava, Slovakia while others went to the Opera House and a café and still others went to a palace. These types of choices happened numerous times which allowed passengers to more closely match their personal interest. We found Scenic’s tours to be fairly active and often involved a fair amount of walking. The passenger make-up seemed to favor this approach also which was fine by us even though we are over 65. If you have any significant mobility problems, I would look at options other than Scenic. With any tour that involved walking, we all had our individual receiver headsets so that we could hear the guides without crowding around them and could wander off a bit.

 

The crew to a person was excellent. After 25 cruises, we can “smell” a “happy” ship; and this definitely was one! We do not like duvets and asked for a top sheet upon entering our cabin. No problem. When we came back from dinner, the bed was rearranged with a top sheet. The Captain and Hotel Manager were very visible during the day and evenings; often just chatting with passengers in the lobby or on deck. And finally, as I previously mentioned our cruise director was excellent. She quickly got the nick-name of “mother” as she was always watching over her flock and pointing us in the right direction.

 

Ok, no cruise is perfect, so what are the negatives. On our end-of-cruise surveys we only mentioned 3 items. One was the noise levels in the lounge and dining room at dinner when all passengers were present. Clearly some better sound deadening material on the ceilings is in order as the decibel level could get up there. Another was the butler service. Passengers who had cabins on the top deck supposedly have some access to a butler to do limited things. When he introduced himself to us, we noted that we only have one request: ice in the room around 5 each evening. This never happened and I ended up walking the short distance to the bar each night to get the ice. Not a big deal, but Scenic may be overselling the butler concept. And finally, almost to a passenger, it was loudly agreed that the soup spoons were non-functional, weird looking and needed to be donated to the fish! They were long and narrow- totally impractical to eat soup.

 

Bottom line ---even though Scenic is not yet advertising in the US, any person considering a Rhine/Danube cruise that doesn’t take a close look at Scenic is missing the boat. But you better plan ahead as Scenic’s ships sell out very early; usually 6-9 months before sailing.

 

I would be happy to answer your questions.

[letsgo39]

It is good to read that Scenic finally got its act together after all the negative reviews last year.

[franski]

Hi there - was hoping you would post after your cruise. Glad to read the positive feedback --> we just booked Scenic's Tulip Time cruise for April 2011, and were willing to take a chance (a big leap of faith after some of the negative posts here in the past....) as the booking incentive was amazing. Now, if the weather would just cooperate.... :D

[brownblonde]

This was interesting to read but since it is not being sold in the U.S. may I ask how you knew about it to book the trip you or others may have taken.

 

How about Avalon?? our T/A has a group going on it in April 2011. She went as a T/A last fall (Free) and I guess was impressed and has gotten a trip together. We traveled with her on Viking and liked it a lot. Now trying for the 1st GCT.

 

Been on 30 plus ocean cruises and do like the River cruises as well.

 

We feel it is all about the places you are going. Have done many land trips in Europe and to see country that is truely the best way.

[franski]

I think it is the issue of advertising, not sales in the US. I would guess that the OP learned the same way that many of us learn about "other" cruise lines...blogs/websites such as this one...

 

As a Canadian, I am only aware of GCT because of CC - it is not marketed here.

[kiawahdon]

I think it is the issue of advertising, not sales in the US. I would guess that the OP learned the same way that many of us learn about "other" cruise lines...blogs/websites such as this one...

 

You are right. I spent some time researching a number of cruise lines using the internet and in the process took advantage of CC and other web sites and blogs. While Scenic does not advertise in the US yet, they clearly welcome any & all US passengers. I found their office in Vancouver extremely accomodating.

[letsgo39]

I'm in Kentucky and get advertising from Scenic all the time, email,phone calls and mail.Just go to their web site and sign up.

[MOBI150]

Hi,

We are booked for a cruise next year 2011, with Senic and am wondering if you had any feedback regarding the aft cabins 336 / 337 as they have been criticized for excessive vibration and noise. Was there any comments to this effect on your cruise.

Regards

MOBI150

[matilda]

Sixty-six more sleeps until our short stay in Prague and then Budapest to Amsterdam cruise on the Scenic Diamond. Thankyou so much for your review. We can hardly wait!

[sheweeble]

Thanks for the great review. We are sailing September 20th, 2010 Amsterdam to Budapest. I have one question about dinner attire. Is it quite formal like a regular cruise?

[Travelbyboat]

Thank you for a wonderful review of your Scenic river cruise experience. We can not wait for our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise on Aug 23, 2010. Did you feel you had enough time spent in each port of call? Did you have late departures from some of the ports? We are in our thirties and would like to spend time ashore after dinner. Did you have any people our age on your cruise? My other concern is the lack of dining outside of the breakfast-lunch-dinner format. If we get hungry at night there will be nothing to eat, right? We have a Royal suite so perhaps a butler can arrange for this type of things? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

[belaire]

Thank you for a wonderful review of your Scenic river cruise experience. We can not wait for our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise on Aug 23, 2010. Did you feel you had enough time spent in each port of call? Did you have late departures from some of the ports? We are in our thirties and would like to spend time ashore after dinner. Did you have any people our age on your cruise? My other concern is the lack of dining outside of the breakfast-lunch-dinner format. If we get hungry at night there will be nothing to eat, right? We have a Royal suite so perhaps a butler can arrange for this type of things? Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

We did the Christmas/New Year (2009/2010) Amsterdam to Budapest cruise with Scenic Diamond. I might be able to answer some of your questions. Yes, we were happy with the amount of time spent in each port of call, especially so with the informative guided tours. Most were excellent except the one in Salzburg...just did not have a good guide. I don't recall having spent any time ashore after dinner mainly because, e.g. Vienna, Budapest you had to take a taxis to go into town and usually we wanted to retire early after a long day to have an early start the next morning. Usually after the 7pm dinner, at 9:15 they had "live/dance music" in the lounge with late night snack at around 10:30pm. Apart from the four/five kids we had on board, I think we only had one couple from New Zealand that was in their late thirties. If you are usually hungry at night, I would suggest you order an extra entree at dinner time and leave it in your fridge. They only had coffee/tea and biscuits/cookies in the lounge. I understand the Butler would not provide any in room food service outside of regular meal times..not even a bowl of soup...when the kitchen is closed.

 

Enjoy your Scenic cruise. We did.

[XFed2001]

We returned June 14 after 2 weeks on the Scenic Diamond cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest. This review will focus on what you cannot learn from Scenic’s brochure and our personal observations. First, let me say that Scenic is one of the best kept secrets from the US market. Starting next year when the Scenic Pearl comes on line, they will begin marketing in the US. Scenic targets Australian clients which was proven on our cruise with about 145 out of 160 passengers being Aussies. The balance was a smattering of Canadians, Brits and Yanks. We had a ball with the Australians, not one instance of “attitude”, extremely friendly and welcoming, and a very active crowd on balance. I would cruise with them again, anywhere, anytime!

 

Our cruise with Scenic had so many strong points it is difficult to mention them all, but here are some of the main ones. First the cabin balconies were great for relaxing and reading- 2 teak chairs and a table. The cabins were well organized and comfortable even though they were not as large as your typical ocean liner cabin. More than enough closet space and a safe. However the safe is on the floor of the closet which requires some gymnastics to open.

 

Next would have to be the food which was consistently of a very high quality with nice presentations. While the portions were not huge, they were more than adequate. Plus, the staff at dinner always came to each table asking if anyone wanted another entree. Dinner typically consisted of a choice of 1 of 2 appetizers, 1of 2 soups, a salad and an entree which generally included a choice of a fish, meat or vegetarian dish. In addition, if none of the entrees pleased you, one could order either salmon or a filet as an entrée. Lunch and breakfast were buffets with good selections. Also there was an egg station at breakfast where you could get omelets or freshly prepared eggs. Lunch also had several made to order hot entrees in addition to the buffet items of soup, salads, pasta, fruit and sandwiches.

 

One caution regarding meal times and Scenic’s brochure: Scenic gives the impression that all meals are anytime dining. This is somewhat true for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is served to all passengers at 7 pm each evening. It is leisurely with much wine consumed and generally lasted close to 2 hours each evening. All meals are open seating which allowed us to meet a number of very interesting fellow passengers. Dinner is preceded each evening by a short update from the Cruise Director at 6:45. Our CD, Marry Ann, was excellent. She briefly talked about what we did that day and then went into detail about what was coming tomorrow. She always finished by giving us a preview of tomorrow’s daily log and noting the times of all our activities for the next day.

 

Another strength of Scenic is that your cruise fare covers EVERYTHING- No worrying about tipping anybody from ship’s crew to guides; all tours are included; and wine and beer at lunch and dinner is included (many glasses!). Our shipboard charges for 2 weeks were less than $250 which was a record after 25 cruises. Another related plus with Scenic is that on several occasions passengers are given a choice as to which of several tour options to take. For example while in Vienna, we chose to go to Bratislava, Slovakia while others went to the Opera House and a café and still others went to a palace. These types of choices happened numerous times which allowed passengers to more closely match their personal interest. We found Scenic’s tours to be fairly active and often involved a fair amount of walking. The passenger make-up seemed to favor this approach also which was fine by us even though we are over 65. If you have any significant mobility problems, I would look at options other than Scenic. With any tour that involved walking, we all had our individual receiver headsets so that we could hear the guides without crowding around them and could wander off a bit.

 

The crew to a person was excellent. After 25 cruises, we can “smell” a “happy” ship; and this definitely was one! We do not like duvets and asked for a top sheet upon entering our cabin. No problem. When we came back from dinner, the bed was rearranged with a top sheet. The Captain and Hotel Manager were very visible during the day and evenings; often just chatting with passengers in the lobby or on deck. And finally, as I previously mentioned our cruise director was excellent. She quickly got the nick-name of “mother” as she was always watching over her flock and pointing us in the right direction.

 

Ok, no cruise is perfect, so what are the negatives. On our end-of-cruise surveys we only mentioned 3 items. One was the noise levels in the lounge and dining room at dinner when all passengers were present. Clearly some better sound deadening material on the ceilings is in order as the decibel level could get up there. Another was the butler service. Passengers who had cabins on the top deck supposedly have some access to a butler to do limited things. When he introduced himself to us, we noted that we only have one request: ice in the room around 5 each evening. This never happened and I ended up walking the short distance to the bar each night to get the ice. Not a big deal, but Scenic may be overselling the butler concept. And finally, almost to a passenger, it was loudly agreed that the soup spoons were non-functional, weird looking and needed to be donated to the fish! They were long and narrow- totally impractical to eat soup.

 

Bottom line ---even though Scenic is not yet advertising in the US, any person considering a Rhine/Danube cruise that doesn’t take a close look at Scenic is missing the boat. But you better plan ahead as Scenic’s ships sell out very early; usually 6-9 months before sailing.

 

I would be happy to answer your questions.

 

Thanks for your excellent review. Several questions: Is there an elevator on board? Is wi-fi available? Must I bring a sportscoat? Was June the best time to cruise? Thanks in advance.

[michaelbyrns]

We returned June 14 after 2 weeks on the Scenic Diamond cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest. This review will focus on what you cannot learn from Scenic’s brochure and our personal observations. First, let me say that Scenic is one of the best kept secrets from the US market. Starting next year when the Scenic Pearl comes on line, they will begin marketing in the US. Scenic targets Australian clients which was proven on our cruise with about 145 out of 160 passengers being Aussies. The balance was a smattering of Canadians, Brits and Yanks. We had a ball with the Australians, not one instance of “attitude”, extremely friendly and welcoming, and a very active crowd on balance. I would cruise with them again, anywhere, anytime!

 

Our cruise with Scenic had so many strong points it is difficult to mention them all, but here are some of the main ones. First the cabin balconies were great for relaxing and reading- 2 teak chairs and a table. The cabins were well organized and comfortable even though they were not as large as your typical ocean liner cabin. More than enough closet space and a safe. However the safe is on the floor of the closet which requires some gymnastics to open.

 

Next would have to be the food which was consistently of a very high quality with nice presentations. While the portions were not huge, they were more than adequate. Plus, the staff at dinner always came to each table asking if anyone wanted another entree. Dinner typically consisted of a choice of 1 of 2 appetizers, 1of 2 soups, a salad and an entree which generally included a choice of a fish, meat or vegetarian dish. In addition, if none of the entrees pleased you, one could order either salmon or a filet as an entrée. Lunch and breakfast were buffets with good selections. Also there was an egg station at breakfast where you could get omelets or freshly prepared eggs. Lunch also had several made to order hot entrees in addition to the buffet items of soup, salads, pasta, fruit and sandwiches.

 

One caution regarding meal times and Scenic’s brochure: Scenic gives the impression that all meals are anytime dining. This is somewhat true for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is served to all passengers at 7 pm each evening. It is leisurely with much wine consumed and generally lasted close to 2 hours each evening. All meals are open seating which allowed us to meet a number of very interesting fellow passengers. Dinner is preceded each evening by a short update from the Cruise Director at 6:45. Our CD, Marry Ann, was excellent. She briefly talked about what we did that day and then went into detail about what was coming tomorrow. She always finished by giving us a preview of tomorrow’s daily log and noting the times of all our activities for the next day.

 

Another strength of Scenic is that your cruise fare covers EVERYTHING- No worrying about tipping anybody from ship’s crew to guides; all tours are included; and wine and beer at lunch and dinner is included (many glasses!). Our shipboard charges for 2 weeks were less than $250 which was a record after 25 cruises. Another related plus with Scenic is that on several occasions passengers are given a choice as to which of several tour options to take. For example while in Vienna, we chose to go to Bratislava, Slovakia while others went to the Opera House and a café and still others went to a palace. These types of choices happened numerous times which allowed passengers to more closely match their personal interest. We found Scenic’s tours to be fairly active and often involved a fair amount of walking. The passenger make-up seemed to favor this approach also which was fine by us even though we are over 65. If you have any significant mobility problems, I would look at options other than Scenic. With any tour that involved walking, we all had our individual receiver headsets so that we could hear the guides without crowding around them and could wander off a bit.

 

The crew to a person was excellent. After 25 cruises, we can “smell” a “happy” ship; and this definitely was one! We do not like duvets and asked for a top sheet upon entering our cabin. No problem. When we came back from dinner, the bed was rearranged with a top sheet. The Captain and Hotel Manager were very visible during the day and evenings; often just chatting with passengers in the lobby or on deck. And finally, as I previously mentioned our cruise director was excellent. She quickly got the nick-name of “mother” as she was always watching over her flock and pointing us in the right direction.

 

Ok, no cruise is perfect, so what are the negatives. On our end-of-cruise surveys we only mentioned 3 items. One was the noise levels in the lounge and dining room at dinner when all passengers were present. Clearly some better sound deadening material on the ceilings is in order as the decibel level could get up there. Another was the butler service. Passengers who had cabins on the top deck supposedly have some access to a butler to do limited things. When he introduced himself to us, we noted that we only have one request: ice in the room around 5 each evening. This never happened and I ended up walking the short distance to the bar each night to get the ice. Not a big deal, but Scenic may be overselling the butler concept. And finally, almost to a passenger, it was loudly agreed that the soup spoons were non-functional, weird looking and needed to be donated to the fish! They were long and narrow- totally impractical to eat soup.

 

Bottom line ---even though Scenic is not yet advertising in the US, any person considering a Rhine/Danube cruise that doesn’t take a close look at Scenic is missing the boat. But you better plan ahead as Scenic’s ships sell out very early; usually 6-9 months before sailing.

 

I would be happy to answer your questions.

Thank you for your review. We are taking on of their cruises starting on Oct 10th, from Amsterdam to Basel on the Emerald. They had a two for one sale on this cruise, so an even vetter deal. I was able to grab one of their "R" class cabins, the so called Royal Suite. We have the free butler, and also the free laundry service. By the way, did you happen to use their internet connection? I will be using it as it seems to be quite cheap.

 

We have never taken a cruise with them, as they have so few choices and they are gone right away. We travelled with Avalon Cruises two years ago and loved it, thought it was a great experience.

 

We are looking forward to doing one of Scenic's cruises and will see who "wins out" for the next time.

 

Thanks again, and any other thoughts you might have on what you experienced with them, please pass on to us.

 

Michael

[travelling fools]

I have been having a hard time getting Scenic to answer my question and was hoping you could answer.

Is there an elevator for a person with mobility problems to get to their lower deck cabin as well as other decks.

[franski]

In their brochure, it does not look as if the elevator goes to the bottom deck.

 

If I am wrong, perhaps someone can jump in and correct me...

[XFed2001]

I have been having a hard time getting Scenic to answer my question and was hoping you could answer.

Is there an elevator for a person with mobility problems to get to their lower deck cabin as well as other decks.

 

travelling fools: Today, I just sent an email to Scenic Tours and asked them the same question. My wife has a bum knee and can negotiate stairs but definitely would rather not. The answer from Scenic might likely dictate whether we go on their ships or not.

 

FYI, I received a reply from UniGlobe/Globus who responded equivocally. Here's UniGlobe's reply: Thank you for your email. Not all of our ships have elevators that reach all decks. Some of the European ships have elevators for one or two decks and stairs for the other decks. However, some of the stairs on our European ships are equipped with a chair lift.

 

On our Egyptian ship, the River Tosca, and the ships we use in China, there are no elevators or chair lifts.

 

If you would like to know whether a particular European ship has an elevator, please let me know which ship you are interested in. End of message.

 

I'll post when and if I get an answer from Scenic. Oh, I checked with the luxury river boat, Primecon Queen -- they have elevators but not up to the sun deck -- 13 + stairs.

[ann1bell]

We returned June 14 after 2 weeks on the Scenic Diamond cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest. This review will focus on what you cannot learn from Scenic’s brochure and our personal observations. First, let me say that Scenic is one of the best kept secrets from the US market. Starting next year when the Scenic Pearl comes on line, they will begin marketing in the US. Scenic targets Australian clients which was proven on our cruise with about 145 out of 160 passengers being Aussies. The balance was a smattering of Canadians, Brits and Yanks. We had a ball with the Australians, not one instance of “attitude”, extremely friendly and welcoming, and a very active crowd on balance. I would cruise with them again, anywhere, anytime!

 

Our cruise with Scenic had so many strong points it is difficult to mention them all, but here are some of the main ones. First the cabin balconies were great for relaxing and reading- 2 teak chairs and a table. The cabins were well organized and comfortable even though they were not as large as your typical ocean liner cabin. More than enough closet space and a safe. However the safe is on the floor of the closet which requires some gymnastics to open.

 

Next would have to be the food which was consistently of a very high quality with nice presentations. While the portions were not huge, they were more than adequate. Plus, the staff at dinner always came to each table asking if anyone wanted another entree. Dinner typically consisted of a choice of 1 of 2 appetizers, 1of 2 soups, a salad and an entree which generally included a choice of a fish, meat or vegetarian dish. In addition, if none of the entrees pleased you, one could order either salmon or a filet as an entrée. Lunch and breakfast were buffets with good selections. Also there was an egg station at breakfast where you could get omelets or freshly prepared eggs. Lunch also had several made to order hot entrees in addition to the buffet items of soup, salads, pasta, fruit and sandwiches.

 

One caution regarding meal times and Scenic’s brochure: Scenic gives the impression that all meals are anytime dining. This is somewhat true for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is served to all passengers at 7 pm each evening. It is leisurely with much wine consumed and generally lasted close to 2 hours each evening. All meals are open seating which allowed us to meet a number of very interesting fellow passengers. Dinner is preceded each evening by a short update from the Cruise Director at 6:45. Our CD, Marry Ann, was excellent. She briefly talked about what we did that day and then went into detail about what was coming tomorrow. She always finished by giving us a preview of tomorrow’s daily log and noting the times of all our activities for the next day.

 

Another strength of Scenic is that your cruise fare covers EVERYTHING- No worrying about tipping anybody from ship’s crew to guides; all tours are included; and wine and beer at lunch and dinner is included (many glasses!). Our shipboard charges for 2 weeks were less than $250 which was a record after 25 cruises. Another related plus with Scenic is that on several occasions passengers are given a choice as to which of several tour options to take. For example while in Vienna, we chose to go to Bratislava, Slovakia while others went to the Opera House and a café and still others went to a palace. These types of choices happened numerous times which allowed passengers to more closely match their personal interest. We found Scenic’s tours to be fairly active and often involved a fair amount of walking. The passenger make-up seemed to favor this approach also which was fine by us even though we are over 65. If you have any significant mobility problems, I would look at options other than Scenic. With any tour that involved walking, we all had our individual receiver headsets so that we could hear the guides without crowding around them and could wander off a bit.

 

The crew to a person was excellent. After 25 cruises, we can “smell” a “happy” ship; and this definitely was one! We do not like duvets and asked for a top sheet upon entering our cabin. No problem. When we came back from dinner, the bed was rearranged with a top sheet. The Captain and Hotel Manager were very visible during the day and evenings; often just chatting with passengers in the lobby or on deck. And finally, as I previously mentioned our cruise director was excellent. She quickly got the nick-name of “mother” as she was always watching over her flock and pointing us in the right direction.

 

Ok, no cruise is perfect, so what are the negatives. On our end-of-cruise surveys we only mentioned 3 items. One was the noise levels in the lounge and dining room at dinner when all passengers were present. Clearly some better sound deadening material on the ceilings is in order as the decibel level could get up there. Another was the butler service. Passengers who had cabins on the top deck supposedly have some access to a butler to do limited things. When he introduced himself to us, we noted that we only have one request: ice in the room around 5 each evening. This never happened and I ended up walking the short distance to the bar each night to get the ice. Not a big deal, but Scenic may be overselling the butler concept. And finally, almost to a passenger, it was loudly agreed that the soup spoons were non-functional, weird looking and needed to be donated to the fish! They were long and narrow- totally impractical to eat soup.

 

Bottom line ---even though Scenic is not yet advertising in the US, any person considering a Rhine/Danube cruise that doesn’t take a close look at Scenic is missing the boat. But you better plan ahead as Scenic’s ships sell out very early; usually 6-9 months before sailing.

 

I would be happy to answer your questions.

What cabin were you in? Were there issues with noise, vibrations?, esp in the back of the boat? Many thanks. Ann

[Ozjohnno]

travelling fools: Today, I just sent an email to Scenic Tours and asked them the same question. My wife has a bum knee and can negotiate stairs but definitely would rather not. The answer from Scenic might likely dictate whether we go on their ships or not.

 

FYI, I received a reply from UniGlobe/Globus who responded equivocally. Here's UniGlobe's reply: Thank you for your email. Not all of our ships have elevators that reach all decks. Some of the European ships have elevators for one or two decks and stairs for the other decks. However, some of the stairs on our European ships are equipped with a chair lift.

 

On our Egyptian ship, the River Tosca, and the ships we use in China, there are no elevators or chair lifts.

 

If you would like to know whether a particular European ship has an elevator, please let me know which ship you are interested in. End of message.

 

I'll post when and if I get an answer from Scenic. Oh, I checked with the luxury river boat, Primecon Queen -- they have elevators but not up to the sun deck -- 13 + stairs.

 

Did you ever get a reply from Scenic?

[XFed2001]

Did you ever get a reply from Scenic?

 

Hi. I did not get any reply (written or otherwise). I ended up calling their 866 number and obtained the following info:

 

Their ships do have elevators that connect to all passengers and dining decks but to get up to the sun deck, one has to negotiate a 15 stair circular staircase. I couldn't determine if the staircase was very steep or not or if it started on the Rhine or Danube decks. If you look at the pictures of the reception desk/area, you might get a feel for how high the ceilings might be and therefore might be able to extrapolate just steep the staircase might be to get to the sun deck. Perhaps other Scenic Tours guests can pitch in and shed some light on this point. My wife has a bum knee and can climb the stairs but will probably avoid them. From what we could see on the videos, there appears to be several acceptable viewing venues on the decks below the sun deck. Hope this helps.

[moneysilver]

We returned June 14 after 2 weeks on the Scenic Diamond cruising from Amsterdam to Budapest. This review will focus on what you cannot learn from Scenic’s brochure and our personal observations. First, let me say that Scenic is one of the best kept secrets from the US market. Starting next year when the Scenic Pearl comes on line, they will begin marketing in the US. Scenic targets Australian clients which was proven on our cruise with about 145 out of 160 passengers being Aussies. The balance was a smattering of Canadians, Brits and Yanks. We had a ball with the Australians, not one instance of “attitude”, extremely friendly and welcoming, and a very active crowd on balance. I would cruise with them again, anywhere, anytime!

 

Our cruise with Scenic had so many strong points it is difficult to mention them all, but here are some of the main ones. First the cabin balconies were great for relaxing and reading- 2 teak chairs and a table. The cabins were well organized and comfortable even though they were not as large as your typical ocean liner cabin. More than enough closet space and a safe. However the safe is on the floor of the closet which requires some gymnastics to open.

 

Next would have to be the food which was consistently of a very high quality with nice presentations. While the portions were not huge, they were more than adequate. Plus, the staff at dinner always came to each table asking if anyone wanted another entree. Dinner typically consisted of a choice of 1 of 2 appetizers, 1of 2 soups, a salad and an entree which generally included a choice of a fish, meat or vegetarian dish. In addition, if none of the entrees pleased you, one could order either salmon or a filet as an entrée. Lunch and breakfast were buffets with good selections. Also there was an egg station at breakfast where you could get omelets or freshly prepared eggs. Lunch also had several made to order hot entrees in addition to the buffet items of soup, salads, pasta, fruit and sandwiches.

 

One caution regarding meal times and Scenic’s brochure: Scenic gives the impression that all meals are anytime dining. This is somewhat true for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is served to all passengers at 7 pm each evening. It is leisurely with much wine consumed and generally lasted close to 2 hours each evening. All meals are open seating which allowed us to meet a number of very interesting fellow passengers. Dinner is preceded each evening by a short update from the Cruise Director at 6:45. Our CD, Marry Ann, was excellent. She briefly talked about what we did that day and then went into detail about what was coming tomorrow. She always finished by giving us a preview of tomorrow’s daily log and noting the times of all our activities for the next day.

 

Another strength of Scenic is that your cruise fare covers EVERYTHING- No worrying about tipping anybody from ship’s crew to guides; all tours are included; and wine and beer at lunch and dinner is included (many glasses!). Our shipboard charges for 2 weeks were less than $250 which was a record after 25 cruises. Another related plus with Scenic is that on several occasions passengers are given a choice as to which of several tour options to take. For example while in Vienna, we chose to go to Bratislava, Slovakia while others went to the Opera House and a café and still others went to a palace. These types of choices happened numerous times which allowed passengers to more closely match their personal interest. We found Scenic’s tours to be fairly active and often involved a fair amount of walking. The passenger make-up seemed to favor this approach also which was fine by us even though we are over 65. If you have any significant mobility problems, I would look at options other than Scenic. With any tour that involved walking, we all had our individual receiver headsets so that we could hear the guides without crowding around them and could wander off a bit.

 

The crew to a person was excellent. After 25 cruises, we can “smell” a “happy” ship; and this definitely was one! We do not like duvets and asked for a top sheet upon entering our cabin. No problem. When we came back from dinner, the bed was rearranged with a top sheet. The Captain and Hotel Manager were very visible during the day and evenings; often just chatting with passengers in the lobby or on deck. And finally, as I previously mentioned our cruise director was excellent. She quickly got the nick-name of “mother” as she was always watching over her flock and pointing us in the right direction.

 

Ok, no cruise is perfect, so what are the negatives. On our end-of-cruise surveys we only mentioned 3 items. One was the noise levels in the lounge and dining room at dinner when all passengers were present. Clearly some better sound deadening material on the ceilings is in order as the decibel level could get up there. Another was the butler service. Passengers who had cabins on the top deck supposedly have some access to a butler to do limited things. When he introduced himself to us, we noted that we only have one request: ice in the room around 5 each evening. This never happened and I ended up walking the short distance to the bar each night to get the ice. Not a big deal, but Scenic may be overselling the butler concept. And finally, almost to a passenger, it was loudly agreed that the soup spoons were non-functional, weird looking and needed to be donated to the fish! They were long and narrow- totally impractical to eat soup.

 

Bottom line ---even though Scenic is not yet advertising in the US, any person considering a Rhine/Danube cruise that doesn’t take a close look at Scenic is missing the boat. But you better plan ahead as Scenic’s ships sell out very early; usually 6-9 months before sailing.

 

I would be happy to answer your questions.

 

Hi, we are booked in a junior suite at the rear of the boat Sept 2011 we have heard that there is a lot of noise at the rear and shuddering. Did you experience this or did the passengers you met that were at the rear of boat relay this to you. We have not paid our deposit yet and have enough time to change cabins. We would appreciate your comments in this matter.

[Ozjohnno]

Moneysilver - This youtube video was posted by a fellow Victorian after he experienced noise and vibration in the very suite you've booked .....

 

 

This and all the complaints that I read on a number of sites was the reason we've not considered Scenic for our 2011 cruise but I DO hope all has been rectified and everyone who travels with them has a great holiday.