Scenic: Welcome Reception

[hoops120]

We are booked on Scenic "Jewels of Europe" in April, boarding in Budapest. We have booked a couple of days on our own in Budapest beforehand.

 

We want to attend an event at the State Opera House. The only events available are on the day we arrive (a bit tight if there are any delays) or the day we board  when there is the scheduled Welcome Reception.

 

This is our first river cruise, so we don't know what to expect (although I have learnt a lot by following this forum). 

 

So can we drop off our bags, miss the Welcome dinner  (informing them of course of our plans) and go to the opera?  Or would there be crucial information that evening that we would be advised not to miss?

[Canal archive]

There isn’t usually a welcome reception on the first night but you will miss cruising through Budapest during the evening a part of your cruise not to be missed it’s a highlight of the cruise. There will also be an introductory port talk also really not to be missed. Unless the event at the Opera is during the afternoon you could potentially miss the boat. Our first cruise was Budapest to Nuremberg we got the bug and then husband decided it was too short a cruise so several years later we did Amsterdam to Budapest. We’re soon off on our ninth Scenic cruise.

[hoops120]

Thanks Canal Archive. Sorry I forgot to say that the boat stays overnight in Budapest. We have a guided tour in Budapest the next day and we don't set sail until the following evening, so I'm not concerned about missing the boat. 

 

The (limited) info we have suggests that there is a "welcome reception" on the first evening, and I wasn't sure how critical it was to attend that (eg info about the rest of the trip, safety briefing etc)

[Canal archive]

I suspect they will leave the safety briefing until the next day. If you look at the info tagged above look at the Scenic contact details the email and phone for your ship should be there so you can contact them to let them know what you’re doing. My daughter and son in law snagged some standing room tickets last time they were in Budapest and really enjoyed it.

[DougK]

There will be information about the rest of the trip at the Welcome Reception, but it's really not critical. I'm sure the staff will be willing to fill you in later with any important information. And, if I recall correctly from my Scenic cruise, the port talk is recorded and available to be played later on the in-room TV for those who miss it.

 

Canal Archive is correct that an evening cruise through Budapest is lovely, seeing all the illuminated buildings. But I'm not sure whether Scenic still does that--I know some cruise lines stopped after the tragic accident in 2019. It's not listed in the Scenic itinerary--but I just checked and it wasn't listed back in 2018 either, when it definitely did happen on our cruise. You might want to consider booking a separate evening sightseeing cruise during your pre-stay. 

[Canal archive]

DougK on our first cruise with Scenic our departure from Budapest was in the evening so it doubled up as the superbly presented city but our second time when we ended it was an add on and only a year before the tragedy. I think they have restarted them I seem to remember reading it somewhere.

 

[pontac]

There never is anything crucial said at such meetings. Go ahead and do what you want to do. You can always ask the Cruise Director later if you missed anything and they'll tell you. You won't have missed anything..

 

It's not rocket science. If you are savvy enough to arrange an evening at the opera on your own, then there's nothing of any import that you'll miss. Everything is in your pre-cruise documentation. And that's dross.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Just in case they are doing the muster drill that first evening, I would suggest you email the cruise director on your ship and get a definite answer to your questions.  A complete list of Scenic ships' emails is here:

 

 

[Canal archive]

Regardless do keep in touch with the ship, reception is fine they’ll know what’s going on. Do enjoy yourselves it’s a wonderful cruise.

[rachiem]

Sorry to butt in. We also have this cruise at the end of the year and fly in the day before.

We have the "Scenic" recommended hotel and have been told that they will arrange our transfer to the boat.

Our TA said that this could be at 11am but does that sound right? It seems rather early?

Like the Op, we'd like to arrange a couple of tours for that day.

[pontac]

16 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Just in case they are doing the muster drill that first evening,

 

It's wise to check, of course. But I've never known one done in the dark, or on the first day. People are flying in from all around the world, some will be delayed so people might be arriving quite late. 

 

3 hours ago, rachiem said:

Our TA said that this could be at 11am but does that sound right? It seems rather early?

Like the Op, we'd like to arrange a couple of tours for that day.

 

Scenic (& Viking and I expect others) serve a light lunch for early arrivals. But Scenic carefully arranged our hotel pickup to be at 14:00 so we arrived too late for the free lunch. You will get the time for your pickup in your travel documentation that will be sent to you. If you decide to miss it you will have to arrange your own travel to the boat. Best phone the boat - number in the documentation and as per the link above = to let them know tour ETA/

[rachiem]

41 minutes ago, pontac said:

 

It's wise to check, of course. But I've never known one done in the dark, or on the first day. People are flying in from all around the world, some will be delayed so people might be arriving quite late. 

 

 

Scenic (& Viking and I expect others) serve a light lunch for early arrivals. But Scenic carefully arranged our hotel pickup to be at 14:00 so we arrived too late for the free lunch. You will get the time for your pickup in your travel documentation that will be sent to you. If you decide to miss it you will have to arrange your own travel to the boat. Best phone the boat - number in the documentation and as per the link above = to let them know tour ETA/

Thank you, that's really helpful 🙂

[Canal archive]

Pontac was your room ready? Did you ask your Butler for a light snack in your cabin?

[pontac]

21 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Pontac was your room ready? Did you ask your Butler for a light snack in your cabin?

 

No one's room was ready. We all sat in the lounge for three+ hours. No one came to update us, serve drinks or snacks. Every 40 minutes or so someone would go to reception, then come back shaking their head at the expectant faces in the lounge.

 

So Scenic had two black marks from us even before the cruise started.

 

We finally got access to our room at 17:30. Dinner was at 19:00 and there was a 'welcome' briefing before that. As this was the first time we'd been with Scenic we went along.
The tour manager’s talk was before dinner but didn’t contain anything useful, except that daily schedules weren’t printed but a copy would be on reception desk each morning and we should photograph it so we had a copy. Also to photograph the gate code of the landing jetty so we could get on board if the gate was closed.

 

And no we didn't ask the Butler for a light snack in our cabin because we didn't have a cabin and  because we'd had a decent lunch at 12:30 in a restaurant.

 

'Our Butler' is  Scenic marketing hyperbole for a member of the crew who serviced the entire floor.

 

Detailed report on the cruise is here

 

[Canal archive]

Very interesting I’m sure you reported this to Glen Moroney.

[pontac]

On 3/13/2023 at 3:37 PM, Canal archive said:

Very interesting I’m sure you reported this to Glen Moroney.

 

I've no idea who this person is.

[Canal archive]

I’m sure you are capable of finding out but to make it easier he is the owner and founder of the Scenic group.

[pontac]

Since you are Scenic's greatest cheerleader on this board, and since you think he should know and since you know how to contact him, perhaps you could give him the link to my report and ask him to comment - in particular

 

• why were indirect flights used instead of the available non-stop flights?
• why were the cabins not ready till 17:30?
• why did the boat run out of food at two meals?
• why was a sparkling substitute  served when Champagne was specifically requested?
• what was used to refill the breakfast Moet & Chandon bottles, and is this official Scenic practice?

 

link

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2879417-review-of-beautiful-bordeaux-11-day-cruise-on-scenic-diamond-from-17-august-to-27-august-2022-with-comparisons-to-viking/

 

[Canal archive]

I think you are old enough and experienced enough to stand up for yourself and attempt to do something about it without my intervention. Yes I do support them things have not always gone as I would expect and hope but it’s always been sorted in an amicable manner. Of course this could all go by the board so our next cruise will be very interesting as we took it before under very trying circumstances for Scenic and they came out with flying colours. 
If I have a challenge with any company’s product I make sure they know in the politest possible way, most companies would rather know when something is not up to scratch especially at the moment if they don’t know they cannot do anything to rectify the situation.