Presently on Scenic Unforgettable Douro – Happy to Answer Questions

[Host Jazzbeau]

I'm not going to do a Live From – will post a full review and blog later.

 

Boarded on Wed. Sep 20 for the 11 day Unforgettable Douro cruise on Scenic Azure.

 

Early report:  everything is 100%, even better than our Scenic Gem cruise on the Seine last year [which was our best river cruise to date]

 

Happy to answer any questions about this cruise, the itinerary, the ship, or  Scenic in general.

[Lois R]

Hi Jazz, BIG BON VOYAGE and have a wonderful cruise😀

[Canal archive]

Raise a glass to Scenic Azure for us please jazz enjoy it’s a beautiful ship crewed by lovely people I hope you enjoy as much as we did.

It got a little tight at this lock and our CD was the measuring stick.

 

[loriva]

14 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'm not going to do a Live From – will post a full review and blog later.

 

Boarded on Wed. Sep 20 for the 11 day Unforgettable Douro cruise on Scenic Azure.

 

Early report:  everything is 100%, even better than our Scenic Gem cruise on the Seine last year [which was our best river cruise to date]

 

Happy to answer any questions about this cruise, the itinerary, the ship, or  Scenic in general.

 

First, have a wonderful trip!

 

Second, could you ask when Scenic will release its itineraries for 2025, please?  And how did the pre-cruise experience (website, reaching Scenic, receiving information on your cruise) compare to the experience after the IT hack last year?

 

Many thanks,

[puppycanducruise]

Have a great time.  Looking forward to hearing all about it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, loriva said:

First, have a wonderful trip!

 

Second, could you ask when Scenic will release its itineraries for 2025, please?  And how did the pre-cruise experience (website, reaching Scenic, receiving information on your cruise) compare to the experience after the IT hack last year?

 

Many thanks,

Thanks.

 

I will ask about 2025 itineraries.

 

As to the pre-cruise experience:  we weren't badly affected by the IT hack for our April 2022 cruise. We booked in November 2020 (which may have been before the hack?), switched to the prepay discount in Feb. 2021 and made final payment in Apr. 2021 – all through our travel agent who had no difficulties getting through and getting it done.  We were also able to add all our personal info and choose excursions on the website well before the cruise.  So while I read a lot of posts about the hack, with a little patience it didn't seem that bad.

 

The pre-cruise experience for this trip was perfectly fine.  The website has been up and running throughout the process from initial booking Sep. 2021.  No problems at any stage.

[Ritabob]

Following along

[Shipswap]

We’ll be doing the Douro next September but with Emerald. Could you keep us informed of the temperatures you’re experiencing along the River? 
Thanks

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, Shipswap said:

We’ll be doing the Douro next September but with Emerald. Could you keep us informed of the temperatures you’re experiencing along the River? 
Thanks

Excellent request!  We will be sailing the Douro with Uniworld this time next year so I'm very interested in the answer.

[Got2Cruise]

Take plenty of pics! Drink lots of port! 

[Canal archive]

On our Croft visit with Scenic 2018 we were introduced to Pink Port excellent out of the fridge on the sun deck. Mind you the Portuguese do seem to find some inventive ways to use Port in their recipes.

[Got2Cruise]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

On our Croft visit with Scenic 2018 we were introduced to Pink Port excellent out of the fridge on the sun deck. Mind you the Portuguese do seem to find some inventive ways to use Port in their recipes.

Our guide on our land extension suggested to order a White Port and tonic as a cocktail. I tried it and was my drink during the entire cruise. Very refreshing. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

54 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

Our guide on our land extension suggested to order a White Port and tonic as a cocktail. I tried it and was my drink during the entire cruise. Very refreshing. 

I will try it – as research.  Anything to advance the cause of Science!

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 9/24/2023 at 3:24 PM, Got2Cruise said:

Our guide on our land extension suggested to order a White Port and tonic as a cocktail. I tried it and was my drink during the entire cruise. Very refreshing. 

So, coming back from Salamanca, a little hot and tired, I asked my Butler to bring me a White Port and Tonic cocktail.  It was delicious!  Thank you for the suggestion.

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 9/24/2023 at 10:26 AM, Canal archive said:

On our Croft visit with Scenic 2018 we were introduced to Pink Port excellent out of the fridge on the sun deck. Mind you the Portuguese do seem to find some inventive ways to use Port in their recipes.

It's coming up, and I look forward to it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 9/23/2023 at 9:05 AM, loriva said:

Could you ask when Scenic will release its itineraries for 2025, please?

I asked the Cruise Director (knowing he wasn't the right person) and within minutes the Entertainment Director (who also handles future bookings) sought me out at the Portuguese Barbecue to tell me that he didn't know but would check with HQ and get back to me.

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 9/26/2023 at 5:55 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I asked the Cruise Director (knowing he wasn't the right person) and within minutes the Entertainment Director (who also handles future bookings) sought me out at the Portuguese Barbecue to tell me that he didn't know but would check with HQ and get back to me.

He never did, but I got an email from Scenic today announcing itineraries for Jan–Oct, 2025

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 9/23/2023 at 9:13 PM, Shipswap said:

We’ll be doing the Douro next September but with Emerald. Could you keep us informed of the temperatures you’re experiencing along the River? 
Thanks

Here's my final spreadsheet showing all actual temps on our trip:

Weather for Scenic Portugal.pdf

[Shipswap]

The pdf is showing up as ‘unavailable’ to me so I am unable to open it.

I do thank you, Jazzbeau, for your effort.

[Host Jazzbeau]

\

[Shipswap]

Thank you so much for the temperature chart. This will be a great starting point to try to predict the temperatures for next year’s cruise.

[snorkle lover]

On 9/22/2023 at 6:47 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'm not going to do a Live From – will post a full review and blog later.

 

Boarded on Wed. Sep 20 for the 11 day Unforgettable Douro cruise on Scenic Azure.

 

Early report:  everything is 100%, even better than our Scenic Gem cruise on the Seine last year [which was our best river cruise to date]

 

Happy to answer any questions about this cruise, the itinerary, the ship, or  Scenic in general.

We are thinking about a Scenic River cruise on the Seine for next October. We have been on two Scenic cruises about 6 years ago and enjoyed them both. Did you have an problems with your Seine cruise and would you give it a high rating??

[Host Jazzbeau]

31 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

We are thinking about a Scenic River cruise on the Seine for next October. We have been on two Scenic cruises about 6 years ago and enjoyed them both. Did you have an problems with your Seine cruise and would you give it a high rating??

Loved it.  Best river cruise up until then (now tied with the Scenic Douro).  Love the ship, the food is tops, the service is really personalized.  And Scenic's 11-day itineraries provide more excursion options but also more free time than the usual 7-day cruises.

 

Here is my blog/review of the trip:

Scenic Normandy & Gems of the Seine 4-2022

[Got2Cruise]

@Host Jazzbeau did you post your review for your Duoro cruise yet? I missed it. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

No, life has been very busy since I got back.  Haven't even started to work on it!  [Have been scrambling to book a replacement trip for November – Holy Land Pilgrimage isn't going to happen next year...]