Scenic arranged everything perfectly for us. From our pre stay at a hotel in Amsterdam to the departure transfers. The ship itself was immaculate! Although the cabins are understandably on the smaller side, they were very well appointed and did not lack any creature comforts. The shower was very good which was a plus. The food and wines were exceptional... every effort was made to ensure your dining experience was interesting, fulfilling and enjoyable. The entire staff looked after you as if you were family. From our own butler to the wait staff to the Cruise director, everyone was helpful, friendly and willing to assist in any manner they could. A perfect example of thoughtfulness was when we arrived back on ship after a particularly rainy morning, staff were waiting for us with hot Blueberry tea and warm towels! Thoughtfulness! The off ship excursions were well planned, timely and interesting. The Enrichment Concert was unbelievable! We will definitely make plans in the future to travel with them again. Read Less

Outstanding reviews and recommendations by friends.Kudos to the entire crew of our Rhein River cruise ship the Scenic Ruby. Each crew member from the captain to the dining room staff and service employees are gracious, accommodating and extremely generous with their time in the service of their 300 international visitors. Vikie Lofton Wetzel and I missed dinner by 15 minutes but the dining room staff set up a special location and prepared a wonderful dinner for us. We doubt that any other large cruise line would have been so accommodating or generous with their valuable time. We strongly encourage anyone who may be even remotely considering any cruise to check out Scenic cruises in Europe. The prices including airfare, unlimited drinks, no fee excursions and no tips whatsoever will be the best cruise investment that you will ever make. The entire staff is exceptional in every way. Their personal care and interest for the comfort of every passenger is unique and wonderful. Read Less

We chose this cruise line because everything was included, even airfare. We made the right choice! We talked to others who had sailed on other river cruise lines and they said Scenic was much better than the others. The crew went above and beyond, always putting the guests first. We couldn’t have asked for anything more. The rooms were nice and the showers were excellent. The food was also excellent. We wanted for nothing. From the housekeeping staff to the cruise director and captain, everyone went out of their way to make sure our vacation was what we dreamt of. My husband usually dislikes cruises, but he really enjoyed this one and is recommending Scenic to all of our friends. We hope to sail with Scenic again! The excursions were also excellent. We were provided with excellent tour guides, who made our tours very interesting. This will truly be a vacation to remember! Read Less

Just 24 hours before we were due to fly to Amsterdam to embark on the Jasper cruise (we were in the very north of Scotland at the time of being notified) we missed a phone call at 5am 16th October 2018 (Scotland time) which we didn’t answer only to receive an email at 8am from Scenic Sydney office to advise us that suddenly there were great concerns regarding water levels and that Scenic could no longer offer the trip as scheduled. We were offered to cancel with a full refund or proceed with a much reduced trip. We requested a 1-2 hour window to make a decision of which Scenic replied that they wouldn’t be in the office till the next morning at 9:45am Sydney time! This meant we had no one to communicate with from Scenic office and at the most crucial time which was extremely stressful and disappointing. There was no customer care involved at all. So given this situation we could NOT arrange anything else to fill in the two weeks of our pre-arranged two month holiday and reluctantly agreed to proceed with the reduced itinerary and a different boat. Offer of a sub-standard boat We specifically wanted to travel on a new boat and in a cabin with larger floor area with balcony (hence why we selected the Diamond Level and Balcony suite). We are both tall people and needed a good sized cabin for our supposed two week cruise/relaxation. Once we boarded the Scenic Ruby, we were horrified to find we had an older boat in much need of renovation and with a much smaller cabin plus our shower had a major leak. There was little privacy on the balcony from our neighbours (unfortunately a very loud couple hence we had little use of our balcony). We did ask the cruise director if we could be allocated another cabin but the choices were unacceptable. It was also galling that given half the people on our trip pulled out, it seemed that the remainder were allocated the same size cabins as we were (ie 95% of the people were on the top deck) even though a lot of them paid for smaller lower cabins. Scenic Ruby did NOT have a gym, which we were looking forward to using after our long travel periods in Europe. Half way through the cruise, we were in a bus for a day to arrive in Bonn for the night and then another full day again in a bus along the Rhine until we could be transferred to the Scenic Crystal (still not the boat we had paid for but cabin was slightly bigger). Once again, much packing & unpacking of large amounts of luggage, exactly why we wanted a two week cruise break (no unpacking!). Revised Itinerary Given the extremely low water levels we understand that we could not travel to Budapest. Despite the best efforts of Scenic to offer a fall back, it was vastly inferior in that we did not get to travel (in our view) the best part being the Rhine Valley and subsequent Danube (Austria/Melk area/Hungary, etc.) The absolute highlight for us in booking this trip was to visit Vienna & Budapest – neither of which we would see nor could we have any hope of rearranging the rest of our trip to include them from land. We also had to suffer visiting a number of second string ports where we could not tie up in the city centre and hence even more transportation in a bus to get anywhere. One of the ports we ended up being based for two nights (for even more bus trips) was Regensberg, where the Captain could not even get a single berth so we spent two days staring into another ships bedrooms from our balcony). At best I would say that we received 50% of the trip/experience we were promised and paid for. Read Less

Chose this cruise to see the scenery, castles, and towns as we cruised along the Danube and the Rhine and the fact we would not have to pack for all 15 days. Actually we only cruised 1 day total in the daytime, the rest was a series of long bus trips, 3 ship changes and a few night in hotels and some cruising at night. The Ruby was the last ship but no space to enter all 3. This was all due to low water levels in the rivers which Scenic knew about long before our departure date but failed to inform us. We were not given the option to cancel or change sailing dates. I tried to correspond with Scenic prior to our departure when I suspected a problem, but had no response. The city excursions were good and we had very good local guides. These were hard to enjoy after our long bus trips and room changes. The buses used for both the excursions and the shuttle service between port had poor visibility out of the side windows because of reflection. The washroom in the buses ranged from filthy to poor. One of the rest stops along the way was disgusting and we had to pay to use any of the Rest Rooms (WC's) - something Scenic should have covered. The main topic of conversation on the trip was how to get compensation from Scenic for our lost holiday not how we were enjoying the trip. There was little enjoyment just frustration on this trip. We are keeping in touch with each other to see what Scenic will offer us for not providing what we had signed up for. Read Less

My husband and I had been planning this particular cruise for almost 2 years. We have been with Scenic prior to this adventure but have never had to do a ship swap. Due to the water levels on our route from Basel to Amsterdam we were required to transfer to the Scenic Ruby. The entire adventure was handled very well by everyone and there was a little disruption as possible to disturb the usual seamless manner with which Scenic crews function. The weather was spectacular, certainly warmer than expected and Scenic did not disappoint with their chosen tours.Scenic attempts to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible from the welcome on board at check in to the final disembarkation. We had a balcony suite in the 2nd floor and have always been pleased with the amenities offered on the ship. Our tailor made guides have always been helpful especially on tours or just cruising along the rivers. Scenic will always be our first choice when planning another river cruise. Read Less

We sailed on a “Scenic Luxury Rhine Highlights River Tour from Amsterdam to Basel in late September. We are seasoned cruisers and this was our second Scenic River Cruise in three years (Danube in September 2015). We also have enjoyed Mediterranean and Caribbean cruises. Our experience with Scenic on the Danube in 2015 was indeed 5 star. Our experience this past month on the Rhine was the polar opposite. What a disappointment it was. We were told two days before the cruise that we would be on the Ruby, not the Jasper. The Ruby is 6 years older than the Jasper. We later learned that the Jasper had been on the Danube all summer but no passengers were informed of this. We stayed at Scenic’s designated Doubletree Hotel in Amsterdam the night before embarkation, and learned that the 10th floor was the designated floor for Scenic travellers. The rooms were bare bones to say the least. Two days into our time on Scenic Ruby, the Cruise Director informed us that ‘she just learned’ that we would have to be transferred to another ship (Scenic Crystal) because of low water levels. We felt like we weren’t treated like intelligent adults, as we now knew that this had happened to every Scenic ship for the entire summer. This deception did not sit well with us. We will not focus on the effects of the water levels, as we had the same problems in 2015. We will say, however, that the low water levels definitely impacted the quality time we could have spent on the ship (one ship change, two technical stops). The focus of this review is the significant deterioration in service, amount and quality of food and drinks. The following quotes from Scenic’s website marketing material were definitely not our experience: "Diverse and delicious food experiences…; ...a gastronomic masterpiece dining experience on our ships…; ...onboard luxury of one of our boutique 5-star state-of-the-art Space-Ships…; …extensive selection of complementary beverages all day…” FOOD: We dined in the upscale Portobello restaurant one night and it was excellent. Breakfast, lunch and dinner in the Crystal Dining room was far from a 'diverse, delicious, and gastronomic masterpiece’. This was a huge step down from our 2015 experience, which included meal themes according to where we sailed, an abundance of food, and delicious variations (not to mention far superior entertainment on board). The breakfast and lunch buffets in 2018 offered the same items every day with maybe 2 items changed per day to represent regional fare. Long lineups occurred for the hot specialty items as they ran out of food quickly and despite staff saying more would be ‘coming in 5 minutes’ - this rarely happened. There was simply not enough food for the amount of people to feed. Dinner didn’t offer a lot of choice, and portions were generally small, overcooked and underwhelming. For example, the much anticipated Surf-and-turf night consisted of a thin, tough piece of beef with a silver dollar size medallion of tough-as-leather Gulf Coast lobster tail (not a full tail, but merely a cross-section). BEVERAGES: Scenic cruises are marketed as 5 star, all inclusive with complementary beverages all day, every day. Our experience in 2015 was wonderful, with several varieties of quality wines to choose from; there was a table display of 4 types of red and white wines outside the dining room for guests to preview. This year, there was no display at all on the Scenic Ruby, and a very small one on the Crystal. Each night at dinner the same two (German and Italian) low quality red and white wines were offered. It was abundantly clear that staff were instructed to pour small portions.The staff did the best they could but were clearly understaffed and it seemed to be an imposition when we requested anything other than wine at dinner. Coffee was never offered following dinner as it was on our 2015 cruise; we had to ask for it. OVERALL: In summary, the predominant observation was that Scenic has cut back significantly on food, food quality, food selection, and staffing. We suspect management has implemented cost cutting measures as reflected in the decline in on board passenger experience. Our butler introduced herself the first day and from then on was consumed with taking on several other roles. Ship staff were clearly overworked and this was evident in their demeanor. In contrast, the staff in 2015 were friendly, interactive and appeared less stressed. Entertainment and excursions were below expectations as well. We so enjoyed the group of Bavarian slap dancers in 2015 that came on to the ship, whereas on the 2018 cruise there was only a pianist and violinist on board to entertain. While our 2015 Scenic experience was 5 star, our 2018 experience was a 2.5 star despite paying a 5 star price. We will not recommend Scenic nor will we ever cruise with this company again. A huge disappointment. Read Less

We took a scenic cruise from Basel to Amsterdam in September for our 40th wedding anniversary. It was wonderful to see so many beautiful places, and the tour guides were awesome. Due to low water levels we had to change ships on our second day, but the staff did their best to facilitate the transition. We were also given a credit for the day we had to use buses, which we appreciated. I thought that the food was good, portions were adequate, many different choices. The service was top notch in every way. Our cruise director was very well organized and kept her cool while dealing with the low river levels. I felt the cabin on the Ruby was adequate but smaller than the Jade, and the bathroom was not quite as updated. Also, the first balcony on the Jade had a permanent structure which was good for privacy, and on the Ruby, the balcony was separated by a thin partition. We did not use it much. That would probably be my only complaint. Thank you for a memorable trip. Read Less

We booked a river cruise but it felt like a bus tour with occasional stops on the river. We were on 3 different boats during a 15 day cruise. Not 5 Star Service on any of the three. We started on the Ruby, were then transferred to the Jade and then finished on the Pearl. Spent way too much time packing/unpacking and a ridiculous amount of time on buses vs the river. Definitely would not cruise with Scenic again. Dining was not what I would call 5 Star and the entertainment on board was meant to have you fall asleep. We got behind schedule from the beginning and it took us a week to get caught up, but in the meantime because we were behind schedule we spent a lot to time on buses getting us to our excursion locations. I felt sorry for the older cruisers as they were pretty well confined to the ship due to the fact that we never stopped where we were suppose to and as a result they had no way of getting off the ship, we weren't docked where they had accessibility to shore. Read Less

Friends recommended Scenic Jewels of Europe (Amsterdam to Budapest), we travelled Sept. 17-Oct.1, 2018. It was our first River Cruise so we had high expectations and we were not disappointed. We booked in April 2017 not knowing there would be a European drought in 2018 but we decided to see it as an adventure and that it was. Before we left Canada we were informed that there was a water level problem but the cruise was still on. The crew were fantastic and our cruise director Patrick went out of his way to keep everyone informed. Unfortunately we ended up having to change ships two times before we reached Budapest. Yes it was tiring to pack and unpack twice and leave our ships and crews but they did everything to keep us happy. We went twice by bus with a guide but that ended up as a bonus because we were able to see beautiful countryside that we couldn't have seen from the ship and we were put up in a 5 star hotel one night in Vienna. All the off ship tours were wonderful, the food and service were excellent. The onboard entertainment was beyond what we expected- string quartet,ballet,opera., folkloric show. We had 20 C. temps the entire time but it could have been constant rain or a total cancellation. We were quite tired listening to ship mates complaining about Scenic. I asked most of them if they had read the terms and conditions of the cruise(especially 5 and 7.1a) and no one answered yes. If they had they would have seen that Scenic was not responsible for the water levels and changes in itinerary were possible. Some people see the glass half empty and some see it half full, so sad that they couldn't adapt to the circumstances and were trying to make those around them miserable also. We have no regrets about our trip and would certainly book with Scenic again. Always take negative comments with a grain of salt, if you can't adapt to extenuating circumstances, then don't travel. Read Less