Scenic Crystal Review
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I had researched long and hard for a couple of years, since our last ocean cruise in 2008 (Cherry Blossom Cruise) about European river cruises. Considering lines, ships, itineraries, inclusions and extensions that we wanted to make. Taking into account all of the above decided on booking Scenic Tours Amsterdam to Bucharest, Black Sea and Turkey. 38 days in total, 21 days on board the Scenic Crystal. We booked through my travel agent and then Scenic tours, both our airline tickets with Singapore Airlines ( entitled to only pay taxes with early bird offer and free stop over in Singapore on our return) and our accommodation at Amsterdam at the Doubletree.
My husband and I are in our late 40's, and traveled with my parents (mid 70's). We booked the Royal Panoramic Suite on the Danube deck (had paid a $500 fee to be informed when bookings opened to secure this cabin as there are only 2 of them, 20 months in advance of cruise date). Because this was our first time in Europe, I was happy to have transfers, etc all taken care of by Scenic. We arrived 7.20am on Saturday and had a private car meet us and transfer us to the Doubletree with a little orientation tour on the way into town from the airport. Arrived at Doubletree and we were able to check into our room before 8am, at no extra charge (we did not book it for the night before, as is sometimes suggested), so was very happy with the efficient check in service and the staff were all very courteous during our stay. We had upgraded at the Doubletree, to a King City suite, so had a room on the highest floor looking out over the city and Centraal station. The room was very clean, plenty of room and stocked with plenty of towels and toiletries. The hotel is ideally suited to exploring the city as all the trams run from Centraal Station, and the canal bus has a stop at the station, although it is only a 5-10 minute walk to Dam Square on the flat. The hotel also has bike available for hire (16 euros daily). Would stay here again.
On the day of checkout from the hotel, Scenic had an information desk, luggage store and refreshments available on the first floor of the hotel. The Scenic Crystal docked the day before and there were passengers arriving from the ship waiting for transfers to airport etc, as they finished their cruises, so it was all happening. My husband and I had more exploring of Amsterdam planned, so left our luggage here to be transferred to the ship. We could have been back at 3pm for a bus transfer to the Crystal, or make our own way to the ship. After a full day in Amsterdam we arrived at the ship at about 6.30pm. We were welcomed on board by staff, checked in with our passports and given a welcome rose and escorted to our cabin. As the evening meal was being served in the restaurant, we dumped our coats & shopping and headed to the dining room and met up with our other family members.
Cabin Review
Scenic Crystal, cabin #336WOW!!!! I had wanted to get this cabin from day one and booked especially early (20 months prior) to ensure we got this one. It has plenty of room, large bathroom and shower, with plenty of cupboards behind the mirrors and shelving around the basin. The shower would benefit from having the same fittings that are in the other cabins, as there is very little play in the angle you are able to put the shower head on. Ok for my taller husband, but meant I had to stand further away to get wet!! The wardrobe was massive, 2 hanging areas, 4 shelves on the side and 2 larger shelves across the top, with another 2 shelves and two drawers on the other side. You will find your umbrella and Nordic sticks in here.
Then there is a desk that has several power points, one Australian the others European. there is a drawer in the desk and the bar fridge in the cupboard under this. There is a small chair that fits under the desk, that has the phone on it and a mirror above. The bed is next with plenty of room under the bed for suitcases. There are bedside lights attached to the wall and have got a certain amount of movement in them for reading in bed or at the desk. On the other side of the bed there is an iPod dock/clock on the bedside table that has a small drawer in it. Next to the other side of the bed, under the circular window, there is like a seat, that has another 2 drawers underneath. My husband loved this set up. At the rear of the cabin there is a full length window that has roman blinds on the inside and an electrical shade cloth blind externally to cut out glare / maintain privacy whilst still allowing the light in. In front of this window there are 2 sitting chairs that swivel and a small table for drinks in between. They had a standard lamp standing here, but I moved this. There is a small TV mounted on the wall in this corner of the room. Next is the sliding door to the balcony that has 2 chairs and a small stool/table on it. There was plenty of room on the balcony when we used it. The Sun Lounge works well. We had it closed mostly, when not in the cabin, as it is and extra security measure when in port or docked beside another ship. At night we didn't have it opened unless we didn't have any lights on, as the insects love coming inside!! In the next corner of the suite(where I moved the standard lamp to), the other end of the balcony door and in front of the wall of the bathroom, there was a couch with several cushions, and a large TV mounted on the wall above. In front of the couch there was a coffee sized table, that it's height could be altered, depending if you wanted to dine in your room. We moved this table over to in front of the part of the balcony sliding door that didn't open. Plenty of room, although not sure we needed 2 TV's. The other panoramic suite, cabin 335 is a little different, in that it's bathroom is set further back and there is another set of drawers and shelves just inside the door ( this is because there needs to be access down to the staff only area at the rear of the ship under our cabins.) We were a little concerned about noise, vibrations and /or fumes, but none of these were an issue. We never had our curtains closed and some times we had our balcony and sun lounge open overnight, and we would wake up and find we were no longer docked but underway, and we had heard nothing. Not even the naval crew members that would have had to untie us form that open area under our cabins.
The beds were very comfortable and are made in a European fashion with 2 duvets. We asked if we could have just one large one and our stewardess made this happen. The pillows were comfortable, and you could request others. The minibar was replenished as needed. After the first few days, we just let our cabin staff know what we drank and what they didn't need to bother to put in the fridge, and they even got my husband his brand of beer and my brand of wine that was always in our fridge. There is a block of chocolate, a tin of Pringles, a bottle of still & sparkling water that get replaced as used. The air conditioning was great and very responsive, although we didn't tend to use it much. The water pressure was good and the water temperature was nice and hot. The butler would do the rounds in the morning and check if you had any laundry (or you just left it out side your cabin for collection - complimentary), they would bring fruit skewers around in the afternoon, canapes before dinner and petit fors for after dinner, if you weren't there, they sometime left them in your room depending on your schedule. There was a bowl of fresh fruit in our room that our butler made sure was replenished as needed, and made sure you had some of your favourite fruit. The cabins were made up quickly and the turn down service, they always leave you a treat on your pillow & close your curtains (ours we requested to leave open). A great cabin, well worth the extra money, to my mind, and we spent a bit of time here in the 21 days we were on board, especially as we had so much rain.