I have been on other ocean cruises & river cruises and this time chose Scenic as I was told it was premium quality and a step up from the other European river cruise companies.

So maybe my expectation was too high as so far this is no better than Gate One cruises which are about half the costing. The food is ok but nothing superior. The service is mediocre and could be improved. As an example - the first day when you arrive you are told to go and have a drink in the lounge and they will call you when your cabin is ready. This was just not true. We waited & waited like all the others but then noticed that all you needed to do was go and register with your passport and you could get your key. This was frustrating and others were also not sure of the process.

Another example was on day 2 in Cologne when we asked a Scenic person helping the scan out process - where did we go for the castle tour or where did we go for the city your? The Scenic people didn’t know but just wanted to scan us off the ship. Fortunately outside there were guides who we could ask and get some sort of help. It’s not realy a big problem but definitely nothing ‘superior’ about the Scenic service or Scenic food . So in summary ,the only advantage for the extra money you pay is the free minibar and drinks being available all through the day at no cost. Read more