We have been on 2 other Scenic river cruises and they were above expectations. We do not know whether Scenic is now cutting corners or whether it was just this boat, but it was a real come down from our previous experiences with Scenic. It was not just the food, service and entertainment aboard the ship but also the tours.

We had read other reviews about the food quality and variety complaints before taking this cruise, but felt they were just whiners. To our surprise found that their observations were acurate.

When entering the restaurant, we could not get the waiters attention to bring us a menu, so our table ended up just grabbing one as we entered the restaurant each day. The food portions were so small, we started taking pictures. Instead of providing a bread basket for the table, the waiter would cut off a small piece of from a bread roll. It was so small, you just put the whole piece into your mouth. Not all the meals were substandard though, as they did serve a great leg of lamb one night and the chateau briand and salmon were great. The fruit selection was mainly water melon and other melon fruits. There were only 2 waiters in the lounge for the talks, so we just went to the bar and got our own drinks. There was a large group of Thomas Cook people that left part way through the cruise and we really noticed a big improvement in service when they left as the crew had more time to look after everyone. Only had 2 occasions where the waiter forgot the order. Read more