Scenic River Cruises Reviews

We chose this cruise because we were told it was all inclusive and fantastic. Our first five days were pretty good but we didn’t know that the river levels were an issue and we asked every day but no one would tell us anything finally we were told one night before dinner that the ship could no longer navigate the water. We were given three choices with no real plans to either of them. We were ...

Our cruise on Scenic Opal was from Basel to Amsterdam commencing 25 July for one week. We had a balcony cabin 216. Embarkation was poorly managed and for reasons never fully explained the cruise started at Strasbourg, The rep at the airport did not mention the change and many of us endured fully loaded bladders during the 1hr 45 min trip. We subsequently found that a small group new of this ...

Scenic (at least in Australia) actively market the Scenic experience as a five star world quality product. In reality our cruise was really mass tourism and more focused on drinking. The bad: The food is woefully bad. It is not hard to realise that the braised beef one night is the Swedish style meat balls the next lunch. Whilst the Italian concept and French table were actually ...

This was to be a very special trip for my husband and myself and was ruined by the following: Flights to Munich airport were the cheapest tickets available, no seats had been reserved, therefore we had to purchase our seats via the airline so that we could sit together. On arrival at Munich we were told we would have to wait for other passengers to arrive from various flights before we could be ...

After believing that Scenic was a 5 star river cruise company we were very disappointed with the trip. The dinner on the first night took 2 1/2 hours - every food order was misidentified, hot soups were cold, entrees were cold, ice cream had melted - the worst dinner in my life. We complained and the timing of service improved but the overall food quality was mediocre, the size of the entree ...

We were recommended to Scenic by dear friends who have had great experiences with this company. We were told about the 5 star food, drinks and accommodations. We booked a balcony suite 2 years in advance and saved to go on this cruise. It started off on a bad note on day one. We went to the bar and ordered champagne to celebrate our cruise. We were told to go sit down and that they would bring us ...

Really regimented agenda so didn't allow for much "downtime". For example, no time to sit up top and have a cocktail at the end of the day, as the excursions returned at 5 or later, and port talk was at 6 and dinner at 7. Hard to shower, dress for dinner and have some downtime in the space of an hour. Food was ok, not great. Worst part was that the Danube is so busy that 5 nights out of 7 we ...

Every day since we left, our ship docks next to at least one other. Sometimes there are 3 abreast - this, in the low season. As a result, our view from our balcony (which we paid extra for ~silly us!) is into the window of the cabin of the other ship. So, no view. One night, we were apparently near the exhaust vent of another ship and so for days after, our room and all others on this side smelled ...

We were told Scenic was top of the range with excellent food. Not true. Food was poor to mediocre - dry chicken, leathery veal, limited fruit selection, uninspiring lunch buffets, watery wines. Also evening meals took 2 to 2.5 hours as everyone had to be served at the same pace. The crew were as helpful as they could be, given they had to serve 165 people with drinks and food ...

The ship itself was very nice and the itinerary from Amsterdam to Budapest was excellent. The Cruise Director, Richard was very organised, had a good sense of humour and always conducted himself in a professional manner. You were never in any doubt as to what was going on, where you had to be, or timings. However, the dining on board was absolutely dreadful. Waiting staff did their best but ...