Scenic River

River Cruises

Lisbon

Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera)

Europe - All

Europe - River Cruise

Europe River

Portugal River

Portugal

Douro River

Spain

Europe - British Isles & Western

Africa

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Very Good

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Average

Terrible

Scenic Opal

Scenic Jasper

Scenic Amber

Scenic Jade

Scenic Jewel

Scenic Pearl

Scenic Ruby

Scenic Sapphire

Scenic Azure

Scenic Crystal

Scenic Diamond

Scenic Gem

Scenic Tsar

Scenic Aura

Unforgettable Service, Excursions and Meals

Our third cruise with Scenic having hugely enjoyed previous ones.  We went as a party of 6 friends/relatives flying from Humberside via Amsterdam.  Although this was the very last cruise of the season the staff were still brilliant - cheerful, helpful, prepared to go the extra mile.  The only slight disappointment was that there was not a resident pianist like we'd had on a previous cruise - Tony Macaroni.  We loved all the outings particularly to Salamanca even though it was quite a long coach trip.

The captain was very genial and obliging allowing us to visit the bridge.

Note to Scenic management - it's not a good idea to insist the onboard questionnaire be completed by midnight on the day prior to departure.  It's such a long document and there are much better things to do with our remaining time.  So I'm sure many won't bother.

We'll definitely be back for more!

Another fantastic cruise with Scenic!

Impossible to fault. Staff so helpful and unfailingly polite. Excellent varied programme, both on board and excursions well planned and led. Dining throughout cruise was of such a high standard and offered so much variety. Staff always prepared to go that extra mile. Full marks to cruise director as quality comes from the top and the highest of standards were maintained throughout. Excursion guides were so informative and cheerful throughout on all visits. Full marks all round. Also have to comment on helpfulness of staff who did booking. Cabins were immaculately clean as was the ship overall. Cost was a little higher than we had previously been used to but we felt that we had such value for money and we will certainly give a great deal of consideration to booking  a future cruise with Scenic. Thanks and congratulations to all on board for contributing to such a memorable holiday.

Running out of superlatives

The Scenic Portugal crew is an exceptional team of professionals. Without a doubt, they have set the gold standard for luxury cruising. At the moment we boarded the ship, the crew called us family, a term they are passionate about expressing in every way. 

From the endless smiles to the kind words and the special human touches, we felt cared for and appreciated by all crew members. Because of their commitment to outstanding customer service, it was easy to trust staff and feel safe onboard and during excursions. 

The boat is clean and easy to navigate. The cabin room was cleaned several times a day. The bed is super comfy.

Scenic Portugal, we are beyond grateful for taking such great care of us. Your warmth, delicious food, fun entertainment, and enriching conversations won’t be forgotten. Your infectious team spirit is inspiring to witness and appreciate. We are delighted and excited to share our Scenic Portugal experiences with friends and family. Abrigado!

Beautiful Views and Amazing Staff - Beyond Grateful!

Paris

Over many years my wife and I have been able to river cruise several times on the rivers of Europe.  This was our first experience cruising with Scenic. Ten days on Scenic's Azure cruising Portugals Douro was more than memorable. We found it difficult to fault any aspect of our trip....we simply could not. Everything & everyone....from the Captain,the restaurant staff, to "suite butlers" made our cruise SIX STAR!!! Loved the balcony-concept.The well-planned shore excursions led by well
informed tour guides were interesting and varied and the comfort of the buses used to take us to and from the destinations also great. We are already studying the Scenic schedule for another trip and now, of course the choice is wider with  the addition of Scenic's ocean cruisers. Glen Moroney has much to be proud of with his 26 vessels across the Scenic and Emerald brands. Not bad for a "bloke" from Newcastle who started it all in 1986.

Faultless.

Friends invited us to join them on this cruise. Had the most wonderful cruise. Everything was first class. Food , service , ship , crew , tours. Have cruised on European rivers before but this company is a class above. A bit more expensive than some others but the value is definitely there. Staff could not do enough for us and all were super friendly. Such luxury and being spoilt by all the crew will ensure our next river cruise is with Scenic. Absolutely could not fault. The guides were so enthusiastic , knowledgeable and friendly and the tours were wide ranging and very interesting. So many options available and they are very flexible . This tour was all advertised as inclusive and it certainly was. The food and drinks were of very high quality and were unlimited. Bring a small ship of only 90 guests ( with 40 staff ) it was never crowded but big enough to have plenty of space. Highly recommended.

Wonderful Cruise on the Douro. 

We have recently returned from our eighth Scenic river cruise (some we have done twice) and again we went with high expectations. Scenic not only lived up to our expectations but exceeded them as they always have on all our cruises. What a wonderful cruise, the ship is beautiful, the food wonderful, staff were fantastic and we were looked after extremely well. We chose this cruise again as last year my husband contracted Covid on our first day and we had leave the ship and go into quarantine so we missed the first half of the cruise. Scenic Azure staff were amazing, helping us find a hotel for our quarantine and organizing our return to the ship. We enjoyed the last few days of the cruise so much we decided we would return to do the full cruise. A lot of the staff remembered us and made us feel so welcome, it was wonderful.

Scenic Exceeded Expectations - Again!

I had travelled with Scenic some 14 years ago and always fancied the Duoro trip.I booked one year in advance as cabins sell quickly on this premium product. I chose a junior suite which is slightly larger with an extended balcony area. The balcony is excellent with plenty of room and is enclosed until you lower the electric sliding window.The room is extremely well appointed with everything you need for your trip and if you want anything your butler will get it for you within seconds with a constant smile on his/her face.

The ship is lovely throughout and cleaned constantly to make it always look pristine.

Food and drink are all inclusive with food being of the highest standards in all restaurants. Fine dining on three occasions during the trip which was of the highest standards however the normal if you can call it that in the crystal restaurant is consistently of the highest standards.

Staff make the holiday and this group were exceptional in every way from arrival to service at any time of the day or night.

Drinks are all premium with a great selection of spirits and wines.

Arranged trips were excellent with a bit of culture thrown in. Scenic managed to get excursions that others don't even think about.

I have nothing to add that would be negative as the whole trip from beginning to end was outstanding with the senior management on the ship constantly ensuring best standards from the staff who look as though they are actually enjoying  themselves.

This is not a cheap option however with business class flights and door to door transfers from house to airport it starts to become a bit special. 

Duoro river was stunning and cruise directors were excellent at keeping everyone involved during the day and night.

Not a cruise for children and the profile of passengers ranges from early 50 upwards. Some excursions require you to be reasonably fit whilst others like Kayaking and valley walks require good level of fitness.

Would I recommend Yes most definitely. With over 25 other ships on this river it is clear that Scenic want to be seen as the number 1 premium product and for me they have that crown.

Outstanding in every way

We left from Porto for an 8 day cruise. Ines and Filipe were great, knowledgeable guides of the areas we visited.  Filipe always did an announcement before we embarked for any tour (which we never saw on any of the cruises before) and he was so organized when it came to having people on the buses. The younger tour guide, Renata - needs some more training as to how to guide with the older and slower moving seniors that were accompanying us on the day trips.  Each day was interesting to visit, however I think the second last day of visiting Porto was a crazy rush - we had 2 tours in one day and we wanted to make sure we saw the 2 places we were interested in seeing when we signed up for them months ago. I think Scenic could have done a small day trip on the first day or in the morning of the second day before embarking to Regua or extend the river trip by 1 day.  The meals that were prepared were just fantastic and the chef always came by to see how we liked the meals and enjoyed our feedback. The Restaurant Manager (Pedero) was a consummate professional ensuring we received daily menus for lunch and dinner due to my wife's food allergies and was always looking out for us to make sure we enjoyed the meals and the wines!!  The Cruise Manager (Maria) was so friendly and always greeted us every day with an enthusiastic "Good Morning" and asked if we had any issues.  Maria had helped us with a room issue - a neighbouring cabin had tripped a power circuit (no power), but she had it fixed within 15 minutes of our inquiry. The wait staff (especially Cindy) was so organised and by the second day at breakfast knew what we liked in terms of coffee and tea!! Cindy had a great sense of humour and was fun to interact with on a daily basis and made us feel at home and as valued guests; something that was sorely lacking in the last 2 cruises we took in 2022 and in 2019.  Miguel who was the Enrichment Manager was a pleasure to deal with on a daily basis as well.  He held fun events nightly; Flamenco dancers, Portuguese folk music performers, Portuguese language lessons and an event called, Dancing Under The Stars.  He played all of our requests and kept us dancing until 11pm - we're not as young as we used to be....he even played a song for us that he remembered from the very first night of the cruise which was our first dance at our wedding.  The people who were on the boat were from Portugal and loved their jobs and were very proud of their Portuguese heritage and showed us on the last night of the cruise by performing an old Portuguese folk song for us in the lounge.  They were a wonderful crew and their hard work and love of the job was clearly seen every day. The Concierge Staff (so many) were very helpful with the questions we had, wake up call requests and the ARRIVE CAN application to make customs declarations go faster and smoother on our return to Canada.

Best Cruise yet with Scenic!!

Our long awaited trip exceeded our expectations. We traveled with 10 members of our family and had a fabulous time. The crew on the Azure was outstanding. The Scenic Azure is an all Portuguese crew and they were wonderful! Knowledgeable, kind, helpful, funny only partially describes this great team.

The pre-river portion in Lisbon had some beautiful tours such as Sintra and Geronimo. Our guide Pedro did a great job hosting us in Lisbon. The bus ride to Porto was long but we made 2 stops to get off of the bus and walk a bit. The Duoro river is breathtaking and the views are post card worthy at every curve in the river. Salamanca Spain was one of our favorite excursions.

The Captain: Experienced expert - engaged with us when he could. Very interesting going through all of the locks and under the low bridges.

The Hotel Manager: Looked after every detail

The Front Desk: Never missed a beat, handled every request with a smile

The Program Director: Filipe LOVES his job. He’s enthusiastic about his country, the tours, history, etc. 

The Engagement Director, Carolina: Talented, entertaining, FUN - kept things lively

The Tour Guides Miguel and Inez: Top notch - you can tell they love their country and know every detail and explain the history of their country with passion.

The Chefs: WOW! How they served such great food and wine at every meal and all day long was remarkable. The salmon, clams and pork were the best we’ve ever had! Breakfast was always something to look forward to - there’s no doubt the weight gain was worth every bite!

The Service: From the expert bartenders to the detailed restaurant staff, they took care of everything

The Butler: Alexandria was EVERYWHERE!! She did an amazing job!

Housekeeping: Sweet and attentive - they cleaned or refreshed our room a couple of times a day. We were definitely spoiled.

The Scenic Azure crew took care of us even on the very last day when everyone was leaving. They made sure every aspect of our experience was perfect. The Azure isn’t a brand new ship so there is a slight bit of wear in the common areas. The cabins are a good size, beds are super comfy, bathrooms are plenty big and showers have great water pressure. What’s not to love? Can we come back next year?

Portuguese Hospitality at its Finest!

This was an amazing trip .  Scenic arranged the whole package door to door and it all ran very smoothly. 

On time & very comfortable transfers . Superb hotel in Lisbon - The Epic Sana Marques . 

The tours throughout were very well organised . We particularly enjoyed the excursion to Quinta Aveleda 

Every single crew member onboard Scenic Azure is absolutely outstanding and they made this a very enjoyable and memorable holiday . The food , the service , the cabins - all faultless . The tours were enhanced by the knowledge of the crew who escorted us .  The majority of the crew are Portuguese and you can feel the passion they have for their country and the beautiful Douro valley and they all work well together to run things seamlessly .  The guest numbers are around 95 so you soon get to know your fellow travellers - ours were a fun and friendly bunch.  We were sad to leave today and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this trip to others . 

Thank you so much to all the crew for a fabulous time

Wonderful Cruise 

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