Scenic Cruises for the Danube?

We are looking at a Tauck cruise for May of 2017 and our agent suggested Scenic. I've read quite a bit about Scenic so know about their history and passenger demographics being mostly non-American (which sounds nice.) I did see some complaints about how they handled low river a year or two ago (realizing low river affects all boats but it's how the line handles it that is important) and the quality of the food. Any one have personal experiences such that they would or would not recommend Scenic? Thanks.

We are looking at a Tauck cruise for May of 2017 and our agent suggested Scenic. I've read quite a bit about Scenic so know about their history and passenger demographics being mostly non-American (which sounds nice.) I did see some complaints about how they handled low river a year or two ago (realizing low river affects all boats but it's how the line handles it that is important) and the quality of the food. Any one have personal experiences such that they would or would not recommend Scenic? Thanks.

Morning stirod,

What can I say about Scenic other than Lisa and myself had nothing but a Great and Wonderful time. The service was impeccable, the cabin we were in was simply stunning Royal Panorama Suite, and in being with a bunch of folks from Down Under was unbelievable. Those folks do certainly know how to enjoy life to the fullest.

Yes I guess it was the food or should I maybe say the lack of having enough folks to wait on everyone all at once that was or seemed at least to me to be a weak link. have been told that they have addressed there problem so I guess we shall see as we have booked for another cruise with them for September of 2017 for The Spectacular South Of France with Paris and Nice.

I guess in having a Suite on board did give us some extras but all in all with having the private Butler for all was a very nice touch as we were all the way in the back of the ship and having him to bring coffee and orange juice and sometimes breakfast was nice. The Limo transfers that were given to us as in from the airports to the hotels and then onto the ship and visa versa, just the size of the cabin as we were on one of the newest ships in the fleet The Jasper and our cabin was 475 Sq Ft. huge. We had a cocktail party the first evening and had 14 folks and there was still room to spare and that was with an extremely nice table of wine and cheeses that the Butler had set up and did all of the serving during the evening. All I can say is Yes Yes and Yes I would recommend Scenic to anyone. In fact we were booked for Viking but cancelled as they not only were 10,000 more expensive than Scenic but they had wanted full payment 16 months before our cruise instead of the standard 90 days.

From our experiences from last September when the rivers were low our ship got through without any problems at all as compared to most having to change folks over to other ships

during the coarse of the cruise.

Anyways all I can say is that I am sure that all cruise lines have there good and bad points and it is more a matter of what is best for you. Maybe whether it be price and or itinerary or whatever it may be. The biggest factor is to go and have FUN. Yes the cruises are Great as for us and most a lot more intimate and more enjoyable than the large Ocean Cruises but the thing that is best is the folks that you meet and the friendships that are formed as those are the types of ships that shall sail forever.

Smooth Sailings

LoneStarCruisinCouple

Lisa and Gary

Oh if you are doing Amsterdam and Budapest would highly recommend The Toren in Amsterdam and The Four Seasons Gresham Palace in Budapest both rated number one by TripAdvisor.

Scenic appears to have their act figured out for low water. They have departures from Amsterdam and Budapest on the same day with identical ships. If the water gets too shallow it's going to happen at the midpoint of the cruise and they can move your luggage while you are on your shore excursion. When you return from your shore trip you wind up in the same room number on an identical ship.

If there is a water level problem in May it's more likely to be a high water issue. High water is much more problematic than low water. My recollection from CC postings about the floods in 2013 is that cruise lines responded one of three ways; cancel the cruise, do a lot of bussing from the ship to attractions or turn it into a bus tour with hotel stays. There were plenty of complaints about all of these responses.

I suspect that if there is flooding in 2017 most of the cruise lines will react based on lessons learned in 2013. Better? Worse? Who knows?

Scenic handled the low water during our Gems of the Danube cruise last August very well. I'm planning my next Scenic river cruise now. Customer satisfaction is important to them and I expect they will learn from the past and improve for the future.

I've traveled with Tauck and my sister with Scenic and we both had nothing but good things to say about both of them. The one thing though that stood out in the OP's post was that he was thinking of going with Tauck and his TA wants to switch him to Scenic. The first thing I'd want to know is why? Is there an incentive for the OP or his TA to go with Scenic? Just thinking out loud.

We sailed Scenic on the Danube in 2013. We were the first or second trip (I think first) after the water got low enough for clear passage. We were on a different, and slightly older, vessel than planned, but the equivalent stateroom as much as possible. We loved the trip, and had no complaints about the food. We were very pleasantly surprised when we received a check to compensate us for the difference in accommodation a few weeks after we returned home. We thought the settlement was very fair. We're sailing with Scenic again at the end of April, and can't wait!

Thanks for the comments. The TA seems to be pushing Scenic pretty hard. He took one late last year so my guess he has an incentive. The price is better on Scenic for a better cabin and $495 airfare. We do like the loft rooms on Tauck which brings the prices much closer.

Thanks for the comments. The TA seems to be pushing Scenic pretty hard. He took one late last year so my guess he has an incentive. The price is better on Scenic for a better cabin and $495 airfare. We do like the loft rooms on Tauck which brings the prices much closer.

The price was what swayed us to Scenic. The equivalent cabin on Tauck was significantly more expensive for us.

Thanks for the comments. The TA seems to be pushing Scenic pretty hard. He took one late last year so my guess he has an incentive. The price is better on Scenic for a better cabin and $495 airfare. We do like the loft rooms on Tauck which brings the prices much closer.

Sounds to me like he/she had a great experience and is comfortable recommending Scenic, based on this. Add that to being a better value overall, and I would say you have a good TA.

TAs are people and just like the cheerleaders here that promote certain lines based on their preferences and experiences, so do they. They also often have the benefit of the collective experiences of their colleagues to draw from.

FYI, Scenic pays less commission than most lines, so I doubt that is the reason.

When I travelled with Tauck in 2011 and 2014 the Australian dollar was quite strong and Scenic's prices were comparable on one and dearer on the other. Currently the Australian dollar has dropped considerably against the US dollar and it is quite logical to see that a Scenic cabin costs less. It is just my opinion that a TA should give a client opinions and options on a number of cruise lines and not push a client towards a "particular one" no matter what the reasons. It's your holiday not theirs.