BarbaraM

I should have said we booked the crystal and boarded the diamond with no advance warning. scenic considers their ships identical, despite age or updates.

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fromy personal experience, we didn't find out what ship until we were boarding.

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Easy fix, just place yourself near anyone under the age of 40, no one that age "talks" on the phone.

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Larraine, We have yet to take our first O cruise, but are booked for next summer, so I have an idea of the type of cruise experience you seem to prefer. We did a 14 day Scenic cruise last summer (Diamond, Crystal, Pearl.. that is another story), our first river cruise. I am sure for a river cruise company, it compares well, but we were disappointed and will never consider a river cruise again. The CC board is not a very good resource when planning, as all those who post are river cruise cheerleaders for their varous lines. After my experience, I doubt we would even try another cruise line, their formats all seem quite similar.

Negatives: very, very small opportunity for any type of small group experience. Days are programmed. You are let off, and often do not return to the same port at the end of your tour, but move up/down the river to catch the boat. The logistics of doing anything yourself is limited, as the ship changes it's itinerary constantly due to river conditions. You would find it difficult to book a private guide, as you might even miss that port entirely.

Crowded venues: no place to get away from it all. The scenic ships have a dining room and lounge, the top deck is almost unusable, again dependant on river conditions.

Service: too few staff to get any type of service -- dining room/bar/room.

Entertainment: drinking is about all there is to do. Some board games, some amateur entertainment.

Port days: you get to make a choice on activity. Think bus trips involving an hour or two transit, walking guided 30 person tours, up to an hour of DIY before being herded back on the bus.

I had no expectations of food -- I didn't go hungry, but here is the dining experience: everyone arrives within a few minutes of the dining room opening. Find a table -- most were 6 tops. Staff hands 2 menus per table, does not describe choices, or always available items. Wine service: red or white. There are usually 3 choices of each, but servers never give you a chance to make a preference. IF, you decide you prefer the Chianti, you can get it. But it's a 90/10 chance it will be refilled with a random other wine at some point in the dinner. Everyone orders -- food service is slow, as the logistics of serving 175 dinners at once is difficult.

THere are more buffet nights than I expected. Long line wait if you would like the specialty item, as there is one staff carving or serving.

Rooms, are actually not bad. I like their glass verandahs (depends on the ship). Scenic delivers a "tour" not a cruise, which is my major complaint with the whole thing. They want to be a luxury line, but IMO, are understaffed. I talked to many other passengers during our trip. I didn't meet anyone who would take another river cruise on Scenic, and only one couple who would take another river cruise. They didn't seem to expect repeat business, at no point was there any discussion about booking on board or future cruise credit.

We did meet another couple at our B&B following our cruise, who had done the same itinerary on another line. We spent an enjoyable couple of hours laughing about river cruising in general, and all the negative comparisons to ocean cruising. I don't think it was just Scenic, I'm just not a bus person, and I think you need to enjoy those type of experiences to enjoy river cruising.

To the other question regarding noise at night :: yes it is a huge problem if you are on a river with locks. I have never slept so poorly on any vacation.

.z

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While loooking over the shore excursion list, many stops are DIY -- similar to Caribbean islands. Do you book tours on those stops? We often just take a taxi to a beach/town and wander around. However, there are some places we may never see again, so we're researching those ports in depth. The list is daunting!!! I'm so glad it is far off. Most of the ship's regular tours appear to be around the $150 pp, the land tours are closer to $1900 pp, some more expensive. We have already decided to not do the Taj Mahal tour, as the time spent to/from seems too high for the time spent there, even though it's something I'd love to visit some day.

Please post on the roll call, many of us seem to be World Cruise newbies.

So, does this mean my already accumulated points can be used on Celebrity? I hope so!

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Might I make a suggestion to possibly research outside of this forum also, possibly on TripAdvisor. Folks on this board are either: fans and repeat river cruisers or those planning their first cruise. You do get the occasional critical post by some just off a less than perfect cruise, or off a very expensive bus tour. The negative posters are often told that "so sorry, but it's in the fine print" . There are also folks who just found the experience average, expensive, and not worth repeating. They don't even read these boards anymore.

What I suggest you consider is that river cruising is a considerable cash investment. There is a lot you can do with $500-$800 a day in Europe or elsewhere. You did mention budget and not frequently having vacation time together. You are in tight quarters on a river cruise, especially in winter where the outdoor space is probably not used. You really need to know the not so good things about river cruising so your expectations are realistic. It is a very expensive way to buy some Christmas souvenirs.

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Nix, how was it you were unaffected by the flooding? Most of Scenic's ships were not where they were supposed to be, afaik, when we sailed on july1st from Budapest to Amsterdam. We boarded the Diamond although we booked the Jewel, and transferred to the Jewel 3 days later. Wasn't there a lock closure near Vienna as well? While we were waiting to board we meet folks who had just ended their trip who also endured ship swaps. You must have been very lucky to have the perfect trip.

If Scenic had made some type of acknowledgment that we received a trip that was less than advertised, it may have gone a long way with most of the passengers on our cruise. The lack of any communication makes me think that there is disconnect on the part of management. I doubt if there was anyone on our cruise that would book another river cruise with Scenic. Most of the first time river cruisers, as we were, will not be rushing to book another.

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I am pretty sure we did NOT do Marksburg, I think the guide pointed it out on the way there.

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Unlike Laine, who sailed a month before us, we had to change boats twice. There was initial disappointment that we didn't start on the Jewel, as most booked a new ship, and the Diamond is somewhat worn. The staff however was terrific. So expectations were high after boarding the Jewel 3 days later. The cabins were much better, especially the shower and balconies. It was pretty obvious at first that the staff fell short. They didn't smile, didn't make eye contact, and neglected people waving them down for drinks. Lots of grumbling among passengers. It left many of us scratching our heads. This was not a complaining crowd of passengers, most understood the problems the flood left, with ships out of sync, etc. I personally felt the blame was with the hotel manager on the Jewel.

If I had a do-over, I would have skipped the cheesy castle tour, dinner, it was terrible, and the handful left on board had a wonderful time. I might have also skipped another port stop or two. I also would have eaten more lunches in the bar, avoiding the lengthy lines and crowds at the buffet in the dining room.

This was our first and probably last river cruise. There were more bus tours, longer bus rides, and very little time to tour on our own in the towns. The ship often dropped passengers off, then moved as soon as all were off. Stopped to pick up busses who drove an hour to meet the ship, then took off again. I can't add the hours we spent on busses of 45-50 people, stopped for bathroom breaks, load, unload etc. free time on tours were sometimes 15 minutes. My vision of taking a morning walking tour followed by lunch on board, and time in the Afternoon for DIY touring never happened. Our lengthy port stop was in an industrial area, with a 10€ one way fare to the center of town.

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I'll be posting a review soon. Scenic did not meet my expectations, we were "lucky" enough to try three different ships in 14 days budapest to Amsterdam cruise on July1st this year. There was a notable difference in staff and service, with the Jewel being sub par. I don't think I met anyone who would river cruise again, or if they did they would try a different line and different river. Do not plan on dining at a table for two, the separation is inches, and you are closer to your neighbor than your partner. The dining room is chaotic, and takes a long time. You will be allowed to eat in portobello once, which is fun, and we met people who had the captains dinner and they raved about it, but this was only offered to level 3 cabins. The quality of the food was better than I expected. There were more buffets than I had expected, and staff did their best to hide the fact there are cooked to order choices at all meals. It was my impression that they are understaffed In order to provide the dining experience they advertise.

I'd be glad to answer questions, there are a few things we would have chosen to do/not do that might have made a small difference.

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We are currently on the Scenic Jewel in Durnstein after being on the Diamond since Monday. We were bussed from Vienna this morning to a Melk tour and then bussed to the Diamond. There is half of the lock open, but much traffic. We heard that cruise boats were being given priority over commercial traffic (initially). I believe we are on the last "catch up" disruptive cruise on the Danube. Melk had flood damage, but seemed back to full operations ( construction though in the town)

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Free? Not really, just included in the base fare. it makes cruise comparisons a little more difficult, as you need to "guess" the extras. I booked Scenic for my first river cruise. All-inclusive was not the deciding factor- the ships, itinerary, self-guided GPS tours, and not being surrounded by fellow Americans were all positives for me.

the tipping culture is tough for everyone, even if you are used to it. Having the ship take care of this for everyone, not just cruise staff, but I assume local guides and drivers, will certainly take away some of the stress of who and how much to tip.