loriva

More miscellaneous: Scenic no longer uses L’Occitane products as in their website. Now there are bottles of ESPA hand wash and lotion attached to the wall by the sinks and body wash, shampoo, and conditioner attached to the wall in the shower. Afternoon snacks started appearing in the cabin a couple of days into the cruise. So far, they have alternated between sweet (truffles—which Scenic calls petit fours based on the menu for the Gala Dinner last night—and macaroons (wonderful!) and savory (a soft cheese wrapped in a cucumber slice one time and another on a small bread round.) I’m not sure If everyone gets these or just the Junior Balcony suites and above.

A few quick notes about tour options. People who have taken wine tours found the areas interesting, but did not think the wines at the places visited were very good. The CD either did not know or forgot to tell passengers that masks were required to visit the castles in Germany, so some were almost left sitting on the bus for the first one visited (in Koblenz for Reischburg). He did make a note for those visiting Drachensburg from Cologne); people enjoyed that tour, particularly the cog railway to reach it. Finally, at the departure briefing after the Cologne visit the CD noted Scenic had to source new guides as well as bus companies as so many of the former left the travel industry during COVID and many of the latter went out of business. We had noted the same—one guide told us it was the first time she’d been to a location, while others were very experienced. Guides always run the gamut, but COVID has added a new wrinkle.

Here is today’s program:

Busy schedule the last couple of days and Wi-Fi spotty. Interestingly, at breakfast before the Rhine Gorge sailing two Canadian couples who were on the Oberammergau pre-cruise trip started comparing notes—on their own, without any prompting by me—about their experience with Scenic cruises prior to the pandemic and now. Both have done multiple river cruises with Scenic, with one couple having over ten sailings. One couple are booked on a follow-on cruise with Scenic when they will be joined by four couples to whom they have recommended Scenic. She is now worried about whether her friends will have a good time. She said she could no longer recommend Scenic as they are not up to the same standards of service and professional as before the pandemic. Scenic was something special, but no longer. The other couple noted issues of inconsistency of service. The cabin stewards have been great, the butlers okay (although they now had to ask for delivery of the daily news summary), and the wait staff not so great. There was another example of the latter at dinner yesterday and lunch today in the main dining room. Two at our table last night ordered salads as starters, one ordered soup, and one ordered the hot appetizer of the day. The salads were delivered quickly, but the other two did not arrive until the two diners had finished their salads. At lunch, one person ordered a Caesar salad and grilled chicken breast with fries. After about 15 minutes he had to ask for them again, this time when our server and the assistant restaurant manager were walking by. Over the next 15 minutes a Caesar salad arrived, followed by a Caesar salad with chicken on top, another Caesar salad, and finally his chicken with fries. In the interim the rest of the tables received their orders and were largely finished. We know we need to be patient and kind at this time, but it really seems like some of the waiters have had no to little training.

Here’s the program for today. Weather looks iffy for corn hole, but we planned to pack during that time to maximize our time tomorrow in Amsterdam.

Wi-Fi a bit spotty the past couple of days, making posting problematic. Very understandable in the Rhine Gorge. Yesterday afternoon, the CD sent around forms for those who did not have pre-planned transfers via Scenic-booked flights or post-cruise hotel (Doubletree Amsterdam). Here it is:

Sunday, 25 June — Koblenz A great sail through the Rhine Gorge. Conditions before reaching Koblenz were amazing. The Tailormade app would not work on the sundeck for commentary but the ship had recorded commentary they played as we passed key sights. After we passed the Lorelei Rock, a waitress brought out trays of Rudesheimer coffee. Scenic coordinates lunch times with tours—late when morning tours and early for afternoon ones. Today’s buffet featured traditional German cuisine including sausages, pork roast, dumplings, and pretzels.

Yep, here we are along the Deutsches Eck. We were initially rafted on the outside of the Emerald ship, but it left while we were out on our walking tour. Also had a local beer (albeit not in the Alde Brauhaus since we didn’t have the details on time and one needs to book ahead) and took the cable car over for a walk around the Ehrenbreitstein fortress. The rain was much less than it looked on the camera.

A lovely dinner at La Table de Rive last night accompanied by a French Champagne, white, and red.

25 June, Mannheim for Heidelberg: We tried making an order for breakfast this morning in the dining room instead of off the buffet. Order did not arrive correctly, despite trying twice. Likely a rough morning for the wait staff. We estimate between the late dinner service (an hour later than usual due to the concert) and set-up for breakfast, the waiters got four hours of sleep at best. Also, many of the waiters are brand new. Many of the new staff are from Belorussia and are not strong English speakers. One told us Scenic could not bring back its experienced waiters from Russia and Ukraine due to the war. A 0900-hours start for Heidelberg, which is a 40-minute drive from Mannheim. We opted for the castle tour followed by time in town. The tour guide was interesting, but Scenic’s program gave us 25 minutes of free time after the castle tour at the castle, which was probably too much. Scenic should consider cutting it to 10 minutes and give more tour and free time in town. Currently, the “tour” is only the walk from the bus to the point you meet after the 45 minutes of free time. It was enough to walk to the Old Bridge and poke into a couple of shops. Back onboard at 1330 for lunch, then we sailed at 1400 hours. We opted to eat on the sundeck as it was an absolutely gorgeous day. Surprisingly we were the only ones although people appeared after lunch. It was easy to bring a plate of food up from the Crystal (main) dining room buffet or the River Cafe portion of the bar in the lounge. Once they figured out passengers were on the sundeck, waiters started coming through about once every 30 minutes to take drink orders and bus tables. A lovely afternoon sailing down the Rhine. The CD gave a 30-minute talk on the Rhine and navigation on it. Tadej will do the daily port talks at 1845 hours followed by dinner at 1900. The Internet on the Jade has been largely good. Like all ships, it can be spotty. I’ve had issues uploading the photos on this thread, sometimes having to try several times over time. Posts have also failed to post. (Learning to compose offline and then try to paste into a post. Should have known to do this from the start.)

Daily program:

The room service early coffee and breakfast order cards:

Some miscellaneous: —By way of context, we’ve done only one previous river cruise, with Crystal on the Danube in October 2021. So no pre-COVID experience to compare, only the current state. —The last bus when a tour uses more than one gathers stragglers. So you end up late to the site and lose some time. —We are using the same buses and drivers as in Rastatt today. —There is no Wi-Fi on the locally used buses but CD and assistant have hot spots on cell phones. —No masks are required on buses, but should wear seat belts. —The Scenic VoiceGuide app largely works. Initial problem with my ear buds, but turned off iPhone and then back on and it seemed to reset the app so it worked. Learned that trick from Reception when the river guide froze. They have devices if you don’t have a smart phone and adapters if you didn’t bring ear buds, but they ran out of the latter for iPhones so best to bring your own. Some other things about the cabin. Again, for context, I have a background in interior design so care about form and function. —The light switches by the door operate the overheads and balcony lights. We ended up turning on the latter by accident returning to the room after dinner. It did show, however, that the blackout curtains work really well! —Two sets of switches outside the bathroom operates those lights—overhead and under vanity—plus those for the open shelves over desk/vanity. The under-vanity lights are a nice touch to those sensitive to overhead lights. —The TV has a lot of functions and offers information on the journey and ship as well as TV and movies. It glows, however, even after you use the remote to turn it off (a two-step process. There is a switch on back, lower right that turns it off fully. —Staff delivered a plate with four truffles last night. No fruit skewers or petit fours (as advertised) have appeared in afternoon; one probably needs to request them specifically from the butler (a good idea—reduces waste). —There are separate hang tags for breakfast and early-morning coffee or tea. Former starts at 0700 hours and latter at 0630. Prior to that may need to fetch on own from lounge. Called earlier than that first morning, but stopped when learned service started only at 0630 hours.

And the menu from last night. Portobello’s was closed due to the later-than-usual dinner time after the concert, so the butlers were helping out the wait staff. Full service still took over two hours.

Here is the wine list for our sailing:

Just lost post in trying to attach the concert program, will try to reconstruct… Friday, 24 June, continued: We boarded the buses to Bruschsal Palace at 1600 hours. Scenic had five buses with drivers and guides on hand, but only about half the ship opted to participate so only three were needed. Regarding the buses, they are all local leases—nice but no Wi-Fi as we had during the land extension. After an hour-plus ride (rush hour), we arrived and enjoyed a small reception with the same sparkling wine as onboard, rose or white wine, or water. It was accompanied, oddly, by cinnamon and other sweet rolls. Then a brief tour of the main building and then odd to a room in a wing for the concert. Program above. Then the hour return to the ship. The tour guide told us our group had been bumped from the nearby Rastatt Palace normally used by a group from an Emerald ship. Passengers at dinner told us the change in the timing and long drive turned them off from attending.

Dock

Daily program

Friday, 24 June — Rastatt (actually Plittersdorf) for Baden-Baden Another nice breakfast from the buffet, then we gathered for tours. Choice of city tour, hike and fortress ruin visit, Mercedes-Benz factory visit, or time at the Caracalla spa. We did the first, but talked to those on the hike (strenuous but a great view) and MB (saw production start to finish—it’s also the shortest tour as the factory is very close to the dock). Baden-Baden is about 30 minutes by bus from the dock. We did a small circle (someone in the group said we covered two miles) around the central city, visiting the Roman bath ruins, then crossing the river zoos to see the drink hall (where you drink the waters instead of bathing in them) and the casino. Then we had about an hour of free time. The guide told us Scenic asked her to make the tour a little shorter due to the change in schedule. We lost a visit to the church. Back to the ship for lunch. The wait staff seemed especially harried. Our waitress returned twice because she’d forgotten what we’d ordered, had to be asked three times to bring water, and then kept asking if someone else had brought orders. Not yet working as a team. Some down time before we go off to our concert at 1600 hours.

Kehl for Strasbourg, continued: We set off for Strasbourg at 1330 hours. It was a little confusing as the CD had told people to wait in the lounge and they would be called for their tours, but everyone just lined up to get off the ship instead. The tour was very nice, with some good history of Alsace and the city. The bus had to park about a 10-minute walk from the historic area, but the guide made the walk interesting. We ended at the cathedral at about 1645 hours and then had free time until 1720 hours. We stopped and had a local beer and a Cremant d’Alsace rose at the famous Maison Kammerzell. We were back on board a little after 1800 hours and cleaned up and changed for the CD’s evening briefing followed by Captain’s Welcome with a glass of the German sparkling wine and a couple of hors d’ouerves passed by the wait staff. The captain introduced his deputy captains (except the one manning the wheelhouse, of course!) and heads of housekeeping and security as well as the purser, wellness consultant, the hotel manager, sommelier, and head chef. Scenic tries to avoid announcements on board except for the first CD briefing after boarding and for the safety muster, but the CD had made an announcement throughout the ship prior to briefing as he wanted at least one member from every cabin present as he had a itinerary change to provide. For what he described as “technical reasons,” our concert in Rastatt on Friday was being changed from an evening performance to an afternoon one (1700 hours). We would need to board the buses at 1600 and would return at 2000 hours. The longer bus ride is due to a change of location from Rastatt Palace to Bruchsal. Our dinner was in Portobello’s. They have a set menu with a choice between two entrees accompanied by wines. It started with focaccia and olives along with a glass of Prosecco. An antipasti plate followed along with a choice of an Italian white or red (most people chose a little of each), then minestrone. A risotto with a prawn followed. For an entree, you chose between pasta (a tortellini) or saltimbocca. Then either tiramisu or a cheese plate. Portions were somewhat large, but I realize that is subjective. The butlers served as the waiters. On our sailing, all three are from Serbia. Speaking of staffing, those who’ve sailed with Scenic before have commented they notice fewer staff than prior to the pandemic. They also say the staff is new and still learning their jobs. (In talking to the omelet chef at breakfast, he told me this was his first contract with Scenic, having previously worked on NCL ships.). All of the staff we’ve met have had wonderful attitudes, so with time I believe they will figure out their roles and jell as a team. This is only the second sailing on the Rhine for the Jade, following its return to service after its engine breakdown during its sailing in the Netherlands. The sailing last week from Amsterdam was at half capacity per the CD. We have 130 passengers—about 75-percent capacity. It was supposed 140ish, but a group of 10 or so has to cancel at the last minute due to COVID.

Daily program for first full day: sorry for the glare

Thursday, 23 June — Kehl for Strasbourg We awoke to a lovely, sunny day—rain had been forecast—and sailing the Rhine along the Black Forest to the east and Alsace to the west (port). Called the Butler for some coffee, which we enjoyed with the window down. (I forgot to mention that he retuned after greeting all his passengers to brief us on the features of the room, gather our bag of laundry, and offered to bring ice and open the champagne. The steward also came by to introduce himself and personalize the minibar.) Buffet breakfast in the dining room, a safety briefing (stay in your cabin until the captain tells you to go to the muster station on the sun deck—bring hat and sunglasses, if needed. After that, CD briefed on the itinerary and the available tours. I’ll post the daily program (digital only, but they put a hard copy at Reception you can take a photo of.)

22 June, continued: A small briefing by the CD at 1815 hours in the lounge, including introductions and remarks by the captain, hotel director, chef, and sommelier. The bar is understaffed and getting a drink was challenging. Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Then everyone moved to dinner in a group. Waitstaff is also short it appears. I forgot to take a photo of the menu and wine list, but will do so tonight. Dinners are themed for each port and a white and red wine selected to compliment. Food was good and portions not too big (a good thing). There is a choice of still or sparkling water during the meal and coffee afterwards. (There is a self-service coffee station as well as a tea station in the lounge.). The pistachio ice cream was the highlight of the meal. Because we were already downstream in Breisach, we did not sail until 0300 hours the next day.