Scenic Tours

[eedee2]

Hi I am contemplating doing a Scenic Tours river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest or the otherway but am waitng to read a review or at least see some real photos of the cabins and interior of the Scenic Emerald or Scenic Sapphire. Can anyone help?

[letsgo39]

Hello

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page or maybe the next page there is a post that has 3 pages about the Scenic cruise. It sounds like they still have some problems to work out. Many people have believed the slick brochures and booked cruises without waiting for actual reviews.:(

 

River cruising is great and we very much enjoyed our Avalon cruise traveling from Budapest to Amsterdam.We hope to do it again and I will be looking at GCT,AMA and Avalon which are all well established companies.No matter which cruise comapny you go with I am sure you will have a wonderful time.

[eedee2]

Hi Thanks Letsgo. Had a read of the posts you mentioned but was hoping for a more detailed review and real pictures (not just artist impressions). Hopefully as time goes on we may get more feedback. Thanks again.:)

[di monde]

Hi Eedee2,

 

Unfortunately no review yet, but I'm assuming that you live in New South Wales as I do. Tomorrow night on Getaway (TV Show at 7.30pm) they're giving away a trip to Europe including a cruise on the Scenic Sapphire - they show the Sapphire sailing down the river and show the the cabins, restaurants, balconies & lounge areas in full detail.

It's not a review but it shows the spaceship in full swing. :)

[eedee2]

Many Thanks di monde, I will certainly watch the show! Thanks.:)

[newnanna]

I subscribe to travel today and they have an interview with GM- he says the recent drama's have caused the company millions of dollars due to paying airline cancellation and amendment fees, agent commissions, and refunding passengers. He said the Sapphire fell behind schedule and was three weeks late and the Emerald was behind schedule and then became stuck in the River Elbe. Apparently, when a boat is being built they allow a minimum of 2 weeks and scenic said they had allowed 3 weeks on one and 2 weeks on the other- Is this realistic- We are in the building industry and how many houses go 2 weeks over schedule?

Apparently, the next two boats are due in the off season so they don't expect any problems.

For myself and Grannylorr- the problems were not with the actual ship but the the reservations staff and their lack of knowledge when it comes to advertised specials as each time to speak with one of them you get told something different and it still doesn't match the written advertised special. I am hoping here in Brisbane tonight the ship is on getaway.

Thanks

[orchestrapal]

Check out new "real pictures" on Scenic's North American site under "Insider Gallery". They sent information to people who are already booked and those that have inquired and have given email information.

[LHT28]

Check out new "real pictures" on Scenic's North American site under "Insider Gallery". They sent information to people who are already booked and those that have inquired and have given email information.

 

They look really good . I am on the mailing list so got the info yesterday.

 

Still looking for real experiences:)

 

Lyn

[orchestrapal]

Lyn, I believe you are Oceania cruisers and out TA, who just came back from trying the Scenic Space Ships says they are the closest thing to Oceania you could get on a river cruise. She loved the suites, balconies, the service and the food and said they really compared well. Her only complaint were not enough Americans to balance out those from "down under." ;)

[LHT28]

Lyn, I believe you are Oceania cruisers and out TA, who just came back from trying the Scenic Space Ships says they are the closest thing to Oceania you could get on a river cruise.

 

I hope they are still good by 2010:D

[orchestrapal]

Same here as we are booked for May, Amsterdam to the Black Sea.:)

[Pookie2]

eedee2, a poster on page 2 of this forum listed a smugmug site where pictures of at least 5 different river cruise lines can be seen. As I recall, the pictures were taken in Aug. The site is Click on river cruise lines.

[emel]

Pookie2, Thank you very much for the link to those pictures. They were great. ML

[LHT28]

Thanks for the link

they do look very nice

[eedee2]

:cool: Thanks everyone finally I have seen some pictures. It does look great but never having been on a river cruise I thought these rooms were supposed to be quite large ...are they in comparison to other lines????? This is the main reason I am thinking of Scenic.

[mleth]

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-AU&brand=ninemsn&vid=42893806-4644-4056-bb7b-863ffb3ab3ba

 

 

This is the link For Getaways TV story on Scenic Cruises. They are covering more next week.

[letsgo39]

:cool: Thanks everyone finally I have seen some pictures. It does look great but never having been on a river cruise I thought these rooms were supposed to be quite large ...are they in comparison to other lines????? This is the main reason I am thinking of Scenic.

 

EEDEE2,

Avalon has cabins that are 172 sq ft.We cruised with them last summer and were very happy with our experience cruising from Budapest to Amsterdam on the Tranquility. They have the french balconies on the top 2 decks.On ships that have the real balconies the size of the cabin is reduced by the balcony.

[emel]

EEDEE2, The size of the Scenic Spaceship cabins are, Moselle Deck Category E & D, no balcony is 160 sq. ft. Rhine & Danube Deck, Balcony Suites are 200 sq ft which incls balcony. Rhine & Danube Deck Juniour Suites 250 sq ft incl. balcony and Danube Deck Royal Suites 300 sq ft incl. balcony. Any river cruise company that I've been interested in list the cabin sizes in their brochures, both hard copy and on line.

I found that to decide on which river cruise line to go with I had to do a lot of research, decide what my priorities where, eg. cabin size, itinery, dining experiences, cost, nationalities of other cruisers, all inclusive or not, and whatever else was important to me Once I had a list of must haves, like to have and can do without, I made a list of the cruise companies that met that criteria. Then I searched for the reviews from others on this board with actual experience cruising on those lines. Notwithstanding all that research, I actually went with one that had no experience with their own boats, but did have a good rep. for conducting cruises and tours. And I loved the look of the design of their new ships, and the idea of a balcony. Despite all their startup problems, I'm pleased with their reviews and finally pictures of the real thing.

[sanny]

thanks to Pookie@ for the link to the pictures (nice to have something 'real' to look at) and to Mleth for the Getaway link. I actually caught the show on Thursday night and I'm even more excited now. I've never been to Europe and I hope that this will give me a good 'taste' of what to now I've only dreamed about. I sincerely hope too that there'll be lots of Americans & Canadians (and other nationalities) travelling on this Aussie ship. Meeting people from all parts of the world is part of the attraction of going overseas.

[eedee2]

I seem to be having trouble with the size question still and thought you may be able to help. Looking at the pictures in the smugmug link by Pookie, it looks to me that the sceinc royal suite looks relatively small and the lounge area very cramped. Even after taking into account the outside balcony on scenic the picture of the suite on the smugmug site for the Tauck line doesn't seem comparable. I think I found that the Tauck suite is 300sq ft the same as the scenic but the Tauck looks a LOT more spacious and inviting size wise. I also looked at the picture of the suite on smug mug and compared it to the picture in Scenic's new brochure (which isn't an artist's impression). And the brochure looks a lot less cramped with a totally different layout. Do the suites in a boat vary so much as these two pictures seem to indicate?? Thanks for suggestions on what to consider when choosing who to go with.:)

[emel]

eedee2, I think the Tauck Royal suite at 300 sq. ft. without a balcony is larger than the Scenic at 300 sq. ft. which includes the balcony. So you need to decide which is more important to you. We've booked a Jr Suite and I like the idea of the balcony because there are times we like to just be by ourselves and the balcony gives us that choice. Also, for the times you can't use the upper deck due to bridges it will be nice to sit on our own balcony. Sitting out there in the evening having a nightcap before bedtime is another pleasure I'm looking forward to, chilly though it might be. One other reason I like the balcony is we're cruising early November so we'll likely get rain at some time and the balcony should prevent the rain sheeting down the window obstructing the view. I read one comment where the rain ruined the view because it just sheeted down the windows and if were on the leeward side we'll be able to sit out on the balcony.

We've cruised on the Windsurf line for the past three years so are used to small staterooms at a 188 sq. ft. so the size of the Jr suite at 250 sq. ft incl balcony is fine with us. As to the difference in size appearance between the two pictures it could be a professional shot done to maximize the size vs a amatuer shot. I don't know. ML

[orchestrapal]

According to a friend who has been aboard the furniture they purchased for the Royal Suite is MUCH larger than the sketch (pre-purchases) shows.

We have booked a RS and are now not sure we could stand this very small area for 23 days. Time to ditch the idea of a river cruise for us!:(