Overview
About
Passengers: 169 | Crew: 51
Passengers to crew: 3.31:1
Launched: 2012
Activities & entertainment
Activities (10)
- Enrichment Lectures
- Fitness Centre
- Local Entertainers
- Nightly Briefings
- Nightly Music
- Onboard Bicycles
- Riverview Terrace
- Salt Therapy Lounge
- Walking Track
- Wellness Area
Dining (5)
- River Cafe - Casual Cafe
- Table La Rive - Degustation
- Crystal Dining - International
- Lounge & Bar - Panoramic Bar
- Portobellos Restaurant - Regional
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Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
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We took the 14-day “Jewels of Europe” cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. TL;DR: Scenic is advertised as “ultra-luxury;” our view was rather that it was good, maybe even very good at times, but not great. However, the pre-cruise experience was, in a word, horrific. THE GOOD: We cannot sing the praises of the crew and staff high enough: friendly, with smiles to greet you. The always-cheerful cruise director, Yvonne, can only be described as tireless: we couldn’t imagine when she slept. The wait staff – in particular Ali, Dasha, and Vlatko – were anxious to please and we never had to wait for a drink or for food. The food itself: well, it was OK. Vegetarian options were very limited, to one main course per meal; if you didn’t like it, you were out of luck (note to Scenic: chicken bouillon is not vegetarian). Dinner portions were small, tiny even; we quickly learned to ask for double portions. Drinks, on the other hand, were a highlight: the wines were excellent and free flowing. Nearly everything – beer, wine, spirits – was included; only very high-end liquors (such as Remy XO) cost extra. The excursions were well organized. The guides were knowledgeable, fluent in English, and groups were small. And it helped that we cruised in Oct/Nov (the off-off-season) when crowds were at their minimum. THE BAD: The ship, frankly, showed its age. The carpeting on the sun deck was worn and missing in places; the outside speakers (Sun Deck) only broadcast static; wi-fi in certain areas of the ship was spotty. In general the onboard technology was far out of date. I would have expected that the TV would show the ship’s position (instead of an error message), that it would display a personalized schedule, that there would be a downloadable app providing information such as available excursions, questions, reservations, billing info, and so on. (The QVtoGO application, essentially a narration of certain interesting areas the ship passed by – like the Rhine Valley – simply didn’t work.) An exception: the QuietVox receivers used by the excursion guides worked flawlessly, and Scenic even provided over-the-ear headphones for those of us with hearing aids. THE UGLY: Scenic does not take American Express. Let me say that again: Scenic, a travel company, doesn’t take the world’s leading travel card, Amex. We were forced to wire-transfer the costs – inconvenient but normally not a problem. But then Scenic lost the funds. They lost nearly $30,000! After three stressful weeks – weeks! – they claimed they’d found the payment but it was $4,000 short – which was not true. Eventually they “discovered” the full amount somewhere in their accounts. To make up for this “inconvenience,” Scenic generously gave us a whopping $200 in onboard ship credit. Yay. Summary: I’m afraid the outstanding crew cannot make up for the truly terrible IT –onboard and especially back-office – that drags Scenic down and frankly very nearly ruined the experience for us. Therefore: not recommended.…
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
+1
We recently spent a week aboard the Scenic Crystal on the Rhine River. From the moment we embarked the ship in Amsterdam until we disembarked in Basel Switzerland it was an incredible experience. We were met at the lobby by the staff and immediately felt welcomed and relaxed. Our rooms were ready, and we were escorted by the floor butler. The room was clean and beautiful. All amenities were provided, and the balcony, bed and bathroom were perfect. Our luggage was brought to the room shortly thereafter. I can't tell you how amazing all of the staff were. This was the first river cruise we took. These people work so hard and looked after your every need. They are amazing. The food and drink options were perfect and delicious. I highly recommend taking a river cruise on Scenic River Cruises. Outstanding crew food and trip. Thank you so much.…
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
We went on a trip of a life time with promises of 5 star quality Our trouble started with booking we couldn’t get on to Scenic tried all the advertised phone numbers and got nothing. After being on hold for 3 hours we spoke to a representative-that wasn’t apologetic about the wait time, we made a booking only to have it emailed with names spelt wrong so you guessed it a further 3 hours on hold to speak to some one. Once that was sorted we promptly ( probably the only time we got anything done quickly) received our invoice that we paid then not to receive a receipt until two weeks and after several emails and phone calls -very very poor Customer service The cruise itself. At the airport the Scenic representative was late. We were standing around not knowing what was going on there where heaps of Viking representatives all over the airport at every gate and at the meeting place -we had one and she was late! The Crystal was old and tiered, it stunk of sewage for the first four days, then all The toilets went down for two hours. The boat in my opinion was not 5star it was dirty old and worn out. The staff where slow and not really interested in giving you top 5 star service. We waited most nights between 20-30minutes to be served for a drink. We stayed in our cabin two nights as we were feeling unwell and rang our butler service to Get our dinner brought to our room only to be told By our “ 24hour personal butler” that she was busy and will get to us when she can. She told Us that both nights the 2nd night only bringing one meal when question where the 2nd one was said what I had order wasn’t on the menu - it was, the menus are streamed to the tv in your room and I was looking at it while taking to her on the phone- she replied she would see what she could do - no dinner came that night - so that was our experience with the 24 hour personal butler service! Our cruise was cut sort due to the river levels and the boat couldn’t go any further up The river . A company that makes a living on doing rivers cruises surely knew prior to us starting our cruise what the river was doing and the levels. Scenic offered a bus to get us to the next port but we left the boat thenand when our own way -to Scenics credit they did reimburse us for those a days Overall we paid 5 star money for a 3 star cruise I would not choose scenic again I would Go with the many options out there…
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
This was promised to be a 5 star trip of a life time luxurious cruise. Unfortunately it proved to be a horrendously priced cruise of only moderate quality. Food was certainly not 5 star or anything like it. We were supposed to be boarding the newer sister ship but as Scenic had cancelled the cruises before ours from Amsterdam on the Pearl, the boats were out of position. Some guests were delayed in Amsterdam with short term cancellation notice and had to fly to join the start with us in Budapest. We had to pack up and move over to the Pearl so that Scenic could get its boats back into position. The excellent cruise director,, Beate was told by management that due to low water but as the second boat was able to tie up alongside the crystal this was a directors lie! Beate is an excellent asset to Scenic and very professional. Suggest the directors do their own dirty work in future rather than making their cruise directors lie to clients in future. The chef on the second boat with his yummy yummy lickey schmiky finey finey said before every evening meal needs to be retrained as meals unenlightened and repetitive. Far better meals on other cruises we have done. Food ranked with a TUI cruise or similar. Boat also tended to moor miles from towns with buses needed to get to cem Ntres where we were dropped off by Viking , Amaway and other cruise boats who paid the money to moor central. We had views of building sites and industrial out of town estates. Not acceptable for a £6000 per person 5 star cruise. Never again Scenic - we will use Viking in future. Take your boats back to Australia please.…
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Helpful
Enjoyed first ever river cruise.Staff /food / drinks/ trips all excellent BUT Didn’t get any sleep whilst occupying this cabin! was not told when booking that it was next to the engines so had 2 sleepless nights of vibrating noisy pneumatic drill noise! Asked to be moved & after 1st night was asked for 400+ euros to move - boat was undersubscribed so there were empty cabins available! Declined! 2nd night - no sleep again & went to Reception at 2.30am to ask them to come & listen to the noise - their reply was “ I don’t need to - I believe you”! Obviously they knew this cabin was noisy and frankly should not be used especially with the cost of the holiday! I have written ( proof of letter delivery signed for) but a month later and several hours on the phone listening to music/ recorded voices have been unable to speak to a human being! This has left a sour taste and hesitation to use this Company again as they have completely ignored my letter.…
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Helpful
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Upcoming itineraries
Itinerary
10 Night Cruise to Europe
Departure date
Friday, 21/03/25
Itinerary
Prices are cruise only, per person, double occupancy, and are provided by our partners. Taxes, fees and port expenses are not included. Fuel supplements may apply. Availability of prices is subject to the supplier’s pricing availability.