The Scenic Difference

Travel and Leisure

Ok, so this isn't an advertisement for Scenic river cruises. I’m not a travel advisor, nor am I affiliated with Scenic. But I have always been curious about Scenic river cruising, and so I thought I'd go check out the local Scenic river cruise seminar that was taking place here in Vancouver, and see what all the hubub was about. Having sailed on four different river cruises, I can tell you that the river cruise experience itself is pretty much the same regardless of who you go with. What does change however, are the little details that some of you may find worthwhile and/or worth the extra cost. So I jotted down some notes where I thought that Scenic offered something unique or different, perhaps versus the other middle tier operators. Having cruised with their little sister company, Emerald, I’ll try to compare and contrast the experience with them. It won't be my place to tell you if Scenic is the brand for you; that's up to you to decide.

It's all about luxury

Apparently the Scenic Founder and Chairman, Glen Moroney, was hearing from his land-based tour participants that they wanted more luxurious experiences. From what I saw today, you are taken care of from the moment you step out of the baggage claim area, until you are returned to that airport at the end of your trip. Judging by the seniority of the audience participants (late 70s to early 80s), it would seem that age has something to do with this requirement for river cruising i.e. this demographic of clientele appears to want to have someone accompanying and guiding them from start to finish. I learned that Scenic goes to great lengths to take the guesswork work out of travelling in Europe and making sure that their guests experience a minimum of pain and stress while on their vacation.

Scenic adds 2 days to the typical Danube route

This also seems to equate to longer river cruises with Scenic; where other providers offer cruises starting a 4 or 5 days, Scenic seems to have a starting point of around 8 days, pulling in frequently visited cities as pre- or post-cruise destinations and stopping more often to make longer itineraries. i.e. instead of having to coordinate your own pre- and post-cruise extensions, Scenic makes a point of including those from the get-go.

We do our own pre-cruise extensions

We normally like to establish our own agendas for European travel; e.g. the time we went on an Emerald river cruise, we arranged our own self-guided, 8-night trip through Croatia and met our ship in Budapest. We feel that doing our own pre- or post-cruise extensions not only allows us to tailor things exactly to what we want to do, but also is far less expensive than doing it with the river cruise operator.

Anyhow, back to the Scenic differences; in no order of priority, here are the things that I noted that would appear to differentiate Scenic from Emerald and other middle-tier operators.

Butler service

I have a hard time wrapping my head around this, so I had to Google what a butler does on a river cruise; I came up with this website if you care to read. Having been on four river cruises, I have never had need for these services, but maybe you do. There was that time on our Emerald cruise, where we got poured on while using the bicycles in Budapest, and so we used up all of our towels trying to dry out. But a simple call to the front desk had our housekeeper dropping off fresh ones moments later. I find that part of the fun of being on such a small ship, is walking down the hall to the bar to grab some ice, and having a friendly chat with the bartender. However, if you like staying in your room and are not particularly excited about running down to grab an espresso in your terry towel robe and slippers, then perhaps butler service is something you are willing to pay for.

Staterooms and suite choices

Having not been on any European Scenic ships, I can't say just how much more luxurious their staterooms are, but from the videos, they seem to be like the Emerald ones, but larger. Specifically, where the Emerald Panorama Balcony rooms are contained within a rectangle, the Scenic ones have the bathroom off to the side. As such, Private Balcony Suites start at 205 sq. ft. and go up to 225 in the Deluxe one (vs. Emerald's Panorama Balcony Suite at 165 sq. ft.). I don't like how they have a divider or curtain that separates the "balcony" area from the rest of the room, as it would seem to just get in the way and offer little value. The extra room in the bathroom would definitely be a bonus, and one of the things we'd look for when choosing rooms on any river cruise (e.g. Gate 1's Monarch Empress and Queen ships).

And then there's the selection of more spacious suites that Scenic offers. Where most ships offer staterooms that are larger than the standard French balcony ones, Scenic has a number to choose from, obviously at elevated price levels. Moving up from the bottom, "swan-view" rooms to a balcony is about US$130/night (compared to Emerald, where it's about $50-60/night difference), and about $300/night to move into the Royal Suite. However, a quick peruse of their website shows that all but their bottom level rooms sell out very quickly, so if you want a bigger suite, you need to act fast.

Enhanced dining experience

A significant difference that I saw during the presentation, is the level of dining that Scenic cruisers experience. Not only are there more restaurants, but from the videos I saw, it looks like Michelin-star dining (can't vouch for the taste). I've only eaten in about 4 or 5 Michelin-star restaurants, but it would appear that supper on Scenic comes pretty close to that experience. Of course, you'll still have buffet options at breakfast and lunch, but I think you should expect an elevated dining experience in the evenings. The European ships offer two separate restaurants that are reserved either for a once-per-sailing dinner, or for specific guests on the Diamond deck or higher-end suites (by invitation). There is also the River Café where guests can grab a casual bite, or even get a lunch packed for them (I've never heard of this on other cruises), if they should choose not to return to the ship at mid-day. Most other mid-tier river cruises will offer 1 to 2 dining venue options; in the Emerald case, the lounge was used for a light lunch alternative, but not used as an alternate dinner option. And food on Emerald was good, but certainly not the calibre of a Michelin-star restaurant.

More excursions and "Exclusive to Scenic" events

In addition to the included typical walking tours, Scenic offers a number of choices that give their guests greater variety for other excursions. Over and above those options, Scenic offers exclusive events that other operators don't, and the presenter harped on this benefit quite a bit; their website touts, "Scenic Enrich events are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that will bring to life the rich cultural heritage of Europe's waterways". With any river cruise operator, you can count on one daily walking tour in each port (sometimes two), but Scenic has also secured private venues for art, music or cultural events. From the slides and videos I saw, it seems to be heavily weighted towards classical music or similar performances in a castle, palace or otherwise historical setting. If this is your jam, then you'll definitely experience something special with these events.

On the French itineraries (not sure if other routes offer these), the options add food-based activities like their Culinaire Cooking School, which may include tagging along with the chef while they shop for local ingredients at the market. In the wine regions of France, you might be offered a vineyard cycling tour (which I am almost certain would be using e-bikes). 

Other niceties

If the inclusions above haven't already reeled you in, here's a few more little details that I picked up that Scenic offers. Of course all your drinks are included, including the in-room mini-bar and premium alcohol cocktails. One free bag of laundry is included with all room types; I believe the benefit enhances as you go up in room category. There's an onboard Wellness Coach, if you need that sort of encouragement, as well as a Salt Therapy Lounge and spa services.

While we've not done a Douro cruise, apparently Scenic is the only operator that docks on the Porto side of the river (vs. Vila Novo de Gaia). The story goes that Glen negotiated with the local authorities to build a dock for his ships that is walking distance from the popular Ribeira district. Similarly, he arranged to build more docks on the Douro, allowing for enhanced itineraries and increased stops along the way; this might explain why sometimes ships moor at spots overnight where there really isn't much there (or so I've read).

Scenic has schedules that allow for "Cruising Combinations" 

Scenic has proven that they listen to their guests, who had suggested that they would like even longer cruises, so Scenic has made a point of structuring their schedules so that cruisers can dovetail cruises back-to-back. Visiting Normandy? Scenic ships will get you all the way to Honfleur, reducing the amount of time you'll spend on the coach getting to and from there.

A parting note on pricing and promos

As some of you might have noticed, the US website shows Full Fare prices that far exceed the Canadian ones, especially with the exchange factored in. I took a few minutes to pull the Scenic representative aside at the end of the presentation, and asked about this. He sort of shook his head, and indicated that the US has a different marketing team and strategy. "Americans want to feel like their getting a deal, so they price their cruises high, and then offer big discounts". My research indicates that sometimes even when the US offers 2-for-1 deals, including free air, that the equivalent price is not as good as when the Canadian site offers a 2-for-1 only. And no, an American guest cannot buy from the Canadian website; well, not unless they have a Canadian residential address that they can bill against.
Over the years, I've priced out many Scenic offers, and while the price is definitely much higher than other mid-tier operators, sometimes the promotional offer brings a Deluxe Balcony down into the somewhat palatable US$450-550/night range. By comparison, the best Emerald deal for a similar cruise and room category can get into the US$270/night territory. 
Someone asked about single cruising, and the presenter indicated that most ships have two single rooms on the bottom level that sell out quickly. However, he suggested that you can call in and inquire about waiving the single supplement, as they often offer it up as an unadvertised promotion.

Why we don't sail with Scenic

After reading the differences that set Scenic apart from say, Emerald, you're probably thinking, "why wouldn't I want to cruise with Scenic?"
Well obviously budget is a factor. We can, and have cruised for 12 nights on a 1st Class river cruise in a French balcony room, including trans-Atlantic flights for about US$7,000 including all tips and add-ons. For the two of us. Can we cruise with Scenic on that budget? Not even close. 
And for us, most of enhanced benefits are not going to be relevant or add value for us. I don't drink a lot, and she doesn't drink at all. Butler? Can't really figure out why we'd need one. 5+ star dining? Nice to have, but not typically our style. An evening at the symphony? Pass. A private opera concert? Hard pass.

Indeed, there seems to be two distinct categories of river cruisers. There's the "cruise experience" one that wants a fully-encapsulated end-to-end tour, where every minute of every day is carefully crafted and curated, packed with luxury and exclusiveness fit for royalty. Then there's the other side of the coin, where folks are really looking for a European adventure, without the hassle of packing and unpacking every day; to these cruisers, the ship is really a boutique hotel with a great restaurant, that happens to follow them down the river, and everything else is a bonus. Independent travellers? Then you're more likely to fit into the second category; e.g. once you've finished the included 90-minute walking tour in Vienna, you'd rather venture off on your own than be escorted back to the ship for lunch and off to your included private symphony performance. The additional differences and add-ons might be appreciated, but since you're paying for them whether you take advantage of them or not, they may be wasted on some.