Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours

My husband and I decided to escape the Christmas madness in our hometown and take our first European River Cruise. The cruise departed from Budapest on December 21, 2025 and ended in Amsterdam on January 4th 2026 with approximately 163 paid passengers and a full crew. We were greeted onboard by our butler who also doubled as a waiter in the dining area. It is important to note that when we purchased the cruise we upgraded the room to a deluxe balcony cabin equipped with a king size bed, two closets, a bathroom with a full size shower and a well-stocked mini bar. We were met by our butler who ensured that our requests were dealt with expediently and professionally throughout our trip. Food service: Scenic advertised multiple eating venues as well as first class dining experiences. Unfortunately, there was one dining room with an alcove where guests who were dining with the captain were seated and enjoyed a more intimate dining experience in an area called Portabello. Unfortunately, neither I nor my husband were able to take advantage of this dining experience because of illness. Dinners consisted of an appetizer, an entree and dessert. Wine was plentiful and matched to the dinner menu. Meals were nicely presented but the quality of the food was mediocre. - not haute cuisine. The ship was changed a few days prior to embarkation. The overall quality and condition of the furniture in the lounge area and dining room was dated and worn out. In particular, the ergonomics of most of the furniture suited travellers of smaller stature and was difficult to rise and get out of for people of standard size and those with limited mobility. Of greater concern was the lack of heat throughout the ship during the day. We met a few couples who were on their first Scenic trip and by all accounts would be considered seasoned river and ocean sailors. They were as disappointed in the Scenic experience as we were. On the brighter side, we must commend all of the staff who looked after our needs, from the Captain, the Cruise Director, Hotel Director and all staff reporting to each of the directors. Special mention needs to be made regarding our butler and housekeeper who made every effort to ensure our comfort and special needs were met during the cruise. In recapping our experience, we do not feel that we got value for the cost and we would not recommend Scenic Cruises to family and friends.

Highly, highly recommend Scenic and Emerald Waterways. Great time onboard for the 2022 Christmas Markets RiverCruise on the Danube, sailing from Budapest to Vienna, with 32 friends & family! The staff was great, the meals were delectable and the entertainment was unbeatable. Let us know if you’d like details on our 2024 Castles on the Rhine river cruise.

Scenic Diamond/ Bordeaux Affair. Mostly good but…upgraded cabin and we could not open balcony door due to diesel fumes, and a ten minute ride to our hotel at the end, booked by Scenic, cost 80 Euros…absolute thievery! Scenic needs to fix this- no way to end a good cruise!

Terrible customer service. Tried to book a cruise online. As the link didn’t work, I called them only to find out the cruise was booked. I tried to get on a waiting list. The first person hung up on me. When I called back the second agent was not pleasant and argued with me about getting on a waiting list. Never heard back from them. There was an online survey of service at the end of the call. Gave them a terrible review and, again, heard nothing. They came to my city for a promo tour. Spoke with a local person who said to write them an email about the poor service. I did but never heard back. If their service is this bad just trying to book, can’t imagine what it would be on a cruise.

We went from Amsterdam to Budapest.This is a first class luxury company. Everything is taken care of once you have booked your cruise. I highly recommend Scenic . You can't go wrong.

Scenic cruising is so well thought out, such attention to detail that it is certainly one of the best in the river cruising business. We travel frequently and do all kinds of different touring types of adventures. Scenic adventures are wonderful because everything runs perfectly. Personally, I find it to be a very relaxed, fun vacation.

Tried to book a cruise today. The wait time was long and when I complained, the agent ended the call. This was the second time an agent hung up on me related to the same attempt to book.

Just returned from the 11 day Paris to Normandy Cruise. This was our second cruise with Scenic and it was excellent just as we expected based on our first cruise with them 9yrs ago. We were unable to return to Paris as scheduled because of high water levels, we had rain off and on the last few days; we remained in Conflan and took a taxi into Paris. We had made our own arrangements to remain in Paris after the cruise therefore our transport was not covered by Scenic. We were fully aware we would be our responsibility to cover transport from the ship to our hotel however, the taxi was €92 for the 25mile trip. In my opinion since we were unable to sail into Paris as scheduled, it would have been appreciated if Scenic had arranged a flat rate for cabs from Conflan to Paris. We will still travel with Scenic again.