HenrysAunt

The port talks on Scenic are also broadcast onto the TV in your cabin if you don't fancy going up to the lounge. But on this line also there is plenty enough seating to accommodate all.

The 2018 pre-release for Scenic came out about 2 or 3 months ago. Start looking around March 18'. But yes, get yourself on email lists now.

Your cruise director will tell you if you need them on you for particular days. We only needed ours for an option from Vienna to Bratislava but they were not checked.

Otherwise, yes, we kept them and other valuables in the safe - tablets etc if we didn't take them out for the day with us.

Thank you for your informative updates! Appreciate them, all the way from New Zealand. I followed with interest for our cruise AMS-BUD in Sept/Oct last year, as we had no issues whatsoever.

We have just booked another for Sept '18, AMS to Basel so I watch with interest once again.

Your snippets about life in general, and sights along the rivers are great too, so thank you :-)

Our trip in Sept 16, we stayed at the Double Tree Hilton, which is the hotel Scenic recommend. Everyone on the trip was told to meet there by 3pm (which included people not staying there), and then we were taken literally around the corner by bus, to the boat. I imagine some people arrived later and did make there own way to the boat.

We have just booked another cruise and will stay again at the Double Tree as it was so handy.

I did a Scenic Cruise in September, possibly in the opposite direction to you. We did Amsterdam to Budapest. The people going to Salzburg left from Passau and met the boat late afternoon in Linz. We stayed on board that date as both a little under the weather so from that point of view, the boat left Passau about 10am and arrived in Linz around 5pm. We got off and had a wander but there is not much time in either port. We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery from the boat that day. If you want to explore, I'd say you are better off going to Salzburg but talk to the cruise director as they are very obliging. There is another thread here somewhere about taking a train from Passau to Linz. You won't be disappointed in whatever you decide!

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Having done Amsterdam to Budapest, I'm now keen to go from Budapest through to the Black sea but there are so few dates to chose from! I suppose they are sailing outside of the busy times, what with ship turn a rounds etc, but the dates so early in the season just don't suit. Sigh, I guess that one will have to wait until I retire... Keen to hear other peoples thoughts. And from any Scenic reps lurking :-) We are looking at 2018 bookings.

Hi erinsnotes. Yes, we booked the Doubletree through Scenic. Scenic will be waiting for you at the airport and will deliver you there. Our driver pointed out some points of interest along the way, and we could see the boat! We didn't actually ask if there were any Scenic provided things, but the hotel staff are very helpful and knowledgeable. We arrived about 3pm, checked in then took ourselves off for a wander. The next morning we left our bags in the Scenic day room, and this is probably the place to ask. We already had tickets for the Van Gogh museum so caught a taxi there and meandered back to the hotel. Had crepes for lunch and soaked it all in. We arrived back to the day room just in time to be put onto a bus for the quick trip around the corner to the boat. The first actual day on the boat, you have your daily options and if you choose the canal boat ride, you get quite a good bus, then walking tour of the city as well.

Thanks for that.

More questions to come.

Cheers!

Mark

No worries at all. I really need to learn how to upload pics so I can upload the daily programmes.

Thanks Beachgal and Aunt.

OK, first "question".

With the excursion to Salzburg on this cruise is this by bus from the river?

Is it worth it or should we look at alternatives?

Cheers!

Mark

Yes, it is by bus. Most are. We took every opportunity as we wanted to see as much as possible. That particular day, I was sick so stayed on the boat. That is the only option that day but the boat sails from Passau to Linz and was spectacular. You sail through some bush and river flats, with little farms dotted along. But there is also plenty of that! About a dozen stayed with the boat, and we were treated to Afternoon Tea and re-charged our batteries. As the boat arrived in Linz before the excursion bus, we got off and wandered around for an hour or so.

But, if you choose to go to Salzburg, you wont regret it. Everyone said it was amazing. A few days earlier, you need to chose a meal, as there is a concert with lunch served plus a tour around the city with some free time.

Also, re tours, you will get the choice from Scenic of going out to see the windmills, or the canal boat cruise. We chose the latter. It started off with a bus tour around Amsterdam, then back to close to the hotel to get onto the boat for the trip in a glass top boat, then a walking tour of Amsterdam. We stopped en-route to taste Herring, and later, at a cheese shop. We then got back onto the bus and had time to drive slightly out of town ourselves, to see a windmill.

Mum and I did that trip on the Scenic Jade, Sept/Oct last year. LOVED IT!! We're planning our next. We tagged on the Prague extension with Scenic, and so pleased we did.

The Scenic hotel of choice is the Doubletree Hilton in Amsterdam. Right beside Centraal Station. We stayed there the night before, for ease.

We left our bags in the Scenic day room and explored Amsterdam, and were back at the Hotel for the 3pm pick up. Everyone is together in the day room, and there are busses to take you to the boat which is literally around the corner but because of rail lines, its about 5 minutes in the bus. We could actually see the boat from our hotel room!

I'm mid 40's - did a cruise with my Mum last year, with Scenic, and I was definitely the youngest. That said, there were other "younger" people travelling with older ones, and a lot of couples in their 50's. Next group up was the newly retired but no-one would have been over 80 I wouldn't have though. That was a 15 day cruise. Mum and I are planning our next one we loved it so much. The age doesn't bother me - we chatted with practically everyone on board, and all happy and relaxed and interesting.

I'm in my mid-forties, and I've just done a Scenic river cruise with my Mum and absolutely loved it! Age is just a number! We are not big drinkers either, but we chose Scenic for their all inclusive excursions, and tipping. I've read on here that some people don't like to pay extra for excursions, but who wants to go all that way and miss things! We also liked the fact that Scenic picked us up at the airport, and got us to the boat from our hotel, then back to the airport at the end. Made life easy. We had a Deluxe Balcony suite, at 225ft or 21m2. It was nice having a proper balcony, and if you want to you could leave the doors open and it became part of the room. I appreciated sitting out on it early in the morning, and it was also nice to have time out if either of us felt the need. I couldn't recommend Scenic's attention to detail more highly - everything is thought of, and if you don't want to spend any other money on your holiday, there is no need to. I am saving for my next one!

I would still do the Amsterdam - Budapest. If you get on in say Nuremburg, you will have missed the lovely little towns along the Main River. In my opinion, this was the best part of my trip! Of course, it was all amazing, but those towns now have a special place in my heart :-)

Thank you Henrys Aunt, I had come to the conclusion I would get 500 Euros. I'll always be able to use my bank card. Did you spend 1000 Florints??? I don't want to be that couple either. I'd prefer to have home country currency wherever I go. I once had a salesgirl in Buffalo, push 2 pennies back towards me (I'd gotten a couple of Cdn. pennies mixed in with my American change) she curled her lips (like poop was on the counter) and said, "What Is THAT".

 

Anyway, thank you very very much for the hints and the information.

Hello, again. From memory I almost spent it. Didn't buy much, but there are a number of cute shops. I got a couple of lots of paprika, and a pottery wall hanging of Budapest. You could easily spend it, if not more. As we left straight away the next morning, there wasn't another chance to spend it. Or later that afternoon either although as part of our excursion we went to an amazing concert at the Blind Foundation and the pianist had CD's for sale.

You may well find a lot of excursions include a bus ride. We went with the flow and did as many of the excursions as possible, after all the whole point of the trip for us was to see as much as possible both on and off the river. If you stay on board, you may well be tied up at a port on the outskirts of town, and miss seeing a whole lot of spectular scenery. Just my opinion.

As woodienz says, smart casual is fine. Although, for our night at the Opera, some of the gents did pull out their sports jackets but it wasn't necessary.

And that is why we chose Scenic - all tipping included with no pressure! Coming from New Zealand, we are not used to tipping, and that attitude would have really got under my skin. Don't get me wrong - I will tip for good service, but I certainly wont tip just because some tour director thinks he deserves it! We did tip our lovely cabin attendant, and we gave her our left over currency in cash because she was so lovely and helpful, and would have been paid a heck of a lot less than a tour director.

On our Scenic trip, we docked overnight in Amsterdam, Vienna, Passau and Budapest. Apart from those stops, the boat is travelling through the night. The times it departs vary and you don't really know until the night before when the next day's itinerary appears on your bed.

If you are up on the top deck, then your hair will get blown about some what. Take the scarf, it wont take up much room in your suitcase. Or, treat yourself to a lovely one as a memento of your trip! I'm hoping to do this same trip in the next couple of years. Enjoy!

I am cruising Scenic Amsterdam to Budapest April 11th. Everything is included in their one price so I'm really having a very hard time figuring out how much I should get in Euros and Florints. It's 15 days. I'll want to bring home some soapless soap, Gouda cheese as gifts, Hungarian Paprika etc. Any suggestions?

I like the post about buying a coffee and getting change for toilets, good advice!!!

:rolleyes:

We did the same cruise in Sept/Oct last year. You will LOVE it!! Seriously, you will be so well fed, you will struggle to even feel like buying coffee or cake on-shore but we did occasionally and we would have regretted it if we hadn't. I took E500 cash, plus a cash card loaded with more, and didn't spend half of it!

I also took 1000 Florints, as you do get some time at Fishermans Bastion in Budapest where you can look around. They take Euro too, but I didn't want to be one of "those" tourists. Came across some American's who were super rude to a lady in a shop in Austria when she wouldn't take US dollars! I mean, why would she? Anyhow, back to Florints. They were also handy for the toilets, although they prefer coins so maybe buy something to break up a bill. Plenty of lovely things to chose from, and inexpensive.

I got both cheese and paprika back into New Zealand, I think as long as the cheese is vacuumed packed it is OK. You will get a tour of a cheese place on the first day in Amsterdam. Be prepared to eat non-stop on this trip - its AMAZING! Lots of "tastings" all the way along.

Just a hint - in Vienna you get an excursion choice to go to Bratislava. Go. The hot chocolate is to die for!! Such a contrast to rich Vienna. On my list of places to revisit.

Be aware the a lot of our group were disappointed to discover the Spanish horses are not open every day. You also get a half day guided tour through Vienna, and past the stables, and then option to catch the shuttle back again after lunch. We made the most of this, so we saw a lot of Vienna so we could go to Bratislava. But then, I had already seen the Schronbruun palace. Vienna was the place with about four excursion options - all excellent.

Enjoy!!

We did a "Scenic" cruise in Sept/Oct last year - Amsterdam to Budapest. Other things you want to consider are the all inclusive lines. On Scenic, this included alcohol, tips, and all excursions. We are not big drinkers, but the all inclusive was brilliant for the excursions. At each port there were at least two options for excursions. A lot of people commented that if they'd had to keep paying they may not have done so many.

Also be aware that the boats don't always dock in the middle of town as they are small towns, so they dock where they can, and then bus people around. If you are on a line that doesn't include excursions, you may be limited as to what you can do that day. The views aren't that great from a dock generally, but on Scenic if you did choose to stay on board, you were well looked after.

We were so well fed that if we hadn't wanted to, we wouldn't have needed to spend any money on food or drink onshore.

We had a balcony suite and although we didn't use it much, but it was handy for early morning or if we just felt like time out. Our friends did the trip with us and were down on the bottom level with just a port hole. Their room was significantly smaller, and with two people for 15 days, we were happy with our choice. Suitcases slide away under the bed which was great, and there was a lot of storage.

Like other's have said, yes the Rhine spectacular but my favorite was the Main River. I just loved seeing life float by on the shore, and how the German people live. All the gardens, the vineyards, the people enjoying life beside the river. Quite different to the Rhine. It was interesting to see how the lifestyles changed too as we moved from country to country.

Someone commented on rafting, but with Scenic, we barely rafted at all. We rafted a couple of times during the day, for day trips, and the only time we actually rafted at night was in Budapest. We were jealous of the people that day with the view of Parliament, but unlucky for them as that was the side another Scenic boat rafted to. We kept our view albeit of the riverbank mainly as the town's are built higher up for flooding I assume.

We plan to do another Scenic cruise, and I wouldn't even look at another line. You are collected from the airport (and if you have a more expensive room that us, they even pick you up from home!), delivered to your hotel, then bussed to the ship. It was so easy, and no mucking round getting lost. Delivered back to the airport at the end.

Another thread got me wondering about the cabin amenities and relative cabin sizes across various river cruise lines. I know all of this is probably readily available in each of the company's documentation/websites but thought that someone might have already reviewed and possibly even summarized it.

 

Cabin size isn't a huge consideration to me (I'm much more concerned, for example, about the comfort of the bedding), but was curious about how much variation there is.

As nice as lonestar's suite sounds, the standard Scenic cabins aren't nearly as big. In saying that, we were perfectly happy in a deluxe balcony suite, 225ft. That was travelling as twin, not a double too. There is plenty of storage space, and the suitcases fit under the beds. The beds don't have a remote control either, in the standard cabins, but there is still a pillow menu and the beds were very comfortable. We were perfectly happy with the size of the shower etc too, and they stock up with L'Octainne toiletries.

Plenty of room around the beds, and as the name suggests, we also had a balcony which we enjoyed. Friends were downstairs in the cabins with only port holes, and they were a lot smaller and not much room to move.

Also minibar (free), that was restocked daily but we hardly touched it as all the drinks upstairs were included.

Hi. Has anyone experienced any itinerary changes on this section of the rivers? We're curious what the modifications might be when we sail shortly.

 

This is currently posted on Viking's trip update site:

 

"Due to the construction work on the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, the following itineraries will be slightly modified to avoid river closures:

 

• October 8th Grand European Tour aboard Viking Alsvin
  
• October 8th Rhine Getaway aboard Viking Tialf"
  

We went through late September and all was fine. The only place they had a concern for low water was between Dusseldorf and Cologne, but it only meant the ship had to go a little bit slower. That was with Scenic. I wonder if they are doing lock maintenance?