Interested in a comparison between HAL and a Scenic River cruise?

[1of4]

14 hours ago, Nang said:

I thought I would offer my experience with Scenic ...

 

We did Amsterdam-Budapest in 2015. It was mostly a great experience with a few, not insignificant issues for me (but not my DW).

 

Scenic restock their drinks only in Nuremburg, 9 days from Amsterdam. When we boarded in Amsterdam they were out of Stella, 2 days later no Heineken, one day later my next beer of choice was done. Given beer is a big part of my holiday experience I was less than impressed.

Each afternoon everybody meets for pre-dinner drinks, a briefing for the next day and sometimes for some entertainment. Unsurprisingly most people want a drink or two. The wait was AT LEAST 20 minutes, all due to a severe lack of wait and bar staff. They tried hard but were very much overwhelmed. OK, so just walk up to the bar. Nope, told only service is via one of the wait staff (no great surprise there given the situation). After the daily briefing we are invited to move to the dining room for dinner. Exactly the same situation repeated itself regarding drinks. This occurred every day. 

 

Entertainment was severely lacking compared to an ocean cruise. Some late afternoons an act would board the ship and perform, often with a focus on local culture/traditional performances. There were quite good, but short. During and after dinner is was a solo piano player/singer who played chamber/elevator music, every night, except on the rare occasion we attended an off ship, high quality night of entertainment.

 

The above negatives were much outweighed by the quality of the itinerary/destinations, the ship itself and the food. Staff were efficient and polite, but not in the same league as HAL's friendly staff in enhancing my holiday.

HAL ocean cruises and Scenic river cruising are different products, but both have delivered me a pleasurable experience with Scenic a mix of high highs and disappointing lows.

 

14 hours ago, McDeb2119 said:

How are you finding the Doubletree?  We are staying there post cruise in July also on points.   Can’t beat the location between the cruise docks and the Train station.  Also note you can take the train from Schipol to Centraal station.  Do you have Hilton status?  Is that how you requested the upgrade?

Thank you for sharing your experience. My DH would have been left with similar ratings in 2019 regarding the drink situation if that was our experience. Thankfully the bar and wait staff issues must have been rectified by 2019 and staff in general were tripping over themselves to provide us with whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted it. I don’t recall them running out of anything. 
 

I agree, there is no comparison when it comes to entertainment. But I figured with less than 200 passengers, it is a completely different experience than an ocean cruise and entertainment is one of the largest and most obvious differences. 

[1of4]

2 hours ago, Petronillus said:

Thanks for providing a balancing viewpoint. It reaffirms the old adage, that if sounds too good to be true, it likely isn't. I'm the guy who likens HAL to a good solid Buick. What you've described makes me think more of a Cadillac than a Beemer or a Merc.

I haven’t boarded yet so I am going on my memory of our 2019 Scenic cruise. I hope to be balanced but it won’t be until the end that I can truly summarize the main differences between an ocean going ship and a river boat. There are many differences and size and experience are two of the “biggest”. 
 

Our experience in 2019 had no issues with drinks running out or with lack of service so I can not comment specifically, other to say all drinks were free flowing and all but the very top shelf brands were included. 
 

If you are looking to be entertained in a different lounge or bar on a river cruise you will be disappointed. Space is the limiting factor. Dare I say the focus is more on the itinerary and where you are and the excursions you choose and not the ship itself. I interpreted the excursions as our entertainment and was quite tired after dinner so an hour or two talking with new acquaintances worked well. But that’s just me. 
 

As I said in my first reply, I am unfamiliar with your specific rating system. If there is something specific you would like to know about then please ask and once we board on Wednesday I can find out as much information as I can…hopefully report back in a balanced fashion. 

[*Miss G*]

2 minutes ago, 1of4 said:

If you are looking to be entertained in a different lounge or bar on a river cruise you will be disappointed. Space is the limiting factor. Dare I say the focus is more on the itinerary and where you are and the excursions you choose and not the ship itself. I interpreted the excursions as our entertainment and was quite tired after dinner so an hour or two talking with new acquaintances worked well. But that’s just me. 

 

I think this is why I loved our Avalon river cruise.  We were up at dawn and it was go go go from morning till evening.  But that was our choice as there were so many great included excursions mornings, afternoons, and full day that we wanted to take advantage of.  

 

Returning from one full day, we were welcomed back with warm brownies, wash cloths, and a shot of something… with just enough time throw it back then dress for dinner!  I found out that on river cruises it’s important to attend the pre-dinner port talk/happy hour gathering (with hot and cold hors d’oeuvres) before you head off to dinner.  It was a wonderful experience and proved to me why I don’t care if HAL has a production show or not.  I am more interested in the ports and being on the water than I am in a show at sea.  By the time we dropped into bed we were out like a light.  It was almost like running a marathon!  And I loved every minute.

[1of4]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I think this is why I loved our Avalon river cruise.  We were up at dawn and it was go go go from morning till evening.  But that was our choice as there were so many great included excursions mornings, afternoons, and full day that we wanted to take advantage of.  

 

Returning from one full day, we were welcomed back with warm brownies, wash cloths, and a shot of something… with just enough time throw it back then dress for dinner!  I found out that on river cruises it’s important to attend the pre-dinner port talk/happy hour gathering (with hot and cold hors d’oeuvres) before you head off to dinner.  It was a wonderful experience and proved to me why I don’t care if HAL has a production show or not.  I am more interested in the ports and being on the water than I am in a show at sea.  By the time we dropped into bed we were out like a light.  It was almost like running a marathon!  And I loved every minute.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Good to know that other river boat companies provide the same experience. 

[ontheweb]

deleted

Edited April 9 by ontheweb
in wrong forum. was meant to be a reply in your river cruise forum thread

[1of4]

It’s embarkation day 👏👏. And it is sunny!  I already scoped out the procedure and there is no comparison to our experience in Paris in 2019. Then there was zero information given to us and the hotel had none. As a result, people started filling every available space in the lobby with their luggage before 10:00 am for a 2:00 pick up. We only found out the timing by asking people who were already in the lobby. It was madness. Now a Scenic representative will be in the lobby tagging luggage to be transported to the boat. We then are free to do whatever we want until 2:00 when the transfer will pick us up from the lobby. 

[1of4]

Clarification: we just spoke to the Scenic rep downstairs in the lobby. There are two Scenic boats leaving Amsterdam today. We are requested to have our luggage downstairs by noon. There is a shuttle running to the boat beginning at 2:00. But the boat is moored very close by and she said we can walk over for 11:00 and enjoy lunch onboard. That sounds like a plan!

[Iamthesea]

I am enjoying this review.  DH and I are talking about another river cruise in the near future.

 

I remember our first river cruise on AMA Waterways.  We booked everything separately, ranging from air travel to our pre/post stays.  We had a private driver pick us up from Prague to drive us to Vilshofen, Germany to board the Viola.  It was refreshing to drive directly up to the gangway of the ship, have someone else unload our luggage, and then take 20 steps onto the ship without encountering crowds of passengers, security scans, etc.   

 

 

 

 

Edited April 10 by Iamthesea

[1of4]

To compare embarkation is fruitless and unfair. It is an apples to oranges situation. They both float but one holds 1,200 - 2,000 passengers and the other 163. So no queues, no paper checking, no security screening. We got our ID cards at the concierge desk and were escorted to our cabin. We then had a drink in the lounge followed by lunch. Crew were standing in the lobby greeting every new passenger. 
 

It is so nice to be back aboard a floating vessel!  I already attended a stroopwafel demonstration  and had a meeting with the head chef, restaurant manager and the bar manager to review my dietary restriction. 

[prisage]

On 3/31/2024 at 10:02 AM, 1of4 said:

Yes they are very different.  I remember some members of this board being curious and asking questions. So if a river cruise is something you may be considering and you have questions on how it compares to a HAL cruise I’m willing to take pictures and answer questions to the best of my ability. 
 

Why did we choose Scenic?  Well just as I did before choosing HAL, I did an analysis of costs, inclusions, cabin types, etc. Looking at cost only, Scenic was one of the most expensive in 2018 but with cost of inclusions factored in, it quickly became one of the most cost effective. 
 

We will be on the Scenic Jade. It is 135 m in length and takes 163 passengers  in 80/82 cabins on 3 decks with 55 crew. Its gross tonnage is 2721. It has 3 restaurants plus in room dining for most cabins, a lounge with bar, a salt therapy lounge, a sun lounge, a wellness centre and a fitness centre. 

I am taking the Scenic Pearl on June 19th Basel to Mainz/Frankfurt. This is my first river cruise. Really excited about going. We are HAL Mariners as well. Looking forward to a new kind of cruising.

 

[prisage]

1 hour ago, 1of4 said:

To compare embarkation is fruitless and unfair. It is an apples to oranges situation. They both float but one holds 1,200 - 2,000 passengers and the other 163. So no queues, no paper checking, no security screening. We got our ID cards at the concierge desk and were escorted to our cabin. We then had a drink in the lounge followed by lunch. Crew were standing in the lobby greeting every new passenger. 
 

It is so nice to be back aboard a floating vessel!  I already attended a stroopwafel demonstration  and had a meeting with the head chef, restaurant manager and the bar manager to review my dietary restriction. 

Thank you for posting your images. I would love hearing your impressions- good and bad and any suggestions for items to be sure and pack.

[1of4]

3 hours ago, prisage said:

Thank you for posting your images. I would love hearing your impressions- good and bad and any suggestions for items to be sure and pack.

We made 3* Mariners until I fell ill. I usually tell people if they are comfortable in boutique, smaller hotels then they will probably enjoy a river cruise. I will try to be balanced in my posts but if you have any questions please ask. 
 

As for packing, keep in mind the weather where you are going and if windy pack for layers. That said, try not to overpack as the cabin comes with an umbrella, slippers, robe, hairdryer, laundry bag, walking sticks and shoe shine cloths.  There is also an amenity kit in the bathroom. 
 

There are 2-3 dressier dinners depending upon which deck or cabin category you are in. They say a suit jacket for men (no tie required) and a dress or nicer outfit for ladies. Since I didn’t want to bring more than one pair of dinner shoes I brought blouses and pants. People are very casual during the day and some are casual at dinner. But I brought two pairs of comfortable walking shoes so I can alternate..

[1of4]

Let’s talk about the balcony. On HAL it is a true outdoor space while on Scenic it is an extension of the cabin that you can choose to turn into a balcony by opening the “window” by sliding down half the glass “railing” to be in front of the lower half. The buttons to operate the glass are inside the cabin on the wall by the glass sliding partition. If you have the glass open, even a few inches, the thermostat in your cabin will not operate. Since it is cooler, we close half the sliding glass partition at night to keep the cooler air away from the bed. This sliding glass partition can be left open so that there is more room in your cabin but they suggest closing your curtains at night as you never know where you will be in the morning. If you are on the riverbank side people may be walking by mere inches from your “balcony”. That wouldn’t happen on HAL!

 

We have arrived at our first stop on our itinerary. It is 6:00 in the morning when I took the pictures. Later I will show the window open. 

[Iamthesea]

That is a very nice balcony set-up!  Very similar to the Edge Class staterooms on Celebrity, though we did not care for that class of ship.

Edited April 11 by Iamthesea

[1of4]

Here is the glass open on the balcony and a photo I took of our morning neighbours without anything between them and me 😊 

[1of4]

Well I got sidetracked in a major way when I fell after the safety briefing. So our trip no longer includes a trip to Vienna 😔 but we have rented a wheelchair so I can still go to Keukenhof Gardens on Tuesday. I’ll spare you the details but I am being well cared for and we can stay onboard for the week.

 

so I missed the lovely town of Veere yesterday and today we are docked in downtown Antwerp. DH has gone into Ghent in Belgium with explicit instructions to being back chocolate 🍫 😝 

 

Back to comparisons, let’s talk laundry. Back in 2019 one bag of laundry was included and boy did I stuff that bag! We were told by our butler on the first day that it is 1 kg of laundry which is generally half a bag. 
 

Because we are in a junior suite we also get 2 items pressed daily. In the top suite(s) it is unlimited laundry and pressing. 

[McDeb2119]

3 hours ago, 1of4 said:

Well I got sidetracked in a major way when I fell after the safety briefing. So our trip no longer includes a trip to Vienna 😔 but we have rented a wheelchair so I can still go to Keukenhof Gardens on Tuesday. I’ll spare you the details but I am being well cared for and we can stay onboard for the week.

 

so I missed the lovely town of Veere yesterday and today we are docked in downtown Antwerp. DH has gone into Ghent in Belgium with explicit instructions to being back chocolate 🍫 😝 

 

Back to comparisons, let’s talk laundry. Back in 2019 one bag of laundry was included and boy did I stuff that bag! We were told by our butler on the first day that it is 1 kg of laundry which is generally half a bag. 
 

Because we are in a junior suite we also get 2 items pressed daily. In the top suite(s) it is unlimited laundry and pressing. 

Oh no!  I hope you get well soon.  Can you speak about how you are finding getting around the ship in a wheelchair for those who have mobility issues.  It did not seem possible on our Avalon ship to get around in a chair as the design of the boat was split level where the cabins are, the lobby was sort of in the middle between this 2 decks.   IIRCC, there was a small lift that only went to the cabin decks but not the main deck or dining area.  Thanks. 

[1of4]

8 minutes ago, McDeb2119 said:

Oh no!  I hope you get well soon.  Can you speak about how you are finding getting around the ship in a wheelchair for those who have mobility issues.  It did not seem possible on our Avalon ship to get around in a chair as the design of the boat was split level where the cabins are, the lobby was sort of in the middle between this 2 decks.   IIRCC, there was a small lift that only went to the cabin decks but not the main deck or dining area.  Thanks. 

Thanks!  There is an elevator that goes to all indoor decks, including dining room and lounge. It does not go to the sun deck and the stairs to that level are steep. Scenic ships are split levels too with everything being one set of stairs away. This is why we prefer cabins on the Sapphire deck (middle deck) because the dining room is one set of stairs down while reception and the lounge is one set up. 

[1of4]

My husband really did listen!

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, 1of4 said:

Well I got sidetracked in a major way when I fell after the safety briefing. So our trip no longer includes a trip to Vienna 😔 but we have rented a wheelchair so I can still go to Keukenhof Gardens on Tuesday. I’ll spare you the details but I am being well cared for and we can stay onboard for the week.

 

so I missed the lovely town of Veere yesterday and today we are docked in downtown Antwerp. DH has gone into Ghent in Belgium with explicit instructions to being back chocolate 🍫 😝 

 

Back to comparisons, let’s talk laundry. Back in 2019 one bag of laundry was included and boy did I stuff that bag! We were told by our butler on the first day that it is 1 kg of laundry which is generally half a bag. 
 

Because we are in a junior suite we also get 2 items pressed daily. In the top suite(s) it is unlimited laundry and pressing. 

Did you get to the Catholic Cathedral in Antwerp? It was closed when our ship's tour was in Antwerp because it was Maundy Thursday, but we were told we could go there on our own after it opened and just show that we were from our river cruise, and we would be let in for free. Lots of paintings by Reubens.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, 1of4 said:

Well I got sidetracked in a major way when I fell after the safety briefing. So our trip no longer includes a trip to Vienna 😔 but we have rented a wheelchair so I can still go to Keukenhof Gardens on Tuesday. I’ll spare you the details but I am being well cared for and we can stay onboard for the week.

 

so I missed the lovely town of Veere yesterday and today we are docked in downtown Antwerp. DH has gone into Ghent in Belgium with explicit instructions to being back chocolate 🍫 😝 

 

Back to comparisons, let’s talk laundry. Back in 2019 one bag of laundry was included and boy did I stuff that bag! We were told by our butler on the first day that it is 1 kg of laundry which is generally half a bag. 
 

Because we are in a junior suite we also get 2 items pressed daily. In the top suite(s) it is unlimited laundry and pressing. 

Our river cruise had separate stops at Antwerp and Ghent, although instead of going on their excursion in Ghent, we took an optional excursion to Brugge. We were supposed to go to Brugge on an ocean cruise this past summer, but it was cancelled due to an extremely low tide. So we ended up in Brugge on Good Friday which was also DW's birthday.

[1of4]

41 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Did you get to the Catholic Cathedral in Antwerp? It was closed when our ship's tour was in Antwerp because it was Maundy Thursday, but we were told we could go there on our own after it opened and just show that we were from our river cruise, and we would be let in for free. Lots of paintings by Reubens.

I didn’t get off the boat which turned out to be a good thing because everyone said it was a tough walk due to construction and cobblestones. My DH went to Ghent which was enough walking for his knees so he didn’t venture into Antwerp after returning. 
 

32 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Our river cruise had separate stops at Antwerp and Ghent, although instead of going on their excursion in Ghent, we took an optional excursion to Brugge. We were supposed to go to Brugge on an ocean cruise this past summer, but it was cancelled due to an extremely low tide. So we ended up in Brugge on Good Friday which was also DW's birthday.

 

Unfortunately Brugge is not on our itinerary. Tomorrow we will be in Nijmegen in place of Arnhem which is under construction. 

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, 1of4 said:

I didn’t get off the boat which turned out to be a good thing because everyone said it was a tough walk due to construction and cobblestones. My DH went to Ghent which was enough walking for his knees so he didn’t venture into Antwerp after returning. 
 

 

Unfortunately Brugge is not on our itinerary. Tomorrow we will be in Nijmegen in place of Arnhem which is under construction. 

Yes, lots of cobblestone on the streets of the Netherlands and other parts of Europe.

 

You should be ok at Keukenhof as there are paths throughout the Garden.

[kazu]

7 hours ago, 1of4 said:

Well I got sidetracked in a major way when I fell after the safety briefing. So our trip no longer includes a trip to Vienna 😔 but we have rented a wheelchair so I can still go to Keukenhof Gardens on Tuesday. I’ll spare you the details but I am being well cared for and we can stay onboard for the week.

 

So sorry this has turned into a wheelchair cruise fo you, Gail.  Sadly they prohibit visiting a lot of places in Europe because of the cobble stones and irregular stones as I quickly discovered.  You don’t really think about it until you are dealing with one.

 

I am so glad you can get to Keukenhof gardens.  they are so beautiful and the chair should be maneuverable there.  

 

[albingirl]

Enjoying this review.  Thank you.!