Scenic (formerly Scenic Tours)
The History of Scenic Tours
In 1987, Australian entrepreneur Glen Moroney founded Scenic Tours, a company that got its start offering coach trips to the Australian coast. Initially, Scenic Tours marketed its product to residents of Melbourne but soon realized that its guests would travel further with them.
During the next two decades, Scenic Tours continued to grow and expand, earning accolades from travelers around the world for quality and service, not to mention Scenic’s rapidly diversifying array of tour packages.
In 2008, Scenic Tours expanded once again, this time jumping into the river cruise market with the launch of the trademark Scenic “Space Ships.”
On April 13, 2015, Scenic Tours officially changed its name to Scenic.
In 2016, Scenic announced plans to construct its first luxury oceangoing expedition ship, Scenic Eclipse. The ship, which is set to debut in 2018, will feature its very own submersible craft and two onboard helicopters. Scenic intends to deploy her to Antarctica and the Far Arctic, as well as destinations in between. When she enters service on August 31, 2018, she will embark on a series of Mediterranean cruises throughout Europe before launching discovery sailings to the Americas and Antarctica. Voyages to the Norwegian fjords and the Far Arctic are also on-tap.
The Scenic Fleet
Built between 2008 and 2012, there were six original “Space Ships” in the Scenic fleet: Scenic Sapphire, Scenic Emerald, Scenic Diamond, Scenic Ruby, Scenic Pearl and the Scenic Crystal.
These river cruise vessels are the first to be owned and operated by an Australian company. Each Space Ship features full step-out balconies in place of the French balcony staterooms that have characterized the majority of river cruise ships in the past. A full 80 percent of all staterooms aboard each Scenic Space Ship are equipped as such, while the remaining 20 percent of accommodations are made up of comfortable, 160-square foot Oceanview staterooms with large windows.
Scenic continued its fleet expansion beyond 2012. In 2013 the Scenic Jewel was christened. Two new “space ships” were added in 2014 – Scenic Gem and Scenic Jade. In 2015, Scenic welcomed the Scenic Jasper and Scenic Opal, and 2016 saw the line take delivery of three new ships: Scenic Aura on the Irrawaddy, Scenic Azure , on Portugal’s Douro River, and Scenic Spirit on the Mekong. Scenic Amber entered service in 2016 on the waterways of Europe.
Thoughtful extras are also featured at many accommodation levels aboard Scenic’s Space Ships. Complimentary butler service is offered on all Balcony Suites, along with complimentary shoe shine service and laundry at no charge. Breakfast, lunch and dinner can be ordered in-room, a rarity among river cruise ships, many of which offer no room service of any kind.
These and many other features are just a few of the ways Scenic aims to distinguish itself from the pack.
Scenic Destinations
Currently, Scenic offers river cruises that explore all the waterways of Europe, from the natural splendor of the Netherlands to the raw, untouched beauty of the Black Sea. Scenic also sails to Cambodia and Myanmar on the Mekong, and to Myanmar (Burma) along the Irrawaddy River. In the past, the line has also offered journeys along Russia‘s Volga River.
For a comprehensive overview of all that Scenic offers, see Ralph Grizzle’s May 2015 Live Voyage Report aboard Scenic Jasper.
Our Take On Scenic
Scenic strives to be the most inclusive of all river cruise companies. So naturally gratuities and 24/7 bar is included, but also laundry service and nearly everything else you can think of. The ships are beautiful with gorgeous staterooms. There are also multiple dining venues. See In Bordeaux, The Exceptional All-Inclusiveness Of Scenic River Cruises
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Hello this is Leo Harry . We are running a tour and travel agency . Do You know that We travel not to go anywhere, but to go. We travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.
I believe that Scenic river cruises are overpriced and certainly not 5 star. Food is reasonable but not special. Cabins are not up to the standard of other river cruise lines but the enclosed balconies are attractive. The so-called limousine did not arrive to take a couple to the airport and customer relations refused to compensate. The crew were delightful.
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We are nearing 80 and have recently travelled with Scenic on their new Scenic Spirit from Siem Reap to Saigon. I have been involved in travel promotion and have also travelled extensively round the globe. This trip was extraordinary.and I could not give it enough stars. Everything about Scenic’s management was absolutely superb The staff/crew were the best I have ever experienced anywhere in the world. From the onboard Cruise Director, Paula to the butler Bunwat and all in between including the Chef were absolutely extraordinary. The land Director Mao and his crew were equally good.
Altogether it was a glorious experience. I hope someone will pass this on to Scenic’s founder Glen Moroney and congratulate him on the brand he has built.
Thanks for sharing this Michael. Glad to hear of such a positive experience.
We have just completed a Scenic Black Sea to North Sea cruise that lasted a month and we had the most wonderful time. The staff were all excellent,the food was first class and the off boat excursions were good. Although it was expensive the all inclusive meant it was value for money as we had no extras to pay at the end of the cruise
It is nice to hear this from your perspective. It’s something we emphasize on our site, the all-inclusive nature of Scenic. Glad you had such a wonderful experience.
Was this on rivers or the ocean/sea?
My wife and I were on the Scenic Crystal in June 2014, Budapest to Amsterdam. We had the most amazing time. No issues with staff, room or food. Everything was more than we expected. Had only 2 wet days on the cruise. We are cruising again next year with Scenic. Cannot wait.
Thanks very much for sharing. Glad you enjoyed Scenic. We do too.
Be very careful about sailing on Scenic. We have been on 5 different riverboat companies and decided to try Scenic.
We spent $20,000 on our trip and the food and service was horrible. We do not ever want to see someone ripped off like we were. We were on the Sapphire in Oct 2013. Many of our fellow passengers were very unhappy, including a travel agent who booked 16 rooms. Do not risk a bad vacation with horrible pre-cooked food and service by third world
waiters on Scenic. This is our honest opinion.
We are on a Scenic cruise right now and what you are saying is complete crap! The food is wonderful and the service is superb.
I have heard from many people that it depends on the ship. We and many others from Canada and England had a horrible trip. They had been on other Scenic riverboats that were good, but our trip was truly horrible. Glad you are having a good trip. Others have emailed me to tell me that they had a truly horrible time as we did.
My agent will never book them again, and is telling everyone all the details that we experienced.