The make up of the passengers on Scenic Jewel for our cruise was 2 English (we are not Brits), 16 Canadians, 140 Aussies and only 6 of us from the US. Great fun, the Aussie take on life and humor was the icing on the cake of a wonderful cruise experience.

After reading other reviews and the professional review, I can assure folks that the Jewel had cured any staff training problems. They multitasked and worked hard and long hour very cheerfully. The ship's captain not only greeted us almost every time we returned from a shore excursion, but was seen helping the deck hands in setting the bicycles on shore before the ride. Patrick, the tour director was excellent, the best we have seen in over 30 cruises.

The ship itself was clean and well maintained. The balcony with the roll up windows is an excellent feature, Scenic cruises should be proud of the amenity. The breakfast buffet was excellent, including all the fixings for lox, bagels and cream cheese, except no bagels. The omelet cook was great made up for the lack of bagels. The soups were exquisite. The only real failure was the kitchen's attempt at weiner schnitzel, based on my 4 1/2 years of living in Germany, this wasn't close. Everything else was very good to excellent. The speciality restaurant Porto Bello was a real treat. Read more