We sailed with Scenic on the South of France itinerary departing April 29 2017. We chose Scenic because in Australia they have an impressive reputation. The boat was quite nice and our cabin on level 2 had a very large balcony which did seem to increase the room size. This was my husband and my first river cruise although I had personally cruised twice before on the ocean.

On the second day of our cruise, my husband returned to the Sapphire and was questioned by the Cruise director Sonja, who quite rudely enquired as to who he was saying “who are you” and that she had not seen him before. When he tried to explain he was a guest on the ship, she reacted suspiciously and followed him around from the lounge area. This was very embarrassing for my husband and we were shocked at the lack of manners and professionalism shown by the Cruise Director Sonja. After that experience we were hoping to forget and move on but unfortunately it was just the start of a very ordinary experience on Scenic Sapphire.

We found the service very disappointing, in particular, the dinner and lunch service. We had experiences that were not anywhere near 5 star which is what Scenic sells itself as. The staff were friendly enough, but had not been trained in how to be a waiter, butler, concierge etc etc. When we were having dinner in the Sapphire dining room I asked the waiter to bring iced water for the table and he brought back two glasses of ice. On another occasion, the waiters had brought out our entrée to serve us and had not cleared our previous course, therefore they had to put our entree's down on the buffet area while they quickly removed out soup bowls. Another time my husband accidentally dropped his drink while port talk was on, and his drink was not replaced. We felt we had to chase the waiters for a drink at the buffet lunch and at dinner at times and once was given our appetiser at the same time as our entrée. In addition, the service was very slow to get a drink, at port talk which was facilitated daily at the Sapphire lounge. The first day the guests had to line up at the bar to even get a drink! Read more