THE SCENIC EMERALD: FROM VILSHOFEN TO BUDAPEST WITH SCENIC TOURS

In an earlier chapter, I mentioned that low summer rainfall can cause parts of the Rhine-Main-Danube river system to become unnavigable by river boats. When this happens, it may be necessary for passengers to disembark and travel by bus to the next navigable stretch of river where they should be able to resume their cruise on a different river boat. In our case, we were required to leave our Scenic Tours boat Scenic Ruby at Nuremberg on the Main River, and travel by bus to Vilshofen on the Danube. We received no warning from Scenic Tours prior to leaving Australia that this might happen.

Two aspects of the bus trip from Nuremberg to Vilshofen stand out in my memory. The road surface of the highway was so bad that I felt obliged to take my camera down from the overhead rack and hang it around my neck to give it some protection from the jarring shocks from the numerous holes in the road. I would expect bad roads in parts of Africa or South America but I was surprised to find them in Germany. The second aspect was even more disturbing. Several of the passengers on our airconditioned bus were coughing throughout the journey, and I knew from sad experience that nasty viruses can spread quickly among passengers sharing an airconditioned bus over an extended period of time. My apprehension was well founded. Before we reached Budapest, it appeared that at least half the passengers on our boat Scenic Emerald were suffering from a nasty virus somewhere between influenza and a heavy cold.

At Vilshofen, we embarked on Scenic Emerald to complete the cruise to Budapest. Externally, there was little to distinguish Scenic Emerald from her sister boat Scenic Ruby that we had left at Nuremberg.

Our impressions of the Scenic Emerald

Externally, there was little to distinguish Scenic Emerald from her sister boat Scenic Ruby, but in
passenger comfort and service, Scenic Emerald fell a long way below the standards set by Scenic Ruby.

We were greeted by the crew of Scenic Emerald when we boarded, and were escorted to our Royal Suite with the same cabin number R316 that had been ours on Scenic Ruby. It was almost identical in appearance to the Royal Suite that we had occupied on Scenic Ruby. It was also much smaller than the Royal Suite had appeared in the artist's illustration in the Scenic Tours brochure that had persuaded us to pay for a Royal Suite. We would later find that the adjoining Royal Suite 314 was larger than ours and matched the artist's illustration in the brochure.

Facilities and staff services on the Scenic Emerald could not match those on the Scenic Ruby.

A stained and damaged window curtain in our Royal Suite immediately suggested that housekeeping standards on the Emerald would not match the those on the Ruby. Our Royal Suite on the Scenic Ruby was equipped with a laptop computer for our personal use. There was no laptop computer in our stateroom on the Emerald. We found that we would have to wait our turn to borrow one from reception. Speaking of reception, we had been very impressed by the friendly and helpful reception staff on Scenic Ruby. One female member of the reception staff on the Scenic Emerald was invariably surly and unhelpful.

Noise and vibration can be a problem for those in cabins close to the motors on river boats and we had found no problem with noise or vibration on Scenic Ruby. On Scenic Emerald,motor sourced noise and vibration was much more intrusive despite the fact that our stateroom was located near the centre of the boat.

As mentioned earlier, cabins on Rhine/Danube river boats can become very hot during the European summer unless the boat is equipped with efficient air conditioning. When booking our river cruise we chose a stateroom on the port or left side because we believed that side would be facing the cooler northern aspect when travelling east along the Danube. We thought this choice would provide us with a shaded balcony and a cooler stateroom on hot summer afternoons and nights. However, our planning was defeated on the Danube when the captain of Scenic Emerald invariably turned the boat 180 degrees at each stop so that the bow faced upriver. This left our port side cabin always facing the full blast of the afternoon summer sun from the South. The Scenic Emerald lacked efficient air conditioning. Scenic Tours brochures speak of "climate control" on their river boats rather than air conditioning which may explain why there was no means of adjusting temperature levels in a our stateroom. Even leaving the door of our stateroom open to the public hall did not provide any relief from the heat. Conditions in our Royal Suite would become so oppressive on a hot afternoon that we were forced out of our cabin to seek refuge in the cooler public lounge and bar. Perhaps inefficient air cooling is a characteristic of Scenic Tours river boats, and designed to drive passengers to the public bar to spend money on cool drinks. I have never noticed any similar problem on large ocean liners.

Inadequate sound dampening in the Scenic Emerald dining room made conversation difficult, and it was worse in the centre tables. The dining room service in Scenic Emerald left a lot to be desired. The waiters were very friendly and helpful but the Maitre d' appeared to be visually challenged. While other tables were eating their first course and enjoying their wine, we sometimes found our table of eight persons completely ignored. Attempts to catch the eye of the Maitre d' as he strode between the tables with his eyes fixed to the front invariably failed, and it was usually necessary to stand up and confront him to get service. Perhaps we had been spolit by Petra, the attentive and efficient female Maitre d' on the Scenic Ruby.

As happened with the shower on Scenic Ruby, our shower on Scenic Emerald leaked water on to the bathroom floor, and again, this could not be fixed by the crew. Our maid provided extra towels each day to soak up the leaked shower water.

As if determined to leave passengers with bad impressions of Scenic Emerald, we were directed to vacate our cabins by 8.45 am when leaving the boat at Budapest. I am wondering why Scenic Tours declines to allow the more civilised departure time of 10.00 am that normally applies to hotel departures? We went to breakfast at 7.30 am with our bags almost completely packed. We returned to our stateroom at 8.00 am to find the maid at work cleaning it and our luggage all piled on the bed. We were told that we now had to vacate our stateroom by 8.15 am and wait in the lounge with our luggage until 10.00 am for our transport to the airport.

I feel that the captain and hotel manager of the Scenic Emerald at the time of our travel in August/September 2009 need counselling from and supervision by Scenic Tours management. The standards of service and comfort provided to passengers on Scenic Emerald fell a long way below the very high standards set by Scenic Ruby. I have earlier mentioned the shortcomings of our cruise director Marianne. Although we had previously been highly impressed by Scenic Tours, and had recommended that company to friends, our experience at Paris and on the river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest has left us in two minds whether we should continue to recommend that travel company.

I rate passenger service and comfort levels on the Scenic Emerald at:

On Tuesday September 1, we were offered a bus trip back to see Regensberg which we had missed because of our forced relocation as passengers from Scenic Ruby at Nuremberg on the Main River to Scenic Emerald at Vilshofen on the Danube River. We did not find the prospect of a long return bus trip to Regenberg inviting. We had spent most of the previous day on a bus touring the unremarkable city of Nuremberg and travelling from that city to Vilshofen. We decided to spend the morning exploring the small town of Vilshofen where Scenic Emerald was docked.

Vilshofen on the Danube

Although visually interesting, Vilshofen lacked the picturesque medieval buildings that had been such attractive features of Miltenberg, Rothenberg, and Bamberg. The commercial heart of Vilshofen can be found in the one street pictured below.

The very small town of Vilshofen on the Danube has only one main street as pictured above.

After one hour exploring Vilshofen, we returned to Scenic Emerald for lunch.

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