Cruise
Cruising Through the Heart of Europe
In comfort and style aboard the Scenic Opal
by Randy Mink
I can’t think of a more relaxing way of seeing Europe than cruising in luxury along its great rivers. Unlike a multi-country bus tour or train journey, you unpack just once, as your ship is home sweet home for the week. And as these sleek white vessels often dock in the center of town, the tourist highlights lie just steps from the gangway.
My most recent magic-carpet ride to adventure was “Charming Castles & Vineyards of the Rhine and Moselle,” a seven-night trip filled with shore excursions in southwestern Germany, northeastern France and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Delivering us to these enchanting places was the 163-passenger Scenic Opal, one of 12 ships in the Europe fleet of Scenic, an Australian-owned cruise line geared to English-speaking guests. (A full report on the Rhine/Moselle itinerary, which began in Mainz, Germany, and ended in Basel, Switzerland, will appear in the magazine’s fall issue.)
The Scenic Difference
At first glance, most river ships in Europe seem to offer a similar product, but Scenic stands out in two ways. First, guests have a little more elbow room, as the vessels offer a higher-than-usual passenger-to-space ratio. Whereas many ships of the same size take on 180 or more passengers, Scenic’s four-deck floating hotels carry 163 guests maximum. (Our sailing counted 129 passengers, including 53 Americans, 27 Canadians, 37 British, nine Australians and a smattering of other nationalities.) The Scenic Opal and sister ships Scenic Amber and Scenic Jasper were built in 2015/2016 and refurbished in 2019.
Floor-to-ceiling windows in both public areas and most staterooms, moreover, give the feeling of added space. All cabins on the Sapphire and Diamond (second and third) decks feature a full-length, enclosed balcony with two padded wicker chairs, a table and a wide horizontal window that glides up or down at the push of a button. A curtain and a glass door can be used to close off the bedroom from the peaceful nook, called a Scenic Sun Lounge. For this sense of extra space, Scenic ships are marketed as “Space-Ships” (not because they’re futuristic-looking). Smaller staterooms on the less-populated lower deck, the Jewel Deck, have a large picture window but no balcony.
The other chief takeaway about Scenic is the all-inclusive price. You never have to take out your wallet and won’t even be asked for a credit card at check-in. The cruise fare includes not only gratuities, airport and hotel transfers, laundry service once per cruise, shore excursions and multiple dining options but also unlimited complimentary beverages (soda, beer, wine, cocktails, spirits) all day, not just with meals. You don’t even need to worry about using your room’s mini-bar—just help yourself to free drinks and snacks when the mood strikes. Treats in my cabin included Pringles chips and a favorite of mine—Manner cocoa-flavored hazelnut-creme wafers from Vienna. The refrigerator, replenished daily, was stocked with everything from Coke, beer and juices to German wines and miniature bottles of rum, gin and whiskey.
Food, Glorious Food
In the Crystal Dining Room, I always tried to get a window table so as to look out on the sloping vineyards and fairy-tale towns flanking the Rhine and Moselle rivers. The daily breakfast buffet featured a million different items—well, at least 100 anyway—and even offered chilled Champagne. There were bagels and artisan breads, yogurts and fruits of all kinds, and hot-off-the griddle pancakes or waffles, not to mention made-to-order omelets. The Brits and Australians appreciated the baked beans, porridge, English bacon, and grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. One morning we had bread-and-butter pudding.
The breakfast buffet also offered cheeses, cold cuts and smoked fish (herring, rollmops, halibut, salmon). What’s more, we could order from a menu that featured lamb chops, French toast and perfectly done, oh-so-decadent eggs Benedict.
Lunch also was a smorgasbord. I really enjoyed the German buffet, a special meal that put an exclamation point on our morning transit through the castle-studded Rhine Gorge and got us in a jolly mood for the tourist-thronged wine town of Rudesheim. The spread included three types of sausage—bratwurst, Kasekrainer (cheese-filled) and Weisswurst (white veal sausage)—and three mustards. There were sauerkraut, parsley potatoes and both bread and potato dumplings. Cheesy spaetzle, freshly tossed, was served hot from the pan. I didn’t have room for the fried chicken (Backhendl), pan-seared river trout in almond butter or even a morsel of the pork knuckle.
Recorded oom-pah band music lent a Munich beer hall vibe as I washed down traditional German foods with a tall glass of Erdinger Weissbier, a classic wheat brew. Dessert was Dampfnudel, a pillowy steamed dumpling filled with blueberries. Other lunch buffets usually featured at least one food representative of the region we were traveling through.
On King Charles III’s coronation day, the River Cafe, an area of the Opal Lounge that offers a daily lunch buffet, we had fish ’n’ chips while watching the ceremony on big-screen TVs. The lounge’s coffee and tea stations had scones with jam and clotted cream, another British touch.
The River Cafe, open during the day for sandwiches, salads, ice cream and pastries, is transformed each evening into Portobellos, a five-course Italian dining experience for which each guest receives a printed invitation once during the week. Table La Rive, a sophisticated chef’s table offered once a cruise to Diamond Deck and Junior Suite guests, stars innovative fare with wine matching in a small-group setting in the dining room.
Every night, the restaurant’s a la carte dinner menu gave us appetizer, main course and dessert choices. If we didn’t want one of the three entree selections, we could order a salmon steak, sirloin steak or chicken breast.
Rather eat in privacy on your balcony? An extensive room service menu is available from 6 a.m. to midnight.
On any cruise, I tend to overeat (don’t we all?), so every day I hit the walking track on the expansive Sun Deck, a breezy area with tables, chairs, loungers and a vitality pool. Happily for me, the track was lighted after dark. I recall one night making my rounds as floodlit Reichsburg Castle loomed beyond the storybook Moselle River town of Cochem, Germany, a magical moment indeed.
A Superlative Staff
Every evening we all gathered in the spacious lounge with cruise director Alex Thurein, who briefed us on the next day’s schedule. An affable German who was born in Wiesbaden and currently lives in Salzburg, Austria, he set the upbeat tone of the cruise. From Day 1 we knew we could go to Alex for travel advice or any problem. (On a personal note, I will be forever grateful to him for helping me contact credit card companies after a pickpocket incident during a shore excursion in Colmar, France.)
One morning Alex gave a brilliant presentation on “Germany and the Germans: A Brief Overview of 1,200 Years of Central European History.” Another day his topic was Europe’s rivers, canals and lock systems.
The Scenic Opal’s crew, 53 in all, represented 14 nationalities, from Thai and Indonesian to Serbian and Polish. Our captain was Hungarian. The women staffing the reception desk always had smiles and couldn’t wait to assist or answer a question.
Also smoothing the way was the stateroom’s TV, an encyclopedia of information and entertainment options. We could watch television shows (I mostly caught the live BBC newscasts), choose from a wide selection of movies and music, view the daily schedule and lounge presentations, and bone up on the ports of call. A keyboard even let us use the screen as a computer.
With high-tech gadgetry, an all-inclusive approach and plenty of space to unwind, Scenic has thought of everything to ensure a worry-free journey on the rivers of Europe.
