Call us free on 0800 023 1273
Mobiles / International call 0203 371 7641
Part of the popular Space Ship series, Scenic Ruby is an upscale, luxury vessel with clean, modern lines and no-fuss contemporary décor. Most cabins feature "sun lounge" balconies that expand living space, let in light and may be used whatever the weather. Service, by a mostly Eastern-European staff that understands English, bordered on exceptional on our spring "Rhine Highlights" sailing. Did we mention each cabin comes with a butler?
Scenic is one of the most inclusive of all the river cruise lines, with tips, shore excursions, airport transfers and beverages all in the fare. Drinks come at meals, from an in-room mini-bar stocked daily, and from the ship's bar that opens at 9 a.m. and runs until the last passenger leaves in the wee hours. There's also free ship wide internet, electrically assisted bikes, handheld GPS devices for enhanced sightseeing -- and even one small load of laundry.
Scenic Ruby doesn't skimp on little luxuries, either, from L'Occitane amenities and fluffy robes in the sleek bathrooms to Valrhona chocolates on pillows. The only onboard fees are for massage or hair salon services, extra laundry and a handful of the highest-end liquors and fancy Champagne.
Considering the small kitchen space that we observed on an optional galley tour, the culinary team does a fine job turning out fare for multiple dining options served in two main public areas, the Crystal Dining Restaurant and the Panorama Lounge & Bar. Choices are wide-ranging and, in addition to German-themed food that complements the cruise itinerary, include such European touches as plentiful cheese trays and fish selections, plus some Asian, vegetarian and vegan fare.
Attention to special dietary needs is impressive, complete with a personal consultation, special highlighted menus and labelled items, such as lactose-free muesli and yogurt and gluten-free choices. The free state-of-the-art coffee machine in the lounge is a shipboard favourite, dispensing tasty self-serve drinks that keep passengers coming back, 24/7, for more. The large selection of teas is also popular.
A no-public-announcements policy makes for a more relaxed cruise. Passengers stay abreast of goings-on via in-room TVs and big screens in the lounge. A long, open room with windows on both sides, the lounge is the heart of the ship, abuzz with activity day and night. Public spaces and cabins, meanwhile, are kept immaculately clean.
Shore excursions range from city, castle and vineyard tours to e-bike outings. A cruise highlight for us and many other passengers was a complimentary evening vocal concert, reached via coach, in a baroque palace in Rastatt, Germany.
Scenic Ruby is pretty informal (you definitely don't need a ballgown or tux!) but you'll want long pants in the dining room and a few dressier outfits for dinner. Ladies, think slacks or skirt and a nice top or a casual dress; men, a pair of khakis or dress pants and a button-down shirt or sports coat/jacket (tie is optional). For tours, comfortable clothes and walking shoes are a must as many European towns have cobblestone streets.
Nearly everything is included in the cruise fare: all shore excursions, airport transfers, Wi-Fi (in-cabin and out), meals and all but the highest-end drinks, plus the cabin mini-bar that is stocked daily. Perhaps best of all, there's no pressure to tip on Scenic Ruby (or other Scenic ships) -- no envelopes or constant tipping reminders as on some other cruises. While tips are not expected, they're appreciated, of course, by crew members, who were almost universally pleasant on our spring "Rhine Highlights cruise," where the ratio of crew to passengers was 53 to 167. Several passengers we talked to credited the lack of pressure surrounding tipping with boosting Scenic Ruby's relaxation factor.
The only onboard fees are for massage, hair salon or extra laundry services, and a handful of ultra-premium liquors and fancy Champagne. The euro is the shipboard currency.
Passengers sip pre-dinner cocktails nightly in the Panorama Lounge & Bar as the cruise director, details the next day's tour options and itineraries. And while there's little time for extra activities on the eight-day "Rhine Highlights" cruise, a popular event is the German-themed barbecue, with beer, brats and other local fare served on the Sun Deck, weather permitting.
The hands-down passenger favourite is the afternoon spent cruising past more than three dozen castles along the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Whether gathered outside on the Sun Deck, Riverview Terrace or Panorama Deck or inside in the lounge or their stateroom, passengers ooh and ahh and snap photos galore. To learn more, some pull out their handheld, ship-issued GPS device, following its map and listening to commentary as the fairy-tale-like castles and other sites come within range.
Shore Excursions
Scenic Ruby offers an attractive mix of shore excursions, all included, such as cruising the canals of Amsterdam, riding a cable car in Rüdesheim, touring medieval churches and castles, and exploring historic cities and vineyards. In most ports, there are guided city tours by foot or coach, with some opportunities for e-bike outings. Typically led by experienced, English-speaking local guides, most of the shore tours are half-day or longer and are planned to accommodate shipboard meals. Guides communicate with passengers via headset using the cruise line's Scenic Tailormade GPS device whose virtual maps and commentary enhance independent exploring. Tour reservations can be made in advance. The ship typically offers a less strenuous tour option for passengers with mild mobility issues.
Daytime and Evening Entertainment
Activities on Scenic Ruby are generally low-key, centring around nightly piano entertainment in the lounge, guest musicians from various ports, dancing (including one night when crew supervisors join in) and a trivia contest with prizes on the last night.
Local musicians were brought aboard to entertain with typical regional music on three different occasions during our eight-day cruise. Scenic Ruby's main enrichment activity was an after-dinner outing to Rastatt Palace where first-rate vocalists were accompanied by a pianist playing classical music.
Panorama Lounge & Bar (Deck 3): This is Scenic Ruby's heart, an open and airy spot where passengers come throughout the day to read, chat, play cards or enjoy beverages, whether from the popular do-it-yourself coffee machine or tea service at one end of the room or the wide selection of local beer, wine and cocktails from the pretty marble bar in the centre. Long and narrow with lots of windows, comfy couches and chairs, the lounge typically is busiest around cocktail hour when passengers gather to hear the cruise director's port talk. Treats are available at the River Café snack station (6 a.m. to 6 p.m.), including sandwiches, ice cream, cheesecake or other desserts. One night, after returning by coach from a concert in a German palace, passengers were greeted in the lounge with a late-night snack of spicy goulash. Daily cocktails, including a non-alcoholic drink and a "Martini of the Day," are popular choices among a wide variety of first-rate options at the bar. The only beverages not free are a handful of ultra-high-end liquors and Champagne.
With umbrellas and canvas roofs for sun protection, Scenic Ruby's top-deck Sun Deck is the perfect spot to sit, beverage in hand, and watch Europe's many riverside castles and cathedrals slip past. Servers circulate with drinks. For those who get antsy, there's a small walking track, just over 11 laps per mile (7 laps per kilometre). The ship's fleet of some two-dozen e-bikes is popular with active-minded passengers when the ship is in port. And on the Panorama Deck, protected from the elements at the bow of the ship, passengers settle into comfortable chairs to view the river scenery, play games, read, sip drinks and snack --- or just take a nap.
A sleek reception and concierge counter at midship, en route to the Panorama Lounge, is the place to go for tour registration and information, limited currency exchange and other services. A small area across from the counter displays a daily alternating selection of jewellery, scarves, local and luxury items. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the ship. Crew members dispense bottled water, sparkling or still, each time passengers leave the ship for tours. For security purposes and to ensure everyone is accounted for before the ship sails, guests must scan their personal bar-coded key-tag every time they disembark and re-enter Scenic Ruby.
A small hair salon/massage studio with limited hours currently handles guest beauty needs. Passengers should make appointments early to avoid disappointment.
There's a small walking track on the Sun Deck. The ship also maintains about two-dozen electric bikes (and helmets) available for active passengers to use ashore. Depending on the crowd, the bikes can be very popular so be sure to reserve in advance.
The kitchen takes great pains to accommodate special dietary needs, starting from day one when individuals are invited to discuss their concerns with the culinary team. Following the consultation, special menus are prepared daily throughout the cruise and choices are labelled and highlighted; special diets, covering issues ranging from shellfish, gluten and lactose allergies to vegan requirements, are requested by between 5 and 10 percent of the passengers on each cruise.
Crystal Dining Room: Most meals are served in the Crystal Dining Room, a long contemporary-style space with windows along the sides and a rectangular buffet, used at breakfast and lunchtime, in the middle. Dining is always open-seating with breakfast served from 7 to 9 a.m., and lunch starting between 12:30 and 1:30 p.m., depending on the day's itinerary and sailing schedule. Dinner usually starts at 7 p.m.
Breakfast and lunch are mainly buffets with the option of ordering hot dishes from the menu.
Breakfast buffets are a typical hearty European breakfast spread: yogurt, fruit, meats, cheeses, eggs, cereals, smoked fish, pickled herring, baked beans, breads, pastries and more. The kitchen also offers an intriguing selection of smoothies for both breakfast and lunch, including carrot, grape and watermelon.
Lunch features an array of salads -- lettuce, bean, mushroom, tomato, egg, etc. -- with lots of veggies, nuts, seeds and other toppings, along with two daily soups, three main courses, and regional fare such as sausage and sauerkraut, a Swiss-style noodle casserole, roasted pork loin, grilled fish and spaetzle. There's even an Asian option such as fried Thai noodles. For dessert? Ice cream, cobblers, fruit, mousse and, always, a cheese plate.
Alternate choices, including Caesar salad, salmon steak, chicken breast and steak filet with baked potato, may be ordered during any lunch or dinner. And there are vegan/vegetarian options at all meals.
Dinner typically is a four-course affair with a starter, soup, main course and dessert. Each menu includes suggestions for the chef's "Treat of the Day" and a "Healthy Choice."
One "treat" dinner menu included a bacon onion tart with a chervil sauce, cream of garlic soup, veal strips with buttered snow peas and potato rösti, and crème brûlée with red wine plums.
And here's an example of a four-course healthy menu: roasted heirloom beets with horseradish and apple vinaigrette; fennel essence with saffron, cherry tomatoes and mustard cress; and a main course filet of cod with seasonal vegetables and steamed rice, plus a choice of ice cream, fruit or cheese for dessert.
Selected wines, all complimentary, accompany each meal and diners may order other vintages, beer or soft drinks as well.
Portobello's: To mix things up, all passengers are invited once per cruise to this Italian-themed fine dining restaurant on the Diamond Deck, behind the bar in the forward part of the main lounge. The menu for our leisurely portobello meal included such dishes as cream of rocket soup with tomato foam, seared sea bass with Italian salsa and thyme potatoes or, the table favourite, braised beef in Barolo jus with green pea mash and seasonal vegetables, all complemented with Italian wines and an after-dinner grappa. Dessert choices included classic tiramisu, panna cotta and an Italian cheese plate. The dinner was designed to be leisurely and romantic -- and it was.
Table La Rive: Once each cruise, passengers on the 300-level Diamond Deck are invited to an elegant dinner at Table La Rive, an executive chef's showcase presented at a special table for 10 in the Crystal Dining Room. The six-course gourmet meal is paired with six specially selected wines. Our menu included terrine of foie gras with red onion jam, salmon tartare and potato truffle cake; pumpkin soup; arborio risotto with mushrooms and a lobster medallion; slow-roasted filet mignon with red wine jus and béarnaise sauce; Roquefort cheese with pumpkin jam and roasted walnuts; and, for dessert, a raspberry mille-feuille crème anglaise. Passengers left feeling pampered and special.
River Café: Grab-and-go treats including sandwiches, ice cream, cheesecake or other desserts are available at the casual River Café snack station, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Located behind the bar, it serves light meals, snacks, beverages and desserts.
Sun Deck Barbecue: Weather permitting, passengers are treated to an old-fashioned barbecue on the Sun Deck once per week, starring everything from seafood to hamburgers and ribs or even a German-themed lunch.
Cabins are well-designed, compact but comfortable and efficient, with bedside outlets on both sides and plenty of storage space. That includes big closets with inside drawers, a mini-bar and a safe, plus room under the bed to store suitcases. A 32-inch HDTV is linked to a Mac mini-computer for internet access and itinerary information. The beds, done up in Egyptian linens, are very comfy.
The best feature in 70 of the ship's 84 staterooms, all on the 200- and 300-numbered decks, is an enclosed "sun lounge" balcony that expands the living area. It has an electric-powered window that lets river breezes into the cabin and is a great spot for private lounging and castle-spotting. Two cabins on the ship are barrier free/wheelchair accessible, and one cabin per sailing is a guaranteed single. All stateroom bathrooms are sleekly designed with large, walk-in showers, adequate storage space, a good hair dryer and L'Occitane toiletries.
Standard Staterooms: Located on the lower level Jewel Deck, these 14 cabins are 160 square feet, with a window but no balcony.
Balcony Suites: Located on the Sapphire and Diamond levels, these 205-square-feet accommodations are the most common, with glass-enclosed walk-in showers.
Junior Balcony Suites: These cabins are 250 square feet, with a larger bathroom and tub.
Royal Balcony Suites: Spanning 315 square feet, these true suites have a seating and lounge area separate from the bedroom, plus a bathtub in the bathroom.
Royal Panorama Suites: These two cabins, located at the rear of the Diamond Deck, are the ship's largest accommodations at 325 square feet each. With floor-to-ceiling windows across two walls of the cabin, they include seating, a lounge area and bathtub but are closer than other accommodations to the ship engines.
