Scenic Reviews 

Have just been informed that our fully paid Europe River Cruise for July 2023 has been brought forward by two days! With flights and other travel arrangements locked in, this means either missing the first day or two of an 8 night cruise or paying a large sum to change flights at the second busiest time of the year. Scenic have “generously” offered to pay just half the cost of the changed flights leaving me well out of pocket and with a very poor opinion of this travel company. Are they on a downward spiral with their treatment of customers?

I have been trying to contact them for several days to make changes to a booking. Wait times are anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour. They can’t answer questions and place you on hold. They have written and stated they would make contact on a day with an update and they don’t. This is beyond frustrating when you are charged a premium for the cruise. This companies customer service and engagement is nonexistent.

Very disappointed with the Grand Australia tour. (For UK guests on,
Poor communication beforehand, things are changed because Australia has not fully re-started (according to the Tour manager) and we have missed out on some things.
We’re very disappointed with this trip overall. It is not the luxury experience we’d expected. Very little is included once you’re on the tour, very few meals, slow porterage, very few trips/activities. With very few exceptions (Kangaroo Dundee, School of the Air and RFDS), it seems like the Free choices offered are almost the only trips. Lots of things require pre-booking independently and you need a good level of fitness to be able to join lots of the trips, as most need you to walk between 10-20 mins to join them, where you’ll be left in your own with people from other groups/independent travellers and be expected to find your way back to your hotel on you own.
It seems like Scenic are cutting back, and paring things down to the minimum. We’re not as busy as I’d expect to be, and things, so far, seem to be badly timed so we waste time and reduce our chances of getting the most out of this beautiful country. Again, lots of people grumbling and several first-time guests say this will be their last.
We’d booked to go on the Camel riding trip in Uluru. What we didn’t realise was that the camels are close to the resort. As the resort is 20km away, the view from the camels would be quite poor. I was able to swap to a dawn view of Uluru and had an informative morning, and a short walk. I could have taken the camel trek as we were back by 8.30. Apparently, camels cost 80AUD. Maybe that could have been thought about by Scenic.
Those who had chosen the camel ride had thought they would go very close to this iconic sight - the highlight of the tour and, whilst they enjoyed the ride, didn’t get close to the site. But they did get a chance to go in the bus in the afternoon to get almost as close as the trek and dawn group managed to get. Again, maybe this could have been explained properly.
The sunset experience was a disaster. No one arrived to set up our drinks and nibbles whilst we enjoyed the sunset. We were offered a drink with dinner to make up for it, but all felt this was insulting and we pushed for drinks with dinner (dinner is around 89AUD pp). It was insulting as Scenic say they offer unique experiences… and we stood by groups which included tours by Saga who thoroughly enjoyed the copious bottles of champagne brought by the same hotel group who were supposed to be organising our own celebration, and laughed at our discomfort. We certainly felt like the poor relations, despite paying over £2k pp more.

In Alice Springs, Brownie’s bus always had lots of water - but we were otherwise expected to buy our own throughout the tour. Brownie was a far better guide than our own - far more informative and pleasant to listen to.

Melbourne- Crowne Promenade
Excellent room. No complementary bottles or water jugs in room. Fridge was full of products to buy (small bottle of water 5AUD). Coffee was decent, but tray not replenished. Nice dressing gown. TV dreadful - movies were all pay to view. Good breakfast.
But - only given one free choice activity plus the Promenade dining. Don’t do Yarra River cruise as a free choice - it’s easy to do from the hotel during the free day. People loved the Penguin trip and I deeply regret missing it. To do the cruise independently, it would cost around 59AUS, whereas the trip to see the islands is much longer, is more difficult to do independently, and costs around 179AUD. The tour manager walked us down to the trips, but we had to make our own way back.
Promenade dining - there’s a 95AUD allowance, which is almost impossible to dine without paying an additional amount.
Cost cutting seems to reign supreme . No transfers are made for almost any of the trips (fine if you can walk 15- 20 mins easily) and find your own way back. We are not given tours of any of the places early on, so we can’t see much without finding out for ourselves. In far too many places, we miss so much because we’re not given a free walking tour or bus tour. In Melbourne, we had to pay an extra 60 or so AUD for a walking tour in the free day. This is not what we expected.
Very few meals are included, and there seems to be problems booking places for restaurants.
Descriptions of free choice trips aren’t always accurate. I do think Scenic could make a note about how long they last, the approximate start and end times, and if some options are easy to arrange for free time. It seems as if Scenic have cut back on activities and guests have to do a lot more for themselves (at extra cost). Now, this isn’t a problem for some, but others budget carefully to experience luxury for a few weeks of the year, and might not expect large additional expenses once on the trip.
Many won’t go with Scenic again.

We have not yet made it to the cruise. That’ll be in May 2023.

Scenic took our deposit and were great to deal with. That’s where the good experience to date ended.

We are doing other things while in Europe and need to make arrangements now. We need Scenic advice on flights for the cruise before we can make arrangements.

I have called Scenic a number of times and waited at least an hour without being answered. I have tried their webchat, as suggested while waiting on the phone. No one is there to chat to. I have emailed a number of times and been advised that they are busy and will get back in 2-3 working days. Three weeks later I have heard nothing.

We received a letter from their CEO explaining that Scenic has encountered problems in recent times. He apologised and promised things are improving. Clearly this is rubbish.

Do not deal with this company. They do not offer 5 star experiences. It is impossible to contact anyone, phones and emails are not answered. Even a personal letter sent by recorded delivery to the chief executive has not been acknowledged.
During our recent Danube cruise due to low water levels it was necessary to change ships. Unfortunately when we arrived on the second ship we found that we had been allocated a cabin of a lower grade. No one had the courtesy to advise us of this change and when we complained to the cruise director we were told that we would have to take the matter up with our travel agent when we returned home.

Cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest change boats 3 times because of this I missed the part I really wanted to see the Rine valley,we spent 5hours on a coach then another 4hour further down the river.

I have a major concern I would like to bring to your attention.
My partner & I conducted a RAT test (which was negative) prior to departing Darwin on 20 June, on a Scenic Tour of Top End & Kimberley.
Unfortunately, my partner was COVID positive by a RAT test when we reached Mercure Kakadu Crocodile Hotel on 22/6.
Once we advised the Tour Director, Mark of our circumstances he told a web of lies to everyone.
1). He told Management of the hotel that we had a family emergency and were leaving the tour to return home.
2). He told the remaining passengers on the bus, that we were leaving the tour because of a family emergency.
3). They then proceeded through NT & WA, with the indigenous communities being put at risk because I believe my partner caught COVID from someone on the bus.
I have followed up with Scenic that they have complete disregard for everyone with these lies they are happy to tell.
My concern is the fact when we left our room at the Mercure Crocodile Hotel, two young men then went inside to clean the room.
We then sat in the hotels reception waiting for a lift back to Darwin for flight home as we were unable to get suitable accommodation to isolate.
I’m angry that a “so called” reputable company can get away with these lies when we were completely honest.
I believe you should be aware of this indiscretion by Scenic Tours.

we booked a river cruise to Vietnam/Cambodia for September 2020. Evergreen cancelled our trip due to the China virus and although presenting medical documentation to state we can not take the vaccine, Evergreen/Scenic are refusing to refund the monies we paid for this trip. Very poor Evergreen/Scenic..(Booking Ref. 670928). , Section 5. Cancellation, delays and changes to Your Itinerary. It clearly states at para 5.4 if Evergreen Tours (i.e.. Scenic Tours) delayed for more than 7 days FOR WHATEVER REASON, the customer may terminate the contract and has the option to request either a full refund or a credit towards future tours. Despite numerous attempts via email, Donna Willis (Guest and Corporate Affairs Manager) has FAILED to furnish a direct response to a number of questions I have put to her...

You never know more about a company than when something goes wrong. Covid hit, and Scenic put the walls up. Where customers who were cancelled (the company cancelled, not the paying public) have to fight protracted battles through consumer and tribunal systems to get a refund - which was stated in Scenic’s own Ts and Cs. Scenic have rejigged their Ts and Cs which manifestly favour themselves, and virtually remove all option of a refund. Surely this is in contravention of consumer law? If I order a product and the company doesn’t deliver, I’m entitled to a refund UNLESS it’s Scenic, in which my money is kept with them for a couple of years. They’re keen to tout their Australian origins, but the concept of mateship has passed them by. The battle to recoup our money costs time, money, and mental health. They couldn’t care less. They estimate up to 6 months to repay customers. However, the majority of customers paid them promptly, and if we’d said ‘we’ll get to it later’ they would have cancelled and kept our deposit. If they get customers in the future, I would: (joke! Would never use a company this unethical again) negotiate the Ts and Cs so it’s equitable. They cannot hold all the cards. Pay using a method you can obtain a chargeback with in the off-chance they cancel and you have to jump through hoops to get your money back. I’m bitter and poorer for dealing with them. Add insult to injury: comment on their social media, and they remove or hide it. Heaven forbid anyone should think they’re not amazing!

I understand that the company invokes disaster clauses to avoid giving refunds and then attempts to look like/to be good corporate citizens by offering credit vouchers. They claim those vouchers will be refunded if unused in December 2022. But the product we purchased (a Baltic Cruise) is not being offered again. We will be unable to use that voucher for the experience and know that right now. It’s a large amount of money to withhold.#600873