Scenic: the back story

About Scenic: the back story

By the ULTIMATE the world’s cruise lines Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Scenic began with tours along Australia’s Great Ocean Road, became a river-cruise company with its Space-Ships in Europe and on the Mekong, and in 2019 launched Scenic Eclipse, which it calls “The World’s First Discovery Yacht”. Her sister, Scenic Eclipse II, followed in 2023, and Scenic Ikon is due in April 2028.

From the Great Ocean Road

Scenic’s story, as the company tells it, begins with coach tours along Australia’s Great Ocean Road, growing by 1992 into luxury land journeys across Australia and New Zealand and then escorted tours worldwide. Almost four decades on, the guiding idea is the same: a truly all-inclusive trip in which, in Scenic’s words, everything is taken care of.

Space-Ships on the rivers

Scenic first chartered ships on Europe’s waterways, then built its own Space-Ships, with suites Scenic counts among the largest on Europe’s rivers and the Sun Lounge, which opens to the air at the touch of a button. Today they sail the Rhine, Main, Danube and Moselle, the Seine, the Rhône, Saône, Dordogne and Garonne, the Douro and, in Southeast Asia, the Mekong.

“The World’s First Discovery Yacht™”, in Scenic’s own words.

The Discovery Yachts

In 2019 Scenic launched Scenic Eclipse, a 228-guest ship (200 in Antarctica) shaped like a sailing yacht, and in 2023 her sister, Scenic Eclipse II. Both are all-suite, with butler service in every suite, a 550 m² Senses Spa and up to ten dining experiences, from Lumière’s modern French cooking to the Night Market at Koko’s.

Above and below

Each Eclipse carries two Airbus H130-T2 helicopters and a custom submersible, Scenic Neptune I or II, which takes up to eight guests and a pilot 100 metres down. In Antarctica the helicopters can fly you to Snow Hill Island, home, Scenic says, to one of only two significant emperor penguin colonies on the Antarctic Peninsula. Flights and dives cost extra and depend on permits, weather and ice; they do not run in every country.

Truly all-inclusive

Gratuities on board and ashore, premium drinks, airport transfers, Discovery and Freechoice excursions and Scenic Enrich events are all in the fare. Dress is casual by day and smart casual in the evening.

Our advice: for the polar regions, Eclipse is the ship to book if you want a helicopter seat, but reserve it as soon as booking opens. On the rivers, the Space-Ships on the Rhine and Danube are the classic first Scenic cruise; Scenic Azure on the Douro takes only 96 guests.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Scenic: the back story before you go.