Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours is a privately held Cruise Line and Touring Company, established by Australian businessman Glen Moroney in 1986. The company opened its first United Kingdom office in 2007, its headquarters in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Scenic's inaugural European river cruise occurred in 2008 with the debut of its first river ship, "Scenic Sapphire". As of January 2024, Scenic operates 15 river cruise ships, providing services in Europe and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, and previously including Russia. On August 15, Scenic introduced its first purpose-built ocean

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

, '' Scenic Eclipse'', which operates in the Americas, Europe, the Arctic,

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, and the Norwegian

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

s. In April 2023, Scenic launched Scenic Eclipse II, a nearly identical sister ship.

History

Scenic was established by Glen Moroney in 1986. The company first offered river cruises in Europe in 2008 with the launch of Scenic Sapphire, followed by Scenic Emerald, Scenic Diamond, and Scenic Ruby in 2009. In 2012, Scenic launched the Scenic Tsar, which operated on the Moscow-St Petersburg route. In 2013, Scenic established Emerald Waterways as a lower-cost

river cruise A river cruise is a voyage along inland waterways, often stopping at multiple ports along the way. Since cities and towns often grew up around rivers, river cruise ships frequently dock in the center of cities and towns. Descriptions River d ...

line. In 2014, Scenic expanded its fleet with the addition of the 169-passenger ''Scenic Jade'', operating on the

River Danube The Danube ( ; see also other names) is the second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest south into the Black Sea. A large and historically important riv ...

, and the 126-passenger Scenic Gem, servicing the

River Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres p ...

. In 2016, Scenic launched several new ships: Scenic Azure for the

River Douro The Douro (, , , ; ; ) is the largest river of the Iberian Peninsula by discharge. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in the Spanish province of Soria, meanders briefly south, then flows generally west through the northern part of the Meseta ...

in Portugal; Scenic Amber for Europe's major rivers, and Scenic Aura and Scenic Spirit for the

Irrawaddy Irrawaddy or Ayeyarwady may refer to: *Irrawaddy River, the main river of Burma *Irrawaddy Delta, a rice growing region of the country *Irrawaddy, an alternative spelling of Ayeyarwady Region, an administrative division of Burma *''The Irrawaddy'' ...

and

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

rivers in Southeast Asia. In January 2016, Scenic announced plans to enter the ocean cruise market with the launch of ''Scenic Eclipse'', a 228-passenger ocean liner, which began service in August 2019. As of 2019, Scenic is redesigning 10 ships, including Scenic Diamond, Scenic Sapphire, Scenic Ruby, Scenic Pearl, Scenic Jasper, Scenic Opal, Scenic Amber, Scenic Crystal, Scenic Jade, and Scenic Jewel. In March 2022, Scenic suspended all Russian operations following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Cruises and destinations

Scenic operates on nine rivers, covering major rivers in Europe and Southeast Asia, and formerly the Volga in Russia. With the introduction of their ocean cruise ships, Scenic now also operates in Antarctica, the Arctic, the Americas, the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

, the

British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...

, and the

Norwegian Fjords This list of Norwegian fjords shows many of the fjords in Norway. In total, there are about 1,190 fjords in Norway and the Svalbard islands. The sortable list includes the lengths and locations of those fjords. Fjords See also

* List of ...

Current fleet

Expedition ship

References

{{reflist Cruise lines River cruise companies