Scenic specialises in six-star ultra-luxury, with all the decadence, comfort, and opulence you would expect. Immersive shore excursions, fine dining, boundary-pushing boats, exquisite and personal service, and some of the best food being served on water, Scenic has become a benchmark for what it means to see the world. This article looks at what makes this cruise line so wonderful...

I just returned from three days on board the ultimate expedition cruise ship: Scenic Eclipse. My colleague Emma and I joined the Western Europe Discovery voyage which was sailing from Lisbon to Bergen – however we just sampled a snippet of the journey and embarked in Fowey, Cornwall, and disembarked in Amsterdam three days later.

Our journey to Porto had not been without its stresses, with confusion surrounding testing and Portuguese entry requirements, but thankfully the team at Panache had come up trumps giving us sound advice and double checking that we would arrive with all our paperwork in place. Despite the pre-travel concerns the actual travel to Porto was relatively easy and apart from a couple of checks at check-in and an extra form to show at passport control it really was no different to travel pre-pandemic.

If you haven’t tried a River cruise before, why not give it a go? I would highly recommend this to anybody of any age. There are so many options of itineraries, ranging from magical Christmas Markets, to the beautiful Danube or The Rhine, or one of my personal favourites the stunning Douro!