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APT vs Scenic
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of APT and Scenic.The Low Down
Initially providing coach touring around Australia and NZ to the local market, APT have grown exponentially over the last decade to now offer trips around the world, and are well known for their European river cruises. Over the last few years APT have introduced small ship expeditions that cruise the waters through Asia, Europe, Canada and off the coast of Kimberley. Catering primarily for the retired market, their trips aren't cheap, but in APT's case - you get what you pay for. Look out for their great Fly Free offers, and Earlybird Savings. The team here at Global Journeys have travelled multiple times by coach, cruise & river with APT, and we definitely recommend them as a quality, consistent, reliable Operator, and our past client reviews back that up.
Scenic's 5 star luxury river cruises are well known and popular in Australia (not so much in NZ). Scenic were the first to introduce balconies on their Scenic Space-Ships, which many clients love, but this comes at a cost to interior cabin space. Like many of the other premium river cruise Operators, look out for their great Fly Free offers, and Earlybird Savings. All inclusive, with Freechoice activities that allow you to choose what you want to do in each port, Scenic also offer a range of luxury additions (like your own Butler) depending on the cabin type select. Launching in 2018 and with another ship in 2020, the Scenic Eclipse is Scenic's first foray into luxury all inclusive ocean cruising. From the Arctic to Antarctica and everywhere in between, these Discovery Yachts, are all inclusive with shore excursions involving Zodiacs, kayaks and e-bikes as well as the option (for an additional charge) to adventure out by helicopter and submarine!
Stats
No. of Trips
335
No. of Departures
1,328
Avg. Trip Length
15 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$671
Accommodation
4 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury
No. of Trips
704
No. of Departures
1,925
Avg. Trip Length
18 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$897
Accommodation
4 - 5 Star
Budget
Premium & Luxury
In Their Own Words
We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
APT is an Australian family-owned company whose essence began in Melbourne in the 1920s. More than 90 years on, APT offers life-enriching trips to every continent, and through the company’s vast industry experience, meticulous planning and unquestionable passion it's earned a place among the world’s most well-regarded travel companies.
From boutique river cruising to small-group 4WD adventures; traditional coach touring with a decadent twist; epic rail journeys to small-ship expeditions; classic ocean cruising to safaris of discovery by both land and air – there’s little APT are unwilling to consider in pursuit of creating the finest holiday experience for its valued guests.
Timeless luxury, exclusive experiences, life enriching moments and true personalisation. APT offers all-inclusive holidays so everything is taken care of. We invite you to join us; you won’t be disappointed.
Scenic is proudly an Australian founded company setting the global standard for all inclusive luxury travel. We have delighted guests for more than 36 years with memorable journeys to fascinating locations across the world, delivering unsurpassed excellence in service, product quality and exclusive experiences. The guest is at the heart of everything we do, as we strive to provide continual innovation to enhance the guest experience in luxury river cruising, land tours and our state of the art expedition ocean cruising with Scenic Eclipse.
The Scenic difference is the details, the unwavering commitment to anticipate our guests every need, from butler services, quality dining, wellness, Scenic Enrich and Scenic FreeChoice experiences. That is why so many of our past guests choose to travel with Scenic many times, to destinations around the globe with family and friends, trusting Scenic to create memories that will last a lifetime. We welcome you to enjoy the portfolio of Scenic luxury products and feel the difference of Scenic’s dedicated staff, who will look after you to the nth degree.
Recent Reviews
4.7
Amazing Christmas Markets and Magnificent Europe Tour with APT 1
Festive Christmas Markets with Magnificent Europe
Michael and Elise Smith , WA, Australia, Nov 2025
This is the 5th time we have used Hannah at Global Journeys for a travel booking, and it won’t be our last. She is responsive, efficient, and very easy to deal with. Same with APT. Luxury accommodation, great food, free-flowing drink and amazing staff. A well organised tour with excellent information provided by our Tour Director and Cruise Director read more which was outstanding. Excellent selection of Christmas markets for us to visit and there was something in the Christmas markets for everyone, be it hot food and drinks or any one of a thousand Christmas mementos or ornaments. Loved the Christmas markets in Venna, and we were very lucky with weather, no snow unfortunately but still a fantastic itinerary. Highly recommended. We have booked another APT adventure next year!
Another great trip where GJ's organisation took a lot of the complexity and hassle out of things. The local guides were truly awesome, and the Mekong Serenity is lovely.
We have just been on our 8th APT tour and they have delivered again. The itinerary was comprehensive without being over taxing, the accomodation was first class and well located, the meals diverse and generally above expectation and the organisation near perfect. Any such tour is dependant on the Tour Director and we had the best in Asami Komachi. Her read more passion for her country was evident and she never stopped working to make sure we enjoyed every aspect of our tour.
We’d also like to thank Tracey from Global Journeys for the work she did to organise our tour. We have given her some hard times over the Covid period and she always delivers in the most friendly way. We highly recommend her.
We’d also like to thank Tracey from Global Journeys for the work she did to organise our tour. We have given her some hard times over the Covid period and she always delivers in the most friendly way. We highly recommend her.
All I can say is WOW and what a wonderful experience my husband and I had on our 15 day APT River cruise that departed from Amsterdam on Friday 29th August 2025 and finished in Budapest. We traveled on the APT Solara and the service from both the bar and restaurant staff was first class and the food was always exceptional. All APT staff on board The read more Solara are to be commended for their exceptional service. We would like to also make a special mention of our fantastic Cruise Director Navena Robertova who went above and beyond to make sure all passengers had a great time both on board the boat and during our excursions which were fantastic. We met many wonderful people on this cruise which was so much fun. This APT European cruise was flawless and we recommend it to anyone who may be considering a river cruise.
Rachel McSorley at Global Journeys was very efficient. She followed up everything we asked of her, including early delivery of our APT bags. We had a fantastic time on tour with APT. Our guide, Basil, was wonderful, we couldn't have asked for anyone better.
We had a brilliant cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam on the new APT ship Ostara. The Global Journeys team of Grace, Hannah, Tracey & Georgie did an amazing job of booking the river cruise with APT and ironing out a few problems with accommodation. Once on our way, everything worked seamlessly, and we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise; great ship, crew, read more food, wine & a great selection of tours. Minor hiccup was the ship swop because of low water in the rivers, but even this was handled very well, and we ended up getting on the sister ship Solara! No problem at all. A big shout out for the cruise director Anya, who was absolutely brilliant. All in all, a fantastic trip, professionally organised by Global Journeys. Thanks again, Greg & Kerry.
4.6
Luxury Cruise around New Zealand 0
New Zealand Delights
Graham and Caroline, SA, Australia, Feb 2026
We had a wonderful time cruising around New Zealand on Scenic Eclipse 2. The staff and service were excellent, and the food in all the restaurants was very good. Captain Torry Sakkariassen was brilliant and very accommodating with his time. He was very happy to welcome and talk to all guests on the Bridge. We booked this cruise very late after it had read more been booked out and someone cancelled. We got Suite 702 which sits on its own next to the Bridge. We did wonder if it might be noisy with all the activity around the Bridge, but it was completely silent. We also thought it was slightly larger than the average Deluxe Veranda Suite. We would definitely book this suite again. The cruise ran seamlessly with smooth sailing other than a couple of rough nights sailing around the bottom of the South Island. Definitely take your sea sickness medication for this area. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed this cruise, and we will definitely cruise on Scenic Eclipse 2 again.
Exceptional Danube Tour Germany to Hungary 0
Danube Christmas Markets with Nuremberg
Maree, SA, Australia, Dec 2025
Our booking with Hannah at Global Journeys was seamless. There isn't a single thing I would've changed on our Danube Cruise with Scenic Waterways. We felt spoilt from the first day until the last. Just the right amount of free time and the tours were very good. We cruised in December & it was Christmas Market magic.
Hannah Campbell handled our enquiries very well as always. We are delighted that we are able to communicate with her whenever we need answers. We joined this trip with friends who were marking a significant date in their lives. Sadly one of them got very ill throughout and fortunately made it back to a hospital in his home town. As usual the ship was read more magnificent but the visits to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu islands were very much the same and the journey back from Fiji to Perth via plane changes in Sydney made it an exhausting end covering from 5am Friday Perth time to 02.am Perth time on Saturday. We would not contemplate a cruise of that nature again. However we will be looking forward to the other trips which we have arranged for the next year or so. The overall rating below relates only to the time at sea, the quality of the visits and the travel time to get home.
I enjoyed our voyage up tte Mekong River in October (25th onwards). The weather was perfect, the Scenic boat sensational and we had no hints of issues. I really have nothing to say as everything was perfect.
We loved everything about this wonderful cruise on the Douro River in Portugal with Scenic. The ship was beautiful, the staff were all so happy and couldn't do enough for us and the food was amazing. I loved that with Scenic, everything was included and that we didn't have to pay for anything else once on the ship. It was so nice to be away from read more large cities, visiting the little villages and towns along the river. Thank you once again Tracey, for your help in organising our lovely holiday. As usual, you were a great help and was always so prompt at returning my calls or answering my emails.
Review of Scenic Eclipse II cruise to Raja Ampat 2
Secrets of Indonesia: Spice Islands & Raja Ampat
Dieter and Patricia, NSW, Australia, Sep 2025
The ship was lovely - good well sized cabins with excellent food and service. The cruise description implied there would be many excellent snorkelling opportunities but in 2 weeks there were only 3 or 4 such outings. The Scenic administration (pre-cruise) can only be described as totally useless (many other passengers expressed the same view to us) read more - e-mails and phone calls were never answered - totally incorrect and confusing information on the requirements for an Indonesian visa were provided. Our agent at Global Journeys, Tracey, did a great job of trying to follow up with Scenic.
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