From the origins of Scenic to the future of cruising with this multi-brand travel company
Hollywood, FL, & Vancouver, B.C., May 2023 – Co-founders of Scenic Group, Glen and Karen Moroney, are very busy successfully running multiple travel brands focused on the luxury and ultra-luxury travel markets and rarely have time to sit down for interviews. But Dr. Kathy Sullivan, the godmother of Scenic Eclipse II, who will christen the ultra-luxury yacht on June 3 in Málaga, Spain, was able to sit down with Glen Moroney between travels and chat with him on her podcastabout how Scenic came to be, the high points, the tough decisions it takes to be successful in the very competitive cruise industry, and the future Mr. Moroney envisions for their brands and the cruise industry. The one-hour conversation airs on June 1 on Dr. Sullivan’s podcast: Kathy Sullivan Explores… – www.kathysullivanexplores.com.
This far-ranging interview begins with Mr. Moroney’s early years as he began his career in hotels and touring before moving onto how Scenic entered the cruise market with luxury river cruises, and finally ultra-luxury ocean yachts. Dr. Sullivan’s and Mr. Moroney’s conversational style allows listeners a peek into how a young man was given a job to turn a hotel in Warrnambool, Australia profitable (with no prior experience) and how succeeding at that helped developed his true passion for travel. How over a span of 37 years, he and co-founder Karen Moroney, working closely together, have grown their company into a global leader with several travel brands, including two cruise brands and a shipbuilding company – with a combined 22 award-winning river ships and, by the end August 2023, four industry-leading ocean yachts.
Highlights include discussions on the complexities of the cruise business and cruise ships, the importance of the guest’s experience and how giving guests an abundance of choices translates into a high satisfaction and loyalty rate. How the intimacy of smaller ships fosters a sense of community, with guests often making new lifelong friends, and the origins of Scenic’s “Freechoice” when it came to their excursion offerings. And where the idea for the World’s First Discovery Yachts came from – offering Polar 6-rated expedition, ultra-luxury accommodations and amenities, and warm-water possibilities, all on one yacht. Mr. Moroney describes the conversation with a loyal guest that convinced him to build his own river ships and how that effort was one of the hardest things he ever undertook – but one of the best decisions he ever made.
Mr. Moroney describes what it was like to take one of Scenic Eclipse’s state-of-the-art helicopters on an excursion up the face of a 2,000-meter-high glacier and take in an as-far-as-the-eye-can-see ice-cap landscape, a view that would otherwise be unseeable. He also unveils what singular emotion runs through he and Karen Moroney when each ship is christened. And why are Australians and New Zealanders so attracted to polar exploration.
Listeners and fans of Scenic Group and their travel brands – Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours, Emerald Cruises and Mayflower Tours – will come away with a true understanding of how and what has set it set this company apart from so many others and why there is a future full of great travel possibilities.
Scenic Group, which includes Emerald Cruises, Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours, Mayflower Cruises & Tours and Evergreen Tours, has grown over its 37-year history to include award-winning, luxury and ultra-luxury river and ocean cruises and handcrafted land journeys that take guests to many of the world’s most fascinating destinations covering all seven continents. Since 2008, Scenic has set the benchmark for truly all-inclusive, five-star river cruises in Europe and Southeast Asia as well as luxury cruises on Egypt’s Nile on board a private luxury charter. In 2019, Scenic introduced Scenic Eclipse, The World’s First Discovery Yacht™, a 228-guest ultra-luxury ship, and in 2023, unveiled its sister, Scenic Eclipse II, continuing Scenic’s commitment to raising the cruise industry standards to new heights, offering several new features. Emerald Cruises has nine branded Star-Ships offering river sailings in Europe and on the Mekong. In 2022, Emerald Azzurra was the first yacht to launch under the Emerald Cruises brand – a 100-guest superyacht that will sail the warm waters of the Mediterranean, Adriatic, Caribbean and Central America, and will be followed in August 2023 by its sister, Emerald Sakara.
Scenic can be found on Twitter at @ScenicLuxury, on Facebook as ScenicCruises and on Instagram as Scenic.luxurycruisestours, while Emerald Cruises can be found on Twitter at @emerald_cruises, on Facebook as EmeraldCruisesGlobal and on Instagram as @EmeraldCruises.global.
Additional information on these and other cruises, brochures and reservations can be obtained via travel advisors; or in the US: www.scenicusa.com, phone (844) 788-7985, email: [email protected]; in Canada: at www.scenic.ca, phone (866) 689-8611, or email: [email protected]. Brochures can also be downloaded directly from the websites.