Scenic Luxury Cruises and Tours - UK
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Danube cruise on Scenic Crystal
We went on a Danube river Cruise with Scenic from 11th to 18th April 2022. There were four of us and it cost £12,000 for the week. There was no proper greeting on arrival and our cabins were not ready. Our bathroom door didn’t shut, our safes didn’t work, our floor was stained, our friends’ bedside lights didn’t work and there was a toilet brush sticking out of the bowl and a vile smell emanated from it. Our tv didn’t work. The toiletries were not as advertised - much cheaper versions - our tv didn’t work. Beyond 5 star luxury - I don’t think so. In the middle of the night before day three, the toilet system on the ship broke and we were left with no working toilets. Despite repeatedly trying to get answers from the management we were simply repeatedly told they would be fixed shortly. We came back from a morning excursion for lunch and the toilets were not in use (well we used them because we had no choice but they couldn’t be flushed - 5 star? I don’t think so). We went out for the afternoon and on our return found that they still weren’t working. Eventually we were instructed that we were to have dinner then pack all our things and we would be taken to a hotel. We arrived at our hotel at 11pm, queued with our luggage until 11.30pm to check in. We then had to be up, breakfasted and out again by 8am to sit on a coach for most of the day. They fixed the problem and we met the ship further down the river only to find that the air conditioning in the cabins was no longer working and didn’t work for the rest of the trip. We did not spend £12000 to spend 2 days on a coach trip or to be chucked off the ship at 11 at night having had to pack all our luggage after only 3 days! They also asked us to pay for any extras before leaving the ship!! The customer service and Public relations was just appalling. I have spent hours trying to speak to someone. The customer service person here in the U.K. is a Lindsay Ash. She never answers her phone or replies to messages. I had a response to my first email with an offer of a £275 pp refund which I declined as this does not reflect the disruption to our holiday caused by the myriad problems. She said they were offering it as a gesture for having to spend one night off the ship and basically ignored every other problem I highlighted. The Scenic Crystal was the name of our ship and I have read that two other ships have also been throwing passengers off because of mechanical failures. Scenic will tell you that these issues are beyond their control! I would suggest that if that is the case then You are better off cruising with a company who is in control! I would also suggest that perhaps in the two years the ships weren’t sailing they were not properly maintained and they are happy to take our money, still charging top dollar whilst not investing in their fleet. DON’T BOOK WITH SCENIC!