Tringbirds

Dec 14, 2024

Scenic is a good product BUT

Scenic is a good product but when it goes wrong there are too many hurdles to go through to get a satisfactory response. A fabulous cruise around Svalbard caused us to book Greenland and the Canadian High Arctic. However this cruise got off to a bad start. Just as we were leaving the departure lounge to board our plane for Copenhagen we received an email to say that the ship had developed a technical problem which may impact on the Cruise. We were also given the option to cancel but the tenor of the letter suggested that there would be minimal disruption to the itinerary. We eventually arrived in Greenland and had a wonderful time visiting the various ports of call. However, the Cruise just fell apart after Greenland The ship was experiencing more difficulty than Scenic were prepared to admit and secondly the Canadian authorities refused the ship to enter polar waters as it had only one Azipod working. The hastily revised itinerary was made visiting the Canadian Maritime provinces whilst a a desperate search for a dry dock was made by Scenic in order for the Azipod to be replaced. Instead of sailing directly to Halifax, the ship took a very slow route via the provinces to kill time whilst a dry dock was being searched out. In the meantime, disquiet was rumbling through the passengers as the new itinerary evolved. The expedition Cruise turned out to be a sightseeing cruise which in itself was not too bad, but it was not what the passengers had paid for. Many passengers had emails sent from the ship to the company to express their feelings and to demand proper compensation. Scenic response was a derisory €1800 in compensation and a discount on a future Cruise. However if one had received some discounts then this was taken into consideration as well which meant that some passengers receive less than what was offered! One must give credit to the on board staff who kept a lid on passenger anger. The ships crew could not be faulted in any way and I sense they were being let down by Scenic’s uncaring response to the situation other than get the ship to a dry dock as soon as possible. On the day of departure, an email was read out to all passengers suggesting that Scenic would, on passengers return home ,contact all passengers to discuss possible compensation; this never happened. Overall we lost 2/3 of our intended itinerary and one would’ve thought that Scenic would have recognised this and suggested an appropriate compensation package. Providing an alternative itinerary was not what the passengers wanted as they had paid a large amount of money to visit the Canadian Arctic. I read later that scenic had offered 70% of a refund to passengers on a New Zealand cruise when difficulties arose. I’ve also discovered that Scenic faced a class action because of their poor response to a European River cruise which they lost. Unfortunately, Sceiv is all about luxury and six star cruising without a six star back up with its customer service and management teams. There are other expedition cruises with Silversea or Hurtigruten and before I book another cruise with Scenic I shall explore the other cruise lines first. The ship is beautiful to look at but unfortunately that is where it ends. For example the forward observation lounge is badly placed as there are obstructions to the forward view! The observation lounge becomes a reading room because that’s all it is fit for. Some of the cabins have designer sinks which look nice but are useless as a functioning sink. the wash area before you enter the restaurant has an overhang where you can easily bash your head. The ship inside is gloomy in places and it is difficult to read some of the signage. When the Cruise goes well it is an exhilarating experience BUT when things go wrong……! You pays your money and make your choice. .Caveat emptor!