Mistinguett

Host Jazzbeau.

We had an experience with a luxury cruise line, a couple of years back.

The ship was chartered for three months, by the Chinese, and it was during the time of our cruise. We were offered two alternative dates to take the same cruise a couple of months prior.They gave us an incredible discount on the fare that we had originally been quoted, and on top of that re-imbursed us for the extra amount of £1300.00 that we had to dish out for the change of flights. On top of that we almost had the ship to ourselves, 140 passengers on a 295 passenger ship!

Those of you who have received refunds, has there been any consideration of interest lost?

Gosh, I would be happy to see my refund and out of pocket expenses repaid. I would not hold my breath regards getting the interest lost reimbursed,nice if you can get it though.

Thank you all for your replies, will try and be a little more patient!

Hello everyone out there. How many of you have received your refund? We are still waiting, we were booked on the Cuba in Depth Cruise sailing the 18th October. Made our final payment by bank transfer on the 4th June!

June 19 was the final payment date for Scenic to have their money for the October 18 sailing. Our TA also wanted it June 8. It makes you wonder but not sure of the relevance at this stage.

Ditto here,booked and paid for Cuba cruise on the same dates. Now I realize why I could not get any answers when asking questions. Anyway all superfluous now.

Just heard from my TA regarding our reimbursement and I am sooooo cross. As it stands at the moment, they say they are offering the flight cost back but not the taxes and fuel charges which amount to about a third of overall cost and saying that we can get a refund from the airline. There is no way that BA and AA will refund that and I have told my TA to go back and say that this is not acceptable. Also there is no mention of reimbursement of my 3 day pre cruise stay in Miami!!!!!!!

WOW!!!!!!That is ludicrous. I finally heard from Scenic in writing,I have asked for a full refund of the cruise and letting them off lightly, by changing my business class flights to March,this only incurs a change fee,the flights were the same price.Will let you know what reaction I get.

Why has ScenicTours been silent on this thread this week? Scenic's last posts were on July 4th and 5th, so it seems that they are no longer responding here.

 

When I called Scenic yesterday, they said that they would contact all affected clients/TAs by July 12. I have yet to hear from Scenic (or yet to hear back from my TA).

I finally received an e-mail, yesterday,from Scenic,mentioning the "deals" they were offering.I am asking for a refund and reimbursement for "reasonable" expenses.

I can understand your concerns. You want to feel confident in your ship in Antarctica in particular.

 

It was insulting to email you another copy of your confirmation together with the terms and conditions, as a response to your concerns. I hope you get a phone call from Scenic soon.

Just to add, they are very keen on those "Terms and Conditions" had to re-send the signed last page to Australia a couple of times! Also cannot understand how the vessel is already "sailing to Antarctica"as mentioned in the original post, if it not ready yet!:rolleyes:

Hi everyone--please report back when Scenic has started to process your refunds. (As I have yet to receive anything in writing from my TA.) I just hope that the publicized reimbursement plan isn't part of the Scenic Eclipse 'hype' we all experienced.

In the same "boat"! Nothing in writing, yet, only a telephone call from T/A.

We received an electronic PDF letter from Scenic via our TA on Friday morning. It included all of the info regarding the delay and sending banking information for refund options plus the alternative itinerary should we wish to move our booking to the October 8, 2019 sailing. My TA has submitted

preference for refund. We are holding our breath hoping it will happen. At this point I have no reason to believe otherwise.

:rolleyes: Gosh, lucky you, we have not received anything! Only a brief telephone call informing us that the Cruise is cancelled and that we would be given the option of full refund or re-booking,as of now nothing in writing,which is what I requested!

My husband and I were booked on the Cuba in Depth cruise -- roundtrip from Miami with stops only in Cuba - from October 18 - October 31, 2018. We booked the cruise in May 2016. We were notified by our travel agent on July 5 that the cruise was cancelled. So surprised and disappointed. Our interest is in seeing Cuba, not other places in the Caribbean. So other Scenic cruises that have just one or a few days in Cuba with all the other days elsewhere are not of interest to us. Also, we book our cruises far in advance. We are already booked on cruises in the spring and fall of 2019, as well as the spring of 2020. So we wouldn't be looking at a possible Scenic ocean cruise until fall of 2020.

 

Since they were so late in cancelling, we had difficulty finding another cruise of interest for our fall 2018 cruise. Everything we were interested in among the various luxury cruise lines were already "wait list". We wound up booking a Grills cabin for an eastbound Queen Mary 2 crossing, and then a week in London.

 

We have actually done a Scenic river cruise and enjoyed it very much. That's why I was enthusiastic about their doing an ocean cruise to Cuba. I actually looked at Scenic river cruises for fall 2018 as a "fill-in" for the cancelled Cuba cruise, but couldn't find anything of interest that still had availability.

 

Finally, does anyone know of any other luxury cruise lines that are or will be offering cruises to Cuba (although not cruises with only a few days in Cuba)? Thanks.

Like you, my husband and I were also booked on the Cuba cruise. We were very excited because it was to do only Cuba. There is a Silversea cruise sailing out of Nassau in October,but,if you are a USA citizen, unfortunately it is not an option. They are not advertising it on their USA sight, for obvious reasons.We had enquired about this a year ago,my husband is a USA citizen. Will not be re-booking.Waiting to hear from Scenic, only received a phone call, so far,from the Spanish office.

Mistinguett

 

Yes dealing with the USA office. Nothing in writing other than what you see here, but I believe Scenic will cover any reasonable cost associated with your cruise.

Hope it all works out with you and everyone.

Thank you for that, fingers crossed!

To Scenic Team: we are booked on the October 18 Cuba in Depth cruise, and our TA is still waiting to hear about the details of the refund. When you say that you will be contacting everyone 'in order of impacted sailing date,' can you please tell me when I/my TA will be contacted?

 

I simply want my full refund in a timely manner, and have no interest in rebooking another cruise.

My sentiments exactly,we would have been on the same cruise!

Sounds like a wise decision. There are lots of cruise lines. Unfortunately we believed the hype for this one! I am sure that I saw a video that the ship had left the ship yard a few months back and it had gone for "finishing".

Have already taken five on Silversea, looks as if a sixth will becoming up! When we booked in May we thought the ship was already finished! We then saw a small Video clip of just the Hull entering the water,about three weeks ago!:rolleyes: Why were they taking our money, and on top of that we were not permitted to pay by C/C had to do Bank Transfer! We were attracted to this cruise because of the Itinerary and the fact that USA citizens were able to go!

We had booked our own business class flights from UK for the Panama Canal cruise plus a 3 day pre cruise break in Miami Beach. They had better be included as reasonable additional costs as it is not covered by our travel insurance 😡

Ditto here. Booked our own BA flights Business Class to Miami from Spain, connecting through London. Hope they are considered "reasonable additional costs"!

Guess we are in the "same boat", or looks like we are not!:rolleyes:

Mistinguett

 

Above is from Scenic

 

I was told to include all Travel insurance cost (Trip Mate), non refundable airfare, travel cost and non refundable tours. Which are reasonable associated costs.

 

The issue at hand is most of us have made plans and schedule our lives out for the next years ahead. So rebooking puts most of us into 2020 cruise. Most have made travel plans pre and post cruise along with maybe meeting up with family and friends along the way. Some have purchased special clothes and items for their ports of call.

The discount on a future cruise is at question. The fairs have risen and your discount is only applied to the listed price and not the early bird fair most of us book.

 

I understand the delays in construction it happens all the time. Scenic had a Team watching over the building of Eclipse which began in November of 2016. Some where contract issues may have come into play

 

Most important the Safety of the ship and it passengers Is the ultimate consideration.

 

As I said before it just the beginning of the issue of reasonable compensation

Thank you for that information, you have obviously spoken to someone in reference to this. Or did you receive information in writing? Are you dealing with the USA office? I have had such a problem with this booking from the beginning. Spain had to constantly speak to headquarters with regards any question I asked. Incidentally I was not permitted to book directly with the USA and pay in US dollars,had to convert to Euros and send Bank Transfers! Have sailed five time with Silversea and always paid by Credit Card in my preferred currency.

Fingers crossed we shall all receive back what we are due.

Thank you for this information. Seems odd as last week it was on schedule and they had no issue taking our final

payment for an October sailing. I will follow up with our TA tomorrow.

I was looking forward to meeting you on the Cruise.Will be requesting a full refund and also compensation for our Business Class flights from Spain to Miami.

I received a polite telephone call, yesterday, from Scenic Spain,informing me of my cancelled Cruise to Cuba, in October. I was asked if I wished to re-book or get a full refund. In view of my husband's age, it is difficult to plan a year ahead! I have asked for a full refund. Having said that, I am awaiting written communication from Scenic to hear what they say. I also,have two non refundable Business Class airline tickets from Spain to Miami that need to be taken into consideration! Will let you know the outcome.:(

From my understanding, the Boston office is for USA based passengers. The Canadian office is based in Vancouver and they have contacted me through my TA when the itinerary changed and to tell us that the stateroom size was larger than advertised in the brochure.

 

If you have an important issue your TA should be assisting you. Scenic do not appear to have an office in Europe. The head office info is:

 

Level 4

25 Watt Street

Newcastle

NSW 2300 Australia

info@scenic.com.au

scenic.com.au

 

Hope this helps and that you get your issue resolved. Good luck!

Thank you. Keeping my fingers crossed,see you on board,hopefully!

We are booked on " Cuba in Depth" in October. Maybe I have missed it, but does anyone know the evening dress code?

We are also booked on the "Cuba in Depth" sailing of 18th October,I think,we are having a terrible time trying to get any information with regards anything! I have contacted Boston Headquarters,I get no reply what so ever.I had to book through Spain because this is where I reside,had to make payments by Bank Transfer!!!!!:mad: Have never done this before,always paid with Credit Card. Yet to receive a receipt of payment which was sent two weeks ago. The Scenic representatives here in Spain do not know anything,always saying that they have to contact headquarters,but, if headquarters does not know,how will they. We have very important issue that needs to be confirmed,I shall not go into it, I need an answer,now of course we are within the 130 days Penalty period! Have sailed 5 times with Silversea and never had any problems.So far the Customer Relations with Scenic has been abysmal. I can only hope the ship meets up to all the expectations!!!!!!!!!! So you can imagine "dress code", would only surmise it would be as other Luxury cruise ships.