Haimark and Scenic...info please??

[mjminseattle]

Quick search on Internet shows:-

 

A new cruise operator, Haimark, will launch a luxury Mekong experience, starting in winter 2013-2014. The company also plans exotic voyages on the Irrawaddy River in Myanmar and the Ganges River in India.

Based in Breckenridge, CO, Haimark is a U.S. company with U.S.-based procurement and contracting. The new company’s name reflects the cruise line’s three partners. All have extensive experience in river cruising and Southeast Asia.

Well-known to agents is Tom Markwell, the former vice president of sales and marketing for Pandaw River Cruises. During Markwell’s three-year tenure at Pandaw he was responsible for contracting for three new vessels on the Mekong for Uniworld and Avalon Waterways.

In 2012, he ventured off to form Haimark with another partner, Marcus Leskovar, also formerly with Pandaw's U.S. office and with years of hotel and cruise operational experience, and Giang Hai, an experienced ground operator in Southeast Asia.

The Haimark operation now handles land arrangements for more than 4,000 people annually to Southeast Asia; that occurs through seven ground offices under Hai's direction throughout the region.

 

We returned two days ago from a Haimark Cruise aboard the MV Saint Laurent from Portland, Maine to Montreal Canada. This was the second cruise on this itinerary on a refurbished boat with ownership attributed to several companies. The ship just crashed into the Eisenhower locks in the St. Laurence two days after the end of our cruise while enroute to Toronto.

There were many problems aboard this ship and some very nice things. A luxury cruise it is not. We were with two groups of very disappointed cruisers who had paid top dollar for trips organized by the National Trust and the Smithsonian. We booked at a steep discount through Jetsetter travel and were not expecting so much.

I don't know if Haimark will survive as a company given the disappointing level of service and damage to this vessel.

[Muyet]

We returned two days ago from a Haimark Cruise aboard the MV Saint Laurent from Portland, Maine to Montreal Canada. This was the second cruise on this itinerary on a refurbished boat with ownership attributed to several companies. The ship just crashed into the Eisenhower locks in the St. Laurence two days after the end of our cruise while enroute to Toronto.

There were many problems aboard this ship and some very nice things. A luxury cruise it is not. We were with two groups of very disappointed cruisers who had paid top dollar for trips organized by the National Trust and the Smithsonian. We booked at a steep discount through Jetsetter travel and were not expecting so much.

I don't know if Haimark will survive as a company given the disappointing level of service and damage to this vessel.

 

We are thinking of taking the same itinerary this coming October with Haimark. Please share what you liked and didn't liked with your cruise. Would you sail with them again? They are offering half off promotion right now.

Thanks so much,

Muyet