Scenic Eclipse

[Carol From California]

I am not in the same position as those of you who booked cruises that are being cancelled at this time (prior to April 13, 2019) but I think those of you who are booked on these cruises are going to be notified today.  I have a cruise booked in July, 2020 on the Eclipse 2, and after seeing what has happened to all of you, and after learning the second Eclipse has not even started construction we decided to cancel.  I don't want to be strung along as some of you have been until right before your sailing and I want to look for something else to book during that time period.  I wrote to them and told them and today received this email:

 

Dear Carol,

As you have heard, overnight Scenic announced the delay in the launch of the Eclipse. Unfortunately, the recent strike of the specialist engine and system commissioning workers has had a direct impact on us achieving the January launch. This morning, we have started to reach out to our US impacted guests.

Per your request, your Arctic 2020 reservation has been cancelled. As per our process, the cancelled invoice has been sent to your travel agent Annette and a refund check in the amount of $4107 will be issued and sent to your Encino, CA address.  Please expect payment to be received within the next 7 to 10 days.

I acknowledge the regrettable impact and disappointment this has had on your plans.  Offering guests the experience of discovering the world of all-inclusive luxury remains Scenic’s primary focus. Scenic Eclipse will set a whole new benchmark in design, innovation and luxury when she sets sail.

Thank you for your continued support of Scenic and we look forward to welcoming you on board the Scenic Spirit in February of 2020. (We have a cruise booked with Scenic in Asia).

 

 

 

[goorawin]

At least this time, Scenic announced the changes very quickly and to everyone which is a big change from the last few times. As well the announcement did show some empathy and that has not happened in the past. Maybe Mr Moroney is a slow learner.

I actually now have more confidence that the ship will be completed this time. Not going to Antarctica means they have much more time than the six weeks delay mentioned, to sort out the many problems and complete the ship.

It was always going to be an issue having the final trials over the Christmas / New Year period, Everyone knows it is a crazy time to work under pressure and actually get things done effectively.

That is the positive spin, however on the negative side I believe they will have great difficulty in get all the crew and staff up to speed and working smoothly together before the ship has to be in expedition mode for the Arctic. I hope they prove me wrong, as there is nothing worse than having them not know what to do, and when, and still be pleasant to passengers.

 

Now they really do need to give us regular, maybe even weekly, updates on progress. Doing so may just help us get back some trust and confidence in Scenic.

[drron29]

On 11/13/2018 at 8:25 AM, CassCruise said:

I am another out hundreds of dollars and one of the things that really annoys me is they rang my TA for final payment on the Friday which was due on the Monday and on the Monday they cancelled my cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!!! apart from the appalling treatment and "goodwill" that really really gets me - I agree seek clarification in writing that your cruise is going ahead prior to making final payment as I am sure you will forfeit your deposit otherwise as per their terms and conditions

That is inexcusable.As I posted on the 11/11 there was no 2019 cruise listed on the Scenic calendar until 12th May.So on that Friday Scenic must have known they were going to cancel that cruise.Has made my mind up.We will cruise with them in August for the first and last time.Thinking of river cruises in the future but after this not with Scenic.

[rojaan19]

Over  on the Tripadvisor Cruise Forum  there is a  thread about  the Scenic River cruises and the Australian Court case

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k10818670-Decision_of_Class_Action_Case_Scenic_Tours_Evergreen-Cruises.html

 

interesting reading !!

[russg140]

OP here

 

Got that letter too and not at all surprised based on the last email we got back in September.

 

We were booked on a February 2019 trip and wanted to cancel, but were told that we would forfeit our deposit.  Called mid-October  to find out if they would take another payment, which they would have had I not proceeded with the call.  Personally I think they knew the ship wasn't going to be ready even then, but were still willing to take my money.  I even got a payment request 2 days ago, which I ignored.

 

Now the question is: Do I call and ask when I can expect a refund?  I think I'll wait until tomorrow.  I'm sure they are being bombarded with call and don't want to be on hold for hours.

[wripro]

3 hours ago, russg140 said:

ow the question is: Do I call and ask when I can expect a refund?  I think I'll wait until tomorrow.  I'm sure they are being bombarded with call and don't want to be on hold for hours.

They will contact you to give you options. I was called yesterday by Scenic re the March 22nd sailing and they are refunding my deposit plus any attendant nonrefundable expenses. You TA should have received some notification from them as well so talk to him/her.

[smoothCs4us]

We tried to rebook another similar cruise at a later date to utilise the 25% discount but as there were no cabins available in our category and we were asked to pay for a spa suite which was the only availability left. With our former loyalty and expo rewards not allowed this time and a shorter cruise without the free night, we were expected to pay even more for the next shorter trip even with the discount. This is not working with us to ensure we can make an alternate booking. We also would need to pay either in full or a very healthy deposit prior to the ship being launched. I feel sorry for the problems Glen Moroney is having nut surely he should be making sure his loyal clients are taken care of. We can only hope that our refund is not delayed.

[Expat Cruise]

2 minutes ago, smoothCs4us said:

We tried to rebook another similar cruise at a later date to utilise the 25% discount but as there were no cabins available in our category and we were asked to pay for a spa suite which was the only availability left. With our former loyalty and expo rewards not allowed this time and a shorter cruise without the free night, we were expected to pay even more for the next shorter trip even with the discount. This is not working with us to ensure we can make an alternate booking. We also would need to pay either in full or a very healthy deposit prior to the ship being launched. I feel sorry for the problems Glen Moroney is having nut surely he should be making sure his loyal clients are taken care of. We can only hope that our refund is not delayed.

Why wait and rely on the cruise line? Your credit card comes with many benefits and rights, one is to let them handle this and get your refund. Just file a credit card dispute and the money will be returned to you. Let the credit card company and the cruise line work out the details. Scenic has already proven they cannot be trusted based upon how they have handle guests and this ship.

 

[smoothCs4us]

Unfortunately we paid by bank transfer 😞

[Expat Cruise]

Sorry to hear that small operators use bank transfers because they can't be charged back.  My guess is Scenic  does not have the cash flow to pay for the ship and the yard has slowed the work. Scenic is trying to us incoming cruise payments to cover build costs. The shipyards are smart and demand payments on time.  Depending upon your location you could have a case for wire fraud if they do not return your funds.  
 

Sorry it happen to you, maybe next time you will only make payments by credit card. 

[smoothCs4us]

Unfortunately we paid by bank transfer 😞

[smoothCs4us]

Unfortunately we paid by bank transfer 😞 The payment was to our TA not direct to Scenic 

[Carol From California]

I am in a different boat (no pun intended) than most of you.  I booked an Arctic cruise which is not until July, 2020 and is on the Eclipse 2. When I booked it they could not tell me it was on the second Eclipse and it was difficult to get the information that it was not on the first Eclipse.  When I asked which ship their reply was that both ships are identical so it did not matter.

 

I was reading about the delays on the Eclipse 1, and this made me worried so I investigated further.  I finally found out that indeed I was booked on the Eclipse 2 and they have not even started construction on it, so there is no possible way that it will be completed in time to sail in July, 2020. 

 

I cancelled this week without any difficulties and they overnighted my check by Fed Ex which I received today.  I originally put it on my credit card but this is how they wanted to return the funds.  They handled it rather quickly so I am sure you will all get your money back.  We have a river cruise booked with Scenic in Asia which we will keep.  I would like to book another cruise on the Eclipse but I will wait and see when they finish it and see how the first few sailings go.  Good luck everyone!

[Expat Cruise]

If you paid by credit card they are required under the credit card merchant agreement to refund by credit card. The simple fact that they wanted to send a check screams they have problems with the merchant account. The processing services watch credits and once the merchant hits a set % they take actions. In part because they are scared of fraud. 

 

[lincslady]

I don't know much about this line, but notice it is advertising heavily in the papers, with no dates for any cruises.  Are they actually functioning, or dare I suggest that it would be wise not to book anything with them until further notice?

[gkhin]

Hi, I would suggest holding off until Scenic Eclipse 1 sails and then check which ship you are booked to sail on. For your information Scenic Eclipse 1 is not finished and has had its inaugural cruise dates cancelled twice (now set for 13 April 2019) but few if any are confident there won't be further delays to this date announced. We are booked to sail on this date.

 

I would suggest the other thing to be aware of is Scenic have announced that a 2nd Scenic Eclipse will be built but no launch date has been set for this ship. It appears however that Scenic are booking cruises for Eclipse 2 in 2020 so be careful. 

 

If and when Scenic Eclipse 1 ever sails, then best to confirm which ship you are booked to sail on and that you are not booked to sail on Scenic Eclipse 2.

 

A very disappointing situation indeed.

[Mistinguett]

I would suggest as gkhin says, hold off and even then be very sure that the ship is actually afloat and sailing with bonafide passengers. We have already been burnt,money taken,cruise cancelled six weeks later, ship not even anywhere finished! 

We shall not even contemplate sailing with them,ever.🙄

 

[Carol From California]

4 hours ago, gkhin said:

Hi, I would suggest holding off until Scenic Eclipse 1 sails and then check which ship you are booked to sail on. For your information Scenic Eclipse 1 is not finished and has had its inaugural cruise dates cancelled twice (now set for 13 April 2019) but few if any are confident there won't be further delays to this date announced. We are booked to sail on this date.

 

I would suggest the other thing to be aware of is Scenic have announced that a 2nd Scenic Eclipse will be built but no launch date has been set for this ship. It appears however that Scenic are booking cruises for Eclipse 2 in 2020 so be careful. 

 

If and when Scenic Eclipse 1 ever sails, then best to confirm which ship you are booked to sail on and that you are not booked to sail on Scenic Eclipse 2.

 

A very disappointing situation indeed.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was booked on Scenic 2 for July, 2020. It took some digging to find that I was not booked on Scenic 1. The local reservation office said the ships are both the same and that I should not worry about which ship I was booked on. After reading about the delays with Scenic 1, I did more digging and learned I was in fact booked on Scenic 2. When I learned that the construction of the second Eclipse had not even been started I decided to cancel my cruise. They gave me a complete refund of my deposit. Now when I go on their website and search for the cruise I had booked (which had other bookings) it is completely missing from the site. The itinerary was called "Arctic Jewel". It seems that they have cancelled it completely.  

[Carol From California]

We booked again! We are now back on an Arctic cruise in 2020!  Looking forward to it!

[towel-animal]

Here's a short video showing the Eclipse posted just a few days ago

 

 

[texmanufan]

Why is the title to the youtube video "Scenic Eclipse is blocked!". Is the poster implying the workers have access to it blocked? It isn't apparent from the video the best I can tell.

[smoothCs4us]

We have received nearly all of our money back from our March Antarctica cruise. The balance has been approved but just going through the system atm. 

We were able to get a suite onboard Seabourn Quest for this Christmas and New Year in Antarctica so very happy as we love Seabourn.  We were unable to rebook any Antarctica Scenic cruise in the time frame given in the category that we had previously booked and not paying even more than previously. 

i wish everyone well who are still booked, it will be a lovely ship amd maybe one day we may get another opportunity to be onboard. 

The attached photo and news is dated 6 December so hopefully all is well 

[carefreecruise]

I know Scenic has their hands full with this debacle at the shipyard. But leaving customers stranded could not be good for customer relationships. Yes we were refunded within a week of the notice by FedEx with the cruise amount in full. The airfare we made  is non refundable and Scenic is not reimbursing. They are playing hardball and have no sympathy to just do the right thing and pay the customer that lost all their airfare tickets. They should just for a few minutes put themselves in the customers shoes with plans they made a year earlier and have them all fall apart of not of their making.... 

[texmanufan]

18 hours ago, carefreecruise said:

...The airfare we made  is non refundable and Scenic is not reimbursing. They are playing hardball and have no sympathy to just do the right thing and pay the customer that lost all their airfare tickets...

 

Agree, that is a terrible way to do business. Our TA is a bulldog and was able to get Scenic to promise to reimburse for redeposit of air miles which is fair. Having said that we received the refund of our cancelled Antarctic cruise promptly in full but nothing to be seen of the promised redeposit fees. TA is following up now.

[scoretop]

 We had quite the opposite experience. We were set to sale this month to Antarctica, and we had also planned several days in Iguazu Falls and Buenos Aires. Scenic reimbursed us for everything that was nonrefundable, which included hotels, touring, internal air, and redeposit of frequent flyer miles.  We just needed to provide proof, which happened pretty quickly.  We were able to take advantage of the 25% discount and book on an Antarctic cruise for next December.  However, we are considering backing ourselves up with a Seabourn cruise to Antarctica at the same time  in case there is yet another delay.