Emerald Waterways

[Heartfelttraveler]

I am considering an Emerald Yacht Cruise on the yet to be built Emerald Azzurra.  It looks like it is going to be a beautiful ship.

 

I have yet to take a river cruise on any of the river boats and know only what I researched for our June 2020 cancelled trip.  I know even less about Emerald Waterways. 

 

1. In these crazy times, how has Emerald dealt with all the cancellations?

2. Do you think they are solvent and when the world rights itself they will be able to recover from this lost year?

 

Any personal information and/or feeling about the line will be much appreciated.

 

Be safe and healthy.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thread moved to Other Cruise Lines because Emerald Azzurra is (or rather will be) an ocean-going vessel.

 

FYI to OP:  Emerald is a subsidiary of Scenic, an Australian company that has activities in many areas of the travel industry including river cruises under the Scenic and Emerald brands, land trips, another subsidiary called Evergreen, the new Scenic Eclipse luxury yacht (the first of two planned yachts plus 5 polar expedition vessels on order), and also the Emerald Azzurra luxury yacht.  Their existing brands have generally received good reviews, but they have also been subject to class-action lawsuits over customer service issues due to Acts of God.

[Heartfelttraveler]

14 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thread moved to Other Cruise Lines because Emerald Azzurra is (or rather will be) an ocean-going vessel.

 

FYI to OP:  Emerald is a subsidiary of Scenic, an Australian company that has activities in many areas of the travel industry including river cruises under the Scenic and Emerald brands, land trips, another subsidiary called Evergreen, the new Scenic Eclipse luxury yacht (the first of two planned yachts plus 5 polar expedition vessels on order), and also the Emerald Azzurra luxury yacht.  Their existing brands have generally received good reviews, but they have also been subject to class-action lawsuits over customer service issues due to Acts of God.

 

I was hoping to get some feedback from people who have cruised on Emerald Waterways River Cruises.  And to know how they were treated with all the cancelled cruises.  It is my understanding that the Emerald Azzurra is owned and will be operated under the same company as the river boats. By moving it to other "cruise lines" I will get no feedback from people who have cruised and dealt with this company.

[Host Jazzbeau]

It's all the same company, and there are more experiences from the Scenic brand than from Emerald.  You are better off searching for both (as well as Evergreen) to learn how people were treated.  In any case, I left a link from the River Cruising board to this one, so people on River Cruising will see it and can find this thread.

 

If you want to get feedback from the company's river cruisers, post a new thread (or threads) in River Cruising specifically asking about Scenic (and Emerald, and Evergreen) river cruises.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I will give you my personal advice to your situation:  I would never book on a ship that hasn't already sailed.  Covid is merely the latest proof that 'there's many a slip between cup and lip.' 

 

I had a cruise on Windstar that was cancelled because, even though the ship existed, the major drydock expansion was delayed when its older sister's drydock discovered asbestos in the engine room.  Covid then delayed every new build and drydock around the world. 

 

Layer on top of that the fact that Emerald Azzurra is a totally new design, which will have a completely new crew – and the 'maiden voyage' shadedown period is likely to stretch throughout the entire first season.  I would not book the cruise you are contemplating no matter how tempting the offer seems.

[Heartfelttraveler]

  We have booked two cruises on ships that were not even built yet (NCL Escape and NCL Bliss).  The Escape was the first voyage from the Miami Port.  The Bliss was about six months after launch.  Both were flawless trips.  We usually book our cruises one to two years out because we like to sail in the top suites and they book fast, and the prices are the lowest when the itinerary is first listed.  

 

The itinerary we are interested in is about six months after the expected launch.  And it spends four days in Israel and embarks from Cyprus.  An ideal itinerary if the world rights itself.

 

I did do a search of Emerald Waterways and most of what popped up was for Emerald Princess.

 

I have noted your advice about new ships.

 

Thanks for linking this back to the River Cruising board.

Edited December 8, 2020 by Heartfelttraveler

[gnome12]

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I will give you my personal advice to your situation:  I would never book on a ship that hasn't already sailed.  Covid is merely the latest proof that 'there's many a slip between cup and lip.' 

 

I had a cruise on Windstar that was cancelled because, even though the ship existed, the major drydock expansion was delayed when its older sister's drydock discovered asbestos in the engine room.  Covid then delayed every new build and drydock around the world. 

 

Layer on top of that the fact that Emerald Azzurra is a totally new design, which will have a completely new crew – and the 'maiden voyage' shadedown period is likely to stretch throughout the entire first season.  I would not book the cruise you are contemplating no matter how tempting the offer seems.

In particular, I would look at the experience of those who booked the Scenic Eclipse, which is probably the closest analogy to the OPs situation. There were huge delays. It was also a first of its kind. Even the early cruises had difficulties.

[Host Jazzbeau]

There is good news today about Emerald Azzurra, which also points to a positive answer to your question about whether they are solvent:

Emerald Cruises Floats Out First Custom-Built Ocean Yacht

[linolive]

My husband and I have sailed on river cruises with Emerald Waterways 5 times, and enjoyed them all. The food and service onboard were good, and the included shore excursions were excellent. We found Emerald Waterways to be a great value compared to the other river cruise lines.

 

The last cruise we were on was a Christmas Market cruise on the Rhine River exactly one year ago. We were fortunate and did not have anything booked when the Covid pandemic hit, so I have no personal experience regarding how Emerald Waterways handled cancellations and refunds. There are threads on the river cruise board that seem to indicate that Scenic/Emerald was not the best in how they treated their customers. I suggest that you search out these threads and read them yourself before making a decision. Personally, I have no plans to make any reservations where I have to pay a deposit right now because the travel industry is in financial distress.  There is a good chance deposits could be lost due to bankruptcy. 

[sunshine nana2]

It is possible to get a refund from Scenic Emerald river cruise > I finally did after 8 months.

[dreamercruise]

I have not yet sailed on Emerald or Scenic river cruises, but I sailed Scenic’s Eclipse on an expedition cruise to Antarctica (+ South Georgia and Falkland Islands).  Perhaps I am among the lucky few who took this wonderful cruise and had a enjoyable life-time experience.  My next expedition cruise is to Arctic.  Explored other expedition cruise lines.  My final decision is still Scenic Eclipse.  I have already paid in full (elected the early payment option), and I am not too worried about cancellation or bankruptcy.  My travel time is quite flexible, and Scenic does not seem to disappear at the moment.  Crystal, on the other hand, makes me hesitate to try.

As for booking a ship that has not been built, I booked Eclipse a year before it’s launch date, but that was pre-Covid, and Scenic had the itinerary that suited my needs.  Guess it all depends on the cruise line.  For example, I did not hesitate booking Viking’s Neptune which is scheduled to launch in December 2022.

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, dreamercruise said:

As for booking a ship that has not been built, I booked Eclipse a year before it’s launch date, but that was pre-Covid, and Scenic had the itinerary that suited my needs.  Guess it all depends on the cruise line.  For example, I did not hesitate booking Viking’s Neptune which is scheduled to launch in December 2022.

IMO it's very different to book the 8th identical ship in a series than the very first in a totally new category.  I'm glad your experience worked out, but Eclipse was delayed over 1 year from its original launch date of August 2018.  And Eclipse II has also been delayed from its original launch date.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/news/scenic-eclipse-launch-worlds-most-luxurious-cruise-ship-hit-further-delays/

[TriMomma]

We had a cruise scheduled with Emerald Waterways in 2021.  It has been bumped two times and we are now scheduled to go in October 2022.   We could not get our money back but apparently if it was 

rescheduled a third time we would have (according to the TA).  

[TriMomma]

8 minutes ago, TriMomma said:

We had a cruise scheduled with Emerald Waterways in 2021.  It has been bumped two times and we are now scheduled to go in October 2022.   We could not get our money back but apparently if it was 

rescheduled a third time we would have (according to the TA).  

Upon thinking..... it was possible that a refund was offered at some point of this odyssey (lol).   Many in our group are no longer going.