Scenic Cruise Line Problems?

[sohoda]

I am not sure if anyone else is having problems with Scenic USA, but I am.    Booked Antartica 1/2023 cruise in October 2021.  Made initial deposit in October 2021; second (final payment pending  internal flight charges) in January 2022.  Received confirmation from Scenic that both payments had been made.

 

Received email yesterday that January 2022 payment (three months ago?)  had not been made.   Called; Scenic having technical problems and not taking phone calls. Instructed  to email - and did- but received response that it could take up to two weeks to respond.

 

Understand they have had computer and covid issues, but not feeling good about situation.  
 

Does anyone have a better idea what is going on?  Not feeling warm and comfy.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Lots of information here, from the Scenic/Emerald River perspective:

 

[sohoda]

Thank you for your response/link to river cruise thread.  Glad to know I am not alone.  🤞that issues regarding river cruises that are departing soon are quickly resolved and all enjoy their cruises.

[ScenicLoginforLarry]

On 4/5/2022 at 7:09 PM, sohoda said:

I am not sure if anyone else is having problems with Scenic USA, but I am.    Booked Antartica 1/2023 cruise in October 2021.  Made initial deposit in October 2021; second (final payment pending  internal flight charges) in January 2022.  Received confirmation from Scenic that both payments had been made.

 

Received email yesterday that January 2022 payment (three months ago?)  had not been made.   Called; Scenic having technical problems and not taking phone calls. Instructed  to email - and did- but received response that it could take up to two weeks to respond.

 

Understand they have had computer and covid issues, but not feeling good about situation.  
 

Does anyone have a better idea what is going on?  Not feeling warm and comfy.

Yes we are having similar issues. Scenic overcharged me $8,000 over a month ago. Their mistake which they admitted.  It took 4 weeks for them to correct their mistake. 

Then three weeks ago they canceled our entire land pre-cruise trip from Oslo-Stockholm-Copenhagen. They have refused to put this in writing and are telling me the refund will take 6 months. I think this company is in financial trouble. Terrible customer service as I was on the phone over 45 minutes today trying to teach them and no one answered.   We are hoping that the scenic eclipse experience will make up for this hassle. Never again though. 

[sohoda]

I truly hope everything works out for you.  
 

We booked with Scenic due to the wonderful reviews, and are looking forward to the trip.  But the US based support has been very disappointing.  Given different answers by different representatives to the same question.  Plus had to check a box when registering that we understand that Scenic will NOT provide airport transfers as we did not book flights with Scenic.  Will probably be on the same flight as other Scenic passengers going to the same hotel, but we are on our own.  We did another high end cruise line to the the Galapagos recently and even though we booked our own flights, a cruise line representative met at the airport and provided transportation to the hotel.  Same for an African safari.  That is the level of service we thought we had booked.

 

Scenic claims to be a 6 star experience but they need to back it up with their actions.  

[ScenicLoginforLarry]

Let's hope the onboard experience is a 6-star rated experience.  The front office and financial handling of their cruises is BELOW any kind of scale.  It's ridiculous that they don't answer the phone in a timely manner and can't give an accounting of the funds paid.  As for the transfers, we booked through Scenic, but they refused to provide the transfer since we arrive in the departure city a day ahead, but we HAD to arrive the day before to catch their charter flight to the ship.  Scenic is a MESS.  We're going back to Regent, Viking, and Oceania.  Never again Scenic.

[donnasworld]

I am glad I am not the only one having problems with Scenic.

 

On December 11, 2020 I booked the cruise "Fire & Ocean: Russia’s Kamchatka & The Kurils" which is scheduled to depart July 13, 2023. On May 21, 2021, they sent me an email stating that there had been an "operational" change to my cruise. Four of the ports had been eliminated with three substitutions. I didn't think too much of it at the time because of other priorities.

 

On April 22, 2022 I contacted them to cancel the cruise due to the change in the itinerary. 

 

Here is where it gets interesting. I called the phone number for the Scenic USA customer service. It was a 30 minute wait. After explaining the situation I was advised that in order to request a refund I had to email "cancellations_us@scenicusa.com" and provide them with the cruise details and refund request. I did so stating that I was cancelling due to the revised itinerary.  I was told it would take 7-10 days to hear from them.

 

I did not get a response to my email from the cancellations department so I called Scenic customer service on June 1, 2022. After another 30 minute wait the customer service representative had me on hold while she tried to reach the department that handles the cancellations. After about another 30 minute wait I was provided with the email address of a person from the cancellations department and I requested my refund again. 

 

A few hours later I received an email from the cancellations department letting me know that I would be receiving a future cruise credit that would be good through the end of 2024. I immediately emailed Scenic back reiterating my request for a refund not the credit. I explained how the reason I was cancelling was due to the significant alteration of the itinerary. I also provided them with my phone number so that they could call me if they had any questions regarding my request.

 

I have not heard anything since. I do understand that under normal situations Scenic does not refund deposits. However, since they made significant changes to the itinerary I had booked I believe I am entitled to a full refund of my deposit. 

 

I have no interest in sailing with Scenic again. My next step will be to contact my credit card company although I am not sure if I have any recourse with them due to the time limitations.

 

I hope my experience with Scenic will be useful to those of you who might be considering them for future cruises.

 

 

[floridababa]

I am booked on scenic in August. I did take their free flights but cannot do transport because we are coming in 3 days ear!ier. I even asked can I meet back at airport or hotel they use and was told no.  Zurich to Basel is expensive transport 😫

[Host Jazzbeau]

35 minutes ago, floridababa said:

I am booked on scenic in August. I did take their free flights but cannot do transport because we are coming in 3 days ear!ier. I even asked can I meet back at airport or hotel they use and was told no.  Zurich to Basel is expensive transport 😫

Not expensive by train, which is fast and reliable.

 

BTW, this thread is about Scenic's ocean yacht.  Your comment seems to relate to Scenic river cruising, which is covered in lots of threads on the main River Cruising board.

[commodoredave]

Reading this thread, I would not feel comfortable booking an ocean or river cruise with Scenic. After waiting almost 4 months to get a deposit refund on a cancelled cruise with Crystal (which subsequently went bankrupt), I am leary about giving money to any cruise line that appears to be in some sort of chaos.