Boat sold out in one day!?

[1of4]

We have done one river cruise in 2019 on the Seine. We returned from that and booked another in November 2019 to do the Christmas Markets in 2021. Well that didn’t happen. So long story short, just this week we booked Scenic’s Tulips, Windmills and Belgium Delights for April 10-17, 2024.  Yesterday I was talking to a Scenic representative about the junior suite and she said our week is completely sold out. What happened between Tuesday and Thursday?  Has anyone experienced this before?  We don’t want to be 2 people on the boat full of a group that all know each other. Or could a travel agency have reserved all cabins hoping to sell them all?

 

Looking for advice or experience.  If it is a group and the have exclusive events, we will have nowhere else to go except our cabin. On the plus side, I guess we chose a good/popular week!

 

Gail

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

April 10-17 is the ideal week for a Tulip Time cruise.  The prior week may be too early, and the following one may see Keukenhof past its peak.  Can't tell whether there are any groups on your cruise, but it's no surprise that this sailing would sell out first.

 

BTW, check the schedule to see which end of your itinerary includes Keukenhof and then build in time either before or after (or both!) to visit it on your own.  It's far too big to cover in a day, and it's amazing how much it changes from one week to the next as early tulips give way to later ones.

[1of4]

Thanks @Host Jazzbeau  we hope to fly in 2-3 days ahead of the river cruise so will try Keukenhof on our own. It is the excursion on the last full day of the trip. 

[Canal archive]

1 of 4 on the U.K. site it looks like it’s all cabins above Deluxe Balcony are booked, so not the whole boat but all of the very biggest cabins.

[1of4]

27 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

1 of 4 on the U.K. site it looks like it’s all cabins above Deluxe Balcony are booked, so not the whole boat but all of the very biggest cabins.

Interesting.  Thank you for checking. On the Canadian site the April 10th date has disappeared from the date choices.  I knew all the Royal suites were booked before we booked on Tuesday but they are not “in-budget” for us anyway. 😃

Edited April 7, 2023 by 1of4

[Canal archive]

Yup it’s gone on the U.K. site as well now.

[1of4]

Wow…it’s a mystery!  I guess we will find out eventually. 

[Canal archive]

8 day trips there not offering 11 day for 2024 but here is the 8 day April dates.

3rd - 10th Scenic Jade.

17th - 24th Scenic Jade

22nd - 29th Scenic Crystal

24th - 01st Scenic Jade

 

interesting flow.

[1of4]

16 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

8 day trips there not offering 11 day for 2024 but here is the 8 day April dates.

3rd - 10th Scenic Jade.

17th - 24th Scenic Jade

22nd - 29th Scenic Crystal

24th - 01st Scenic Jade

 

interesting flow.

We are booked on the Scenic Jade 10th - 17th April

[Canal archive]

Looks like they’re pushing there and back as it were on different continents. Interesting.

[1of4]

I thought it may be helpful to others to follow up on this topic.  It took over 3 months but we finally discovered what happened to our booked (and paid in full) Scenic Tulip Time and Belgium Delights river cruise next April which was removed from the itinerary within 2 days after paying. It has been turned into a culinary experience cruise with two Canadian chefs on board. 
 

My travel agent forwarded a letter from Scenic yesterday that informed us of the shift; said the itinerary would remain the same but a few specific food related activities have been added that we would be welcome to join. They also offered to move us without penalty and with all promotions if we wanted to shift to another 2024 date. 
 

For the record, we are thrilled. If we hadn’t paid in full we may have cancelled as our only experience was group bookings on cruise ships which is what I assumed this was. Patience paid off!

Edited July 28, 2023 by 1of4

[Coral]

11 hours ago, 1of4 said:

I thought it may be helpful to others to follow up on this topic.  It took over 3 months but we finally discovered what happened to our booked (and paid in full) Scenic Tulip Time and Belgium Delights river cruise next April which was removed from the itinerary within 2 days after paying. It has been turned into a culinary experience cruise with two Canadian chefs on board. 
 

My travel agent forwarded a letter from Scenic yesterday that informed us of the shift; said the itinerary would remain the same but a few specific food related activities have been added that we would be welcome to join. They also offered to move us without penalty and with all promotions if we wanted to shift to another 2024 date. 
 

For the record, we are thrilled. If we hadn’t paid in full we may have cancelled as our only experience was group bookings on cruise ships which is what I assumed this was. Patience paid off!

That sounds like fun! I hope you enjoy the cruise.

[Daisi]

Special booking for 2 Cdn chefs, I'm guessing you will be on one of the few cruises where Canadians are a majority! Enjoy, and have fun.

 

[Shelagh12]

Did they tell you who the chefs were.  That sounds like fun

[1of4]

11 hours ago, Daisi said:

Special booking for 2 Cdn chefs, I'm guessing you will be on one of the few cruises where Canadians are a majority! Enjoy, and have fun.

 

I never thought of that!  Lynn Crawford has worked in the US too. The other chef is Lora Kirk. It will add a nice dynamic to the week. 

Edited July 30, 2023 by 1of4

[1of4]

3 hours ago, Shelagh12 said:

Did they tell you who the chefs were.  That sounds like fun

Yes. Chef Lynn Crawford and chef Lora Kirk. 

[terry&mike]

I can see where this would be a possibility. My "friend group" wanted to do a bike and barge style sailing during tulip season, and needed 9 cabins. We identified our dates for 2024 in advance, and when the sailing opened up for sale, we all booked within a day. These ships are smaller than your river cruise ships, the one we booked on only has 18 cabins total, but you can see where a group that is waiting for something to go on sale could book up availability.

We booked 16 cabins on one sailing back in January 2020 for a Japan and Southeast Asia sailing on an ocean cruise line.