Scenic's private transfer rules are illogical

[DougK]

This is not a big deal at all, but still a little disappointing:

 

I'm going on a Scenic cruise next month, starting in Basel. I'm fortunate enough to be in a suite that qualifies for private transfers. The problem is that I'm not flying in the day of the cruise; instead, I'm going to be in Switzerland, travelling around and doing some other sightseeing for the week before the cruise, ending up at a hotel in Basel the night before the cruise. From a pure standpoint of logic, one would think that Scenic would be willing to provide a transfer from the hotel to the ship. After all, sending a private car 3 or 4 miles is a lot less expensive than sending one over 50 miles to the Zurich airport. But Scenic doesn't see it that way. I inquired (through my travel agent) and was told that the transfer only applies to the airport--if we want to go back to the Zurich airport that morning, then they'll provide a transfer. I completely understand the logic if it was a general (not private) transfer, where they're accumulating passengers from multiple flights before transferring, but here it's a private car, so it's literally Scenic choosing to send a car 50 miles, but refusing to send it 4 miles.

 

As I said, not a big deal at all--we can easily get a cab. And it's more or less what I expected, since I didn't really think Scenic would pay attention to logic. But still a little disappointing, and a poor choice on Scenic's part considering the goodwill they would have garnered by providing a transfer at not much cost to themselves.

[Canal archive]

Email the ship a little closer to the time and I expect you will get a different answer, full contact details should be with your travel details, or the list at the top of the River Cruising that this chat is on. The personal touch will also help I think. Although I do agree that some of the companies ideas over the time since Covid do seem to be just a little weird and not up to their standard pre Covid.

Good luck.

[Host Jazzbeau]

When we sailed Scenic on the Seine in 2022 they sent a private car to pick us up at the train station [we did have to pay for the taxi to the hotel at the end of the cruise].  When we sailed Scenic on the Douro in 2023 we had our own transfer from Lisbon, but they used a private car to take us to our Porto hotel (100 yds away!).

[Canal archive]

When we arrived for our Seine cruise on the Eurostar last year we had been put on the earlier train the Scenic greeter was at the station and phoned for the car so that we didn’t have to wait. Due to the traffic after dropping us off he had to do an immediate about turn to meet the next train. I don’t mind the Paris traffic if I’m sat in a very comfy Merc.

[prisage]

On 4/3/2024 at 9:16 PM, DougK said:

This is not a big deal at all, but still a little disappointing:

 

I'm going on a Scenic cruise next month, starting in Basel. I'm fortunate enough to be in a suite that qualifies for private transfers. The problem is that I'm not flying in the day of the cruise; instead, I'm going to be in Switzerland, travelling around and doing some other sightseeing for the week before the cruise, ending up at a hotel in Basel the night before the cruise. From a pure standpoint of logic, one would think that Scenic would be willing to provide a transfer from the hotel to the ship. After all, sending a private car 3 or 4 miles is a lot less expensive than sending one over 50 miles to the Zurich airport. But Scenic doesn't see it that way. I inquired (through my travel agent) and was told that the transfer only applies to the airport--if we want to go back to the Zurich airport that morning, then they'll provide a transfer. I completely understand the logic if it was a general (not private) transfer, where they're accumulating passengers from multiple flights before transferring, but here it's a private car, so it's literally Scenic choosing to send a car 50 miles, but refusing to send it 4 miles.

 

As I said, not a big deal at all--we can easily get a cab. And it's more or less what I expected, since I didn't really think Scenic would pay attention to logic. But still a little disappointing, and a poor choice on Scenic's part considering the goodwill they would have garnered by providing a transfer at not much cost to themselves.

I need to book a Basel hotel, do you have one you would recommend?

[Canal archive]

As I’ve said before email or phone the ship nearer the time. I bet the crew will be far more accommodating.

Edited April 15 by Canal archive

[DougK]

6 hours ago, prisage said:

I need to book a Basel hotel, do you have one you would recommend?

I'm no expert on Basel at all. I've stayed there once before, at the Hotel Victoria. I chose it that time for its location right by the train station, as I was leaving on the train the next morning. The hotel was fine, but nothing memorable at all, with no particular charm. This time I looked for something a little closer to the Old Town, and based strictly on online reviews, booked the Steinenschanze Stadthotel. I'll find out next month whether that was a good, bad, or indifferent choice...