Scenic Eclipse

[wineforhealth]

Thank you for that information, you have obviously spoken to someone in reference to this. Or did you receive information in writing? Are you dealing with the USA office? I have had such a problem with this booking from the beginning. Spain had to constantly speak to headquarters with regards any question I asked. Incidentally I was not permitted to book directly with the USA and pay in US dollars,had to convert to Euros and send Bank Transfers! Have sailed five time with Silversea and always paid by Credit Card in my preferred currency.

Fingers crossed we shall all receive back what we are due.

 

Mistinguett

 

Yes dealing with the USA office. Nothing in writing other than what you see here, but I believe Scenic will cover any reasonable cost associated with your cruise.

Hope it all works out with you and everyone.

[wripro]

I am assuming that before they head to Antarctica Scenic will throughly test out the ship in open waters and make sure everything is in order.

[boccenana]

We have sailed with them before, are doing the Mekong in Sep (if it wasn’t so close I might cancel), and have a group booked in Europe for Dec 2019. If they don’t make this right we will cancel what we can and take our business elsewhere. Can’t imagune our travel agent will ever recommend them either.

 

Did you have issues with them in the past?

[Mistinguett]

Mistinguett

 

Yes dealing with the USA office. Nothing in writing other than what you see here, but I believe Scenic will cover any reasonable cost associated with your cruise.

Hope it all works out with you and everyone.

 

Thank you for that, fingers crossed!

[boccenana]

Sounds like a wise decision. There are lots of cruise lines. Unfortunately we believed the hype for this one! I am sure that I saw a video that the ship had left the ship yard a few months back and it had gone for "finishing".

 

 

I also saw the video you are referring to.

[boccenana]

Here is the "Float Out'. video we have been referring to. Where is the Ecipse now I wonder?

 

[Cancun01]

Here is the "Float Out'. video we have been referring to. Where is the Ecipse now I wonder?

 

 

Thank you! I was beginning to think I dreamed it. So that was in February 2018 when it had its Float Ceremony"....and it is going to take and entire year to do the finishing?

[Cancun01]

My sentiments exactly,we would have been on the same cruise!

 

Our thoughts also. Scenic have offered us a replacement cruise in October 2019 which embarks in Nassau and disembarks in Havana which has some of the same ports but no overnight in Havana. They would take the deposit from the refund. We do not have any interest in rebooking. We have been booked over 2 years for the October 2018 cruise.

[boccenana]

Thank you! I was beginning to think I dreamed it. So that was in February 2018 when it had its Float Ceremony"....and it is going to take and entire year to do the finishing?

 

The question remains.....where in the world is the Scenic Eclipse?

:confused::confused:

[Sweetpea711423]

My husband and I were booked on the Cuba in Depth cruise -- roundtrip from Miami with stops only in Cuba - from October 18 - October 31, 2018. We booked the cruise in May 2016. We were notified by our travel agent on July 5 that the cruise was cancelled. So surprised and disappointed. Our interest is in seeing Cuba, not other places in the Caribbean. So other Scenic cruises that have just one or a few days in Cuba with all the other days elsewhere are not of interest to us. Also, we book our cruises far in advance. We are already booked on cruises in the spring and fall of 2019, as well as the spring of 2020. So we wouldn't be looking at a possible Scenic ocean cruise until fall of 2020.

 

Since they were so late in cancelling, we had difficulty finding another cruise of interest for our fall 2018 cruise. Everything we were interested in among the various luxury cruise lines were already "wait list". We wound up booking a Grills cabin for an eastbound Queen Mary 2 crossing, and then a week in London.

 

We have actually done a Scenic river cruise and enjoyed it very much. That's why I was enthusiastic about their doing an ocean cruise to Cuba. I actually looked at Scenic river cruises for fall 2018 as a "fill-in" for the cancelled Cuba cruise, but couldn't find anything of interest that still had availability.

 

Finally, does anyone know of any other luxury cruise lines that are or will be offering cruises to Cuba (although not cruises with only a few days in Cuba)? Thanks.

[OceanPatter]

My husband and I were booked on the Cuba in Depth cruise -- roundtrip from Miami with stops only in Cuba - from October 18 - October 31, 2018.

 

Finally, does anyone know of any other luxury cruise lines that are or will be offering cruises to Cuba (although not cruises with only a few days in Cuba)? Thanks.

 

Sweetpea711423, we were booked on the same Cuba cruise as you, and are just as disappointed! As a substitute, you may want to check out Viking Ocean, which offers a weeklong Cuba cruise later in 2018 as well as in 2019. We were on the Viking Sea earlier this year, and really loved the onboard experience.

 

This also leaves a gap in our Fall plans. A true bummer.

[Sweetpea711423]

Sweetpea711423, we were booked on the same Cuba cruise as you, and are just as disappointed! As a substitute, you may want to check out Viking Ocean, which offers a weeklong Cuba cruise later in 2018 as well as in 2019. We were on the Viking Sea earlier this year, and really loved the onboard experience.

 

This also leaves a gap in our Fall plans. A true bummer.

 

 

OceanPatter,

 

Thank you so much for the information re: Viking Ocean. I will certainly look into it. So kind of you to send it along.

 

Sweetpea711423

[Mistinguett]

My husband and I were booked on the Cuba in Depth cruise -- roundtrip from Miami with stops only in Cuba - from October 18 - October 31, 2018. We booked the cruise in May 2016. We were notified by our travel agent on July 5 that the cruise was cancelled. So surprised and disappointed. Our interest is in seeing Cuba, not other places in the Caribbean. So other Scenic cruises that have just one or a few days in Cuba with all the other days elsewhere are not of interest to us. Also, we book our cruises far in advance. We are already booked on cruises in the spring and fall of 2019, as well as the spring of 2020. So we wouldn't be looking at a possible Scenic ocean cruise until fall of 2020.

 

Since they were so late in cancelling, we had difficulty finding another cruise of interest for our fall 2018 cruise. Everything we were interested in among the various luxury cruise lines were already "wait list". We wound up booking a Grills cabin for an eastbound Queen Mary 2 crossing, and then a week in London.

 

We have actually done a Scenic river cruise and enjoyed it very much. That's why I was enthusiastic about their doing an ocean cruise to Cuba. I actually looked at Scenic river cruises for fall 2018 as a "fill-in" for the cancelled Cuba cruise, but couldn't find anything of interest that still had availability.

 

Finally, does anyone know of any other luxury cruise lines that are or will be offering cruises to Cuba (although not cruises with only a few days in Cuba)? Thanks.

 

Like you, my husband and I were also booked on the Cuba cruise. We were very excited because it was to do only Cuba. There is a Silversea cruise sailing out of Nassau in October,but,if you are a USA citizen, unfortunately it is not an option. They are not advertising it on their USA sight, for obvious reasons.We had enquired about this a year ago,my husband is a USA citizen. Will not be re-booking.Waiting to hear from Scenic, only received a phone call, so far,from the Spanish office.

[crickette]

I am looking for a response from the Scenic Team that the travel agents will receive compensation as part of the other reasonable costs. Passengers are not the only ones who have been harmed.

[Cancun01]

I am looking for a response from the Scenic Team that the travel agents will receive compensation as part of the other reasonable costs. Passengers are not the only ones who have been harmed.

 

The information I saw said agent's commissions were protected.

[OceanPatter]

Hi everyone--please report back when Scenic has started to process your refunds. (As I have yet to receive anything in writing from my TA.) I just hope that the publicized reimbursement plan isn't part of the Scenic Eclipse 'hype' we all experienced.

[Cancun01]

We received an electronic PDF letter from Scenic via our TA on Friday morning. It included all of the info regarding the delay and sending banking information for refund options plus the alternative itinerary should we wish to move our booking to the October 8, 2019 sailing. My TA has submitted

preference for refund. We are holding our breath hoping it will happen. At this point I have no reason to believe otherwise.

[Sweetpea711423]

Like you, my husband and I were also booked on the Cuba cruise. We were very excited because it was to do only Cuba. There is a Silversea cruise sailing out of Nassau in October,but,if you are a USA citizen, unfortunately it is not an option. They are not advertising it on their USA sight, for obvious reasons.We had enquired about this a year ago,my husband is a USA citizen. Will not be re-booking.Waiting to hear from Scenic, only received a phone call, so far,from the Spanish office.

 

Yes, my husband and I are both US citizens and live in the US. One of the reasons we were so excited about the Scenic "all Cuba" cruise was because we booked it before the change in Cuba policy by the Trump administration, so we were "grandfathered" in. Now, booking something new will be much more complicated.

[Mistinguett]

We received an electronic PDF letter from Scenic via our TA on Friday morning. It included all of the info regarding the delay and sending banking information for refund options plus the alternative itinerary should we wish to move our booking to the October 8, 2019 sailing. My TA has submitted

preference for refund. We are holding our breath hoping it will happen. At this point I have no reason to believe otherwise.

:rolleyes: Gosh, lucky you, we have not received anything! Only a brief telephone call informing us that the Cruise is cancelled and that we would be given the option of full refund or re-booking,as of now nothing in writing,which is what I requested!

[Mistinguett]

Hi everyone--please report back when Scenic has started to process your refunds. (As I have yet to receive anything in writing from my TA.) I just hope that the publicized reimbursement plan isn't part of the Scenic Eclipse 'hype' we all experienced.

 

In the same "boat"! Nothing in writing, yet, only a telephone call from T/A.

[russg140]

OP here (from 2 years ago!)

 

So we got notification from Scenic today saying that the launch of the Eclipse has been moved back to January 2019. We are booked for the Antartica strip in February and were told that the change will not affect our trip. So instead of the Eclipse being in service for 6 months prior to our boarding we will now be among the first trips she'll be taking.

 

Have any of you been on a "new" ship before? We have. It was a disaster: the bugs weren't worked out, the staff was completely new and unfamiliar with procedures, systems didn't work and things that should have been smooth were anything but. Most cruise lines perform a shakedown cruise to get all the kinks worked out before paying passengers board to help with this, but I'm sure Scenic has no plans to do so. And this cruise is costing $24K+!

 

We called Scenic to express our concerns. The agent spouted the company line, "Oh no, sir. The ship is already on it's way to Antartica. Everything is going to be fine. Nothing to worry about." When we reiterated our concern based on past experience with "new" ships we got the same response. When we told the agent that we had booked the cruise we did SPECIFICALLY 6 months after Eclipse was launched to avoid the hassles that come with a new build - we got the same speech. Finally she said to forward the email to info @ scenicusa dot com with our concerns and to request someone contact us.

 

Did that. 5 minutes later got another copy of our confirmation with not one but two copies of the "Terms and Conditions". Maybe it's just me but I took that as a slap in the face, so I forwarded that email back to them asking "Is this the only response I am going to get or can I expect a telephone call?"

 

We dealt directly with Scenic but the US offices weren't really up to speed yet. We don't usually use a TA and now kind of regret not doing so, although it doesn't sound like the TA's are having any luck either.

 

Please keep posting updates - misery loves company!

[texmanufan]

russg140, I posted right after you and I am due to sail Feb 8th. I have some of the same concerns. I think I am going ahead because of the queue for one of these cruises but may regret it.

[MMDown Under]

OP here (from 2 years ago!)

We called Scenic to express our concerns. The agent spouted the company line, "Oh no, sir. The ship is already on it's way to Antartica. Everything is going to be fine. Nothing to worry about." When we reiterated our concern based on past experience with "new" ships we got the same response. When we told the agent that we had booked the cruise we did SPECIFICALLY 6 months after Eclipse was launched to avoid the hassles that come with a new build - we got the same speech. Finally she said to forward the email to info @ scenicusa dot com with our concerns and to request someone contact us.

Did that. 5 minutes later got another copy of our confirmation with not one but two copies of the "Terms and Conditions". Maybe it's just me but I took that as a slap in the face, so I forwarded that email back to them asking "Is this the only response I am going to get or can I expect a telephone call?"

We dealt directly with Scenic but the US offices weren't really up to speed yet. We don't usually use a TA and now kind of regret not doing so, although it doesn't sound like the TA's are having any luck either.

Please keep posting updates - misery loves company!

 

I can understand your concerns. You want to feel confident in your ship in Antarctica in particular.

 

It was insulting to email you another copy of your confirmation together with the terms and conditions, as a response to your concerns. I hope you get a phone call from Scenic soon.

[OceanPatter]

Why has ScenicTours been silent on this thread this week? Scenic's last posts were on July 4th and 5th, so it seems that they are no longer responding here.

 

When I called Scenic yesterday, they said that they would contact all affected clients/TAs by July 12. I have yet to hear from Scenic (or yet to hear back from my TA).

[russg140]

Why has ScenicTours been silent on this thread this week? Scenic's last posts were on July 4th and 5th, so it seems that they are no longer responding here.

 

When I called Scenic yesterday, they said that they would contact all affected clients/TAs by July 12. I have yet to hear from Scenic (or yet to hear back from my TA).

 

So here's my (amateur) theory:

 

Scenic over promised and overhyped on Eclipse. The ship was due next month. Now they are saying January.

 

All the people booked from August to January are getting their money back. Money that Scenic was hoping to use to pay the shipyard to finish Eclipse is now being spent on refunds. Those of us that are booked after January are being told "your cruise is unaffected" - read as, we are keeping your money but you may or most likely will not be taking this cruise. Which means the shipyard will stop work (not getting paid) and the ship won't be completed.

 

There was a float out in February. Does a fitting out (Putting the final touches) take 11 months? No. Something is wrong.

 

Scenic. If you are, in fact, listening. Just own what's happening 'cuz word is going to get out that you have screwed lots of customers and that will be the end. Not just for your Ocean business, but your River business as well. If you lose trust with your customers you will never get it back. Do the right thing now.

 

For those of us with money on the table all we can hope is that they do.