Rare 1of4 Posted April 7, 2023 #1 Share Posted April 7, 2023 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Jazzbeau Posted April 7, 2023 #2 Share Posted April 7, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted April 7, 2023 Author #3 Share Posted April 7, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canal archive Posted April 7, 2023 #4 Share Posted April 7, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted April 7, 2023 Author #5 Share Posted April 7, 2023 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canal archive Posted April 7, 2023 #6 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Yup it’s gone on the U.K. site as well now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted April 7, 2023 Author #7 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Wow…it’s a mystery! I guess we will find out eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canal archive Posted April 7, 2023 #8 Share Posted April 7, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted April 7, 2023 Author #9 Share Posted April 7, 2023 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canal archive Posted April 7, 2023 #10 Share Posted April 7, 2023 Looks like they’re pushing there and back as it were on different continents. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted July 28, 2023 Author #11 Share Posted July 28, 2023 (edited) 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 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted July 29, 2023 #12 Share Posted July 29, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daisi Posted July 29, 2023 #13 Share Posted July 29, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelagh12 Posted July 29, 2023 #14 Share Posted July 29, 2023 Did they tell you who the chefs were. That sounds like fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted July 30, 2023 Author #15 Share Posted July 30, 2023 (edited) 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1of4 Posted July 30, 2023 Author #16 Share Posted July 30, 2023 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare terry&mike Posted July 30, 2023 #17 Share Posted July 30, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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