Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours said the delivery of its
first expedition ship will be delayed because of shipyard issues.
The 228-passenger Scenic Eclipse was to be delivered in
August.
"Despite the best efforts of our Scenic Eclipse build
supervision team to make up construction time, we are not prepared to
compromise the quality of the vessel and potentially impact guest experiences
to meet the original late-August launch date," Scenic chairman Glenn
Moroney said.
The new launch date is late January 2019.
"Scenic will provide guests with a full refund for the
cost of their Scenic Eclipse cruise and consideration of any other reasonable
associated costs incurred with travel plans," Moroney said.
The futuristic-looking Eclipse, equipped with a helipad and
storage for a mini-submarine, is being built at a shipyard in Croatia.
Scenic said it will work with travel agents and their
clients to reschedule within the next two years, providing a future cruise
credit of 25% of the cost of the rebooked cruise. Agent commissions will be
protected on all affected bookings, Scenic said.
Other cruise lines building new expedition ships have also
had delays, including Hurtigruten and Crystal Cruises.