The luxury trip aboard the Swan Hellenic’s SH Diana was supposed to be the cruise of a lifetime for the 170 passengers but their dreams of seeing one of the remotest corners of the world were crushed
A group of furious passengers on a luxury cruise to the Antarctic has gone on a hunger strike after a disagreement with the cruise company.
The luxury trip aboard the Swan Hellenic’s SH Diana was supposed to be the cruise of a lifetime for the vessel’s 170 passengers but their dreams of seeing one of the remotest corners of the world were crushed after a technical hitch.
An engine failure put paid to the guests’ dreams of Antarctic sightseeing, an experience they had paid between £7,000 and £10,000 for, and which Swan Hellenic described as a ’boutique 5-star’ trip.
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Instead the SH Diana is currently limping home at a painfully slow 6 knots (6.9mph) towards a port in southern Argentina, where it can put in for repairs. The trouble began near the start of the planned 20-night journey, shortly after the ship set sail from Cape Town on November 13.
Instead of the promised trip of a lifetime, with stops at iconic spots like Elephant Island and Deception Island, an electric motor failure forced the vessel to cancel the entire Antarctic portion of the trip.
The devastated cruise passengers were offered a 50% refund, or a 65% ‘future cruise credit’ to use on a future trip by the company, which also promised free excursions in Ushuaia in Argentina where the ship is expected to dock on Saturday for repairs.
However this offer has been described as “insulting” by passengers as fury boiled amongst the guests during the ship’s slow crawl back to port for repairs. The Times reported at one group of wouldbe Antarctic tourists declared they were going on hunger strike until the company met their demands.
“We deeply regret having to alter the itinerary due to technical issues,” Swan Hellenic’s chief executive Andrea Zito said. But he defended the compensation offered to passengers, adding: “But we believe our offer is fair. Some passengers have already accepted it and even rebooked future trips.”
But his words have cut no ice with furious passengers. “The company needs to make a better offer,” one guest said. “Things were getting nasty yesterday, and it’s only getting worse.”
Meanwhile another told The Times they understood the situation but blasted the way the company had handled things. “They made the right call not to go to Antarctica for safety reasons, but it is being handled very badly by Swan Hellenic,” they said.
In a letter to the luxury cruise company a group of passengers wrote: “For a majority of us, this is our first time visiting Antarctica, and potentially the last opportunity for many.
“Some guests are elderly, disabled, and have struggled already to get to this point, only for the trip to be cut short. For many of us, visiting Antarctica is a life-long bucket list that we want to achieve before death or disability.”
Zito said in a statement: “The initial unease has largely subsided. A select few chose to stage a hunger strike in their protest which is rather counterproductive. We are working towards a swift end to this action.” He added: “We feel we have offered a very generous compensation package, beyond what is legally required.”
