Swan Hellenic Avis 146

I sailed with Swan Hellenic in October 2024 on their Heart of the Seychelles cruise. There were many problems but I decided to hold off posting an immediate review in order to give SH the opportunity to address these issues. After a couple of communications from their Global Head of Guest Relations, which were basically cut & paste responses, paragraphs that didn’t relate to anything I had mentioned, and even statements that were obviously meant for someone else, I realised that the company has no care for their customers once they have travelled and won't take responsibility for the failures that I had to endure.

Apparently it was the first time SH had operated this itinerary and as a result the cruise felt like a training exercise, with staff learning on the job and passengers their unwilling guinea pigs.

ITINERARY/EXCURSIONS : This was the biggest disappointment, and ultimately where the cruise failed. It felt like it was being planned ‘on the hoof’. There was a nightly briefing about the following days excursions but these never went to plan which resulted in a vast amount of our holiday time hanging around waiting for updated announcements. Promised highlights were cancelled and when we did get ashore the trips were frustratingly limited and poorly executed. There was so much misinformation I cannot list it all here.

ONBOARD EXPERIENCE : This was an Indian Ocean cruise therefore I would have expected adequate sun loungers and shade. There were 6 loungers and the only 2 parasols were over these loungers. It was impossible to get anywhere near these as they were always reserved. Despite repeated requests for more loungers to be put out, they never materialised.

Entertainment was virtually non-existent. The same pianist every night with a very limited playlist. This was the only place to go after dinner so most people went straight to bed.

The ‘included’ wifi was a joke and only allowed you to access whatsapp messages. For a normal wifi service there was an additional charge of $225 per device ($25 per day for duration of cruise).

SERVICE : Whilst the staff were mainly friendly and tried to be helpful, the majority appeared undertrained. Many were new to the cruise line and lacked the professional standards expected of a premium cruise. Guest relations didn’t exist so whenever we had issues on board there was no clear point of contact for addressing concerns. When we had issues with noise in our stateroom and asked to move cabin we were advised we could go to reception when we were ready for bed and they would let us into an alternative cabin to sleep, but we couldn’t move there – only sleep!

FOOD & DRINK : The bar on the outside deck was often left unmanned. There was a drinks menu but many of the items listed were unavailable. Ordering a cocktail was lucky dip – You never knew what you would get as every server seemed to prepare them differently. Cocktails in the Observation Lounge were served in plastic glasses. The wine served was below the standard I would expect on this type of cruise.

WILDLIFE & EXPEDITION ELEMENTS : Highlight moments like a whale shark sighting went unannounced to passengers. On another occasion the on board expert recommended moving to deeper water for potential whale & dolphin viewings but this was ignored. I would have expected these to be key aspects of expedition cruising.

DISEMBARKATION : On our 2nd day we were presented with disembarkation information. Essentially we needed to sign up for an Island tour at $189pp or a Hotel Day pass at $110pp We had been informed prior to travel that we could stay on the ship until our airport transfer. When I queried with staff they were very unhelpful. It was only after I contacted our travel agent that this issue was resolved.

POST CRUISE EXPERIENCE : This was an expensive cruise that failed to deliver the ‘5 star premium boutique cruise experience.’

All of the above and much more has been fed back to Swan Hellenic. To date I have received 2 letters neither of which have addressed the majority of issues, and both of which have paragraphs that don't relate to anything I mentioned. They are clearly cutting & pasting responses from other people's letters without checking the content which I find deeply insulting. There are repeated comments about feeding back all information, however I wasn't on a 'market research cruise' I paid full price for a product that didn't deliver

Looking at previous reviews of this cruise line it appears that they operate successfully in the Polar regions, however they need to make significant improvements in their planning of new itineraries. It is unjustifiable to test them out on full paying passengers as they did in this case.

An offer of a future cruise credit which equates to approx 8.5% off the same cruise in 2025 is beyond derisory

After a wonderful ‘first cruise’ experience with Seabourn this year, we were looking forward to cruising from Peru to Panama in April with Swan Hellenic. In fact we built an entire 7-week itinerary around it.

But after accepting my deposit. confirming my booking and giving me a few months to plan (numerous flights to hard to reach destinations), SH just cancelled my confirmed cruise because they received a better offer from someone who wants to charter the entire ship. Now, instead of the trip of a lifetime I was promised by SH, they’ve left me with a hole to fill with something to make up time on a trip that’s now lacking its star element.

I know it’s a business but to be so obviously all about the money and not guest satisfaction is a bit concerning for a group that claims to be a luxury cruise line. How could I trust SH again??? Think I’ll go back to Seabourn.

Dear Kim,

The only option SH has given me is a small discount on a future booking. I don't see how that helps me with all of the money for flights and accommodation I have already booked AFTER I received written confirmation of my deposit with SH.

Given this, I fail to see how you've demonstrated that Swan Hellenic values guest relations when you've prioritised a new booking (dollars) over existing bookings which were already confirmed. But having now read reviews on social media, I see this is not an isolated incident.

12 night Iceland/Greenland cruise in August 24 with SH Vega, via a Travelzoo/Destinology deal.
Discussed around booking about the opportunity to see polar bears, which I felt had been marketed & was a main reason for travelling -& it seemed a lot of other travellers had the same hopes. It was thought that this would be possible, although became immediately apparent once on board we would not -we had a lecture to dispel our hopes , as this was in fact not the case and a sighting highly unlikely-.

I felt misled…but fortunately the cruise around Greenland took in the most beautiful awe inspiring scenery which made the trip very worthwhile.
One saw beautiful fjords, glaciers and icebergs. A definite trip to do for nature enthusiasts!

Embarkation of the ship was smooth, although Swan Hellanic let themselves badly down with logistics. They promise warm coats, waterproof rucksacks and water bottles to use and take home, as well as a welcome bottle of champagne in your cabin on arrival.
Unfortunately most of these promises were hollow, not to mention very inconvenient.
The low stock of coats meant I had to use a one two sizes to big, -I was advised if you need to exchange the size chosen there is stock, & the rucksack and insulated bottle were missing, as was the champagne. We were told they had supply problems!
Had travellers been informed prior to travelling, own arrangements could have been made. As it was some had no suitable bag to carry cameras etc in a safe manner during the cruise.
The champagne eventually was delivered to those who made a fuss, the rucksacks and water bottle to be sent home if we left our name and address.
Hence, nothing heard for two months, and on chasing this up I have been advised that they are now unwilling to send them out and instead offered an non negotiable $100 voucher against a future cruise or on board credit!
This is not an acceptable level of customer service expecting you to re book a cruise costing thousands in order to be recompensed for items contracted in a previous booking!
A poor reflection of customer care & value!
Such a shame coming from a luxury cruise company where cruises cost several thousands of pounds.
The luxury ship, delightful committed staff and itinerary provided an enjoyable trip, the staff on board working extremely hard to ensure guests enjoyment.
The company needs to support their hard work and keep customer service standards high.
-The CEO of the company was on board this cruise, surely if these problems were unavoidable, they could have been handled better, & overseen by him!
As it is, this response by SH does not unfortunately engender trust or indeed loyalty to the brand.
-Of note:
Swan Hellenics global head of guest relations provided the afor resolution, & assures in agreement with the CEO.

VERY DISAPPOINTING
The advertising and details of the trip looked good, but it appears to have been written by a marketing person in a remote office somewhere, and nobody checked if what they were promising was actually possible or could be delivered. And it wasn’t. Most timings were wrong, trips had delayed departures just about every day except for the two days when they were cancelled. Every day lots of reasons/excuses given but many difficult to believe.

First the Positives
Serving staff generally very good but when ordering drinks had long delays in being served up to 20 minutes at times.
Food generally good but certainly nothing special, and the wine was ‘£7 a bottle in the supermarket’ level, very average.

Now some of the Negatives. I could give you pages of problems but here are just a few examples -

Embarkation –Timings were wrong, couldn’t book in for 2 hours Not a great start.
Disembarkation was much worse, Chaotic. Our itinerary showed leave the ship at 4pm. But Swan Hellenic said out of your cabin by 8am, off the ship by 9am, later changed to 1pm but with no use of facilities onboard. Fortunately, after a lot of hard work by another guest things got sorted out as best they could in the circumstances.

Free wi-fi advertised, even on the rolling advert screen on the ship. Reality was ‘free wi-fi’ was $25 a day and you had to pay for the whole cruise, so for $250 for the trip. Not my idea of free wi-fi.

On the sundeck, 6 sunbeds for 160 guests. We were told by the staff they couldn’t put any more out, but up on the top stargazing deck there were dozens of sunbeds, but all packed away in storage racks.

Tenders – in the advertising - New feature on SH Diana “onboard tender boats to take guests passengers ashore in addition to, and in greater comfort than, the customary expedition Zodiacs.”
Reality was the tenders were never used. They tried twice to launch the tenders, both abandoned so back to using the zodiacs and with the usual delays.

Visit to the Botanic gardens on day 2 walk through the start of the gardens. Visit the toilets then back again to the bus so didn’t see the majority of the gardens. Very disappointing.

Curieuse day 3 Split into groups for the walk, our leader kept looking down at her phone then we realised she looking at google earth to try to find the way. Then told we had to wait for the next group because ‘their leader had the key to the doctor’s house’ Waited 20 minutes so they could overtake us, but when we arrived at the Doctor’s house it was closed for renovation. Not a very believable excuse.

Praslin Valle de Mai day 5 delayed start as usual. When we arrived packed with people, lots of other groups, so very difficult to hear what the guide was saying or stop and look at anything. 20 minutes or so walk along the main access path, then back to the shop at the entrance and out to the bus.

Island visit Grand Soeur didn’t happen, cancelled
Island visit Aride didn’t happen, cancelled

La Digue Tour of the island. Advertised as ‘a tour of the island’ followed by a visit to the Union Estate. Reality was we drove from the jetty to the nearby Union Estate. We asked where was the tour of the island? Told by the tour operator and Swan Hellenic it was the drive from the jetty to Union Estate.

So a memorable holiday, unfortunately mostly for the wrong reasons.
Overpromised and underdelivered.
After nearly 2 weeks a reply from Swan Hellenic with many of the questions not answered, just ignored.

My first cruise and probably my last.

13/11/24 Hello Kim, thank you for taking the time to reply my post on Trustpilot within hours of me posting it. Thanks also for your comment ‘we will ensure all aspects of your feedback is investigated and actioned.’ Very reassuring. After waiting since 24 October for a reply to all my complaints it is a relief that you will be dealing with it. As our booking agent helpfully pointed out ‘Yes, as per ABTA guidelines we work to a 28 day turnaround with all complaints. My email sent to you on the 24th October to acknowledge your complaint, confirmed a reply will be provided within 28 days which is the standard process and allows both ourselves and our suppliers sufficient time to respond.’ So I hope to have the matter resolved by 21/11/24, not long to wait.
Warm Regards Martin

We had a fabulous trip. Obviously there’s no controlling the weather and it was choppy several days and getting on and off the Zodiacs was a little challenging.

Food was very good and all staff exceptional.

Only negative was the entertainment. The pianist was good but sadly no atmosphere in the lounge.

great
5 stars

We recently came home from the cruise "Canadian Northwest Passage & Northern Lights".
Having spotted Polar Bears, Polar Foxes, Musk Oxes, different seals and whales as well as lots of seagulls we had a wonderful time with nearly no rain and mostly deep blue skies!
The two years old vessel SH Vega is modern styled and very well preserved.
The waiters and their officers in two Restaurants are of outstanding professionality and politeness. None of our wishes remained unfulfilled. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner were fantastic in terms of ambience, Food- quality and -quantity as well as beverages.
The Expedition team was great in all aspects:
Wildlife observations, organization and fulfillment of Zodiac- embarcations and -disembarcations, security measures before and during landing: gunmen shelter and guidance when exploring the nature.
We have been offered professional presentations of all cruise related topics.
Last but not least the captain and his officers gave us a great feeling of safety and being home.

It’s been less than a week since we returned home from our wondrous adventure on Swan Hellenic’s SH Vega. While it already seems like a dream, we have fantastic videos of fjords, polar bears, and whales to remind us of our magic carpet journey. Since I believe I was the oldest passenger on this trip at 85, I can only say the Captain and the entire crew from the Expedition leaders to the housekeeping staff took exceptional care of me. But then, they gave this same attention to the other guests - from handling special requests to performing many acts of kindness. We were lucky as well - our weather was exceptional for 16 days as we sailed along the Greenland coast and among the islands in the Northwest Passage of Canada. The zodiaks were kept busy as they carried us to and fro the various destinations - as we dressed in our parkas and muck boots. My daughter and son-in-law went kayaking in arctic waters; brave gals and guys did arctic plunges; hardy folks hiked through unusual terrains. If you’re looking for a different kind of travel experience, I highly recommend Swan Hellenic!

Exceptional Customer Service including staff remembering my name, greeting me with genuine kindness & interest in my wellbeing. I felt seen & heard. The ships are small & intimate which fit the purpose of this adventure which for me included a Chopra Retreat experience. The ship was also very clean & well maintain with staff that paid attention to detail e.g. making sure I had supplies for my morning espresso. I honestly cannot think of even a small complaint.

I went on this amazing adventure in July 2024. I can't praise the expedition team highly enough for their diligence, planning, organisation and expert knowledge which allowed us to experience 5! sightings of Polar bears in this vast wilderness plus walrus, reindeer, arctic foxes and seals.
All of the team members on board were helpful, friendly, attentive and nothing was too much trouble for them to make this trip so special for all the passengers. The food was really more than 5* giving lots of choice of fresh well prepared ingredients.
The only down side was that this fabulous experience ended much too quickly!!

Great cruise of Northern Africa and luxury / value for money 💰

I loved pretty much everything about my trip on SH Vega. From being met at Keflavík airport and being whisked to my hotel and an envelope of information for me which was just what I needed. Then the next day arriving at the port right by the pretty Vega. From getting off the coach, boarding, checking in then to sitting down to lunch was under 10 mins.
Then to explore, but first my cabin. Gorgeous, just as it looked in the photos, but the surprise was the amount of storage! Storage everywhere. I met my steward who I would see most days, on the bumpy day he stopped to check if I was feeling seasick, which I wasn’t.
Captain Lubo and Staff Captain Christian both often available for chats and questions from the guests.
Puneet in the restaurant making sure all was well, checking if I wanted to join others or eat alone, on each evening. And checking on me during the meal, which I really appreciate as a solo traveller.
Expedition Leader Mariam always thorough at explaining how the next day would go, making sure we all understood, and her team always available for questions. All the staff and crew, whether restaurant, cabin, maintenance based, all seemed genuinely happy to be there and always greeted with a smile. Gorgeous ship, fantastic team. I want to go on SH Vega again, that cabin was my bedroom and that ship was my home for 8 nights.

Everything was wonderful! The expeditions and team, the hospitality and housekeeping. The expedition team were so knowledgeable and friendly. They went out of their way to make sure you saw as much as possible every day, despite fog! The food and service were incredible, with the staff remembering any little details about what you liked to drink, eat etc.
Cabin suit was great, loads of storage and a great balcony.
A trip of a lifetime, worth every penny!

The Swan Hellenic Svalbard expedition cruise exceeded my expectations. The SH Vega had 162 passengers, a large number of staff, delicious food, great expeditions in zodiac boats, and was all-inclusive. No worries about drink costs or tipping. Also, the crew was able to vary the itinerary to compensate for weather.

Superb Arctic cruise circumnavigating Svalbard. Beautiful ship (SH Vega), well organised, lovely foo, lovely staff & passengers, great atmosphere, great weather and best of all we saw 3 polar bears!

Fantastic service throughout trip. Wonderfully attentive staff , superb food and brilliant expedition leaders.
Cannot state any negatives

Great ship, exciting adventures on Zodiac boats, very helpful and friendly staff, great food and met some great people. Recommended.

We sailed with Swan Hellenic to Antarctica in January this year and it was hands down, the best experience of our lives. It was so good in fact, that we've just come back from Svalbard in the Arctic, also with Swan Hellenic for our second time on the SH Vega.

SH specialize in "expedition cruising" which is more like an adventure than a vacation. You'll listen to "briefings" and complete "operations" in some of the most remote places on earth where you'll see wildlife in their natural habitats, awe at breath-taking scenery and really be part of some once in a lifetime moments.

And all the while, you'll be surrounded by luxury. A practically brand new ship, with teams who work to such a high standard they completely obliterate and surpass even the concept of 5 star service.

The ships are intentionally smaller than traditional cruise ships so they can navigate into small and (what feels like) hidden locations. It is certainly quality over quantity and it is not comparable with traditional cruising which you might think of - this is more like a holidaying on a very large private yacht.

A huge shout out to Puneet the restaurant manager (and his team) who makes every single meal special and all of the expedition team, who have such an enthusiasm in their areas of expertise, it becomes infectious.

We've now been to around 74 countries and all 7 continents and as we continue to travel we will 100% be going on another Swan Hellenic adventure in the future and I suggest you do too.

My husband and I have just returned from a trip to the Arctic with Swan Hellenic, what can I say it was absolutely amazing!
The ship, cabins, food, drinks and crew were outstanding right the way through. We have done several holidays like this but this was by far the best ever, it was superb. The Expedition team were fabulous, so helpful, accommodating during challenging conditions and very knowledgeable. This truly was a holiday of a lifetime and we feel very privileged, we would definitely book with Swan Hellenic again. We can’t thank you enough for the trip.

We have just returned from a fabulous trip to the Artic. ALL the staff were fantastic, the restaurant/bar staff could not do enough for you, expedition team were so knowledgeable. Food/accommodation were superb. I will definitely use Swan Hellenic again. Thank you for an amazing holiday/experience