It was supposed to be the adventure of a lifetime – a luxury cruise to the remote, icy wonderland of Antarctica.
But for the 170 passengers aboard Swan Hellenic’s SH Diana, dreams of witnessing towering glaciers, pristine landscapes and roaming penguins were crushed when an engine failure put paid to their grand voyage earlier this month.
The news was devastating for the Antarctic enthusiasts who had spent between £7,000 and £10,000 on what Swan Hellenic describes as a ’boutique 5-star’ experience.
A trip to Antarctica isn’t just a holiday – for many, it’s the culmination of a lifelong dream. As one group of passengers put it in a letter to the luxury cruise company: ‘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,’ the letter read, according to The Times.
But upon hearing that the company would not offer them a full refund for the journey, several of the disgruntled passengers took drastic measures and began a hunger strike in an attempt to pressure Swan Hellenic’s executives to cave.
The trouble began shortly after the ship set sail from Cape Town on November 13, embarking on what was billed as a 20-night journey to one of the world’s most remote destinations.
The ship was scheduled to make stops at iconic locations like Elephant Island and Deception Island. Instead, an electric motor failure forced the vessel to cancel the entire Antarctic leg of the voyage.
Several of the disgruntled passengers took drastic measures and began a hunger strike in attempt to pressure Swan Hellenic’s executives to cave
An electric motor failure forced the Swan Hellenic vessel to cancel the entire Antarctic leg of the voyage
SH Diana is now limping along at an agonisingly slow 6 knots (6.9mph) towards a port in southern Argentina.
Swan Hellenic has offered their passengers a 50% refund, or a 65% ‘future cruise credit’ which passengers could redeem on any journey within two years.
It has also promised free excursions in Ushuaia in Argentina where the ship is expected to dock on Saturday for repairs before heading out again on December 3.
But the compensation offer has only fuelled outrage.
Passengers have described the response as ‘insulting’ with tempers boiling over as the ship inched its way toward Ushuaia.
The situation reached a tipping point when a group of passengers that The Times reported as being Russian unfurled signs demanding full refunds and launched a hunger strike.
Swan Hellenic’s chief executive Andrea Zito defended the company’s compensation package, noting that it exceeds legal requirements.
‘We deeply regret having to alter the itinerary due to technical issues,’ Zito said. ‘But we believe our offer is fair. Some passengers have already accepted it and even rebooked future trips.’
One of the passengers is pictured touting a sign saying ‘100% trip refund or cash refund’
For passengers who had spent between £7,000 and £10,000 on what Swan Hellenic describes as a ’boutique 5-star’ experience, the news they would miss out on Antarctica was devastating
For others onboard, it’s not enough.
‘The company needs to make a better offer,’ another passenger said. ‘Things were getting nasty yesterday, and it’s only getting worse.’
Other passengers were more understanding, but remained upset by the situation.
One passenger told The Times: ‘They made the right call not to go to Antarctica for safety reasons, but it is being handled very badly by Swan Hellenic.’
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 of 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.’
The chaos on board the ill-fated Swan Hellenic cruise liner comes weeks after passengers aboard another massive cruise ship finally set sail on an around-the-world trip after the vessel spent four months stranded in Northern Ireland.
The Villa Vie Odyssey had been scheduled to leave Belfast since May for a three-year, round-the-world cruise but was delayed due to unexpected repairs.
Its passengers were effectively stranded in Northern Ireland for the entire summer, unable to leave lest they risk missing out on the journey with no telling of when the ship could set sail.
Passengers wave as they board the Villa Vie Odyssey at Belfast Cruise Ship Terminal on September 30
The Villa Vie Odyssey cruise ship at Belfast Port on September 28 as preparations continued
After months of waiting, the ship eventually left port in early October.
But it was later revealed that some passengers considered abandoning ship in the days after the departure when the vessel’s sewage systems stopped working.
Those living on board said that the stench of sewage was left ‘wafting through the corridors’ as the ship headed for France and then Portugal, with another saying the situation was ‘Third-World’.
Shortly after setting off from Belfast, residents complained that the TV channels and the swimming pools were not operational – and said the company even messed up smashing the champagne bottle against the side, which took three attempts before it broke.
When they finally got to their first stop – Brest, in France – passengers were trapped on the ship because there were not enough port workers to set up a gangplank.
Soon things went from bad to worse, when all the water was cut off and residents found themselves with no way to flush their toilets – supposedly because the wastewater tanks were not properly installed.
While this was fixed later that day, the hot water did not return until their second day in Bilbao.
One passenger named Joe Rhodes who has been writing about his experiences aboard the cruise ship: ‘Most Residents didn’t realise this — the shutdown happening in the middle of the night — until AFTER they’d made deposits, so to speak. Yep, we awakened to the faint smell of s**t marinating in a hundred unflushed bowls, wafting through the corridors, gently mixing with the ocean breeze.’
Mr Rhodes told The Telegraph: ‘Things have gone much more smoothly since Bilbao. No more problems with the hot water or non-flushing toilets.
‘The food has gotten exponentially better and things are going pretty well, much closer to what we’d anticipated the cruise would be. The beer is still terrible, though.’