Angry passengers on a Swan Hellenic cruise to Antarctica went on a hunger strike when a technical problem forced them to change their itinerary, shortening their planned exploring period by several days.
Passengers protested the modifications, even though the cruise line offered compensation.
After a malfunction led the Swan Hellenic cruise liner SH Diana to shorten her Antarctica trip, a number of guests on board went on a hunger strike.
Three and a half days of scheduled exploration in the Antarctic Peninsula were lost when the ship’s propulsion motor unexpectedly failed, forcing the crew to divert to Ushuaia, Argentina.
The tragedy happened two weeks into the 21-day journey, which had started on November 13 in Cape Town, South Africa.
The journey, which promised a unique chance to see the frozen wilderness of Antarctica, had cost many people between $8,900 and $12,600.
Swan Hellenic made amends by offering a 50% refund or a 65% future cruise credit, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of ship amenities and excursions while awaiting return travel.
Tensions persisted in spite of the payout. In order to seek a complete refund, a small number of Russian travelers staged a hunger strike outside the dining area.
Although the cruise line understood the customers’ annoyance, it noted that such itinerary modifications are frequent on adventure trips, particularly in erratic places.
Despite the fact that the hunger strike is now over, Swan Hellenic CEO Andrea Zito expressed the company’s apologies for the inconvenience and underlined that they went above and beyond the law by providing substantial compensation.
