A COUPLE claim their AUS$17,000 (£9,285) holiday was ruined after they spent just two days out of their 15-day trip on a luxury cruise liner.

They were forced to complete the rest of the journey by bus due to droughts in Europe last year.

Gavin and Tina Lawrence, who had recently married, were on their honeymoon with Scenic Tour from Amsterdam to Budapest.

The Sydney-based couple said the holiday was a "disaster" according to ABC as they were forced so spend most of their trip on buses due to the low water levels in the river.

They booked the 15-day cruise around Europe with Scenic Tours, only for the river cruise to be affected by drought after temperatures soared to 40C last year.

Gavin told ABC: "Disappointing is probably an understatement."

He added that if they wanted to do a bus tour they would have booked one and "saved myself a lot of money".


They claimed that they were not informed of the changes from their guide during the holiday.

Just two days into their trip, they were told to pack their bags before being taken on a bus and public ferry.

After being put onto a replacement ship, not only were the toilets faulty, but the shop broke down.

It was only when a tour guide in one of the cities accidentally told them they would only be going as far as Germany due to low water levels that they realised.

They then received a letter in their cabins saying the remaining eight days of the trip would be by bus.

Gavin said: "It was a dream holiday and it was just horrible."


They are now considering suing the cruise provider along with other passengers who were also left disappointed when their holidays were affected by the drought.

The NSW Supreme Court decided passengers who were affected could take action against Scenic Tours.

Couple Darran and Merrilyn Kelly had a similar experience after saving for two years to pay for their $37,000 (£20,000) "Jewels of Europe" cruise.

They were left "devastated" after only experiencing the luxury cruise for five days out of the two week trip.

Lawyer Cameron Graham, who said at least 14 cruises had been affected with up to 1,200 passengers involved.

He added that they were given a "poor substitute" to what they had paid for.

More than 1,000 luxury cruise passengers were forced to sleep in freezing conditions after they were left stranded in Monte Carlo earlier this week.

Due to choppy waters, passengers were unable to be picked up, leading them stranded for 24 hours.

Last month, passengers slammed a "luxury cruise" after the trip stopped at Great Yarmouth and a Dutch industrial port.

Sun Online Travel has contacted Scenic Tours for comment.

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