Swan Hellenic Reviews 

The workers, the food, the excursions, the communication, the scenery. All unbelievable!

Fabulous crew, staff, food, excursions, and ship.

Dear SH Vega team,

We have only just returned home from our Greenland voyage, yet our hearts and souls are still on that incredible ship, with its flawless organization and its courteous, friendly team under the leadership of Captain Lubo. Even the welcome aboard this exceptional vessel immediately opens the heart, because friendliness and professionalism come first - the guest is truly king, and the luggage is already in the cabin upon arrival.

A wonderful adventure begins with the first step onto the gangway. All necessary information is quickly accessible, and one finds one’s way around the manageable, comfortable ship with its first-class standards very quickly. This journey was not just one of the many trips we have taken. No, it was something truly special, because all the senses were transported into a world that is unique.

Fjords, landscapes, and settlements far, far away from civilization and Western everyday life left a deep impression on us. Not everyone has the privilege of seeing and experiencing something like this in a lifetime. All those responsible in the different departments — hotel, hospitality and service, spa, medical, and the remarkable expedition leadership under Michael John Scotting — are not merely people doing their jobs, but highly professional experts with passion. They all love what they do, they let us share in it, and they know how to put a smile on everyone’s face in an instant.

They all draw us into the adventure. They understand every detail of their roles, and they make this experience a truly once-in-a-lifetime adventure. The highest safety standards apply, especially when the daily Zodiac excursions ashore begin. Untouched land full of beauty and silence, together with flora, fauna, mountains, and unimaginable glacier worlds, took our breath away. The equipment is perfect and is provided in the base camp before landing. The organization is structured into color groups so that there are no long waiting times.

Every minute on this journey is a gift to life — an unforgettable experience that will remain etched in our souls. Thank you to everyone who makes something like this possible. Thank you to Swan Hellenic, thank you to Captain Lubo, and thank you to his entire team. Rolf Hillert & Danny Stricker

Truly Outstanding! We have done two cruises with Swan Hellenic. The staff (at all levels) were extremely attentive and the service was always amazing.

We found the other passengers to be good fun generally.

Swan Hellenic consistently gave us a wondrous day (every day) and we are enormously grateful for the adventures, amazing food and stunning drinks.

船很新,航行平穩舒適，房閻挺大的、房務很到位，10天在4F及7F餐廳換著吃,這趟下來不小心胖了兩公斤,菜色很豐富,乘客要小心！2026/07/30

I don't need to repeat what others have said. Hopefully, those reading the reviews of the cruise that began with our meeting in Copenhagen on 3 July will recognise that we are not complaining about not seeing enough polar bears. We are seasoned travellers and understand perfectly well that wildlife is exactly that – wild.

Swan Hellenic's failure to ensure all the luggage was on its charter flight had serious repercussions for everyone, not least the unfortunate passengers left with only the clothes they were wearing and their hand luggage. I have pressed SH on whether there were viable alternatives to sending the ship back to Longyearbyen to collect the luggage and, having considered their explanation, I accept there were not.

It is what happened **after the luggage was recovered** that remains unexplained.

The undeniable fact is that our expedition followed a materially different route from that which we had a reasonable expectation of experiencing and which comparable cruises before and after ours have followed. Indeed, the Expedition Leader commented that he had not visited one of the "hut" sites we visited for more than five years. That hardly suggests it was somewhere ordinarily regarded as a priority destination.

The question SH has repeatedly declined to answer directly is very simple:

**Why did the ship not return north once the luggage was safely aboard?**

SH has an opportunity to answer that question unequivocally here. Instead, its responses have repeatedly relied upon general statements about expedition itineraries being flexible and decisions being taken with "the wellbeing and overall experience of the guests in mind."

What wellbeing consideration required the vessel to remain predominantly in the south-west after the luggage had been recovered? That has never been explained. Perhaps they will now.

On our first evening, the Expedition Leader told us that his job was to put us in the best possible position to experience the wildlife Svalbard has to offer. We couldn't have asked for more. The problem is that, by remaining where we did, I do not believe that commitment was fulfilled.

The Norwegian Polar Institute states that most Svalbard polar bears are found in areas with sea ice; western Spitsbergen generally has lower bear densities; higher densities occur along the east coast and in northern fjords; and many bears follow the retreating sea ice north-east or east during summer.

Again, **this is not about how many polar bears we happened to see**. No operator can guarantee wildlife sightings. It is about whether we were put in the best locations reasonably available to experience the wildlife Svalbard has to offer. The evidence suggests we were not.

Many passengers complained. In responding to some reviews, SH has stated: *"A resolution was subsequently provided through your travel agent."* That wording risks giving the impression that SH participated in that resolution. In our experience, it would be more accurate to replace **"through"** with **"by"**.

The real disappointment is therefore not simply that an operational problem occurred. Problems happen. It is the way Swan Hellenic has dealt with the consequences and the subsequent complaints.

The mark of a genuinely customer-focused company is how it responds when things go wrong. In my experience, Swan Hellenic has fallen seriously short of that standard.

Edited following SH's response:
As suggested I will pose the still unanswered questions via my tour operator and being the enternal optimist hope to be able to return here to improve my review.

The ship and staff are amazing. The ship is small for expedition purposes but when you only get off the ship for 9 1/2 hours for a weeks expedition,
it becomes extremely boring as there is little else to do.
30 of our passengers did not receive their luggage which is where our problems began. Everyone was in full agreement that the passengers needed to be reunited asap with their luggage.
The trip is sold as a trip around the whole archipelago but due to poor contingency plans that did not happen for us, instead we sailed immediately as far north as possible (why would you do that when you know full well you have to return to collect missing luggage) instead we spent a very short time in the ice pack (6 hours ) then immediately travelled back at speed to the south to rendezvous with another boat carrying the missing luggage. We all knew the reason we left was for the luggage but since our return we have been told it was because of fog, this was definitely not the reason we were given. We were on a state of the art ship that could cope with any weather condition and at best it was sea mist but not the reason we returned south. This is where we stayed for 4 days visiting huts twice a day (once you’ve seen one hut you’ve seen them all boring !!!!)
Many passengers were extremely unhappy once realising we were never going do the whole archipelago. The expedition lead was challenged on many occasion about this by lots of passengers but we were fobbed off and given all sorts of excuses and told his job is to put us in the best place to see all wildlife. There were some amazing photos taken which would sell it that we saw what was on these photos but sending drones to take these photos is a false representation of what we actually saw.
Only on the last day did they finally head north as they were under pressure to deliver and yes we say a few polar bears but again so so far away and our photos compared to the professional ones anyone would challenge was it actually the same bears.
Once back home a large group complained to our travel agent who then took the complaint to SH who were not interested at all, as far as they were concerned we saw wildlife what was the problem. They also repeatedly said that they could change their itinerary at any point for emergency purposes. The missing luggage was not an emergency as they knew when it was arriving and made poor decisions to travel north immediately instead of waiting in the south to reunite luggage, we could then have continued our trip. They have never had the decency to admit they got it wrong instead blaming the weather (we were repeatedly told by the expedition lead Mike ‘whoever has ordered this weather keep doing so ‘ )
The customer service of SH is none existent even though fellow passengers could back up so much information and evidence of what occurred SH still fobbed us off with weather conditions and that we saw wildlife, regardless that we only got half the trip we payed for.
I’m sure the trip, if completed as sold is amazing but my advice is to choose a different cruise company to travel with.

*edited due to response from SH* just to put the record straight our tour operator did give us a small refund of not even 10% of a £16000 cruise. SH refused to give any kind of refund and as of yet have still not answered the questions about their poor decision making. SH you have zero customer service and pass the buck to the tour operators to deal with. Bad decisions were made on the ship not by our tour operator, own your mistakes that would make you a better company !!!!!

Our trip to Svarlbad - the trip of a lifetime - was sadly nowhere near this.

Numerous complaints have been made about this voyage by a large number of passengers. SH have responded to these but with no objective evidence to support their view. How genuine a response, who knows - SH express sympathy for the complaint but say it has all been investigated and a shame we don't like the conclusion.

Frankly, none of it adds up and this causes the anger - it's like they are "going through the works", a process with pre-determined end. If so, it demonstrates values that would not see us use this company again (even though the ship itself was great).

So what is the issue? SH Diana is a lovely ship, great restaurant and cleaning staff on it. We like many other passengers booked the trip of a lifetime to go see polar bears, ice floes, explore the wilderness and see lots of wildlife. No guarantees but SH cruise leader first night said his job was "to put us in the best place to see wildlife" and said "the weather gods are with us". And every ship follows a path, north and then east, to the ice floes, to distant areas where the vast majority of the wildlife is. Our trip started like that...

The first evening SH told us that they had lost 15-25 passengers luggage - we headed north, next day reached the ice floes, spent 2-3 hours there, then turned around. Rather than return north, once this issue was sorted SH determined to spend second full day (of six) to fifth full day in the south west - we saw more huts than we did walrus (3) or polar bear (0) in that time. Take a look at their marketing - not a hut in sight. And where are you least likely to see wildlife... the south west. On the final full day we finally went back north - and saw 2 polar bear in the distance on the shore.

Discontent had grown all week. The apparent disdain for the complaints made beggars belief. A passenger asked the expedition director when he was actually going to put us in a position to see a polar bear...

At the farewell drinks, the gathered passengers were put in their place "Many of you doubted Mike, many of you questioned him... well that was wrong, he's delivered one of the best trips ever" etc. Putting everyone in their place. Delivered with disdain, something the hotel director apologised for.

And what subsequent? In my view a pile of corporate speak selectively highlighting facts to give, in my view, an impression that does not reflect what happened. Look at their response below. No objective evidence at all. And other feedback? A great trip if you wanted to see geology or huts; if you'd never been on an expedition you may fall for the "unique" wildlife sightings - but not one shred of independent objective evidence to support their contentions.

"We always put passenger safety and welfare first... weather and operational reasons [dictated this]" Hm. This simply runs counter to everything we were told on board. The only reason we deviated was luggage related. Multiple other ships at same time went north and east during the time we marooned ourselves in the south west - including one of SH other ships.

And as soon as we were off the ship, a new group got on and headed.... north and then east.

Well you had extraordinary experiences say SH, sightings that had not happened in 10 years (I think)... on the first day approaching the ice floes, in the distance a pod of unidentified whales broke the service - we were made aware that these were narwhal. Amazing. But no sooner seen than gone. A few minutes later a whale was spotted blowing in the distance, we saw it do so 4 or 5 times - apparently a rare sighting of a blue whale.

Given it was the north then maybe much more to be expected...

And then what? A few harbour seals, 6 or 7 reindeer, maybe 20-30 puffins in total, 3 beluga whale one afternoon at distance and 3 walrus sitting on a beach. Oh and a cliff that had lots of birds on it one morning for 45 minutes.

Take a look at SH reels, their advertising blurb, look at the pictures / words used. Our trip never came close. It ended up seeing fjords, huts and a smattering of wildlife. There is much more we could add... and what gets us all is how the explanations do not in our view add up. It must be embarrassing to have to stand behind such corporate speak.

A trip of a lifetime on state of the art ship, built to withstand thick ice and venture to the northernmost points yet we're told weather prevented us doing so. Makes no sense. It's why many passengers are now looking to trading standards, litigation and other routes to correct it. Great ship, nice crew - but if a problem arises... like many others we don't buy the explanations given. A shame as it is a great ship and can clearly deliver but did not for us.

I recently travelled to the Arctic on SH Diana. Unfortunately about 26 passengers luggage didn't make it onboard the ship as SH failed to ensure it was onboard the plane from Copenhagen to Longyearbyen . As a consequence the course of the ship was altered as we had to return to Longyearbyen to pick up their luggage 2 days into the cruise. Instead of going back up north and then east to continue the illustrated route (we understand its not guaranteed) the ship remained in the south west for the whole of the rest of the cruise. This was very disappointing and upset a great number of passengers as we missed out on areas of glaciers , ice pack and potential for more wildlife. Many passengers expressed their unhappiness on board and a number have put in formal complaints since our return. The way that SH have dealt with the complaints is abysmal. They have repeatedly failed to explain why the ship made no attempt to return to the north and northeast . We know the weather wasn't an issue as the onboard info we were given daily by, Mike, the expedition Director stated the weather was incredibly good throughout the whole trip.
There has not been a single apology or offer of recompense to any passengers. Their whole attitude has been totally dismissive hiding behind the statement ' each voyage is assessed and operated according to the prevailing conditions and operational considerations at the time'. However, previous cruises and the one immediately following ours spent considerable time north and north east. We can only assume as the weather was good the operational considerations were one of cost.
Problems happen, but the sign of a good company that wishes to preserve its reputation and encourage future business is the way they handle complaints. In contrast 2 luxury travel agents have made meaningful refunds to their clients travelling on this same voyage.
Unfortunately for SH their intransigence means we will never book a trip with them again.
I would add that our problem is the company. The ship itself, staff , food and entertainment were outstanding so it is a shame we won't experience that again.

Having received SH reply below we are still being fobbed off from the central question which we asked through our travel agent and did not receive an adequate reply. WHY DID WE NOT GO BACK UP NORTH AND NORTH EAST? There was time and the weather was not an issue.
Focusing on my one sentence complimenting the ship staff and ignoring the central point just highlights how you disregard us as customers.

Great Ship, excellent expedition team and outstanding service.

Lovely ship and brilliant crew!
Unfortunately due to 32 passengers lost luggage and having to come back to repatriate it, this meant that we missed half of the Svalbard Expedition Cruise around the archipelago. Not the cruise that was advertised! And at £16000 I felt I deserved at least some form of recompense from Swan Hellenic. But as a company they are totally non-responsive or they fob you off!
I would not use them again under any circumstances.
I refer to Swan Hellenic’s reply in which I am being fobbed off once again! I understand that it is a flexible itinerary but we only got half a cruise. Expanding their theory, we could have left Longyearben and just spent a week in the nearest fjord and not gone anywhere else! They would still not be responsible! We also only spent nine and a half hours off the ship in a week to look at some huts.
My Travel Company refunded me a tiny amount as they have good Customer Relations - Swan Hellenic have none….

The room is remarkably spacious; it was actually the very first time on a cruise where we ended up with spare closet space and extra storage, which made settling in effortless!

The expedition tours were absolutely amazing. Being able to participate in two well organized outings per day was an incredible experience, offering non stop excitement and spectacular Arctic scenery.

What truly sets this cruise apart, though, is the outstanding people onboard. The entire crew was terrific: always smiling, welcoming, and genuinely ready to help with every detail. It was remarkable how quickly they remembered our personal preferences; they constantly went out of their way to anticipate and accommodate our specific needs. On top of that, the Captain was incredible: extremely approachable, attentive, and frequently engaging with guests around the ship.

Every single aspect of this journey exceeded our expectations, and I honestly cannot wait to book our next trip and go back!

10 days plus around Svalbard on a very modern and comfortable small 1st class (modest assessment) ship that offered whatever and everything needed to make any stay enjoyable! The accessibility, friendliness and professionalism of the staff and expedition team just added to the overall enjoyable atmosphere and experience! Well done Swan and SH Vega

We have recently returned from the arctic by way of S H VEGA
We are seasoned travellers in our 80’s and had to rely on assistance getting on and off zodiacs which our agent, Polar expeditions told us would be forthcoming.
They were 100% correct in this as all the staff from the cabin crew to Captain were impeccable.
Food and amenities were top rate and the only tiny niggle I have is the saddles on the exercise bicycles ( painful)🤭
A fabulous expedition with experienced, fun crews and a big thank you for arranging such great weather and sightings.

Hello,
Im someone just looking, with really no money and are trying to do something in my life I’ve never done before I dye. It’s has to be taken care of because we have no money . It be me and my best friend.
Please tell if there is a way, we will help out if we have to.

Thank you,
Janine Findlay
J9

We boarded the SH Vegar at Longyearbyen in Svalbad on the 8 July 2026. A Polar expedition!
We don't do cruises ever so this was a first for us but we always referred to it as an expedition. The mix of history, geology and geography turned it into an interactive "Planet Earth" episode with amazing food and accommodation to boot. Throughout, the staff were amazing: from the room maids to the bar staff right through to the specialists and captain.
If you want a true expedition experience with some luxury thrown in, this is the option to pick.

Super Organisation, tolles Schiff und großartiger Service. Das einzige was schade war, war die Begrenzung der Kayaktouren. Verständlich wenn diese aus Witterungsgründen abgesagt werden aber schade das diese nicht bei gutem Wetter immer alternativ zur Zodiactour angeboten werden.

excellent in all respects

We have just returned from our wonderful holiday in Svalbard, and would like to thank THG for putting this trip together. The organisation was impressive throughout, but sadly it fell down at the last hurdle.
We read through every minute bit of information that you sent us, and we followed day by day until the very last. Yesterday we returned by air from Svalbard to Copenhagen very smoothly, and were met at the airport by a Swan Hellenic representative who gave us our very last envelope with instructions for the last day, as we were being pushed on to a taxi. As it was very late on the Saturday due to the 1.5 hour queue to pass through Copenhagen passport control, we were unable to look closely. Instructions for the next day stated 'Departure to the airport is not included ...'. We have in previous information on our itinerary that it should have been. None of the other members of our group knew what was happening, and it was necessary to leave the NH Collection hotel by 8.30 am in order to proceed through the very slow passport control at the airport to catch our BA flight at 1200. Swan Hellenic reception desk was not manned.
We had to decide for ourselves, and ordered a taxi which cost us 421 Krone. We were not expecting this.
What a pity the superb organisation by Swan Hellenic throughout could not finish on a high note.