The worst kept secret in the cruise industry was made official on Thursday July 5 as the management of Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours announced that the launch of Scenic Eclipse has been delayed until late January 2019.

The ship was originally set to be delivered in August 2018.

The 228-guest six-star ship is under construction at Uljanik in Croatia, which underwent an ownership change amid financial issues over the winter. 

Scenic Founder and Chairman Glen Moroney said construction issues within the shipyard have caused the delay.

“Despite the best efforts of our Scenic Eclipse Build Supervision Team to make up construction time, we are not prepared to compromise the quality of the vessel and potentially impact guest experiences to meet the original late August 2018 launch date,” said Moroney.

“We have apologized to affected guests for the inconvenience caused and confirmed that Scenic will provide a full refund for the cost of their Scenic Eclipse cruise and consideration of any other reasonable associated costs incurred with their travel plans.

“In addition, the Scenic team will work closely with guests to reschedule their trip at a suitable time, for travel within the next two years. Scenic will provide all guests who rebook a Scenic Eclipse voyage during this time a future cruise credit to the value of 25% of the cost of their rebooked cruise,” he added.

The ship is a trend-setter in the expedition market, with a full luxury offering including multiple dining venues, a submarine and helicopter. 

A second ship for Scenic follows in 2020.