Scenic Group pays millions to settle class action

Scenic Group has agreed to pay $26 million AUD (about $18 million USD) to 1,200 cruise passengers to settle a class action. 

The company will pay approximately $23 million AUD in damages to the group members for “reduction in value of their respective cruises and the distress and disappointment suffered” from European river cruises in 2013, according to Somerville Legal, the New South Wales-based law firm representing the plaintiffs.

In addition to damages, the law firm said Scenic will also pay $3 million AUD in legal fees incurred by the group members. 

The lawsuit was filed in 2014 after a number of cruises that took place in April and May 2013 had been impacted by high water levels on the Rhine and Danube rivers as a result of heavy rainfall that year, causing itineraries to be disrupted and carried out on buses. 

The plaintiffs argued that Scenic did not deliver the luxury services it had advertised and that they had paid for.

Somerville Legal said the lawsuit had gone through a series of court rulings and appeals over the years before reaching the settlement deal in May. 

The law firm said the terms of the settlement await approval by the New South Wales Supreme Court.

Travel Weekly attempted to contact Scenic for comment. News reports say that the company issued a statement saying that while it is “disappointed,” the outcome “is in line with our financial provisioning, given the previous court decisions and subsequent appeals.” 

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