Cruise cancelled by authorities due to safety issues. Affect on next cruise ?

[Sunnytrip]

The cruise on the Cruise and Maritime ship MV Discovery due to sail from Bristol UK on 28th Feb was diverted to Portland UK and then cancelled the following evening due to technical difficulties. More info here

 

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/

 

We are due to sail on the same ship on 15th March and are now rather concerned. How do we find out what the real problem is?(Rather than the company line) and what if any rights do we have? Don't want to experience a repeat performance of the shambles these poor passengers have had to put up with.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the link.

All you can do is keep checking with the cruise line to see what the situation will be for your cruise.

Hope your cruise is not cancelled.

[stein123]

I found these comments for you by google:

 

Our passengers will be receiving a full refund of their cruise fare and in addition, compensation of GBP £250 per person and a discount of 40% on a future Discovery cruise if booked by 30th April 2013.

 

We would like reiterate our sincere regret for having to take this decision and to extend our profound apologies to all our passengers for the disappointment and inconvenience caused.

 

And here is another 1

 

Regarding her future sailings a lot will depend on what are the problems found by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.

The cash compensation offer is rather small bearing in mind that some passengers will have paid car parking charges and all will have paid for insurance.

I think the chance to get the 40% discount and make a future booking by the 30th April 2013 is also very restrictive with you only being allowed about two months to book.

I would not consider booking on the ' mv Discovery ' until I had seen reports from passengers who have been on a future cruise.Still blaming the weather also.

I would start calling now and see what they have to say. Hopefully you have some kind of insurance. Hope this helps.

[stein123]

I don't think I would go just found another post for you:

 

With the state of the passengers areas on the ship I wonder what the kitchen was like and what precautions were being taken against norovirus with a lack of hot water.

 

Comments about the dirty bed linen make you wonder if it had been on the beds since the ship arrived at the shipyard in Genoa about 120 days ago and the previous passengers left the ship !

 

I would not feel happy cruising on this ship until I had seen some pictures of the ship in pristine condition and also seen reports from her passengers who had enjoyed a cruise.

 

I worked with P & O cruises for over 30 years and have never seen one of their ships in this condition when passengers embarked !

 

Martime and Coastguard inspections cover the safety of the ship, the conditon of all safety equipment and the people working on board knowing their job and what to do in an emergency !

 

With nearly two days in port, before the cruise was cancelled, it appears there may have been a number of inspection failures which can lead to a ship being banned from sailing if there is serious problems !

 

I doubt if the company will comment much more on the problems but sometimes the inspection reports appear on the UK Maritime and Coastguard website !

[Sunnytrip]

Think I will check with Maritime an Coastguard in UK. Hopefully get info at source

[dsrdsrdsr]

I'm not a solicitor, but under UK law (so far as my accountancy training and personal experience goes) if a company breaches a contract that isn't due to circumstances beyond it's control, they have to repay all foreseeable consequential losses of the other party. This would include transport to the port, insurance premium, cost of overnight stay, specific books purchased as research for the holiday, excursions and tickets booked abroad. If the £250 isn't enough, and you've got receipts to prove it, you can ask for more.

 

If you didn't book in the UK, the law might be different.