Holiday cancelled due to pregnancy

Bob_the_Saver

You have two posts on this subject, are you expecting twins?

Cassie5000

It's very interesting that some people here are jumping to HUGE conclusions about me! Makes me laugh!
ie: that the pregnancy was an "expected event", (It most certainly wasn't, or else I would never have booked the holiday in the first place - I certainly wouldn't have forked out £1500 knowing that I'd be over 30 weeks pregnant at the time! What kind of idiot would do that?!), that I have not replied earlier "because I don't have travel insurance - sigh

Cassie5000

Dear all. Please don't bother entering a comment if you don't have anything HELPFUL to say. There's no point in insulting others who are simply asking a question or wondering what experiences others have had in similar circumstances or want to learn something. (It's fascinating to see all the different kinds of personality out there being openly displayed for all to read, though!! Some people clearly haven't learned the meaning of respect.)
THANKS to all those (ie: the majority) who've posted good ideas/helpful points - some of which we hadn't thought of. Cruise Nation haven't provided me with the holiday I paid for, nor have they offered me an alternative date/alternative holiday, eg: one that doesn't require flying long distance. I wouldn't mind so much if Cruise Nation at least replied to my questions, ie: explained why are they not offering a refund/alternative and why they think they have a right to keep all the money we have paid. Pregnancy is never "an expected event". It can only ever be a "hoped for" event, if pregnancy is desired. Noone can play God & foretell the future (except Malkie & jpsartre, apparently). If I had expected to be 30+ weeks pregnant at the time of the holiday, I would never have booked it in the first place! Far too risky.

Cassie5000

Thanks, Luci. Interesting that some insurers view pregnancy as a "foreseen event". I didn't see this coming at all. I've never had to cancel a holiday before so I am not familiar with the policies & procedures but I would certainly have expected to be able to cancel - for whatever reason - without losing the full amount. Sadly, I'm no nearer to understanding why we're not being refunded or offered a replacement date/holiday.

elsien

This is from cruise nations terms and conditions on the website.

"We start to incur costs and liability to suppliers for your holiday from the time your booking is confirmed. So if you cancel your holiday we make a charge to reflect these costs and liabilities. These supplier liabilities include but are not confined to cancellation charges levied by airlines, other transportation companies, hotels, cruise lines and attraction suppliers. The level of supplier cancellation charges are specified in the suppliers own booking conditions. The nearer the cancellation is to your departure date then the greater the cancellation charges will be. Please note your cancellation can only be accepted if it is in writing from the lead name on the booking. Cancellation will be effective from the date it is received. Please note that in the event of cancellation by you no insurance premium, booking fee or credit card charge will be refunded."

So who is the cruise actually with, and what do their cancellation terms say?
You should also ask them for a breakdown of the charges they say they have incurred as a starting point. Then if you are still not happy, go through their formal complaints procedure, followed by arbitration by Abta if you need to.
On the face of it, it does seem unfair to have incurred huge charges for an early cancellation, but I think you need more detailed
information as to what exactly they are charging for first.

Which company was the travel insurance with?

Cassie5000

Thanks MissEllie. Yes, I think we would have been happy to have the holiday date/location changed but sadly Cruise Nation have offered us no such option. I haven't even had a reply to my letters & emails since a very curt one liner on 13 September! I totally understand that the airline don't want to take us & I don't blame them. But I do believe that we should be getting better customer service & answers/alternatives.

Cassie5000

If women could predict in advance when they might possibly one day in their dreams fall pregnant, they'd never book a holiday until the last minute, would they?

Cassie5000

Thanks, Loobs 40. Yes, if we'd only lost the deposit, then I'd understand a little more! But they've kept the whole £1500 and are demanding another £504! I just don't get it.

Cassie5000

Thanks, Elsien. Your response is really helpful. The trouble is, I can't get any sense out of Cruise Nation as they've failed to reply to me since I gave them 4.5 months notice of the unexpected pregancy back at the beginning of September! The woman who booked it also made several errors in the booking, including booking a flight to Barbados instead of Antigua! My frustration is mostly with their lack of response - which is why I have absolutely no intention of having any future contact with them at all, once this is sorted.
I did read their terms & conditions on the website. To me, it sounds like they should have refunded us but just not the full amount. I would expect a small cancellation fee and would have no objection to this. But I do object to losing £2004 for no good reason.

photome

I dont get why you think this is not your fault.

Guess i am someone you dont want to hear from but it is an open forum.

18 years ago we booked a holiday to vegas and after paying the deposit my wife got pregnant, guess what we cancelled and lost the deposit, we didnt blame anyone else despite the fact the pregnancy wasnt planned

Sorry just seen you think you have lost more than a deposit, have you checked the t and c , did you only pay a low deposit offer