TUI VISA - Incorrect Information

Voyager2002

Caz3121 wrote: »

Not sure how the mode of arrival is relevant - you would need to enter the country to get to the airport and you cannot enter the country without a visa. Sound like OP got a very inexperienced agent giving them incorrect information that clearly contradicted all the official sites.

Actually, the mode of arrival does make some difference. Transit passengers arriving and departing by air on the same ticket do not need a visa. More to the point, the electronic visa can be arranged on-line from anywhere in the world in about four days (there would have been ample time while Alice was on the cruise): unfortunately you can only use this is you are arriving at a major airport, so it is not available for those arriving by sea.

NoodleDoodleMan

It won't be the USA, TUI cruises don't go anywhere near there. March '19 would most likely have been a relocation cruise, probably from the far east.

I might be wrong, probably am - but don't some Marella cruises include the US Virgin Islands and/or Puerto Rico ?

TadleyBaggie

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

I might be wrong, probably am - but don't some Marella cruises include the US Virgin Islands and/or Puerto Rico ?

None that I can see, they visit the British Virgin Islands but not the US.

Full List:
St Lucia | Aruba | St Kitts and Nevis | Curacao Island |St Vincent and the Grenadines
Antigua | Grenada | Trinidad And Tobago | Bahamas | Cayman Islands | St Maarten
Cuba | Barbados | Guadeloupe | British Virgin Islands | Dominican Republic
Martinique | Bermuda | Bonaire | Jamaica |Turks And Caicos Islands | Dominica

Update: From May 2021 they will be visiting USA ports.

Nick_C

Although OP has had a full refund, she didn't get the holiday she was expecting. She only discovered there was a problem when she arrived at the airport to go on holiday. I would have thought she would have a case for claiming for distress and loss of enjoyment. She may have taken time off work and lost leave entitlement.

TUI seem to be at fault in giving advice.

bradders1983

Loss of enjoyment? Erm, just rebook with the full refund you get.

Voyager2002

Nick_C wrote: »

Although OP has had a full refund, she didn't get the holiday she was expecting. She only discovered there was a problem when she arrived at the airport to go on holiday. I would have thought she would have a case for claiming for distress and loss of enjoyment. She may have taken time off work and lost leave entitlement.

TUI seem to be at fault in giving advice.

Indeed. Compensation for such matters generally varies between a box of chocolates and a bunch of flowers, so the £200 voucher is rather more than a court would be likely to award.

Archergirl

The problem with this is it clearly states YOU must supply the correct visa for the trip, you failed to do this so you were refused boarding.
Maybe a life lesson can be learned here, it is easy enough these days just to put it into google and used the .gov site provided to check these things.
Accept the money book another holiday and move on.