Cruise Cancelled on day of Departure

sheramber

As I understand it,  the original return flights were available ( but not transferable to another date) but you didn't want to spend the 7 days in the resort so bought new tickets to fly home early?

You want  the cost of the  original  or the new flights refunded but travel agent says no and insurance says no.

McJax

sheramber said:

As I understand it,  the original return flights were available ( but not transferable to another date) but you didn't want to spend the 7 days in the resort so bought new tickets to fly home early?

You want  the cost of the  original  or the new flights refunded but travel agent says no and insurance says no.

On the first point - yes ... we thought that by staying and having a 'holiday' would invalidate any insurance claim. We couldn't get advice from the insurance company as it was a bank holiday, and the travel agent wouldn't advise as he said he didn't know what our insurance covered. So I know we took a huge risk in buying our own flights home, but do think that we should be able to claim for the original flights, and other elements (the week in Argentina post-cruise) as the main element of the package (the reason for going to Argentina - cruise) had been cancelled.

Insurance says it is the travel agency's responsibility as it was a package, and travel agent says they are not responsible for supplier end failure and that it should be an insurance claim. Of course, the biggest factor is that it was covid related so I don't think we will get anywhere. Our covid insurance cover was for one of us getting covid and any implications from that, not from a sudden change in Argentine law on passengers being detained on cruise ships for tests.

Alan_Bowen

I suggest you check your home insurance policy and see if you have legal expenses cover, or possibly your car insurance although that tends to have much more limited cover, as I think you need to consider taking action against the organiser for a breach of the 2018 Package Travel Regulations. If the company is a member of ABTA you could also use the ABTA arbitration scheme, which in the last annual report states that it found in favour of the consumer in 97% of all claims!"

McJax

Alan_Bowen said:

I suggest you check your home insurance policy and see if you have legal expenses cover, or possibly your car insurance although that tends to have much more limited cover, as I think you need to consider taking action against the organiser for a breach of the 2018 Package Travel Regulations. If the company is a member of ABTA you could also use the ABTA arbitration scheme, which in the last annual report states that it found in favour of the consumer in 97% of all claims!"

Thanks - yes we do have legal cover with the travel insurance policy. Planning to do whatever it takes to recoup as much as we can. Currently the insurance company advises to submit a claim with a cancellation invoice from the travel agent with a breakdown of elements ... the travel agent has said that they cannot break down the to every element as it was a package!!
This will be a bumpy ride.

HelenNoreen

Supplier end failure usually means where the supplier has gone into administration. Not where the supplier has failed to provide the goods and services paid for. It sounds like the travel agent is twisting words to absolve themselves of any responsibility. 

CKhalvashi

Upsidedownandaround said:

Alan_Bowen said:

It really doesn't matter what their booking conditions say, they cannot overrule the law which has been clear for the last 30 years, that as an organiser of a package holiday, they are responsible for all the elements they sell whether they have control over them or not.

It is then up to the organiser to protect themselves with appropriate insurance cover and adequate contractual relationships with their suppliers. It was their responsibility to get you home and arrange a refund for the cruise and any other services you had booked and were shown as part of the package. If you try to make an insurance claim, I expect they will simply tell you to go back to the organiser as they have legal  responsibility in this case 

So this means that where any part of a package holiday is cancelled when a person is on holiday (in this case the cruise) a person can choose to cancel all other elements of the package and fly home at the cost of the travel agent? Is that correct?

I don't believe so.

We (as a supplier to the industry and not a travel agency in our own right but with certain contractual responsibilities) have been caught up in the closest thing I can think to resemble this over the last week due to what is in my personal view (and the view of the country in question) a complete overraction by the British and US governments, due to the mishandling by the latter of the situation.

The best we have been able to do (in a situation with completely different circumstances) has been to offer to transfer the booking to a neighbouring country where the customer can self-position themselves back to the UK should they wish to do so. This has affected 1 booking of all bookings we hold and was as a result of the same overraction by the customer as the British government have held.

Remaining in Argentina (which has no active travel advisory) and asking the agent to resolve the issue regarding the cruise (including positioning of OP back to the UK if required) would have been the best option here. Paying £1000s in out of pocket expenses is not a rational or logical position from the agents point of view, and this will likely not be reclaimed from the agent, who likely could have resolved this matter in a lower cost way using the original long haul booking.

mattyprice4004

If you can use ABTA to take them on, I'd do that. 
Failing this either engage your legal cover to take action, or lodge a Small Claim for the amount owed against the travel agent. 
Did you pay on a credit card? If so, you'll also have cover under Section 75. 

McJax

mattyprice4004 said:

If you can use ABTA to take them on, I'd do that. 
Failing this either engage your legal cover to take action, or lodge a Small Claim for the amount owed against the travel agent. 
Did you pay on a credit card? If so, you'll also have cover under Section 75. 

Submitted a claim on travel insurance as a first step. Interestingly the travel agent's curtailment invoice does state that it is a package. Taking it one step at a time!