G Expeditions Arctic cruises cancelled

kittykat23uk

Hi 

 I am in need of some advice please. Pre covid, I booked a Svalbard cruise with G Expeditions through a tour operator, Chimu adventures. It has been postponed twice due to covid.  Chimu advised me that this year it was going ahead, so I rebooked my flights (booked separately) . Now the cruise company, G Expeditions, has cancelled their entire Arctic season including my trip. My TO has offered me a few other options, only one of which works with my existing flights, so I've gone for that as trying to rebook the flights was very difficult due to lack of availability.

G blame covid but this appears to have been a decision taken solely by the cruise company. There are no covid restrictions now in Svalbard / Norway and none of the other cruise companies seem to be cancelling their season. I've copied below their explanation. 

The new cruise costs an extra 600 quid plus I'll need to get another night in a hotel before the cruise starts. Does anyone know whether either the TO or the cruise company would be liable for these additional expenses please? 

Many thanks 

Jo

In light of the global travel environment, we have some important and unfortunate news to share with you that will impact the G Adventures Expedition tour you are currently booked on.

While there have been many positive strides as of late, the travel industry is still on the road to recovery as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. After reviewing recommended operating protocols, changing government regulations and physical distancing measures, we have made the difficult decision to suspend the operations of our Arctic trips May through September 2022, which includes the departure you are booked on . We can’t tell you how disappointing it is for us to do this but the safety and security of you, along with that of our staff and partners, has always been our top priority.

Our comprehensive appraisal has made it clear to us that the procedures required would make it impossible for us to provide you with the fully immersive and high quality experience we hold ourselves to.

So what happens now? We know how excited you were to travel with us!

we’re in the process of applying your Travel Credit and/or Lifetime Deposit. We expect this to be available in your account for use within the week. If this is not visible after one week, please contact us.

If you’re still looking to explore aboard our G Expedition ship, you may be interested in our upcoming departures for our Antarctic season.

Please remember to contact your travel agent to sort out any details related to flights or insurance that may be linked to your G Adventures booking.

Again, we know you must be disappointed about not being able to travel — we certainly are. If you have any questions about the above, please see our FAQ page or simply reach out to your travel agent directly.

All of us at G Adventures would like to thank our global community of travellers like you, agents, and partners around the world for their commitment and patience through all of this. We understand this is a very difficult time for everyone and that some people are facing exceptionally hard circumstances, please know we are doing our very best to help you.

Thank you again for choosing to travel with us.

[Deleted User]

Because you booked the flights yourself there isn't any reason for them to give you money, except for maybe goodwill but I wouldn't expect that.

Westin

“The new cruise costs an extra 600 quid plus I'll need to get another night in a hotel before the cruise starts. Does anyone know whether either the TO or the cruise company would be liable for these additional expenses please?”

As this appears not to have been booked as a package then unfortunately not.

Nothing however to stop you from politely explaining your issue and asking them.  I would focus perhaps on asking them if they might contribute to the extra night hotel stay or a small on board credit.

kittykat23uk

Thanks all. So Chimu, my TO have managed to knock off £100 of the cost difference between the two cruises and will see what G can do, but I'm not expecting any further from them given what they have done so far.