Question of downgrading

My husband and I booked and paid, in full for a cruise this Sept on Silversea. We specifically wanted a Veranda Suite and opted for a mid ship. Everything seemed fine. Yesterday our agent rang to say the ship is over booked and they could now only offer us a Vista Suite, no veranda, or another cruise. Because of other commitments we can't change our dates. Can anyone help with advise as to our legal position on this? We have booked with a discount, not that it should make any difference since Silversea have accepted our money and the booking was made in the UK.

Help would be appreciated.

I am not a lawyer but do understand UK/EU consumer legislation. So take or ignore my advice as you wish. :)

Sorry to hear of your situation.

To cut to the chase, in practical terms it drills down to how much notice they have given you and whether that notice was reasonable, and was within or outside your own penalty period and how serious the changes are viewed. Effectively the more notice they have given you the less chance of a viable risk-free legal remedy. If they have given you bags of notice then your best recourse would be to try and get some goodwill discount or rebate through your agent. Taking the legal route if avoidable is best avoided. Frankly your agent should have done this without you needing to ask. In very simple terms in the UK/EU their contract with you should be no worst than the one you have with them. In most scenarios their contractual obligation is greater to you than yours is to them. So for example, if you had paid in full and were within a non-cancellable penalty period then their obligation to you mirrors that. They should not make changes outside unless they are clearly outside of their control and overbooking is a commercial choice not an "act of god". There are some other minor wrinkles which makes it legally less certain but that in summary that "is it".

My suggestion is that you ask your agent first (preferably by email) if there is better accomodation available on your cruise explaining that you are considering such an upgrade. If this is confirmed then insist on an upgrade to the next avaiable grade at no extra cost. Insist that this is put to SS and that if SS refuse such a reasonable request you will consider taking appropriate action. If they refuse this, and you can prove at the same time that better accomodation was available but this was refused by SS/your agent, then you improve any subsequent legal case considerably.

How much notice were you given?

Jeff

It looks like something in the region of six weeks notice from what the OP says.

I'd guess it's worth a try to get upgraded accommodation as UKCJ suggests, but if that fails it's not a complete disaster to cruise in a Vista suite - they are just the same as the Veranda suites but, of course, without the veranda - provided SS come up with a hefty compensation package. Maybe a large discount on a future cruise? Unless you do a lot of SS excursions, a chunk of OBC wouldn't be much value to you.

I have cruised in both Vista and Veranda suites and am perfectly happy in either, however I do understand that some people feel a veranda is important. Also, the value of a veranda does vary according to the itinerary.

Thank you for coming backsoquicly. Glad to say the problem has been resolved tour satisfaction.

Mariazur, which cruise is overbooked?

I would be interested to hear what Silversea offered...