ALL CRUISE LINES should be forced to amend their cancellation charges

No Wonder the world sees the comments made by many living in the UK as “RIP OFF BRITAIN” as being a correct statement.

It is time for ALL CRUISE LINES to amend their one sided unfair booking conditions on cancellation charges and comply with the directive givenby the Competition and Market Authority in 2016 to all cruise lines, that they are to allow refunds of deposits without cancellation charges if given enough notice. Cruise lines accepting bookings out of the UK have different cancellation charges to those if booked out of the USA or Australia, both allow cancellation without loss of deposits if enough notice is given. 90 Days in the US and 160 Days in Australia. Sometimes for whatever reason you may have to cancel for a reason which is un-insurable or, you may have changed your mind if for example you had recently travelled on a line and found that their level of service and food quality is now so low this would impact your enjoyment of the already booked future holiday.

The Competition and Market Authority say “The business isgenerally only entitled to keep or receive an amount sufficient to cover theiractual losses that directly result from cancellation”. The business must also“take reasonable steps to reduce their losses”. If legally challenged, firmswould need to be able to prove the loss that they have suffered in order tojustify a “100pc cancellation fee”. Firms that refuse to refund payments forcruises and other travel arrangements which have to be cancelled could bebreaking the law, the Competition and Markets Authority warned. It said thatwhere firms’ T&C ruled out any possibility of refunds, they were likely tobe in breach of the Consumer Rights Act. You have no choice you must accept theirT&C and if those are not equal to both parties then the seller is in breachof the Consumer Protection Law, clearly the cruise lines are holding up twofingers to the UK’s Consumer Protection laws and the Competition and MarketAuthority.

It’s time to bring pressure on the UK travel industry as awhole to treat all customers equally, worldwide, when booking the same cruiseirrespective of where you live or actually book. Some Cruise lines particularlythose under the Carnival Corporation have imposed conditions upon travel agentsnot to take bookings for residents not living in their country of operationwhere travel agent is located, preventing you from obtaining a more generouscondition of cancellation by booking through an offshore agency.

In the UK in particular, Cruise Lines encourage you toforward book your cruise well in advance, knowing these facts, that if you areover 70 years old 7% of all those bookings will become cancelled, over 80 andit rises to 17% and over 85 years old one or other of the couple booked stand a21% of dying before they are able to take the cruise. Cynics would say that thecruise lines know these figures and are happy to calculate them into their bottomline for shareholders and owners.

Lets have fair conditions for all and lets not be know as “RIPOFF BRITAIN” any longer.

I agree it is not fair that differing countries have different conditions, but they do. And while we may get the cruise lines offering full refunds but the TAs certainly do not. That is where your Travel insurance would/should cover you for these loses when or if they occur.