CMV Discovery Oct 21, 2014 cancelled

[amoba]

I've been booked on Cruise and Maritime Voyage's cruise on the Discovery for Oct 2014 since last year. Recently I've had trouble finding this cruise on their website and so I called the CMV office in Florida. They told me that this cruise has been cancelled. Neither CMV nor the travel agent where I booked the cruise had informed me of this cancellation. The individual with whom I spoke said he would call me the next morning with more information about how this would be handled. He did not call and the emails I've sent to the travel agent and CMV have not been answered. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what my recourse might be or how I should proceed? I will continue to try and contact CMV and the travel agent to try to get my deposit back and failing that, I'll go to my credit card company, although I don't know how that is handled since I paid the deposit last year. I've bought non refundable air tickets, paid non refundable hotel deposits, and made many plans around this cruise. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Vicki

[SPacificbound]

If this was a brick & mortar TA I would be at their door on Monday.

 

Be the squeaky wheel and keep calling, ask for supervisor, ask for resolutions dept.

 

Go on their Facebook page and post to the CEO Christian Verhounig's page.

 

Go on Linked

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/christian-verhounig/19/3b8/6a2

[JWinchester]

I've been booked on Cruise and Maritime Voyage's cruise on the Discovery for Oct 2014 since last year. Recently I've had trouble finding this cruise on their website and so I called the CMV office in Florida. They told me that this cruise has been cancelled.

 

Is that the one to Cape Verde and the Canaries? Cause that is still listed on their website and seems to be bookable (for obvious reasons, I didn't finish the online booking :) )

 

I'd definitely try to contact CMV and/or your TA again on Monday. I can imagine the scare you got, learning that it was cancelled after making so many plans. Hopefully it's not time to panic yet, it might just've been a weird glitch in their computer system? With a not very knowledgeable employee answering your call?

 

Good luck, and I hope it all works out for you. That itinerary looks wonderful.

[gaelsail]

Cruise still listed on the UK website but not the US website.

[Krazy Kruizers]

This is one reason why I deal with a TA that I can actually go and talk to in person.

[amoba]

Thanks to all who've replied with info for me about this cruise cancellation. The TA has now answered my email, saying to call the VP at CMV again. He is the one who told me when I called last week that this cruise is cancelled. I called him today and he's asked me to wait until Friday for further information, which I said I would do.

 

In the event that this does not get resolved satisfactorily, is there anyone who is already signed up with LinkedIn who could click on the above website and get the contact info for CEO Christian Verhounig? That sounds like an excellent suggestion and thanks to SPacificbound for this resource.

 

Yes, this Oct 21 2014 cruise is the one that was to go to Cape Verde, Canaries, Azores, and Madeira. It's very curious that the cruise would still be listed on the UK site. I tried going to cruiseandmaritimevoyages.co.uk but I don't think this is the right website for the UK site. Could gaelsail or someone tell me what the UK website is? I'd love to see how it differs from the US site.

 

It would be great if there were a travel agent in the small town where I live and maybe getting a refund would be more straightforward but for now, I'll give CMV a chance to work something out for me. In the meantime, I'll be looking for suggestions on warm places to fill in this time (from UK) as it seems that my air ticket is not changeable without incredibly massive penalties.

 

Thanks again for all the help and advice, Vicki

[Laughing Angel]

Vicki, I hope everything ends up working out for you. Please let us know what happens.

[gaelsail]

tell me what the UK website is? I'd love to see how it differs from the US site.

UK website - http://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/

[Keith1010]

I hope this works out for you.

 

Keith

[newport dave]

Here's the link to the cruise on the UK website, looks like it's still available over here.

 

http://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/cruise/d449/cape-verde-madeira-the-canaries

[amoba]

thanks for posting those website links, however, when I click on either of them, I still get the US site with the US phone number and I don't see the Oct 21, 2014 cruise to Canaries, Azores, Cape Verde etc. I do see a Sept 7, 2014 cruise to just Canaries and Madeira which at this point would be fine but I can't go during those dates. I wonder why I am not getting the UK CMV site and others are? thanks again, Vicki

[Stratheden]

thanks for posting those website links, however, when I click on either of them, I still get the US site with the US phone number and I don't see the Oct 21, 2014 cruise to Canaries, Azores, Cape Verde etc. I do see a Sept 7, 2014 cruise to just Canaries and Madeira which at this point would be fine but I can't go during those dates. I wonder why I am not getting the UK CMV site and others are? thanks again, Vicki

 

I can access it from Australia. Try deleting your cookies and have another look.

 

http://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/cruise/d449/cape-verde-madeira-the-canaries

there are no inside or outside guarantee cabins left but lots of others.

[newfieprincess]

I can access it from Australia. Try deleting your cookies and have another look.

 

http://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/cruise/d449/cape-verde-madeira-the-canaries

there are no inside or outside guarantee cabins left but lots of others.

 

 

I tried the link and I can get on however I am not seeing the Oct 21st date either, just Sept and December. I wish you the best of luck getting this resolved.

[ducklite]

I'm not seeing the October 21st sailing either. Is it perhaps going to Cuba or someplace that US residents are not allowed to go--and therefore the web site is blocking US IP addresses from viewing?

[newport dave]

Definitely going to the Canaries, Cape Verde etc. See attached PDF, actual screenshot. Couldn't get it to just copy and paste.

Doc2.pdf

[amoba]

Very interesting! Thanks Newport Dave for that screen print - it clearly shows the Oct 21, 2014 cruise that I booked. I wonder why it's showing for some people and not others. Is that phone number 0845 430 0274 a UK phone number or possibly Australia? Also, on the CMV site that I get, the Sept 7, 2014 cruise now shows the Azores added - previously, I'm quite sure it only went to Canaries and Madeira. Hopefully the US CMV VP will contact me on Friday, as he promised, and I'll try to find out why the cruise still shows in some parts of the world. Does anyone have any suggestions for a tour to southern Spain and southern Portugal? (just in case I still need to fill in the time, the 3+ weeks from and to London). thanks again, Vicki

[newport dave]

Very interesting! Thanks Newport Dave for that screen print - it clearly shows the Oct 21, 2014 cruise that I booked. I wonder why it's showing for some people and not others. Is that phone number 0845 430 0274 a UK phone number or possibly Australia? Also, on the CMV site that I get, the Sept 7, 2014 cruise now shows the Azores added - previously, I'm quite sure it only went to Canaries and Madeira. Hopefully the US CMV VP will contact me on Friday, as he promised, and I'll try to find out why the cruise still shows in some parts of the world. Does anyone have any suggestions for a tour to southern Spain and southern Portugal? (just in case I still need to fill in the time, the 3+ weeks from and to London). thanks again, Vicki

 

Yes, that's a UK number, but I wouldn't use it as it's a premium rate number. You'd be better off trying this number 01322 623741. No idea about tours, I'm sure you could get some good info from google.co.uk which would bring up UK tour operators or if you use tripadvisor. You could also take cheap flights out with Easyjet, Jet2 or Ryanair. Then hire a car and tour round yourself, you'd probably be able to get some good advice from Tripadvisor.

[amoba]

Thanks, Newport Dave, for that alternate UK phone number. I haven't called it yet as I spoke to the CMV person in Florida yesterday and he said they are trying to get a different (older and smaller) boat to do the same itinerary. This sounds great to me if it can be assured in a reasonable amount of time. What would you all do in this case? Wait and hope for the best or make other plans? Thanks, Vicki

[John Bull]

C & M V have now leased a replacement for MV Discovery, the MV Azores.

Built 1948 !!!

 

Discovery was a very tired old lady -a great atmosphere & itineraries when she sailed for Voyages of Discovery but a lot of that, including unusual & far-flung ports-of-call, was lost when she transferred to C & M V.

To be honest, at that stage she should have been allowed to gracefully pass away.

 

MV Azores of course is much older. But I can only presume she's not had such a hard life and is now considered "classic" rather than just plain "old".

But I'd research very deeply - if she's in as poor a state as Discovery then in all honesty she's not worth considering.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Azores

 

JB :)

Edited July 2, 2014 by John Bull

[amoba]

Hi John Bull - wow, that is very interesting news. How did you find out that CMV has leased the MV Azores to replace the Discovery? Do you know if the MV Azores is to be used for the Oct 21, 2014 cruise or for additional cruises also? That is too much that this is the ship that sank the Andrea Doria! The CMV rep in Florida hasn't mentioned the MV Azores to me, only that the MV Funchal was a possibility. Have you heard anything about CMV trying to get the MV Funchal from your sources? I haven't gotten a reasonable answer from CMV as to why the websites in US are not showing this cruise while it does show in UK & OZ. I'm still hoping to go on the cruise but if the ship is in a poor state of repair, I hope I find out in time to make some other arrangements. I am still so surprised if I am the only person in the US to book this cruise as I'd been looking for just this itinerary for several years. Thanks again, Vicki

[John Bull]

Doesn't look like mv Azores will join C&M until next year

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=5893

 

mv Funchal has an even more interesting history than Discovery and Azores. She's been restored by a wealthy enthusiast with perhaps more money than sense. But I've not heard anything of her going to M&V.

 

I don't know why C&M's info & website in the US is different to in the UK, but I suspect it's because the vast majority of their clientele are Brits and their US agents haven't been brought up-to-speed. Their admin isn't the best.

Under Voyages of Discovery, mv Discovery always had a sprinkling of Americans & Canadians & Aussies but on our last voyage with her, shortly after C&M had taken her over, I don't recall meeting any.

 

For many years now Discovery has suffered from the limitations of her age but the itineraries, the crew, our fellow-passengers and the great atmosphere on-board made up for it.

But our last cruise on her was under the C&M flag, with a new multi-national crew (the VofD crew, all from one locality in the Philippines, had all transferred to her replacement), standards had dropped & the only up-side was the itinerary - which had been inherited from VofD.

Now even the itineraries are very limited - looks like they prefer to keep her close to home rather than let her roam the oceans.

If you go thro' reviews on Cruise Critic & elsewhere you'll find that folk have always loved her or hated her, but dis-satisfaction has increased dramatically after C&M took over. :(

 

Sorry to say, but perhaps after digging deeper you may find that since you're not committed you might like to reconsider.

 

JB :)

[amoba]

The latest news I've heard is that this cruise will be cut in half, ending in Lisbon on Oct 30, 2014 instead of in Bristol on Nov 8, 2014 and also that it will skip the Azores and Cape Verde. I'm very committed to this cruise, even with all the changes, as I have an expensive non refundable air ticket in and out of London for the sole purpose of taking the cruise. After this unsettling news, I was hoping I could change my air to skip London on the return but it seems that alternate costs would be astronomical so now I'm thinking of flying from Lisbon or Madrid to London in order to continue on with my air ticket. Is it easy enough to find public transportation from LCY to LHR? Would this require an overnight if the flights are within 4 hours of each other? Could I make a flight from LHR if it's about 7 hours after arriving in LCY? Does anyone have any suggestions for convenient economical places to stay if I need an overnight in London between flights? I'm so surprised that there have been no comments nor responses on the Roll Call for this cruise but maybe UK passengers are finding it easier to adjust to all the changes that have been proposed. UK travel sites are stating that the cruise will still be on the MV Discovery but according to the latest I've heard, it will be on the MV Funchal. Thank you for any input or advice!! Vicki

[John Bull]

The cruise is still being advertised as 21st October to 8th November, Bristol to Bristol, including Cape Verde & Azores.

That's on both C&M's website & a UK cruise specialist T/A's website.

I started a dummy booking on C&M's site & it was happy to accept - same availability as Stratheden's post of 26th June.

Here's a paste of the itinerary on C&M's site.

 

21/10/14 Bristol Avonmouth (United Kingdom) - 1600

22/10/14 At Sea - -

23/10/14 At Sea - -

24/10/14 At Sea - -

25/10/14 Funchal, Madeira (Portugal) 0900 1800 Click for more information

26/10/14 Santa Cruz deTenerife, Tenerife (Spain) 1200 2300 Click for more information

27/10/14 At Sea - -

28/10/14 At Sea - -

29/10/14 Porto Novo, Santo Antao (Cape Verde Islands) 0800 2200

30/10/14 Porto Grande, Mindelo (Cape Verde Islands) 0600 1800 Click for more information

31/10/14 Praia da Vitoria, Terceira (Azores) 0700 1300 Click for more information

01/11/14 At Sea - -

02/11/14 At Sea - -

03/11/14 Arrecife, Lanzarote (Spain) 0900 1500 Click for more information

04/11/14 At Sea - -

05/11/14 Lisbon (Portugal) 0930 1800 Click for more information

06/11/14 At Sea - -

07/11/14 At Sea - -

08/11/14 Bristol Avonmouth (United Kingdom)

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

London City airport to Heathrow is about an (unreliable) hour by car, about 90 minutes by tube.

Here's the tube route which, according to London Transport, doesn't require the use of stairs or escalators:

Docks Light Railway from City Airport to Canning Town.

Tube on the Jubilee line, Canning Town to Green Park

Tube on the Piccadilly line, Green Park to Heathrow.

Cheapest hotels will likely be between City Airport & Tower Bridge at weekends, or at Heathrow.

 

But:

1. Don't be in a rush to commit money to further flights etc at least until you have confirmation of the precise changes from C&M in writing.

2. This change would leave hundreds of passengers high & dry in Lisbon.

They simply can't do that, I feel sure that if/when they advise everyone they'll include a charter flight back to Bristol

3. Are you really so committed to this cruise?

Must admit the changes alone would hack me off enough to cancel. And the lack of information plus their continuing advertising of the orig itinerary would have me seething with anger and no confidence in their entire cruise line.

Appreciated that you've got no chance of recouping from C&M the cost of independently-booked flights, but this is clearly a "material change" which entitles you to a full refund of the cruise fare. There are cruises from Southampton, Dover & Harwich, mebbe other UK ports, at bargain late-booked prices & I feel sure you could dove-tail your flights with an alternate 10 - 14 day cruise. Including the Canaries. Or use those flight tickets to take a land vacation, though really you don't want to take it in the UK & northern Europe in Oct/Nov.

 

Most CC members are from North America, most C&M passengers are Brits. And Brit's don't do RollCalls, not in our nature. So Brit RollCalls are almost always very slow. And mebbe the few who've been on it have simply cancelled & turned their backs on the whole sorry affair.

 

Sorry you're having this grief, embarrasses me that it's a Brit cruise line.

 

Chin up

 

JB :)

[SPacificbound]

The latest news I've heard is that this cruise will be cut in half, ending in Lisbon on Oct 30, 2014 instead of in Bristol on Nov 8, 2014 and also that it will skip the Azores and Cape Verde. I'm very committed to this cruise, even with all the changes, as I have an expensive non refundable air ticket in and out of London for the sole purpose of taking the cruise. After this unsettling news, I was hoping I could change my air to skip London on the return but it seems that alternate costs would be astronomical so now I'm thinking of flying from Lisbon or Madrid to London in order to continue on with my air ticket. Is it easy enough to find public transportation from LCY to LHR? Would this require an overnight if the flights are within 4 hours of each other? Could I make a flight from LHR if it's about 7 hours after arriving in LCY? Does anyone have any suggestions for convenient economical places to stay if I need an overnight in London between flights? I'm so surprised that there have been no comments nor responses on the Roll Call for this cruise but maybe UK passengers are finding it easier to adjust to all the changes that have been proposed. UK travel sites are stating that the cruise will still be on the MV Discovery but according to the latest I've heard, it will be on the MV Funchal. Thank you for any input or advice!! Vicki

 

I would allow two hours to get from one airport to the other. It's not all that far in miles, but it is London and very busy. Take a look at this website.

http://www.londoncityairport.com/VisitingTheAirport/page/BetweenAirports

[amoba]

Thank you very much to John Bull and SPacificBound for the information. It sounds very doable to get from London City Airport to LHR in order to make my connection all in one day. Yes, absolutely, I won't be purchasing an air ticket back to UK before feeling more secure with this new itinerary. And yes, other than the one individual at US CMV, everyone in UK is saying that the MV Discovery itinerary has not changed. The travel agent where I made the booking even sent an email today requesting the full balance due and showing an unchanged itinerary. (As of today, I've only paid the deposit and the US CMV rep has offered me a good deal on the new half cruise.) When I first heard that the cruise was cancelled, I researched all the cruises from and to UK ports and none had as good an itinerary. Now, if the cruise has been cut in half, any of them have as good an itinerary but not as good a price - not that that should be the deciding factor after all this grief, as you say. I agree, if the half cruise is really what will happen, surely they will fly the UK pax back to UK at the end of it. For me, I think I'd prefer staying in the, hopefully, better weather of Portugal, and maybe Spain until having to return to UK for my onward flight. The MV Funchal website curiously shows no itineraries between Oct 3, 2014 and Nov 23, 2014. I think you are correct about Brits not really being on CC Roll Calls much and even someone who did respond now states that a mistake was made and they are returning from their cruise on Oct 21 instead of departing that day so that leaves a total of zero saying they were going on this cruise! I appreciate all the input and will keep you posted as I find out new things. I'll be printing that tube route info from LCY to LHR that you provided and checked that "between airports" website. Thanks again, Vicki