Ambience taken out of service

[Pasty feet]

1 hour ago, GlynnPW said:

Hello Albertina - Yes, good news here too. I have just checked and payment has arrived. Thanks for your alert. I checked several times this morning and saw nothing, so I guess this happened late in the day (and on a Saturday). Thank you for your alert, as I probably wouldn't have checked again today. They refunded the deposit and the final remittance separately. But hey it is there, and it ours once again. Phew!

 

Alastair and Pasty feet I hope this reassures you that it's on the way. Let us know.

 

I hope this news lifts some of the tension of dealing with Ambassador in the lead up to Christmas. But, if they think that's the end of it they can bloomin' well think again.

 

And yes we will convene re recompense in the New Year. Until then, my best festive wishes to my Fellow Travellers.

Fabulous. What a huge relief. Merry Christmas

[peajay]

I am glad to hear that people with a cancelled cruise have been refunded. I opened this topic and am one of the passengers that was transferred onto Ambition. We completed our cruise, however, we have not yet received our refund which is due to us because our five day cruise was reduced to four. 

[Pasty feet]

Those of us who lost our holiday because of this change were devastated. Today has been very difficult since we were due in Barbados tomorrow. The human consequence of this should not be under estimated. All in all it’s been very difficult to be ejected from a perfectly seaworthy ship and think of others sailing in it when we faced chaos and had all our festive plans ruined. 

[Pasty feet]

One day does not stack up against a loss of 38. 

[Pasty feet]

Refund or no refund. We wanted our holiday. 

[insidecabin]

9 minutes ago, Pasty feet said:

One day does not stack up against a loss of 38. 

That was just one of the cruises transferred.

 

 

[Pasty feet]

I speak only of how it affected us personally. The whole thing has been a debacle. My sympathies lie with those of us  who lost most at the very last minute. Whilst it was an enormous relief to have a hefty fare refunded we wanted our holiday. 

[Alastair Cruise]

6 hours ago, Pasty feet said:

I speak only of how it affected us personally. The whole thing has been a debacle. My sympathies lie with those of us  who lost most at the very last minute. Whilst it was an enormous relief to have a hefty fare refunded we wanted our holiday. 

Hear hear Pasty Feet

[Pasty feet]

Thanks Alastair.  Happy Boxing Day. Hilary 

[Wicko1669]

Following the most recent posts to this topic, it took me several mails and chasing to get some additional compensation - benefits from our last Christmas cruise that was cancelled by Ambassador. I again have opted to be fully refunded and will push for some compensation for the yet again total disruption to our Christmas plans, and like many we wanted our holiday and were looking forward to spending some quality time relaxing in the Caribbean. Disappointed doesn't even start to describe our secund successive Christmas plans ruined by Ambassador.

[GlynnPW]

11 hours ago, Pasty feet said:

I speak only of how it affected us personally. The whole thing has been a debacle. My sympathies lie with those of us  who lost most at the very last minute. Whilst it was an enormous relief to have a hefty fare refunded we wanted our holiday. 

We certainly did Pasty feet - Cornwall is beautiful (I'm there now) but we paid for and expected sunny Barbados on Boxing Day didn't we. It is very easy for people to say never mind, get over it, but I for one (like you and the 800 Fellow Travellers I am sure) keep thinking about how things should have been. 

[Pasty feet]

Totally agree Glynn, so pleased you found a nice break.  Mere refunds do not make up for how much we’ve all been let down.  Had our ship been broken instead of given away the whole thing would have been slightly  easier to bear. Wicko really sums up how we all feel doesn’t he. 
Now the hard part begins, compensation. It appears that some of our fellow disappointed passengers sustained quite substantial losses in terms of paying heavy insurance premiums, for us we were required to enhance ours due to the length of the cruise, I  have already emailed Ambassador regarding this and attached a copy of the document. Furthermore there’s the matter of pre cruise travel arrangements to Tilbury eg rail tickets, taxi bookings with deposits paid already and for people like us living far away, a pre cruise night in a hotel. In some cases non refundable. Currency exchange is a factor also. These losses all flow directly from the breach. Plus of course there’s the whole disappointment issue, I mentioned this strongly in my email. 
 

I imagine that refunding was the easier part since our fares were deposited safely with a third party, but Ambassador will probably resist claims for compensation quite vigorously and we should be prepared for this and be persistent and resolute. I think the Package Regs are vague, so we shall see. 
 

Phew ha ha. Anyway Happy New Year to everyone from Barbados, oops I mean St Ives, grrr. 

 

 

[Alastair Cruise]

This the latest from my useless Travel Agent. They just can’t be bothered to do anything for me. What a great pity I can’t name and shame them in this forum. 
 

from Donna 27 Dec 2023, 11:18 GMT Good morning    Thank you for your patience.    I called Ambassador this morning and asked them for an update on the refund.   They have checked with their accounts team they have said we should have this back the first week of January then we can aim to get this back to you as soon as we can.    They have also said your expenses claim form has been submitted and they are aiming to refund that by the end of January.    I am incredibly sorry you have to wait for the funds but I can assure you we are doing everything we can to chase this and get this back to you as soon as we are able to.    Once again please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in getting your funds back to you from your cancelled cruise.    Kind regards    Donna

To Donna:

 

Donna, 

This is ABSOLUTELY APPALLING and UNACCEPTABLE. 

Thousands of pounds are due to me. Others have had refunds. Why not me? Someone is taking me for a ride here. 

How can I trust you anymore? You told me on 21 December that Ambassador assured you that the refund would be paid later that day or the next day. Now you appear complacent that it slips by 2 weeks. 

It’s time your company put PROPER pressure on Ambassador to get this mess sorted. 

[Pasty feet]

Hi Alastair, I am so sorry you’re having another problem with all this and am wracking my brain to make suggestions. Perhaps the first thing is to ensure Ambassador have actually processed your refund, which am pretty they will have done. This then isolates the issue to TA at which point a stern phone call to a senior manager there may yield a result. What a complete and utter shambles eh. 
Our Christmas celebrations were very muted as it’s been impossible to have much fun with all that’s happened. Very best wishes and good luck. Keep us posted please. 

[peajay]

On 12/26/2023 at 1:36 AM, Pasty feet said:

One day does not stack up against a loss of 38. 

I am not looking for sympathy, simply stating a fact. If I was looking for sympathy I might mention the cruise in November I had to cancel because my parent died. My loss was greater than a 38 day cruise.

[Pasty feet]

The two issues are totally separate. Condolences on your loss, naturally. Basically, feelings are very raw at present and mention of a refund from a person who at least had a cruise, particularly on our ship and certainly not their fault did not come at the best moment. 

[Alastair Cruise]

Thanks for your thoughts, Pasty Feet. I’ve just called Ambasdador. Spoke firstly to Bradley who was no use at all. Then I got passed to Sara Sewell “Guest Services Manager”   She came back with the same “14 working days as in our letter” nonsense. So money not due back yet. Those who already had a refund were lucky? Also as I had booked through a travel agent it was more complicated. Are they quibbling over commissions lost and paid? She wouldn’t accept that the law said 14 days. She stupidly thinks  that their conditions overrode the law. 
ABSOLUTELY USELESS

[Pasty feet]

I really am so sorry about this Alastair, presumably the money has not left Ambassador yet.  I was told that refunds are being done in batches, so hopefully yours will be processed this week. I am still pondering on what can be done. Rest assured am on your side completely. 

[Alastair Cruise]

21 minutes ago, Pasty feet said:

I really am so sorry about this Alastair, presumably the money has not left Ambassador yet.  I was told that refunds are being done in batches, so hopefully yours will be processed this week. I am still pondering on what can be done. Rest assured am on your side completely. 

Thanks. Sara Sewell basically informed me that I had reached the end of the company complaints line with her and she wasn’t budging one inch from her script. If I didn’t like her answers I should complain to ABTA. 
So thats next.
It all just pushes up my interest bill in my out of pocket claim to a new rate and her attitude will only increase my compensation claim. 
 

[Albertina59]

Basically this is all such bad publicity for Ambassador and adds massively to the misery they’ve already caused a lot of people. What an utter shame. 

[flossie009]

10 hours ago, Alastair Cruise said:

This the latest from my useless Travel Agent. They just can’t be bothered to do anything for me.

Suggest you raise a Section 75 claim with your credit card company against your Travel Agent, if that is who you paid your money to.

See post #121 above.

 

[PurpleMoonlight]

16 hours ago, Alastair Cruise said:

This the latest from my useless Travel Agent. They just can’t be bothered to do anything for me. What a great pity I can’t name and shame them in this forum. 
 

from Donna 27 Dec 2023, 11:18 GMT Good morning    Thank you for your patience.    I called Ambassador this morning and asked them for an update on the refund.   They have checked with their accounts team they have said we should have this back the first week of January then we can aim to get this back to you as soon as we can.    They have also said your expenses claim form has been submitted and they are aiming to refund that by the end of January.    I am incredibly sorry you have to wait for the funds but I can assure you we are doing everything we can to chase this and get this back to you as soon as we are able to.    Once again please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in getting your funds back to you from your cancelled cruise.    Kind regards    Donna

To Donna:

 

Donna, 

This is ABSOLUTELY APPALLING and UNACCEPTABLE. 

Thousands of pounds are due to me. Others have had refunds. Why not me? Someone is taking me for a ride here. 

How can I trust you anymore? You told me on 21 December that Ambassador assured you that the refund would be paid later that day or the next day. Now you appear complacent that it slips by 2 weeks. 

It’s time your company put PROPER pressure on Ambassador to get this mess sorted. 

 

Exactly what do you expect your travel agent to do?

 

They have no control over the situation. Your anger should be directed at Ambassador.

[Ravensbourne1960]

8 hours ago, PurpleMoonlight said:

Exactly what do you expect your travel agent to do?

 

They have no control over the situation. Your anger should be directed at Ambassador.

I always think of the travel agent as being the agent of the cruise line, not of me.

Recently, a cruise I had booked was cancelled. I just waited for the refund to arrive. Getting angry with them doesn't make any difference, and it's not good for your health!

[insidecabin]

Anyone still looking for something P&O have opened up cabins on the Iona 30th Southampton, 

[flossie009]

13 hours ago, PurpleMoonlight said:

Exactly what do you expect your travel agent to do?

If your TA was paid the money for the cruise that has been cancelled then they are legally obliged to refund you; whether or not the TA has been refunded by the cruise line.