Pasty feet

Yes we have several outfits for my husband and I which we bought especially for our holiday. We were so looking forward to it all and felt totally crushed. We had purchased an extra suitcase which we have returned to M & S. We had booked a driver for the trip to Tilbury, he had booked hotel accommodation on that basis as he had another client to pick up from Heathrow the next day and lost his hotel booking money. Additionally I received an earful from him about last minute notice even though I wasn’t to blame. Overall it’s been a nightmare. To cap it all our ship was ok and at sea with others, it still grates. If anyone feels we have any hope of further compensation, please count me in. Frankly we chose the refund option because our trust and faith had been destroyed and the prospect of another last minute let down was just too much.

Truly I think they feel they’ve done enough and have moved on to getting new customers. We’d have no problem taking this forward and hope all the other disappointed people will join in. You in particular have had a terrible experience.

So pleased for you, it’s been a very long wait. We’re wondering whether we will receive any compensation on top of the extra expenses. We certainly should.

Disgraceful. We haven’t really got over being so let down at Christmas. Found the tv advert hard to watch. Yes Glynn we’re still waiting too. We feel as if nobody actually cares about us. It could and should have been so different.

Yes indeed, I attached the document to my email. Thankfully our loss is relatively minor compared to other people.

Cold comfort for people like us who lost our holiday, but best wishes to those who transferred to the Brazil trip.

Thank you for asking purple moonlight, our fare was fully refunded just before Christmas. We are still out of pocket around £130 for the extra insurance and our disappointment and stress is unquantifiable. However, we don’t hold out hopes of getting anything further back. The main thing was regaining the fare. I did email Ambassador regarding the above but will probably hear nothing further. My sympathies lie entirely with people like Alastair who are still waiting. Best wishes for your Brazil cruise, it seems likely this will happen now that Ambience is going to be in service again.

Perfectly understandable and so sorry you have this ordeal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thanks Alastair. Happy Boxing Day. Hilary

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.

Refund or no refund. We wanted our holiday.