5 minutes ago, LEESRE said:

But it does not say that Marella has cancelled all their cruises around the Canaries

This email was posted on the Marella facebook group.

Dear Mrs xxxxx,

Important information about your Marella Cruise.
We would like to inform you of some important information about your upcoming cruise.
We’re sorry to inform you that the Spanish authorities have taken the decision to not permit cruise ships to dock at any Spanish ports from midnight on Friday 13 March for 14 days.
This unfortunately means you will no longer be able to travel on your cruise as planned. We know this is extremely disappointing and we will proactively contact you as soon as we can to discuss your options, whether that be to amend your holiday or receive a full refund.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team please call 0800 072 3829 or 0203 336 1993: 9am - 7pm (Monday to Friday), 9am – 6pm (Saturday) and 10am-5pm (Sunday).
Thank you for your patience,
Your TUI Team.

To be fair the Canaries have had hardly any cases and Spain closing all ports has taken everyone by surprise.

Marella have cancelled the Canary cruises for the next fortnight.

Just now, vwgolf said:

Surely this puts the cat among the pigeons:

 

https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/international/2020/03/12/63989/spanish-government-bans-cruise-ships.html

 

Has to, especially if it includes the Canaries.

Just heard on Facebook that Spain is closing all its ports to cruise ships.  If true those Canary cruises are toast.

TBH I think Marella/Tui are handling this as well as can be expected.

Just now, jono75 said:

Thanks, I do want to go, we've done five cruises in the last four or so years and love it.  All with Thomson/Marella.   I've done most of the Canaries before on regular hols, but as it also does Maderia and La Gomera that I've not seen before and I like the other places too.

 

Not sure if I want it to be true or not to be honest.   I think the Italy situation is a big factor.

I'm a bit like you, one moment I want to get my money back and do something else until all this blows over.  Then a moment later I really hope it goes ahead, partly because I've already paid 199 euros for my Monaco GP Practice day tickets.  But then, that might not go ahead either.

1 hour ago, insidecabin said:

The insurance companies could then put claim in against TUI.

I can't see that working to be honest.

3 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

 

You just wait it out they would have to change the itinerary or cancel, both would be major change covered by the regulation for refunds.

Personally I would wait it out, but many will just claim their insurance, if even 30% do that it would save Tui a lot of cash.

1 minute ago, kevinyork said:

I sought of thought Tui would be off the hook if people were officially told not to cruise/travel. It wouldn’t be them cancelling the cruise I.e. not their fault so may not be liable to refund. 

I think you are correct, if the FCO advise against travelling then TUI can delay cancelling until the very last minute meaning most people can/will claim against their travel insurance, letting Tui/Marella of the hook for a large chunk of it.

27 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Don't think so with the latest news on Italy, restrictions now nation wide. 

It does seem unlikely now that if Marella are running Med cruises in the summer that any of them will be starting anywhere in Italy.

In the case of the Naples based cruises I think TUI simply don't know what will happen.  They could change base now and let everyone know then the new base gets caught up in the crisis.  It's also possible that Naples will be fine by May.   It's also possible that by May it's so bad in the UK that passengers themselves from the UK won't be allowed to board.

I know it's difficult but people will simply have to be patient.

1 hour ago, rkingphoto said:

Marella are cancelling cruises in the far east.  They are trying to arrange flights to get folk home.

Just to confirm, this is Discovery only and only the current cruise has been cancelled.  Can't see the next one not being cancelled though.

Marella are cancelling cruises in the far east.  They are trying to arrange flights to get folk home.

That was my understanding too, Roll Calls only.

Some of Marella's ships are registered in Valleta, I think this is what is meant by "home port".

Or saling round the Med in a circle. 🙂

17 minutes ago, helengp said:

An awful lot of scaremongering going on! Go and enjoy your holiday. We are off to France next week and are looking forward to our Marella cruise in May. Considering many who get this virus will have no symptoms at all, or minor ones at most, it's really not worth fretting over! We just have to hope Marella don't cancel the cruises......

Quite a lot of worrying going on too.  My wife has high blood pressure and diabetes, so she is a high risk if she gets it.  Playing it down is just as bad as building it up too far, people need to take precautions to help to stop it spreading. 

It's ten weeks till we go on our cruise, I'm hoping the worst of it is over by then but if not we have a big decision to make that may cost us £3k.

115 confirmed cases in teh UK now, 25 in London alone.  It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

17 minutes ago, helengp said:

I think the 'fitness to travel' is a grey area and certainly if they stopped you from boarding because you had a common cold, that would be open to challenge as many people get colds and they have no ill effects on others. I suspect they would ultimately have to refund you if your illness was not a risk to others. Certainly it's open to interpretation and legal dispute!  I paid the balance on my credit card so I am hoping that I find all else fails they would reimburse me as the goods I had paid for were not provided.....but don't quote me on that! 

Lot's of grey areas.  I think if they wanted to they could claim that you being unfit to board would be something that is out of their control therefore they are not responsible.   And travel companies are reluctant to pay out if they think you have insurance cover that could pay out instead.

But, they have to weigh that up against the possible bad publicity that could be coming their way if they left a large number of passengers at the quayside.

There's also the question of what happens next?  Do they leave you to find your way home or do they fly you home, at their expense? 

If you have booked a cruise and stay holiday, what happens to your hotel booking, are you able to go to the hotel or is that forfiet as well. 

TUI really should be saying what happens to passengers who are refused boarding in advance so that people can weigh up their options.

Ts&Cs here:-

https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/booking/tandc?bdate=2019-11-16&bcode=TH&dkey=TERMS_CRUISE