amazonlady

We had our letter yesterday saying the two Madagascar ports are cancelled and we are having one extra day in Reunion instead.Shame, Madagascar is just amazing and the main reason we booked the cruise.

That's good news, and I relief I'm sure. I am sure I shall be reimbursed in due course as the system does seem to be progressing.

 

Best wishes,

 

We also hadnt heard anything and when we phoned it seemed we had forgot to tick a box or something, so yes a phone call is helpful otherwise it looks like they dont contact you and you get put to the back of the list!!

I was interested to read comments re land trips.In particular the bird life on Falklands.

We are booked on the Hurtigruten Antarctica cruise departing 26th Oct and despite making these arrangements well in advance find we are unable to book any of their shore excursions for Puerto Madryn, Falklands or Santiago as they are already fully booked.

We assume we can make some arrangements independently but would value any advice. Help!

We are also on this one, i did start a roll call earlier but no one answered. In puerto Madryn we have booked on the second day with Forestero Tours, doing the Penninsula Valdez and also the whale watching. You are welcome to join us. In Stanley you can go to Gypsy cove by mini bus to see the penguins and other wildlife and also taxis are available and plenty to see and do. The other smaller ports there wont be any tours and will just be walking yourself.

Fred Olsen have just posted that the cruise going out on the 8 July has also been cancelled.

Hi we went there while we were on the Celebrity Solstice, we took a taxi, there were 6 of us, worked out at about $14 each, we were one of the first there and got our photo taken early with the Koalas. On the way back we took the Mirimar boat, which i think was also about $10 then from the city got a taxi back, again about $10 each. I am sure you can do it cheaper but we got about 5 hours there, which you need to do it justice. Hope this helps. It depends where your ship docks how you do it, we were a long way out in the grain terminal. You will enjoy it there, was one of the best things we did on our Australian cruise. The people who did the ships tour only had about an hour and a half there and it cost them triple what we paid.

Hi, early roll call for this one, anyone else signed up?

We did it for two weeks on a very small boat (40 passengers) called the Yasawa Princess, there are many threads about it on Trip Advisor, it goes for either a week or two weeks round the atols calling in at one or two places each day, it was wonderful, snorkelling with whale sharks, turtles, amazing. It was, I think t he best way to do it, Male not a particularly nice place to spend a long time at but great fun to visit for a couple of hours.

Thank you for that lovely review, there isn't much information on this port and we will be there in November on the Adonia, very helpful.:)

That's what we were thinking about the Welcome card, but then again we may not find it is worthwhile anyway as we do not rush around.

 

Packing - well yes, at the end of the week, but not for Fred. We are off to Harrogate for a few days the week before we go on the cruise - going to a conference for my husband's professional institute. He retired 4 years ago, but we still go for the parties etc. That leaves 3 days for washing, ironing and repacking..... (oh, and I forgot the getting over the hangover bit). At least we can get to the terminal in half an hour - decided on a taxi to get there because we will not have to worry so much about reducing the luggage.

 

Would be nice to meet up with everyone as you had suggested - how are you at arranging that sort of thing? I am thinking that you appear to be the 'senior' member of the group (having started it) and I have put far too much on that thread of late, so it is time to take a back seat!!

 

Cheers

Well as there are so few of us thought we could just arrange it for a sea day in one of the small bars or lounges. There aren't enough of us to arrange an official one and why would we really want to do that, would be nice to just sit for a coffee and talk about our plans, how about the first sea day, just don't want it to cash with an important lecture or something,:)

It doesn't look like it from the website, we are on the same one as you and also would like this, would be silly to have to pay for the shuttle or a bus just to get the welcome card. Not long now, starting to think about packing:D

Hmmmm, have notice that our cruise in October, best of the black sea, is still showing the same itinerary but showing a £250 per person price drop, not happy with this at all:mad:

Although Thomson will tell you that they are allowed to change things, as it is in their T&C's, remember you are protected by the Package Travel Regulations:

 

http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/package-travel-regulations

 

Changes to a booked holiday

Regulations 12 and 13 of the Package Travel Regulations are concerned with pre-departure cancellation or alteration by the organiser:

 

If there are alterations to your package holiday or to departure times or location, the travel organiser must notify the consumer as quickly as possible in order to enable him to take appropriate decisions and in particular to withdraw from the contract without penalty or to accept the alterat

The customer is then required to respond to the notification of the alteration.

 

You then have the option of withdrawing from the contract without penalty or accept a variation.

 

 

 

A cruise is classed as a package, according to this:

 

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/cgi-bin/glos/bus1item.cgi?file=*BADV015-1111.txt

 

What is a package holiday?

The Regulations define a 'package' as follows:

 

the holiday must cover a period of at least 24 hours or involve overnight accommodation

the holiday must consist of a combination of at least two of the following components:

- transport (for example, flights, trains, coaches and ferries - free transfers from the airport to a hotel would not be included)

- accommodation (this should be significant - it would include a berth on a cruise ship but not on a cross-channel ferry)

- other tourist services that form a significant proportion of the package (for example, car hire)

the holiday must be sold at an inclusive price

This definition may include holidays that the average member of the public would not think of as a 'package'. For example, many people would think of a package holiday as involving a trip of a few days or more abroad, but a British holiday could also count, as long as the above conditions are fulfilled. A cruise would also come under the Regulations.

Thank you for that information, will be interesting, we are on the October cruise with Yalta, Sevastapol, Odessa and Sochi on the itinerary, i am not doing anything at the moment, because dont fancy losing any deposit, but this is very interesting to see.

We are also on the Thomsons cruise, if it just turns out to be a Turkey and Greece cruise we would have taken it in the summer, and not in October, the best of the Black sea for us is also the 3 Ukranian ports so will also be looking for a refund or a chance to take another cruise with them without penalty.

I find it very hard to believe what the cruise lines are doing, with three weeks to go you should be knowing what is happening with your itinerary, our cruise is in October and i am also wondering what will happen, it is doubtful whether we will be going to Crimea ports. Will you post and let us know when you find out?

We also used them for our two day visit, excellent guide, reliable, informative, cant say enough good things about them:D

Ann, are you by any chance on the Thomson ship? If so i have quite a few tours already organised, am just also trying to sort Sochi.