Holiday ruined

[j+g]

Both my parents and my aunt turned 70 this year so, to celebrate, they all booked a cruise to Norway with Fred Olsen cruises. On the day of arrival, the cruise was redirected to Denmark and Germany due to port strikes in Norway. My family were heartbroken. Fred Olsen claimed it was a ‘Force Majeure’, to absolve them of liability for refunds, but my parents will never be able to afford this trip again. It really was a once-in-a-lifetime holiday that was spoiled. Although the strikes actually started four days before they sailed and not all the ports were affected, so staff from other ports could have been brought in to pilot the affected ports. The company could, and should, have anticipated the effects of the strikes and put a plan in place, so it was not a ‘Force Majeure’ (like an earthquake for example) but just bad planning by the cruise company.

 

To add insult to injury, my sister and I bought my parents a £100 gift voucher (through the Fred Olsen) to be left in their cabin as a surprise present, but the company never bothered to put it there.

 

I feel my parents and aunt are owed a very big apology and an admission from the company that more could have been done in advance of the strikes. All those affected should be offered a free cruise to Norway when the strikes are over, or their money back. It’s not ok to just drag them off somewhere else that they weren’t planning to go to.

 

What should they do??

[Parsman]

This is a very sad story. Your parents must be very upset. As a regular passenger on FOCL I am very surprised at this cavalier approach. May I suggest that you send a detailed letter of complaint to the head office in Ipswich listing the complaints and request some financial compensation?

[Popsey Wopsey]

Other cruise lines were also effected by the pilot strike and were unable to get into port or had to leave early.

 

I can,t see why you are blaming Olson for it,how would you be recompensed if they hadn,t been taken to Denmark,would you have canceled their cruise ,no insurance would have paid up ,if you know all the facts in hindsight ,going into other ports may not have been allowed.

 

The complaint about the voucher ,yes bad management.:)

[dee-jay]

Hi, i travelled on the balmoral. I believe it is very unjust to not give proper compensation. The cruise sailed when the strike in Norway was already in progress. It was announced the talks had broken down on 23rd May, and that strikes would begin. Oslo closed 24th May, with many other ports closing in the following days.

 

I booked on late on the 24th May, there was no mention of port closures to me, and they accepted by booking. I would never have 'taken a chance' of the cruise 'possibly' not going to the Fjords. I would have waited, and not wasted my money. It was my terminally ill mothers wish to see the Fjords before dying. I cannot afford another cruise - it's too late.

 

It is sad, but it could have been avoidable. FOCL knew that it was highly unlikely that the Balmoral would be going to the Fjords, at the time i booked, and that's immoral!

[Auntie Porker]

There is no excuse for not putting the onboard spend voucher in their cabin. It isn't like Fred Olsen. Write to them explaining what you have told us here.

[T&JP]

We were also on that cruise.

This was published by Norwegian coastal authority (http://www.kystverket.no/en/News/Pilot-Boat-Skippers-on-strike-from-Wednesday/) giving details of dates and times when pilots would be on strike. http://www.kystverket.no/PageFiles/12696/Oversikt%20berørte%20losbåtstasjoner.pdf.

The information was known before Balmoral sailed at 1600 on the 29th. The strike may have been a "force majeur" in a technical sense but would a Norwegian captain of a Norwegian cruise ship owned by a Norwegian company not know what is going on in Norway?

For them to not let the passengers know in advance of their boarding and give them the chance of making their own alternative arrangements is commercialism at its worse and does not put FOCL in a good light.

The one saving grace on the cruise was the treatment by the Filipino crew - they were amazingly cheerful and attentive throughout.

[Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines]

For all customer complaints please contact our Customer Relations Department where we will be able to deal with your complaint effectively.

Email address - customer.relations@fredolsen.co.uk

Telephone number - 01473 292217

Postal address - Fred. Olsen House, White House Road, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 5LL

 

Regards

FOCL

[dee-jay]

I have just tried the telephone number give by FOCL, and it is answered by a fax machine. A tip: if you paid for your cruise via a credit card, it might be worthwhile contacting them!!!!

[simonpjd]

I think all cruise companies sail a bit close to the wind over this sort of thing. We were on a trip to Iceland and Greenland a couple of years back - Greenland being the main reason a lot of passengers were there. And after we left the Faroes behind they announced that Greenland was cancelled - due to the pack ice around being 6 miles thick and no ships could get through. Well they quite obviously knew all about this before we left the UK - and there were a lot of very angry people on board. But no refunds - they used the old one saying it is caused by circumstances beyond their control and , basically, it was just tough.

We got no compensation (to be fair we didnt ask for any either, maybe we should have).

So anyway it is a sad story which does not reflect well on Fred at all. Maybe they should come clean on here and make a statement about it and about their stance when things like this happen. Passengers seem to be deliberately kept in the dark with no information at all.

[Cortezadventure]

Tried to get constructive reply to complaint about not-the-fjords holiday and have been told that ABTA (I think that's right) guidelines allow 28 days for response. I wait in expectation of a sensible resolution !!

[donmawr]

Lets be fair to FOCL.

 

OK it was disappointing not to go to Norway but the cruise that we got was very good, the ports of call were good, I got the oportunity to add the Kiel Canal to my trips through the Suez and the Panama, and we had a very good time

 

(I know from a relative that one other cruise ship ended up in the Shetland Isles)

 

And to top it all they made the generous offer of a 50% reduction if we wanted to go on another cruise to the Norwegian fjords. Thats right 50% ! Just how much compensation do you want ?

 

Needless to say we have booked again for next year - we'd be crazy not to at the price!!

[dorsetlad]

That sounds very fair to me. Good on FO.:D

 

Brian

[trinitytrees]

Sounds fair to me too Dorsetlad

[dee-jay]

Hmmmmm. Whilst 50% off the brochure price of another cruise seems fair - but what if you booked a late saver? We would have to pay the same amount again to rebook the cruise = no compensation for us!!!!! Kiel canal is lovely - but we had been there before. As for the other ports of call - you could hardly sit on the deck and admire the scenery and the docks - and we had also been to those ports before!

 

Whilst i can understand the more mobile people enjoying some of the ports, we were largely confined to staying on the ship, which should have been in the scenic Fjords.

 

The ship is lovely, food was ok, staff onboard were good. But for us it was a total waste of time and money - neither of which are plentiful.

[simonpjd]

Enough enough. Sometimes things are not always perfect but you just have to make the best of them. I thought whinging away was the preserve of the younger generation. You have had lots of sympathy and good advice. And if you are really not happy (and I think we all know you are not happy) then get on to Fred but enough on here please.

[Popsey Wopsey]

Enough enough. Sometimes things are not always perfect but you just have to make the best of them. I thought whinging away was the preserve of the younger generation. You have had lots of sympathy and good advice. And if you are really not happy (and I think we all know you are not happy) then get on to Fred but enough on here please.

 

Quite agree,did notice that the complainers were 1st. time people on this web page and had not written on here before.:confused:

[Robbie101]

I feel for you as Fred Olsen Customer Relations in my opinion is no longer fit for purpose. Sadly it's not always first timers or cruisers that complain. As a previously loyal Fred Olsen cruiser with well over 200 nights in the last 2 years! I am currently in small claims action against Fred Olsen because of the unreasonable way FO customer reations have failed to deal with my complaint. Having been made to endure a leaking sewage smelling non- flushing toilet in my cabin and having to assist the faulty vacuum flush with bare hands for 16 days of the cruise, despite 4 complaints to reception who failed to esculate the problem, and then FO engineers all the time telling us there was nothing wrong despite the awful smells and leak and then finally flooding our cabin when they tried to fix the leak was a fiasco. Coupled with the not unusual and dangerous bundle on the stairways of passengers trying to get off the Balmoral to get onto too few shuttle buses, and getting a miserly 40 minutes sightsee in the port that was the reason for this particualr trip, and a host of other ports on this trip were either cancelled or late on arrival. My advice is pick another cruise company because in my opinion FRED OLSEN HAS LOST THEIR WAY.

[Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines]

I am very sorry this was my error the number to ring is 01473 292200 this is our main switch board number and they will put you through to Customer Relations.

Apologies.

FOCL

[LaCroisiereS'amuse]

This certainly has not been my experience of FOCL & I find their customer service to be far superior to the Carnival UK based brands. This is a case of not reading the small print in their ticket/contract....it doesn't happen often, but FOCL (and all other cruise lines) are covering their backs here.

 

Strange that the complainers here have less than ten posts on CC between them :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Robbie101]

It is often very difficult to wade through 4 pages of the smallest terms and conditions printed in brochures these days, many older cruisers would need a magnifying glass and many hours, and of course many people book by telephone. In the end it often boils down to what is considered reasonable in law and what is not, from any one company. Whether or not a poster has 1 or 100 posts does not detract from their experiences, readers should always by cautious of what they read before making up their own minds.

[dee-jay]

I have received a full refund for the cruise - but not from either FOCL, or the travel agent. Unfortunately, it arrived too late for my mum to get on "another?" cruise to Norway - sadly mum passed away.

 

I would like to thank the crew and passengers on the Balmoral, for making it a nice final cruise for mum. Particular thanks go to the cabin stewardess of 8040, for placing our last photographs into lost property, and to the ladies at afternoon bingo,

[tiggertom]

I have received a full refund for the cruise - but not from either FOCL, or the travel agent. Unfortunately, it arrived too late for my mum to get on "another?" cruise to Norway - sadly mum passed away.

 

I would like to thank the crew and passengers on the Balmoral, for making it a nice final cruise for mum. Particular thanks go to the cabin stewardess of 8040, for placing our last photographs into lost property, and to the ladies at afternoon bingo,

 

Very sorry to hear your sad news and my condolences to you and your family.