An Epic Transatlantic Cruise with Walking Difficulties

[CarrieAP]

So enjoyable to read- thank you! On our first TA in October so loved the details of your report.

[fabnfortysomething]

So enjoyable to read- thank you! On our first TA in October so loved the details of your report.

 

make sure you do a review of your own-always good to have different opinions

[bluesea777]

Would the crazy Canadians be J & L ? If so, we know them!

 

Really enjoying all your reviews, hope to meet you both one cruise!

[fabnfortysomething]

Would the crazy Canadians be J & L ? If so, we know them!

 

Really enjoying all your reviews, hope to meet you both one cruise!

 

these were a group of 4 and don't think they knew about cruisecritic

 

J and L sound as if they'd be our type of people if you thought the crazy Canadian title fitted them:D

[fabnfortysomething]

Disembarkation day-where it all went so horribly wrong

 

 

There were 6 of us on the tour which I set up on the rol lcall.

They were our Tourmates C and G from Cadiz tour who were going to get wheelchair assistance so agreed to meet them by guide for 9am start

The other couple J and S we had met up with at Meet andGreet and arranged to meet at Shakers bar about 8’15 so we could walk off together-as we were all platinum we had put out our suitcases the night before and knew we could collect them from priority area in terminal,

 

We met as planned and left to join the line of people on promenade deck waiting to pass through final keycard checkout a few hundred yards ahead

Well the line didn’t move and eventually a message came over tannoy that as Spanish immigration wanted to check everyones passport in main terminal building this was causing backlog so disembarkation was temporarily suspended

 

We had been in European waters since stop on Madeira and then mainland Spain in Cadiz so why this wasn’t done earlier I don’t know-on previous cruises when crossing borders eg to Turkey immigration officers came on board ship and everyone had to file past them in main dining room to show passports. That was a hassle but easier to control crowds and certainly better than this

After 30 minutes we started moving again and got off ship to find they were sending those with EU passports through one way and everyone else another as they needed to have their passports stamped whereas they just glanced at ours

This meant we had to split up from J and S after all

We got through-picked up our luggage and met the driver along with C and G who had managed to get off the ship earlier

J and S eventually joined us but by this time we were 30minutes past planned leaving time of 9am-not a good start

 

The company is a large one and well reviewed on tripadvisor.

One of their main selling points is collection from cruise port and luggage stored SECURELY in the van whilst enjoying sights before being dropped off at airport or hotel end of day

 

As we had a late evening flight sounded ideal as didn’t fancy a whole day wasted at airport .The 2 other couples joined us as they were staying on in Barcelona for a few days but couldn’t check into hotel till later. Plan was drive hour to town of Girona for walk around, drive another hour to seaside on Costa Brava for lunch then scenic drive back to airport/city centre.

 

All reunited and with the driver we were led to his large Mercedes 8 seater van The boot /trunk space wasn’t completely separate from main body being able to reach bags from back seat. However there were 3 rows ofseats and the very last ones where we sat didn’t have a door directly to side-could only get in and out of van by middle seat being tipped forward. Also the windows were tinted black so difficult to see in

So 6 large suitcases and most of the hand luggage in back but had to store a couple others around our feet for lack of space. we felt perfectly safe leaving cabin hand baggage tucked under seat as driver would stay with van at all times .Anyway we were going away from the hot bed of pickpockets that Barcelona is known to be,

 

We arrived Girona and driver parked up in car park and marked out walking path on map to see main sights and to meet him back at van 1½ hours later.

I know I was still in possession of the bag at that point as I pulled out my infamous purple travel folder to check some details and tourmate S commented on how organised I was. Last thing wanted was to drag that around on my back as was heavy containing laptop, kindle and all the electrical cables chargers etc that need to go through airport scanners separately We all thought the same so just had my cross body travel bag containing passport/phone/credit cards etc.

 

I t was a challenging walk round Girona although billed as easy walk-Slopes and cobblestones hard going when I was the fittest member of the party You know 6 limitations C and G.from Cadiz tour-he uses rollator and nearly fell over a couple of times C had hurt her foot and found it hard going

J had sciatica and her husband S was having to stop to rest every few hundred yards.

So it was a bit of a relief to make our way back to van at 12.15

We noticed the van wasn’t in exactly the same position w ehad left him so guessed he had driven off elsewhere and driven back to meet us at appointed time.

 

We had noticed yellow ribbons tied round everything and asked our driver about them

He told us about the support for the recent referendum for Catalonian independence which turned into a political rant

This turned a new direction when he then tried to compare to American politics and rights of people .This didn’t go over well with our American friends who told him he was wrong, I tried to calm things down by suggesting we get on with tour

Never a good idea to comment on foreign politics you don’t know much about and certainly not the behaviour expected of a professional tour guide

 

Getting back into van 6 noticed his bag containing tablet and his new blue tooth speaker [bargain price $60] was on the seat not floor where he had left it-and where is my backpack?

 

We alerted the driver who seemed not at all concerned-“are you sure you didn’t take it with you?”

No 6 has photos of us walking away from van and clearly am not wearing it We searched all over van and confirmed mine was the only one missing Again driver very dismissive “these things happen” and when I pointed out reason I booked the tour was the guarantee of secure luggage storage he told me I was “misinformed”

 

Turns out S on the tour was a retired police officer and suggested opportunistic thefts like this the thief would likely take the valuables and dump the bag in a nearby bin so we searched the local refuse bins. To be honest I was more bothered about losing personal/sentimental stuff as thought valuables covered by insurance .Driver went into local tourist office nearby to see if had been handed in-no luck.

I knew I would need a police report for insurance so I insisted he take us to a police station to report the theft and he started to visibly panic coming up with ideas of how it must have been stolen as he swore he had been with van whole time

 

He came with us into station and acted as interpreter as we don’t speak Spanish and police didn’t speak English so we were relying on him to state facts clearly

 

The report was in Spanish and when we got home our daughter got one of her Spanish colleagues to translate as below.

 

MANIFESTA

They have come forward to report a stolen rucksack with its contents.

They were travelling in a group and had parked the vehicle, a black Mercedes Viano, with their rucksacks in the back in PlazaVicens Vives de Girona.

The doors were open, although it is hard to have access to the rucksacks as you have to introduce the body in the car.

They don’t know who or how they stole it, but they have taken the black rucksack that inside had:

• 2Easyjet boarding passes for a flight from Barcelona to Newcastle with the names

• LenovoPC with a value of 500 pounds

• Electronicbook

• PCcharger

 

 

 

Bear in mind our driver was acting as interpreter so doesn’t that make it sound as if we were the ones doing the driving and no mention of his part?

 

As to the part about doors open but would have had to insert body into van that is definitely speculation on his part as he kept trying to tell us could only have happened whilst we were getting our selves out of van

 

The facts of the case are that sometime between 10.45 and12.15 when we returned the backpack was stolen. The driver claims to have been with the van all the time.

 

 

 

The other 2 couples stayed in the van and driver kept nipping in and out to check on them and told us they were keen to continue the tour.

Well after an hour in police station where also rang bank and son to let him know. My house keys were in the bag so he would have to pick us up from airport to let us into our house with his keys so we could get to the spares. Originally we were just going to get an expensive taxi back as didn’t think it was fair to ask him to collect us around midnight day before work day.

 

Back at the van it turns out our tourmates weren’t as keen to continue as our driver had made out as the mood had soured .However they were hungry as by this time we should have been having lunch by the sea .Driver rang office to get name of recommended restaurant in Girona but it turned out to be shut .It was decided to head back to Barcelona and look for a restaurant on the way although I was feeling too sick to eat .

 

When we told the driver we want to cancel the rest of the tour and we wouldn’t be paying full price he started getting defensive again and said he would be out of money!

Really you are complicit at worst and negligent at best and you expect us to feel sorry for you?

He was obviously on his phone to the office telling them his version of events.

 

We agreed to pay half cost but J and S had pre paid their share by credit card. Working out what to reimburse her in cash and come up with balance in cash was doing head in when brain trying to multi task. Also including working out where we were vulnerable with personal details online. 6 by use of remote and apps on phone managed to change Amazon pass code with link to kindle and credit card link. We had already informed the bank and of course passports etc were still with me.

Original plan was that we were to be dropped off airport last to reduce dead time but of course the last thing I wanted was to be in the van with the driver any longer than necessary !

So we were dropped off at airport and informed there was nothing to pay and J and S would have their credit card refunded. Told to expect an email from company next day and he still had the cheek to claim the incident had hurt him too as he lost money!!!!!!!

 

So were are still faced with several hours to kill at Barcelona airport!

At some airports Easyjet only opens check in counters 2hours prior but they have their own terminal here so were able to drop bags of fas very little airside to do-fortunately they were able to retrieve our flightdetails from name and flight number[on suitcase labels from NCL] as guess what the boarding passes were in the stolen rucksack!

 

Through security and guess what there isn’t much to do here either-1 duty free shop selling limited stuff-certainly no electrical retailers to buy a new kindle! I had to resort to buying an old fashioned book to help pass time-fortunately light was bright enough to read the font as my reading glasses were also MIA.

Snack bar with poor selection .By now I could have really done with a cooked meal and a large glass of wine!!!

 

Got through the next few hours till time to get on plane-followed on by large group Catalan schoolchildren on school exchange visit who never shut up the whole journey.

To add insult to injury they announced electronic reading devices were allowed to be used on board as long as in airplane mode.

 

Landing in Newcastle before midnight fortunately we were reunited with our bags fairly quickly and favourite son there to pick us up 1am getting home 6 straight onto his laptop for damage limitation .He was cursing himself that hadn’t backed up my laptop before we went away and would only be able to restore from last backup in 2017.Also back up server for email only showing last 14 days of emails so historic emails and address list lost.

 

Follow up

 

Next day was detective work finding insurance details as the print out of contact numbers was in the stolen backpack and policy documents online!!!!

Fortunately found a number to ask for baggage claimform-disembodied voice announces easiest way to claim is online

 

Bought new laptop and kindle and receipts stored safely for travel insurance claim When form arrives several days later it’s asking for everything bar my birth certificate. It also asks for details of home insurance as they claim back from them. Hang on I only renewed home insurance a few days prior to our trip and didn’t take out optional personal possessions away from home because thought was covered by travel insurance.

With sinking heart I read further and sure enough what is in the definition of valuables to a single item limit of £500 does not cover laptops-they apparently are gadgets and are excluded and need to be covered under optional extra gadget insurance arranged via them with a separate company.

So what exactly is travel insurance good for?

 

The company had indeed sent an email expressing their dismay and how they always advise guests to be careful with personal possessions .As a gesture of goodwill they were not collecting balance for tour and would like to offer us a free tour in the future .I didn’t respond straightaway but when realised couldn’t claim on insurance replied that the whole reason we booked the tour was their guarantee of secure storage in van. Also we would be very unlikely to book with them in future but stressed how we held the driver responsible.

I pointed out we had to replace items at our own expense and so felt had no choice but to claim against their insurance and a veiled hint that their reputation would suffer [unspoken-I would relate my experience on trip advisor/cruise critic]

 

Several emails passed between us

One a rambling reply saying how the driver would have had nothing to do with theft and how he can vouch for him personally

He had asked 3 other companies what their thoughts were and they all thought this should be claimed against travel insurance 0f course they would!

He then said he had had a similar experience in CostaRica where his backpack was stolen and he was reimbursed by his travel insurance company and as the tour company was a budget one he didn’t even consider asking them!

 

I replied that you cant advertise a secure luggage storage facility and fail to accept responsibility when it clearly isn’t

Also that he was very lucky his travel insurance paid out as insurance companies are notorious with their get out clauses

I offered to send copy of insurance documents and receipt for replacement items

 

Next day got response that had credited £200 as a“goodwill payment”

 

I decided to draw a line under the experience although that was only half of what we had to pay out

I also decided not to name the company or write a bad review on trip advisor as that could damage their previous good reputation

Hopefully they will have learned from this experience and stress to their drivers to take better care of passengers belongings left in their care

 

I will certainly go over insurance policies with a fine tooth comb and spot the get out clauses!

 

So what was in that backpack

 

Well the bag itself was a purpose made laptop bag with padded area for protection-black and not distinctive looking

Laptop almost a year old-got letter when home that manufacturers warranty expires this monthand do we want to take out extended!

Kindle-bought new just before trip

Cables for above and I phone charger plus travel adaptors neatly enclosed in small Tupperware box

House keys necessitating change of locks Ship keycard and lanyard including pretty one bought on our last cruise

My blood pressure medication-fortunately had taken that morning and had 1 days supply left at home and new prescription ready to be collected

Purple plastic folder containing boarding passes and trip literature Photo of our dinner with officer My cruise notes!!!!!!!

A change of clothes for airplane later in day

And here’s Karma-my dirty clothes from night before as suitcases were sent off to be collected in terminal and didn’t get round to stuffing in case as we were running late-do hope the thief got a good handful of them!!!!!!!

Edited May 10, 2018 by fabnfortysomething
spacing

[fabnfortysomething]

btw our next cruise is July 23 Warnemunde embarkation for Baltics on Breakaway

seriously considering July 2019 round Britain cruise on Spirit

 

this is heads up so you can meet/avoid us

[Shawnino]

We are on the TA October 2019 Copenhagen--Miami.

Really hoping to find you aboard.

 

You let that tour company off easily.

They are lucky it was you and not me.

[fabnfortysomething]

We are on the TA October 2019 Copenhagen--Miami.

Really hoping to find you aboard.

 

You let that tour company off easily.

They are lucky it was you and not me.

 

 

 

Would love to do another TA but has to correspond with school holidays!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[WanderlustJourney]

Thank you for your review of the Epic, I’ll be on her next May and next August doing the Baltics (so will keep an eye out for your review this Summer). Very sorry to hear about the theft of your backpack, it’s a very unsettling feeling.

[Carnac767]

Lyn, it was fun running into you again. Just had a great visit with all my Newcastle rellies and then took the DFDS overnight ferry from North Shields to Amsterdam. Not a bad way to travel.

[fabnfortysomething]

Lyn, it was fun running into you again. Just had a great visit with all my Newcastle rellies and then took the DFDS overnight ferry from North Shields to Amsterdam. Not a bad way to travel.

 

that was our first experience of cruising-that overnight ferry to Amsterdam!

[Carnac767]

that was our first experience of cruising-that overnight ferry to Amsterdam!

 

 

 

It was fun, and the price was right: about $150 for two of us with ensuite ocean view, breakfast, and bus transfer to Amsterdam Central. Much better than flying.

[fabnfortysomething]

It was fun, and the price was right: about $150 for two of us with ensuite ocean view, breakfast, and bus transfer to Amsterdam Central. Much better than flying.

 

if you return to visit Newcastle retaives in the future drop us a line-unless of course we see you on another ship first!

[Carnac767]

if you return to visit Newcastle retaives in the future drop us a line-unless of course we see you on another ship first!

 

 

 

Will do.

[bluesea777]

Will do.

 

 

Funny you both would mention DFDS! My mother was Danish so we would go to Denmark to visit rellies every a few years when I was growing up. Started that when I was a few months old 60 years ago and still continue whenever an opportunity arises.

 

Been on Harwich-Esjberg, CPH-Oslo, Gotenburg-Harwich routes. With my DH we book the Commodore cabin - nice way to go with relaxing dinner!

[Carnac767]

Funny you both would mention DFDS! My mother was Danish so we would go to Denmark to visit rellies every a few years when I was growing up. Started that when I was a few months old 60 years ago and still continue whenever an opportunity arises.

 

 

 

Been on Harwich-Esjberg, CPH-Oslo, Gotenburg-Harwich routes. With my DH we book the Commodore cabin - nice way to go with relaxing dinner!

 

 

 

I was surprised at how cheap the fare was. The food was good, as was the entertainment. It was a one-night cruise on a small ship.

[fabnfortysomething]

yes a fun way to get from Newcastle to amstedam with DFDS