Marella Discovery Itinerary Change. Colours of the Far East (Merged threads).

[thepeb]

9 minutes ago, ekco said:

Doesn’t sound temporary to me if they expect it still be there in 5 weeks.  They’ve got you over the barrel with the £100 as you are onboard by the looks of it.  A few years ago we were stuck in Gran Canaria for three days on the Majesty due to a bit of wind, even though it was dead calm there.  We got £50 PER CABIN! That didn’t go down well either and needless to say we knew everything there was to know about Las Palmas by the time we left.  You have to laugh though because it’s not as if they go fast in the first place, the times I’ve looked at marinetraffic to see a ship going round in circles, could they go much slower.

 

Jan

No its in Feb, I meant to say we are booked on the far east

[thepeb]

2 hours ago, idh2019 said:

Compared to my itinerary for 26-12-2019 that shows:

 

Port Klang and Singapore back to their original times with Koh Samui reinstated.

We have an extra two days at sea (with Langkawi now being 6pm arrival). What is yours?

[idh2019]

Same : no Mallaca and the 1800h arrival at Langkawi but three days at sea because no Koh Samui either.

 

But don't assume that is the final itinerary. Comments elsewhere suggest ship not being fixed until it gets back to Europe. TUI possibly have not completely updated the February cruise info yet. We received updates a bit at a time - you get used to one change and they throw another one at you. Nevertheless better than learning when you get on the ship - that would be really annoying.

 

Also be glad you are going into and out of Laem Chabang. The 1800h arrival of the ship in Langkawi means that flights from Gatwick and Birmingham are re-scheduled so they do not arrive at Langkawi before the ship docks. Hence the departures back to the UK are also later.

[idh2019]

Also posted here with the date of travel:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2716422-marella-discovery-engine-issues-dec-2019-enchanting-far-east-cruise

 

 

[ekco]

I saw the first part of this thread the other day but reading the update is interesting, especially the quote below.  We were not offered the chance to cancel.

 

”The first team I spoke to, who the ship themselves directed us to speak to, transferred me to another central team who have been tasked with dealing with the complaints, they then proceeded to tell me that TUI are 'digging their heels in' and the £250pp is all people are going to receive as everyone had the chance to cancel or not board the ship. Once I reiterated that as the fire happened whilst we were onboard I'm not sure how we would have been able to cancel prior to it happening he then transferred me to an after travel team, who yet again said the £250pp was the offer. When I said I wasn't willing to accept they said that head office will be in touch via email but likely not until after Christmas.”

[brian1]

If it's any consolation,I thought Mallaca was a dump.At least the town area was.

Edited December 24, 2019 by brian1

[thepeb]

Thanks Brian1, I just hate sea days tbh! 

Cant get into my account online 'due to technical difficulties' !

[blossomleh]

The head office email arrived saying the below. Obviously a standard email where they haven't taken any of the circumstances into account at all. Not going to both pursuing this before Christmas now but I will be chasing them up after.

 

"I am sorry to read that you felt disappointed as your itinerary was changed and you missed the port. I can understand this had an impact on your holiday. However, I would like to inform you that the activities we describe at ports may not always be possible - due to the time spent in port or other factors outside of our control such as bad weather - and are always subject to availability. Sometimes we have to alter the port, the order of ports or substitute ports entirely due to bad weather, port congestion, public holidays or other operational reasons. These changes can happen before or during your cruise. In exceptional circumstances we may have to change your ship. Sometimes public holidays and events mean we have to change our itinerary or miss the port altogether. This information is available in our A- Z guidelines. I am sorry if you were unaware of this."

[insidecabin]

Those on future cruises need to get a complaint into ABTA for not offering the cancellation option as required by package travel regulation when there are major changes.

 

I suspect they are trying to protect revenue as these cruises would be a hard resell if people start cancelling.

 

Have a good read of the ABTA code of conduct.

https://www.abta.com/about-us/code-of-conduct

 

3e and 3f apply in these cases(there may be other clauses that apply)

 

For those already departed there may be issues with the timing of notification.

Post departure changes are covered by different rules, section 4 applies.

 

 

Edited December 26, 2019 by insidecabin

[insidecabin]

On 12/23/2019 at 2:27 PM, Vitalsign said:

Nancy - I was confused as I thought you meant April 2021 thanks for explaining I'm sure the ship will be fine by next December I was more concerned about this coming April repositioning back to Palma as hubby has read the ship can't be repaired properly until it gets back to Europe. I'm sure Discovery was in Malta for a couple of weeks before she left for the Far East so maybe when we call at Valletta on the way back she may be fixed there

Discovery broke down with  electrical/propulsion problems Nov/Dec 2018 on the Suez relocation, now 2019........

(That's on top of the breakdown earlier in 2018)

[Eade1]

We’ve just received an email saying that due to engine issues our cruise in February has had to change meaning we get 2 more days at sea and therefore 2 less days in port. They have offered £100 refund each as compensation. I just wondered if anyone else has experienced this and if £100 is considered acceptable? I know they had an engine fire earlier in December but thought they would have rectified the problem by February. 

[Eade1]

Interesting you’ve been offered £250pp. We’re doing Colours of the Far East on 6th Feb and have just received an email offering us £100pp for the inconvenience of the Itinerary change. 

[thepeb]

we are on same cruise 6th Feb and been offered £100

[ekco]

I don’t understand that.  Which deck are you on?  Could they be doing a sliding scale?  Not good enough either way.

[Eade1]

We’re an outside cabin but our friends also booked to come with us and have a balcony cabin they paid much more for and have also been offered £100. Something doesn’t sound right!

[ekco]

It certainly doesn’t sound right.  Time for you to get in the phone and ask why.  As I said earlier it’s a long way to fly half around the world to float around on the sea for 5 days out of 14.  I hate sea days anyway, there’s nowhere to settle around the ship unless you get up at the crack of dawn and bag a sunbed which I can’t lie on for long, the library is always full, ditto the coffee lounge.  Unless you have a balcony you have no choice but to wander aimlessly around.  If you like to drink all day then it’s fine but that’s not us.

[Haddonqueen]

Hi,  We’ve just returned last night off Discovery and last week there was a meeting on deck 5 near reception and Lynn who’s an officer onboard actually said the £250 is not compensation but a goodwill gesture. 

[ekco]

I really don’t know what to say to that.  Unbelievable.

[Pensioncruiser]

I would suggest that it gives you, if you wish, freedom to claim compensation as the amount paid was just a good Will payment. 🙄

[Chdg2]

We too have booked this cruise leaving UK on 2 Jan. We have received the email and now also an amended invoice!  Nothing asking if we would like to cancel and so far no response to an email!  Two ports cancelled and another we don’t arrive until 6pm. This has been total disappointment and not sure if we just have to accept the changes as we are so close to sailing. 
 

We are also concerned that the problem again has involved a fire!  TUI don’t seem to realise just how worried we are or that the engine problem doesn’t appear to be getting fixed any time soon. Has anyone been able to cancel or been advised if we can claim compensation?

 

So thankful that this site is here! 

[Margaret Rees]

We are joining you on Jan 9 We have had no responses to our e mails .Like you very disappointed as Langkawi and Koh Samui are probably the best ports and like you very worried about going on a compromised ship ! Message I got from TUI care phone number was nothing we could do about it . !

[ekco]

As I mentioned in my post the other day, we were told that if we cancelled our cruise on 31st January we would lose the whole amount.  How much have you been offered?  Very odd that different amounts have been mentioned.  At least we had 5 weeks notice but it must be very stressful for anyone travelling at the end of the week.

 

Not sure if our insurance is compromised by travelling on a ship that we know has a problem.

[ekco]

I thought I would copy and paste part of the email we got.  The terminology is ‘refund’ and not ‘goodwill gesture’.

 

Your new itinerary looks like this:

 

Day Port Arrive Depart

 

1 Langkawi, Malaysia  22:00

2 Penang, Malaysia  08:00 17:00

3 Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia 09:00 19:00

4 Singapore, Singapore  11:00 23:00

5 At Sea

6 At Sea

7 Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand 07:00 23:59

8 Laem Chabang (Bangkok), Thailand 00:00 15:00

9 Sihanoukville, Cambodia  09:30 19:00

10 At Sea

11 Phu My (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam 07:00 18:00

12 At Sea

13 At Sea

14 Langkawi, Malaysia  18:00 23:59

15 Langkawi, Malaysia  00:00

 

We do understand that this isn’t the cruise experience you booked. With that in mind, we’ll be refunding £250 per person by way of an apology for the disruption to your holiday. 

[Chdg2]

We were ‘refunded’ £250 each. No option to refuse this or to cancel.  Rang this morning as no response to emails and was advised that no refunds will be given! Suggested I try insurance. No idea when problem will be fixed. Call handler was understanding but claimed she has been told by managers what to say. Said she couldn’t let me speak to anyone else as they would say the same! Did suggest I email the pre-cruise complaint team but said it would be 72 hrs before we would get a response!  Not much good to us as we leave early to fly on 2 Jan. 

 

just hoping something will make TUi take responsibility and at least offer compensation or allow cancellation! Too late for us now though.

[Eade1]

I’ve now phoned and was told £250 was offered to people on the ship when the problem occurred and people due to go shortly after. I said not good enough we were offered £100 and they said it wasn’t compensation but a good will gesture. If I wasn’t happy when we got back I could write in to try and claim £250. They also said they were hoping the problem might be fixed by then but I can’t help thinking that’s just a line to get rid of you. Amazed the previous person was offered £250 and leaving on 2 Feb. We leave 3 days later and we’re offered £100. Not good enough.