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Trying to cancel cruise but can’t get through.......


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Good morning all. It’s my first post so I hope I’m in the right place and hope you can help. We are booked on a Med cruise mid August which we booked over a year ago and have only paid the deposit. The balance was due last week but basically due to the current situation and our ages and underlying problems we don’t want to go. Tui website says it I still going ahead. According to the Terms & Conditions on our confirmation, if we cancel 70+ days before departure date we only lose our deposit, which we are happy to do. The problem is we cannot get in touch with them and have tried 5 different numbers every day without getting through and emails have bounced back. Cancellation charges kick in once the 70 days are up. As a last resort I’m writing to them registered post to cancel and can anyone confirm the correct address and if they have any other advice. Many thanks in advance and sorry for long post.

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If you can’t get in touch with them by phone I would say that all that you can do is cancel by post, I am not sure what the service is called but you can send your letter and it has to be signed for by the recipient, also at the post office they will give you a receipt which includes tracking that lets you know that the letter  has been delivered. I would also make a photocopy of your cancellation letter before you send it to them.

Good luck.
If you go to the .....Post office online site ...the above service is called “signed for” and how it works is explained.

Edited by Brummijam
Why not.?
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Recorded Delivery is sufficient, it was £2.06 when I did it a couple of weeks ago - not sure if that was first or seond class, or if there is such an option - it arrived two days later.

 

Registered is more expensive, and achieves nothing more.

 

You can check the signed for receipt at Luton via Royal Mail online facility - you get an image of the signature with details. Keep the posting receipt as well.

 

I produced my letter on Microsoft Word and retained a copy on file, and sent a hard copy to ABTA for information by mail.

Edited by WeeCountyMan
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1 hour ago, Glock-17 said:

Thank you very much, I’ll give it a try.

Hi and welcome I have actually got through to them twice now, yesterday was the last time, it does take a while and you have to keep trying until you get a connection. They are, supposedly, calling me back tomorrow they did also promise to call back yesterday and did but couldn't get an answer for me on payment. Good luck 🤞 

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47 minutes ago, WeeCountyMan said:

Recorded Delivery is sufficient, it was £2.06 when I did it a couple of weeks ago - not sure if that was first or seond class, or if there is such an option - it arrived two days later.

 

Registered is more expensive, and achieves nothing more.

 

You can check the signed for receipt at Luton via Royal Mail online facility - you get an image of the signature with details. Keep the posting receipt as well.

 

I produced my letter on Microsoft Word and retained a copy on file, and sent a hard copy to ABTA for information by mail.

Sound advice WCM.👍

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19 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Hi and welcome I have actually got through to them twice now, yesterday was the last time, it does take a while and you have to keep trying until you get a connection. They are, supposedly, calling me back tomorrow they did also promise to call back yesterday and did but couldn't get an answer for me on payment. Good luck 🤞 

Hi PC.

They are certainly making you jump through the hoops to get a conclusion aren’t they?

Keep well.😉

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4 hours ago, Pensioncruiser said:

Hi and welcome I have actually got through to them twice now, yesterday was the last time, it does take a while and you have to keep trying until you get a connection. They are, supposedly, calling me back tomorrow they did also promise to call back yesterday and did but couldn't get an answer for me on payment. Good luck 🤞 

 

Edited by Glock-17
I also got through once after being on hold for an hour only to be told they couldn’t help but someone would call me back. They never called....
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I sent them a message on Messenger - my balance was due on 1st May, they told me not to worry about final payment date - my holiday would not be cancelled and keep trying.  I got through today on 0203 451 2688.  I  got cut off half way through the call but they called me back.  Moved holiday to next year and they phoned me back again to confirm.  I had email confirmation about 20 mins later.  Response to Messenger was within a few hours.  Very impressed by the staff - they must be under huge pressure.

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On 5/28/2020 at 1:58 PM, Pensioncruiser said:

They are, supposedly, calling me back tomorrow they did also promise to call back yesterday and did but couldn't get an answer for me on payment

OK so they didn't call back, nievely I thought they would silly me😋

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Original poster of this thread here.

Just got through after 8 minutes 🙂 on phone 0203 451 2688 option 1 then option 1 again. I said I wanted to cancel and was told I would lose deposit which I was prepared to do and as 70 days before departure due was fast approaching I didn’t want any other cancellation charges. I also confirmed I had not paid my balance which was due over a week ago.  ‘Sarah’ informed me as I booked by phone it meant I had booked in store and their terms had changed to not only allow free amendments (which I did not want to do) but also not have to pay balance until 4 weeks before sailing but I confirmed I did not want to go anyway. She advised me to hang on until closer to departure date before cancelling (if the cruise was still going ahead) but her final words were she thought she would be in touch with us anyway soon as Tui will likely cancel Med cruises in August on the Discovery and we would therefore get our deposit back rather than us cancel now and lose our deposit. Am I being naive to believe this? 

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As August is only two months away, I honestly can’t see any cruises going ahead. I think it’s going to be October, possibly November at the earliest. This is only my opinion, might be surprised of course. I am not booking anything until it is completely safe to do so.

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2 hours ago, Glock-17 said:

Am I being naive to believe this? 

That's a difficult one have you actually got a copy of the new four week cut off for payment, I like you cancelled our cruise with loss of deposit for the 6th June in March, unfortunately we paid over the deposit which they keep promising to refund😳 good luck 🤞 

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9 minutes ago, Pensioncruiser said:

That's a difficult one have you actually got a copy of the new four week cut off for payment, I like you cancelled our cruise with loss of deposit for the 6th June in March, unfortunately we paid over the deposit which they keep promising to refund😳 good luck 🤞 

Just being nosey, but was there some incentive to pay more than the required deposit?  Not heard of this before.

Keep well 

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20 minutes ago, dronnygirl said:

Just being nosey, but was there some incentive to pay more than the required deposit?  Not heard of this before.

Keep well 

Simple answer is yes and I will fully explain when my refund has been received. 😉 It wouldn't help anyone on CC. 

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Glock-17

 

I think there is every chance that no-one will be cruising in August. However, nothing is certain yet.

 

I would carefully check the Tui/Marella website terms and conditions, and FAQ regarding the '4 week' final payment date (I have heard that mentioned on other websites, but it was in regard to re-booking cancelled holidays), but assuming it is correct, the lady you spoke to, did you a very big favour, but if its wrong, could cost you a lot more.

 

 

Edited by howmuch!
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  • 3 weeks later...

This is the latest from Marella website's FAQ :-


Has my holiday been cancelled?

If your holiday falls into one of the below categories, we’re really sorry to say that it has been cancelled. 
• TUI holidays travelling on or before 10 July 2020, including flight-only bookings
• TUI River Cruises sailings travelling up until and including 25 November 2020
• TUI Lakes and Mountains holidays travelling up until and including 30 September 2020
• Marella Cruises sailings on or before 27 August 2020 and all sailings detailed below
°All sailings on Marella Celebration
°Sailings on Marella Discovery 2 from Naples, Asia and the Middle East up to 30 April 2021
°Sailings on Marella Dream from Palma up to 4 May 2021
°Marella Discovery sailings om or before 31 October 2020, and from Jamaica in December 2020 and January 2021
°Marella Explorer 2 sailings from Naples between 5 May 2021 to 20 October 2021, and the 90s v 00s Electric Sunsets cruise on 5 September 2020

 

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On 6/19/2020 at 11:22 AM, Bertie Doe said:

This is the latest from Marella website's FAQ :-


Has my holiday been cancelled?

If your holiday falls into one of the below categories, we’re really sorry to say that it has been cancelled. 
• TUI holidays travelling on or before 10 July 2020, including flight-only bookings
• TUI River Cruises sailings travelling up until and including 25 November 2020
• TUI Lakes and Mountains holidays travelling up until and including 30 September 2020
• Marella Cruises sailings on or before 27 August 2020 and all sailings detailed below
°All sailings on Marella Celebration
°Sailings on Marella Discovery 2 from Naples, Asia and the Middle East up to 30 April 2021
°Sailings on Marella Dream from Palma up to 4 May 2021
°Marella Discovery sailings om or before 31 October 2020, and from Jamaica in December 2020 and January 2021
°Marella Explorer 2 sailings from Naples between 5 May 2021 to 20 October 2021, and the 90s v 00s Electric Sunsets cruise on 5 September 2020

 

So from what you have posted it confirms my departure 15 August on the Discovery in the Med has been cancelled, thank you for posting this.

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As you are willing to lose your deposit take the path of least resistance and just don't pay the outstanding balance. Don't even contact them. I did this with an October cruise, The deposit was £70, guess what, I got an email anyway saying the balance plus 25% was now future cruise credit that I could use in the next 2 years. OK, this was P&O and TUI are a bit more stingy. I did miss paying the balance on a Thomson cruise a few years ago. There were no penalties but they had resold the cabin with a couple of days. I have a P&O cruise booked for January, balance due October. I am not going to have the hassle of trying to cancel, I will do nothing and see what happens, however this is only a £80 deposit. Low deposits make it easier to 'gamble' the money. I am about to book a cruise for next summer, deposit £98 I think.

 

Many years ago a gentle giant of a colleague at work said the secret of life is to get from one end to the other with the least hassle, I think he had a point 😉

Edited by davecttr
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