QE Missed Port Call in Colombo, Sri Lanka

[DiploTraveler]

I heard that the Queen Elizabeth missed its scheduled port call in Colombo, Sri Lanka on October 25. I am curious to know the reason given to the passengers. If anyone was on this cruise, would you please share? Thank you.

[Lakesregion]

Not a very stable country at the moment. Nasty to lose a bunch of passengers to internal violence.

[DiploTraveler]

2 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

Not a very stable country at the moment. Nasty to lose a bunch of passengers to internal violence.

 

Did the captain announce this over the PA system or was a letter provided to passengers? When were passengers informed?

 

Thank you.

[Lakesregion]

1 minute ago, gte937k said:

 

Did the captain announce this over the PA system or was a letter provided to passengers? When were passengers informed?

 

Thank you.

Beats me. Just a personal opinion. Why the interest if you were not involved?

Edited November 7, 2022 by Lakesregion
spelling

[DiploTraveler]

9 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

Beats me. Just a personal opinion. Why the interest if you were not involved?

 

The news hit the front page of the local papers here in Colombo today. Media says that the authorities couldn't pay the cruise line in time because of the current financial crisis. I am curious to hear what the other side of the story is. I hope that's okay.

Edited November 7, 2022 by gte937k
typo

[lissie]

2 minutes ago, gte937k said:

 

The news hit the front page of the local papers here in Colombo today. Media says that the authorities couldn't pay the cruise line in time because of the current financial crisis. I am curious to hear what the other side of the story is. I hope that's okay.

Can you explain further? 

 

I was on that cruise - the port was cancelled before we left Barcelona - we got a letter  8 September (cruise departed 10 October) 

 

In light of the current geopolitical situation in Sri Lanka, we have amended the itinerary for your voyage and shall no longer be calling at Colombo. 

After a careful review of the options, as a replacement, we’re pleased to say we’ve secured an additional berth in Singapore on 29 October 2022. This means you will now be able to enjoy an overnight call in this cosmopolitan port.  

 

 I personally was annoyed as I wanted to do the Colombo stop - I knew there had been issues earlier in the year - but I also know that they had been resolved, had never really involved tourists anyways, and the warnings about travel to Sri Lanka had been lifted certainly by the UK and NZ  governments . Certainly tourists were visiting again by the time Cunard cancelled. 

[DiploTraveler]

2 hours ago, lissie said:

Can you explain further? 

 

I was on that cruise - the port was cancelled before we left Barcelona - we got a letter  8 September (cruise departed 10 October) 

 

In light of the current geopolitical situation in Sri Lanka, we have amended the itinerary for your voyage and shall no longer be calling at Colombo. 

After a careful review of the options, as a replacement, we’re pleased to say we’ve secured an additional berth in Singapore on 29 October 2022. This means you will now be able to enjoy an overnight call in this cosmopolitan port.  

 

 I personally was annoyed as I wanted to do the Colombo stop - I knew there had been issues earlier in the year - but I also know that they had been resolved, had never really involved tourists anyways, and the warnings about travel to Sri Lanka had been lifted certainly by the UK and NZ  governments . Certainly tourists were visiting again by the time Cunard cancelled. 

 

Thank you for sharing this!

 

Unfortunately, the articles in the press were vague about the reason but claimed it was related to transferring payment. That's what made me curious and I figured someone in the forum had more information.

 

You're right about the situation here, it has calmed down completely. Travel advisories were updated and tourists are coming back, but still well below prior levels. All the international media reports over the summer of the protests and economic situation are still fresh in many people's minds and dampens the mood for would-be tourists to book a trip.

[bbtablet]

18 hours ago, lissie said:

Can you explain further? 

 

I was on that cruise - the port was cancelled before we left Barcelona - we got a letter  8 September (cruise departed 10 October) 

 

In light of the current geopolitical situation in Sri Lanka, we have amended the itinerary for your voyage and shall no longer be calling at Colombo. 

After a careful review of the options, as a replacement, we’re pleased to say we’ve secured an additional berth in Singapore on 29 October 2022. This means you will now be able to enjoy an overnight call in this cosmopolitan port.  

 

 Thanks for posting this. There is a general point re "Missed Port Insurance" here that readers may not be aware of.

 

The letter I secured from a similar situation from P&O also stated that no compensation was being paid to passengers (because a replacement port was being provided) - this was an aspect looked for by the insurance company before they would pay out.

 

We missed Visby and went to Tallinn instead but the insurance company still paid out for the missed port as it was on the original itinerary. Visby was missed due to bad weather - I am not sure whether they would have paid out if the reason had been non-weather related - depends on the policy wording - always a tricky area!

 

[Yaldi]

10 minutes ago, bbtablet said:

 

My policy has missed port cover, I've never claimed. Out of interest what would I need as proof for a claim?

[Host Hattie]

I don't think you can claim for changes to the itinerary notified before sailing but you would need to check your policy wording.

[Yaldi]

Apologies, I meant for example arriving at the port and it was too windy to land, it's happened twice to me once at Alesund and once at Antigua. Both resulted in a day at sea. I wasn't bothered to be honest, but I wondered if you need a letter from the purser because the only 'evidence' I would have had was memory of the captain's announcement. You are correct though I should read my policy and be prepared.

[roscoe39]

sorry you missed Colombo lissie, its a great stop and I'm looking forward to visiting it again, I guess Cunard is over cautious sometimes but I would rather they were than weren't. Hopefully we will get in during the 2024 WC....maybe you should join up!

[Host Hattie]

8 hours ago, Yaldi said:

Apologies, I meant for example arriving at the port and it was too windy to land, it's happened twice to me once at Alesund and once at Antigua. Both resulted in a day at sea. I wasn't bothered to be honest, but I wondered if you need a letter from the purser because the only 'evidence' I would have had was memory of the captain's announcement. You are correct though I should read my policy and be prepared.

Yes, you would need a letter from the company.

[lissie]

4 hours ago, roscoe39 said:

sorry you missed Colombo lissie, its a great stop and I'm looking forward to visiting it again, I guess Cunard is over cautious sometimes but I would rather they were than weren't. Hopefully we will get in during the 2024 WC....maybe you should join up!

No a WC has no interest to me - it would be too much repetition of places I've been -and it would be too long without  enough time on land 

[Solent Richard]

On 11/7/2022 at 2:50 AM, lissie said:

Can you explain further? 

 

I was on that cruise - the port was cancelled before we left Barcelona - we got a letter  8 September (cruise departed 10 October) 

 

In light of the current geopolitical situation in Sri Lanka, we have amended the itinerary for your voyage and shall no longer be calling at Colombo. 

After a careful review of the options, as a replacement, we’re pleased to say we’ve secured an additional berth in Singapore on 29 October 2022. This means you will now be able to enjoy an overnight call in this cosmopolitan port.  

 

 I personally was annoyed as I wanted to do the Colombo stop - I knew there had been issues earlier in the year - but I also know that they had been resolved, had never really involved tourists anyways, and the warnings about travel to Sri Lanka had been lifted certainly by the UK and NZ  governments . Certainly tourists were visiting again by the time Cunard cancelled. 

 

6 hours ago, roscoe39 said:

sorry you missed Colombo lissie, its a great stop and I'm looking forward to visiting it again, I guess Cunard is over cautious sometimes but I would rather they were than weren't. Hopefully we will get in during the 2024 WC....maybe you should join up!

 

A real shame that @lissie . Hopefully this review of mine from a Queen Victoria visit will be of some compensation...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2019/08/09/one-way-to-do-colombo/

 

 

[bbtablet]

15 hours ago, Yaldi said:

Apologies, I meant for example arriving at the port and it was too windy to land, it's happened twice to me once at Alesund and once at Antigua. Both resulted in a day at sea. I wasn't bothered to be honest, but I wondered if you need a letter from the purser because the only 'evidence' I would have had was memory of the captain's announcement. You are correct though I should read my policy and be prepared.

Hattie is quite right - I had not noticed that the change to the itinerary here was before sailing.

I tried to claim for the pre-cruise loss of St Petersburg too but the insurance would not pay out.

 

For the situation you describe above, Yaldi, the trick is to obtain the standard "missed port" letter from Reception on the day of the change, or at least before you disembark.

 

Apart from a copy of your cruise booking form to prove you had paid for the cruise, that was all my insurance company wanted and paid out £75 x 2 persons (you have to buy Cruise Cover as an extra with missed ports included, of course).

 

I didn't know about needing to go to reception and waited until after the cruise to contact P&O for the letter to confirm that the port was missed and the reason (weather-related), which took several weeks to materialise, but then the insurance company paid out within 24 hours.

[bbtablet]

Another point to be totally comprehensive, if the Cruise company pay out compensation, perhaps as extra On Board Credit, then the insurance company will not pay out, so it is important that the letter from the cruise line states that no compensation was given out for the missed port. Interestingly, if a substitute port is achieved instead, so that you have the same number of ports as planned when you left port, this does not invalidate a claim becuase the insurance (or at least mine) was specific to the ports on the itinerary when you set sail.

[Adammara]

I can assure you it is no fun being caught in a disturbance.  Many years ago on a cruise we called at Brest,  went ashore and walking through the centre noticed what looked like petrol bombs in the street (It was at thetime of student riots in France). We decided to return to the ship without incident, but some passengers were caught in the disturbance, and P&O had to move the pickup point and let the passeners know where to go.

 

 

[Yaldi]

22 hours ago, bbtablet said:

Hattie is quite right - I had not noticed that the change to the itinerary here was before sailing.

I tried to claim for the pre-cruise loss of St Petersburg too but the insurance would not pay out.

 

For the situation you describe above, Yaldi, the trick is to obtain the standard "missed port" letter from Reception on the day of the change, or at least before you disembark.

 

Apart from a copy of your cruise booking form to prove you had paid for the cruise, that was all my insurance company wanted and paid out £75 x 2 persons (you have to buy Cruise Cover as an extra with missed ports included, of course).

 

I didn't know about needing to go to reception and waited until after the cruise to contact P&O for the letter to confirm that the port was missed and the reason (weather-related), which took several weeks to materialise, but then the insurance company paid out within 24 hours.

 

21 hours ago, bbtablet said:

Another point to be totally comprehensive, if the Cruise company pay out compensation, perhaps as extra On Board Credit, then the insurance company will not pay out, so it is important that the letter from the cruise line states that no compensation was given out for the missed port. Interestingly, if a substitute port is achieved instead, so that you have the same number of ports as planned when you left port, this does not invalidate a claim becuase the insurance (or at least mine) was specific to the ports on the itinerary when you set sail.

Thank you for taking the trouble to provide detailed replies.

 

I did add specific cruise cover to my insurance because my itinerary includes flights and a cruise. I've got cover for cabin confinement and missed departure, as well as missed scheduled port stop cover, of £150 per port. Requirements for valid claim and evidencing are exactly as you have stated in your reply.

 

I should have read the policy in detail but glad of the prompt as I'm closer to departure now and understand what's needed to make a claim for all possible events.