Travel Agent Forces Captain to take his ship into dangerous waters….

I had a call today from a passenger on a ship who expected me to get him into Amsterdam as per the schedule on his cruise. Long story short….

Err, no, I don’t have the power to do that! Captain Christopher Wells was the best Captain for keeping customers informed and calm in pretty much any situation.

Can you imagine what the world of cruise would be like if all travel agents were able to ring the ship and tell the Captain what to do because the customers onboard were upset.

I have had my tie grabbed because a gentleman had booked car hire in Genoa and the ship had to change and go to Rapallo instead. Luckily the tie was a clip on, so the guy just ended up with my tie in his hand and not my neck. I do understand its frustrating if you have friends, or family meeting you in the port. But if it is dangerous who wants to have their ship with everyone on it in danger. Certainly not me.

There is a reason for every decision that is made to alter an itinerary. Sometimes bad weather, sometimes the police or armed forces close a port, sometimes there is civil unrest in the port and it is deemed too dangerous to take passengers there. I have had some very interesting lunches with Captains and have the inside story on reasons why a ship may alter course. It can be because of the Captains duty to other seafarers. If there is an SOS a ship in the vicinity must answer and aid the stricken craft. This can add a lot of time to a journey and mean a missed port.

On occasions a ship may need an emergency patch on its bottom that requires a diver and underwater welding kit. Nothing can be done when these things happen except hope the diver is quick and the ship is again watertight and ready to carry on its journey. If not, it could be another missed port…

What can you do when it happens to you? Stay calm! Nobody has died. Nobody is injured and there is always the possibility to book another cruise to that port again in the future. I have an unlucky friend who has booked the same cruise 3 times wanting to visit Guernsey. Each time the port has been cancelled. They are still wanting to visit and don’t like flying so I am awaiting the next booking sometime soon…

Let me know if you have any interesting stories of missed ports? Or if you want to book your next cruise and you are looking for an expert call me on 0333 300 2480 Adrian