Couple set sail thanks to Raw Deal
Grieving couple Christine and David Longford are sailing off on a holiday of a lifetime, thanks to Raw Deal.
Christine’s parents Edith and George Simpson were big cruise fans and had booked a trip to Sweden this summer with Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.
Last September, her mum and dad paid a deposit of £925 and were looking forward to their trip.
Sadly, Edith, a former nursing sister, died in February, aged 82. And as George had developed dementia, Christine cancelled the cruise to Sweden and contacted the company to ask for the deposit back.
“I was told this would not be possible and that my parents should have taken out cancellation insurance against an unfortunate event like this,” said Christine, 62, a retired community worker from Sunderland.
“It was bad enough dealing with my mum passing away, and this just added to our stress.
“Mum and dad used to love being on cruises and had been all over the world on ships.
“They were also regular travellers with Olsen, booking at least two cruises a year with them.
“To be told we could not get the £925 deposit back was very disappointing.”
As a compromise, Christine then asked Olsen if they could instead transfer the deposit to her, to use towards a future cruise for her and her husband.
“We were then quoted that it would cost £262 each to change the names, a total of £524,” Christine said.
“I was stunned. Mum and dad had been such good customers of the firm and I thought this was a bit much.
“The whole thing became very frustrating and I felt I was getting nowhere with the company. It looked like we were going to have to accept we would lose the deposit because we could not afford to pay more than £500 extra just to change the names to book another cruise.”
An exasperated Christine then wrote to Raw Deal for help. We contacted Fred Olsen Cruise Lines on her behalf and asked the firm to investigate.
The cruise company has now agreed to waive the £524 fee to change the names, meaning Christine and David can use the £925 deposit towards another trip. The couple have now booked an 11-day North Atlantic cruise to Iceland with Olsen in June next year, which will cost about £6,000 in total.
Rachael Jackson, spokeswoman for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, said: “We would like to offer our sincere condolences to Mrs Longford and her family at this very difficult time.
“We would stress that all guests are advised of the need and contractual requirement to purchase appropriate travel insurance – to cover cancellation liabilities – at the earliest opportunity after booking their cruise holiday with Fred Olsen.
“The cruise referred to had been booked since midSeptember 2017, allowing sufficient time within which to purchase suitable travel insurance.
“As frequent Fred Olsen guests, with many years of cruise experience and being very familiar with the contractual requirements, we would have expected Mr and Mrs Simpson to have purchased the relevant travel insurance for their upcoming cruise holiday.
“However, bearing in mind the circumstances, and as a gesture of goodwill, we confirm that we will allow the name change free of charge on this occasion.”
Christine now can’t wait for her trip to Iceland next summer with David, which will be taken in memory of her late mother.
“We have never been on a cruise before and I know mum would be happy for us,” said Christine.
“We could never have afforded a dream trip like this without the help of Raw Deal.”