Cruise passenger feels 'let down and lied to'

FIVE PORTS ON ITINERARY - BUT TWO WERE MISSED OUT

- By KRISTY DAWSON

Albert Turner, from Walker, Newcastle, spent thousands of pounds on a Caribbean cruise to five Islands only to miss out on visiting two of them

A NEWCASTLE man has slammed a travel company after he paid thousands of pounds for a Caribbean cruise and missed out on two of the five destinations.

Albert Turner, 64, and his wife Barbara, 50, from Walker, went on a Marella Discovery cruise, which they booked through TUI, in December.

The couple said they paid around £3,800 for the 14-night trip and were due to visit the Azores, Antigua, St Kitts, the British Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic.

However, they said after a power cut on the ship, they failed to stop at Antigua or the British Virgin Islands.

Albert, who works as a healthcare assistant at the Freeman Hospital, said: “We had been really looking forward to the cruise. We had worked hard and we hadn't had another holiday.

“Antigua was one of the ports that I really wanted to go to. We only had five places to visit and we missed two of them. Everyone was saying this isn’t right.”

Albert said that they were told they were unable to stop at Antigua or the British Virgin Islands due to the weather.

However, he believes the ship may have had a mechanical problem.

He said: “They said both of them were due to the weather. They said they needed the assistance of a tug which wasn't available to get into port on both occasions.

“After we left the ship, we found out that the same ship, with a different captain, missed their first port. They were told that it was due to a mechanical problem with the ship and they needed a part, which they were going to get from one of their other ships in Barbados.