Location: Near Liz's favourite home, Windsor Castle, Berkshire, U.K.
Posts: 396
This will be an expensive one for Carnival
Cruise axed as liner limps home
Passengers have paid up to £42,000 for the P&O cruise
The troubled £200m luxury liner Aurora is returning to England after P&O cancelled its ill-fated world cruise.
Hundreds of passengers, who paid up to £41,985 each for the 103-day trip, are heading back to Southampton after work failed to fix its propulsion problems.
They have spent 10 days on the cruise ship, which was due to take in 23 countries but, until Wednesday, had got no further than the Isle of Wight.
P&O said passengers would be refunded and offered money off another cruise.
Aurora is expected to be back in Southampton by midnight on Thursday and the passengers will disembark on Friday morning.
Apology
She was en-route to the Portuguese island of Madeira and was about 25 miles from its start point when P&O announced it had been cancelled.
Overnight tests on the repairs showed that the vessel could not "achieve the required speed to complete the Grand Voyage".
A spokeswoman for P&O's parent company Carnival, said that the cancellation of the cruise was likely to cost the company around £20m.
We have tried to make their time on board as enjoyable as possible
P&O spokeswoman
Timeline of a troubled liner
The company said: "P&O Cruises apologised for the disappointment this has caused passengers and offers its assurance that everything possible was done to get Aurora's Grand Voyage under way before this difficult but unavoidable decision was taken."
It said that passengers would be refunded their full fare and receive "cruise credit" worth 25% of the amount they paid for their holiday if they booked another cruise holiday before the end of January 2007.
Passengers paid between £9,800 and £41,985 for a trip of a lifetime, which had been due to depart on 9 January to take in 23 countries and 40 ports of call.
Later some of the stops, including Barbados, Honolulu and San Francisco, were taken off the itinerary because of the delays.
Of the 1,752 passengers booked on the cruise, 385 had already left when the techical problems became apparent.
P&O apologised to passengers after cancelling the world cruise
Those who remained were treated to free drinks and entertainment from comedians Jimmy Tarbuck and Tom O'Connor, magician Paul Daniels, and singer Elaine Page, while the ship was stuck in port.
The P&O spokeswoman said passengers were "naturally disappointed" about the cruise, but added: "We have tried to make their time on board as enjoyable as possible." The German-built ship, launched in 2000, has suffered bad luck since it was named by the Princess Royal and the champagne bottle did not smash, which is considered a bad omen.
It broke down in the Bay of Biscay on its maiden voyage and, in October 2003, was hit by an outbreak of the contagious norovirus.
P&O said the Aurora was likely to be out of action for a month while repairs are being carried out in either the UK or Germany.
Yup, it is a shame but ships are mechanical things and sometimes break. Hate it for the passengers and for the cruiseline as you say, it is going to be very expensive to repair and in loss revenues. BTW, even though Carnival Corp has ownership in P&O Carnival Cruise Lines is a differant branch with their own executives etc.
Jim
I'm not sure Carnival is to blame for this happening, as mechanical failures do happen, just as a car breaks down. Also as a poster noted on another thread, Carnival is pretty hands-off when it comes to the other brands under their corporation.
Location: Near Liz's favourite home, Windsor Castle, Berkshire, U.K.
Posts: 396
Re: This will be an expensive one for Carnival
Update on the Aurora,
P & O have been excellent in reimbursing 100% all passengers fares and giving them a 25% dscount off their next cruise with them. That means if you did fork out the £41,000 for this cruise - you will get that back and book the same for £31,000 - a cool saving of 10 GRAND!!!!
Anyway, I have copied below the latest from Sky News for you.
"PASSENGERS LEAVE AURORA
The 1,400 passengers have finally left the luxury liner Aurora after their round-the-world cruise was cancelled.
The journey was expected to take in South America, Australia, Hong Kong and San Francisco - but the furthest the liner could manage was the Isle of Wight.
The ill-fated ship, which cost £200m to build, docked just before midnight.
Problems with the vessel's propulsion system meant 10 days of repairs and tests while patient customers, who had paid between £9,800 and £41,985 for the trip, waited for their journey to start.
A final round of tests took place yesterday, but operators P&O finally decided the planned journey could not go ahead.
There have been mixed reactions from those passengers leaving the ship.
Ivan Ford, 63, and his wife Judith, 59, from Dunbar, Scotland, said: "We are very disappointed but we knew the situation and we knew they were having difficulties.
Passengers leave the striken ship
"We hoped it would resolve itself but it didn't. This is our retirement present and we have just been around the Isle of Wight instead of the world and it has ruined it.
"This was our only chance to go on a world cruise in 12 months and it will not be the same because the shine has been taken off it."
Paula Sturley, 70, from Buckhurst Hill, Essex, said: "I can only say they have looked after us very well. They did all they can. It's disappointing missing the cruise but I am happy with the compensation and I have travelled with P&O Cruises many times and I will do so again."
After the original problems were spotted, P&O told passengers they could get off the boat or stay on during sea trials.
During this time they were given free drinks, food and entertainment which included Elaine Paige, Paul Daniels and Jimmy Tarbuck.
All passengers have also been given full refunds and a 25% discount on the next cruise they book with the company."
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This will be an expensive one for Carnival
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