An elderly couple were thrown off a P&O cruise liner an hour before they were due to set sail and denied a refund.
Janet Anderson, 75, booked the £4000 Canary Islands voyage to celebrate husband Ian’s recovery from a brain tumour.
But after travelling hundreds of miles by coach from their home in Renfrew and being shown to their cabin at Southampton, they were forced to disembark shortly before departure on March 19 due to a covid scare.
Neither Janet nor Ian, also 75, had the virus or had ever tested positive but the cruise line firm refused to allow them to travel because someone on their coach had tested positive.
The heartbroken and exhausted couple were instead forced to endure another 12-hour bus journey back to Glasgow and said they can’t get their money back but can only rebook another cruise.
But after our sister paper the Sunday Mail stepped in, the couple were contacted by the cruise line, which has arranged another trip as well as giving them a gesture of goodwill.
Janet said: “Both my husband and I have had health issues, so this was going to be a one-off holiday of a lifetime.
“We paid £4000 and I spent another £230 on kennel fees and insurance. We travelled on a coach to Southampton and were shown to our cabin on the Iona, all of which took about 12 hours, so we were exhausted and hungry.
"But an hour before the ship was to sail, we got a call telling us to get off – it was devastating.
“We got sent to a hotel for the night, where we had to pay for our own meal, before getting put on a bus for another 12-hour journey back to Glasgow.”
The couple booked the two-week P&O Cruises holiday through agents Scotland’s Cruise Centre.
Janet added: “We have been vaccinated and have never tested positive for covid We tested negative in Southampton. It has been so stressful.
“I just want a refund and compensation for my other costs but we have been told we can only rebook. The only replacement one we can go on is a week-long cruise – our original holiday was for two weeks.”
After we got in touch with P&O, the firm contacted the couple directly.
P&O Cruises – which is not connected with controversial firm P&O Ferries – said: “We are so sorry the Andersons’ holiday did not go as planned. However, they have booked another holiday for the autumn.
"We’ve also given them a gesture of goodwill.”
Janet said: “Thanks to the Sunday Mail, we received a call from P&O Cruises and have come to an agreement.”
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