It's a sad day for travelers who were expecting to board Le Boréal expedition ship today. Abercrombie & Kent chartered the ship from Compagnie du Ponant and it was slated to go to Antarctica. Unfortunately, ship repairs need to be made before both companies are comfortable sailing to the remote Antarctic region.In a press statement A&K said, "We regret the disappointment but safety is our first priority. All clients will receive a full refund or credit with a 10 percent discount for a future Antarctic cruise with A&K. Abercrombie & Kent has more than 20 years of experience operating safely in Antarctica and we are committed to providing the best expedition cruise experience.”
According to Terri Haas, chief commercial officer for the luxury cruise line, “It is very unfortunate that the next sailing had to be canceled, particularly since it was completely booked. We felt we had to make that difficult decision as a precautionary measure and in the interest of our guests’ safety.”
The January 19, 2011 cruise should sail as scheduled.
What do you think of the cruise compensation passengers received? Is a full refund and 10% off a future Antarctica cruise acceptable? Let me know what you think.
—Andrea M. Rotondo for LuxuryCruiseBible.com
Photo courtesy of Abercrombie & Kent
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5 comments:
As one of the passengers scheduled to leave on this cruise, it was devestating news however I would rather they cancel the cruise then send a less than 100% ship to the Antarctice. Still undecided about the compensation.
Is any further information available regarding the mechanical problem that caused the cancellation?
Are the repairs complete?
How did the technical issues effect the cruise that took place before the Jan. 04th cruise? Any insight from passengers would be appreciated.
It's puzzling that a company with the reputation of A&K would charter a less than competent vessel for the demanding seas of the Drake Passage. There was a posting on another website that stated on the A&K cruise preceding the cancelled one, Le Boreal was experiencing generator problems and as a result, some lower staterooms were taking on water. In addition, the ship was struggling to stay ahead of the heavy seas. Apparently, A&K and the owner of the ship did not do their due diligence.
we started on Dec 7 from Ushuaia. There as an announcement about one week later motoring along the peninsula in rough seas that a propulsion issue has arise" we seemed to move along at half speed for a day then picked up. Captain announced that the engineer had researched to problem and solved it. Rumor was one of the screw drives needed to be replaced.
Brand new Italian boat
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