News

A cruise-liner company whose ship failed to dock in Dover on Saturday (13 December) has offered passengers a full day's refund.

Bad weather in the Bay of Biscay delayed The Balmoral for 24 hours leading to complaints from passengers who were due to sail to Oslo.

The company said that on the ship's approach to the port it was accompanied by two tugs, but due to the weather conditions, there was heavy contact between the ship and the bow tug, causing minor damage to both vessels and affecting the Balmoral's communications systems.

The ship was taken back out to sea and was not brought back into port until the early hours of Sunday, once the winds had dropped.

It finally left Dover, with a revised cruise itinerary, on Sunday evening.

Nigel Lingard, from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines said: "We will accordingly be covering all their expenses. People will also be able to claim delay insurance money.

"Everyone has received an allowance for the lost day of their cruise - that's automatic, and I fully accept that, and that has been handled on board."