Along with other passengers on my recent cruise on the Pacific Aria to New Caledonia and Vanuatu, I missed out on two out of three scheduled port calls due to bad weather.
I could complain, I could ask for compensation — which wouldn’t be forthcoming, since this eventuality is covered in the fine print — but, while I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to see Noumea and Mare, I believe it was the right call.
The fact is that all travel and tourism operators have a duty of care to their customers, and it is good to know that cruise companies — in this case, P&O Australia — take their responsibility seriously.
The captain of the ship and his senior officers kept passengers fully informed about the situation, explaining why docking in Noumea would be dangerous in the very high winds, as would the use of tenders (small boats) to take passengers ashore in Mare.
I’d rather be on a ship with an experienced crew that was objectively assessing the risks than one that made decisions solely on financial considerations. P&O had to refund a lot of money to people who had booked shore trips that couldn’t go ahead, but it forewent that revenue for the right reason.
