A ten-night British Isles Discovery cruise due to sail from London Tilbury tomorrow (Wednesday) has had to be cancelled by Cruise & Maritime Voyages.
The cancellation follows the ship Columbus having to go into dry dock with technical problems after it struck a ‘foreign object’ during its departure from Amsterdam on Friday.
This led to a Norwegian fjords cruise being suspended.
CMV said today: “The ship will need to undertake a short dry dock period for a full inspection and remedial works before resuming service.
“As a result of this cancellation, CMV has reviewed all possible transfer options in order to alleviate the understandable frustration and disappointment this incident has caused.”
Three alternative options are being offered to passengers booked on the ten-night British Isles cruise.
Passengers can transfer their booking to a newly introduced 11-night British Isles cruise on board the line’s latest ship departing from Tilbury on September 2.
They can can switch to any CMV sailing of up to 15 nights departing from October 1 onwards and receive a 50% discount on the best available fare.
Or they can cancel their cruise, receive a full refund and a 30% discount on a future CMV sailing of up to 15 nights duration.
All options are subject to availability, booking conditions and are valid until July 5.
The company said: “CMV would once again like to extend their sincere apologies for the late cancellation of this cruise holiday and for the disruption caused.
“CMV look forward to welcoming the affected passengers on board an alternative cruise in the future.”