Cruise agency Ideal Cruising has been threatened with legal action by customers who claim to have contracted food poisoning on board the Independence of the Seas this summer.
Peter and Anita Wormald from West Yorkshire have enlisted law firm Irwin Mitchell to launch a legal battle against the Camberley-based agency.
However, Ideal Cruising managing director Ian Brooks said he was confident the agency will not be held liable. “We are an agent for the cruiseline, and it is fairly obvious that we don’t deliver the service onboard, so the accusations are completely misdirected,” he said.
A spokesman for Irwin Mitchell said: “Our clients believe they entered a contract with Ideal Cruising and at this stage, all the documentation we have been provided with points to the existence of such a contract.
“However, none of this should detract from the most important part of this, which is that our clients suffered from serious food poisoning that turned what should have been a wonderful, celebratory holiday into an utter disaster, and that is simply unacceptable.”
Jane Atkins, managing director of The Freedom Travel Group, of which Ideal Cruising is a member, said it was important agents were not pressurised into accepting liability until they had the opportunity to consider all the facts. She said: “Always take the time to take advice.”
ABTA head of legal and member services Simon Bunce added: “We have a standard letter members can use to deflect such claims.”
Royal Caribbean International was unable to comment.