beleaguered island cruises hit by further problems

RED-faced Island Cruises faces a potential bill of up to £1 million after yet another plumbing disaster on Island Escape forced the cancellation of a Mediterranean cruise.

Around half the cabins were left without toilet facilities after two pressure pumps on the 20-year-old ship failed. Angry passengers were informed just hours before the converted ferry was set to depart from Palma last Tuesday.

Some 700 passengers were flown home with full refunds, with the remaining 350 taking up the offer of a 50% refund and alternative land-based half-board holidays in Majorca. .

With a brochure price of £899 per person, the cancellation will be a costly and embarrassing blunder for the company.

The cruiseline has been blighted with problems since launching as a three-star plus product in March.

It suffered a media battering last month after agents and customers complained about serious plumbing problems on its ill-fated inaugural cruise.

Passengers were also flown home and compensated on that occasion, leading to the resignation of managing director Steve Garley and technical director David Carter. Replacements have not yet been found.

Dermot Blastland, First Choice managing director of UK businesses – the company behind the venture with Royal Caribbean – said: “We are very disappointed. By the time the problem was fixed we would have missed three out of five ports, so we decided it was only fair to cancel the cruise. It’s a question of fixing it and managing it effectively.”

This latest disaster is bound to fuel concerns in the trade about the cruiseline’s reliability. Blastland admitted confidence may be knocked, but was positive the venture would be a success.