✉ My husband and I paid nearly £12,000 for a Fred Olsen cruise down the east coast of Africa in December last year. Unfortunately we both developed slight colds and several days later tested for Covid. The tests were positive and we reported this; we were tested again and had to remain in our cabin. The medical officer then told us we would be in isolation until January 6, which would have meant missing the excursion to Madagascar, one of the main reasons I wanted to go on the cruise. After 48 hours we tested ourselves again and were negative but the medical officer said our testing kits were unreliable and he refused to do a retest because he had to have permission from the head office in the UK. I asked him to get back to us about this but, in the meantime, because someone from guest services said we couldn’t be confined to our cabin with a negative result, we went out for a drink by the poolside and to get some fresh air. The next morning the medical officer said he wanted us off his ship and we were told we could fly home at the company’s expense. But we had to spend a very uncomfortable 24 hours on the island of Mayotte before we could fly via Nairobi. Can you help me to get a proper apology from Fred Olsen for its poor management of this affair and some compensation for the cost of the remainder of that cruise?
Susan Footner
You had a miserable experience, but unfortunately you discovered one of the myriad reasons you can legitimately be thrown off a cruise ship and Fred Olsen won’t offer an apology or compensation. A spokesperson said it never wanted to cut the travels of any of its guests short but as guided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Cruise Lines International Association, any guests or crew members who test positive for a respiratory infection have to isolate in their cabin. For guests with Covid, this means five days from the date they test positive (this is in line with cruise industry standards). “Our team are always happy to clarify anything in regards to our isolation procedures, but anyone who continues not to follow safety protocols will be disembarked for the welfare of fellow guests and crew.”
✉ My husband lives with Parkinson’s and dementia. We’re looking for a countryside or seaside holiday in the UK and need a hotel with twin rooms and accessible showers, plus consistent flooring in common areas. A pool with a unisex disabled changing room and a gym would be great. I’ve been unable to find anything suitable. Any ideas?
Eva Arendt-Stancliffe
It’s far more difficult than it should be to find properly accessible hotels in the UK but the Blue Badge Access Awards (BBAA) website is a great starting point. Rudding Park, an elegantly renovated Georgian pile near Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and a past nominee, ticks your boxes. One of its accessible rooms has twin beds plus a full wet room and there’s an indoor pool with a hoist and accessible changing room as well as a gym; access to the swanky rooftop spa comes with an extra charge. B&B in an accessible room, plus £50 towards dinner, starts at £346 this summer (ruddingpark.co.uk).
Or try Marsham Court in Bournemouth, a past BBAA winner, whose accessible rooms all have wet rooms. There’s a heated outdoor pool with an accessible loo and changing room poolside, plus a sensory room, which your husband may enjoy. B&B in accessible rooms starts at £130 (marshamcourthotel.co.uk).
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✉ We booked a trip to Jordan with Riviera Travel. There was the option of a three-day extension to Jerusalem afterwards, which cost an additional £700pp. While we were still in Jordan in October, Hamas attacked sites in Israel. Riviera cancelled the extension to Jerusalem and we flew back to London from Amman. We expected to have the cost of the Jerusalem trip refunded but Riviera Travel has refused to do this and said we should apply to our travel insurance company. The insurance company says that because Riviera cancelled the extension to Jerusalem, it is responsible for refunding the money. My husband wrote to Riviera explaining this but we seem to have hit an impasse. We don’t know what to do next. How can we get our £1,400 back?
Anne Archbold
Riviera told me that after it organised safe travel home for all of its affected customers it suggested they contact their travel insurers to claim for the cancelled portion of their tour, asking them to get back in touch if they had any problems. It seems that Riviera Travel never received your husband’s letter — or at least can’t find any record of it. “Now that this has been brought to our attention we will of course issue a full refund of the £700pp paid for the cancelled Jerusalem extension and will be in touch with them directly to arrange this,” a spokesperson said.
✉ My wife will be 40 in September next year and I’d like to take her to Lisbon and then on to the Algarve. We’ll be travelling with our son, who will be two and a half. Do you know of any hotels or apartments in Lisbon that are family friendly and close to the centre, and then somewhere down the coast, preferably with half-board and a kids’ club?
Dan Sharpe
You’re in luck. The incredibly family friendly Martinhal hotel group has serviced apartments in Lisbon’s central Chiado district with a kids’ club and, unusually for a city property, offers evening babysitting so you can head out for a birthday dinner. A superior deluxe studio sleeping up to four (with a king-size bed, bunk beds and a kitchenette) starts at £317 this September. You could then move on to the beachfront Martinhal Sagres on the Algarve, with its kids’ clubs and playgrounds plus great food (although there’s no half-board option). B&B in a beach room sleeping up to three costs £208 a night in September (martinhal.com).
✉ I’m a solo traveller and keen to visit the archaeological sites of Vergina and Pella in northern Greece (but don’t want to drive). I’d like to combine this with a few days in Thessaloniki, flying from Heathrow or Gatwick and staying in a small central hotel. What can you suggest?
Aileen Scudamore
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EasyJet has flights at sociable times to Thessaloniki from Gatwick and the city has a fine collection of boutique hotels charging reasonable prices. One of the newest and swishest is Elisabeth, within easy walking distance of the main sites as well as excellent restaurants (this is Greece’s first Unesco city of gastronomy). B&B doubles start at £103 (elisabeth-hotel.gr). There are buses to Vergina, home to the extraordinary royal tombs of Philip II and Alexander IV, and Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great, but it’s not a straightforward journey so an organised tour is your easiest option. Local operator Ammon Express has an eight-hour day trip covering both sites, which starts at £50pp (entrance fees are extra, ammonexpress.gr). If you’d rather book a tailor-made package, try Kirker (kirkerholidays.com) or Sunvil (sunvil.co.uk).
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