Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Couple’s golden wedding plans ruined as Fife cruise cancelled – with replacement trip 500 miles away

The cruise from Rosyth was cancelled - with an alternative trip leaving 500 miles away in Dover.
The cruise from Rosyth was cancelled - with an alternative trip leaving 500 miles away in Dover.

A Perthshire couple have had their golden wedding anniversary plans ruined after their Fife cruise was cancelled – with a replacement trip leaving 500 miles away.

Mareth and James Lindsay were among hundreds of people due to set sail from Rosyth to France on Monday (August 29).

The Blairgowrie pensioners were set to enjoy a 10-day trip to several rivers and the city of Bordeaux.

But the cruise – with prices starting at £799 per person – was called off on Thursday by operator Fred. Olsen because of a “technical issue” on the Balmoral ship.

‘We have our suitcases packed’

James told The Courier: “It’s hugely disappointing as we were so looking forward to the cruise, which we had booked to celebrate our golden wedding anniversary.

“We have our suitcases packed and were ready to set sail on Monday so it’s a blow.”

The couple, who have enjoyed a number of cruises in the past, including two previous Fred.Olsen trips, say it’s the first time they have experienced such a problem.

But they have criticised the firm’s offer of an alternative cruise leaving from Dover – nearly 500 miles away by road.

The Balmoral was due to set sail from Rosyth on Monday.

James said: “We are both retired, I’m 74 and my wife is 78. The last thing we want to do is have to organise public transport for a 1,000-mile round-trip.

“With all the industrial action and strikes I fear we’d be in danger of not getting there or being stranded once we were at Dover and unable to get back.

“The only thing we can do is seek a refund and try to organise an alternative trip to celebrate our anniversary next summer.”

In a message to passengers, the firm said it had no option but to take the Balmoral out of service due to an “unfortunate technical issue on board”.

Ship forced to spend time in dry dock

It said: “We have been working around the clock to explore all the available options, however our technical team have informed me that the best solution is for her to spend a few days out of service, in dry dock.”

Peter Deer, managing director at Fred. Olsen, said: “We know that guests will have been really looking forward to their upcoming cruise, and so we offered all guests an extra 20% off any sailing of their choice departing this year.

“We also highlighted a few individual cruises which were setting sail either at a similar time or to a similar destination, so they still had a cruise to look forward to in the near future.

The Balmoral is now spending time in dry dock.

“This included a cruise from Dover setting sail just a few days later, with a 50% discount to acknowledge the distance from their original departure port, and we have found this option to be popular among many guests so far.

“Of course, we appreciate that these options may not be suitable for everyone, and so all guests who are affected are also given the option to transfer to any other cruise currently on sale, or can have a refund with no quibbles from us.”

The Balmoral features six restaurants, seven bars and two swimming pool decks.

It has accommodation for up to 1,325 guests and about 550 staff.

Conversation