British cruise line Marella Cruises has canceled a seven-night Central America voyage due to food and beverage issues.
In a letter to guests booked onto the “Pride of Panama” sailing aboard Marella Discovery 2, including many guests who were already on board for this past week’s voyage, the line said “due to an unforeseen technical issue that will impact our ability to deliver our full food and beverage offering, we’re very sorry to tell you that we’ve taken the difficult decision to cancel our next sailing… it’s not a conclusion we’ve come to lightly, but we’re not able to offer a suitable alternate cruise.”
Today the ship concluded a seven-night itinerary called “Flavors of the Caribbean,” which sailed roundtrip from Jamaica and visited Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Havana, Cuba. The cruise that is now canceled was set to depart today and visit Kingston, Jamaica; Cartagena, Colombia; Colon, Panama; and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
Marella Cruises is refunding the voyage, and also offering a future cruise credit of 300 pounds (around $370 dollars) per adult and 150 pounds ($185) per child. Excursions have also been automatically canceled and refunds are being processed.
The cruise line’s parent company, TUI, is flying its own airplanes to Jamaica to help get passengers home, and it may also buy seats on other commercial airlines.
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The line also offered guests the choice of staying in Jamaica and then flying home on their originally scheduled flight. According to The Independent, some guests aboard this past week’s cruise complained that the ship appeared to be running out of food. A spokesperson for TUI said “Due to a technical issue with our catering facilities on Marella Discover 2 we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the upcoming Pride of Panama cruise.”
The line closed out its letter to booked guests saying “We’d like to thank you for your understanding and support while we work on the details of your return home. We hope you understand the reason for this change and we apologise for the inconvenience.”
Marella Discovery 2 is just under 70,000 gross tons and can hold 1,832 guests. Restaurants on the 11-deck ship include the Surf & Turf Steakhouse, Kora La pan-Asian venue, The Glass House beach club-themed venue, and Sushi Bar — plus a buffet, main dining room, and Snack Shack.
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