Lakshadweep cruise cancelled for second time

MUMBAI: Lakshadweep Tourism has for the second time cancelled a cruise on board the MV Kavaratti, leaving 65 tourists in the lurch. They had booked the trip from March 5, through Spenta Tour but Lakshadweep Tourism, which carries out bookings on behalf of the tour operator, cancelled it on February 28.
A Spenta employee said, “This is the second time LT cancelled the tour.We had booked the cruise through Lakshadweep Travelinks in August 2014 with 50% booking amount. The sailing dates were February 14 and 20. But on September 23, 2014, we were told the tour would be cancelled.”
Spenta cancelled air tickets, hotel bookings and other services. “Earlier, we bore the financial loss to the tune of Rs 1 lakh as we did not want to inconvenience guests who have had faith in us,” she said.
LT gave the operator the option of sailing on March 5. “We booked 33 cabins, air tickets, the hotel and transport. Five days prior to departure, we were told the trip was cancelled. They will refund the full ship amount but refused to bear losses for air ticket cancellation, hotel and transportation costs.”
The tourists are looking at a cumulative loss of Rs 12 lakh. The Spenta employee said, “The loss may be heavy if the airline is unable to fill up the seats.”
Dr Cyrus Kapadia, who was to travel with his wife, said, “We are terribly disappointed because of the shoddy manner the booking was done.”
Rajesh Prasad, administrator for the islands, said, “The ship was sent for repairs but they were unable to do the work in time. We told the operators the ship will not be available. We refunded the booking amount.”
Jeroo Irani, a retire banker who paid Rs 55,000, said, “We are depressed. LT should not have taken bookings if it knew the ship was not ready.”