“All her scans had been clear for a while and the doctor said now would be a good time to go on a trip if we wanted to. It was going to be a kind of big celebration of Alex getting through all the treatments and recovering,” Penn says. 

The couple spent around $20,000 on a cruise that would see them travel through Indonesia and down Australia’s east coast with Viking Cruises, a major international cruise company based in Switzerland. 

When Alex’s cancer came back in late 2024 and she was advised that she could no longer travel, they called Viking Cruises and asked for a refund.

But, despite the fact the couple gave notice of the cancellation 55 days in advance, Viking Cruises denied the refund. According to its policies, Viking said, 60 days’ notice was required. 

Penn then asked if they could transfer the funds and rebook for another Viking Cruise at a later date, a request that was also flatly denied. 

Viking not budging on their policy

The company has been very clear that they are sticking to their policy.

“Although we do sincerely empathise with your current situation, our policy was advised previously and any further correspondence received in relation to this matter and the issues previously addressed will be noted, however, we advise that no further response will be issued to you,” the company told Penn after several emails. 

Penn says they were annoyed and angry that the company was being hard-nosed and showing no compassion at all. “They didn’t care whatsoever about our situation. I understand they are a business, but if they were able to re-sell the room with 55 days notice we should have at least got a partial refund.” 

The company did refund them just over $1000 worth of onshore excursion costs, but none of the cruising fee. 

Penn has since lodged complaints with the South Australia Office of Consumer and Business Services and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). 

Viking Cruises did not respond to our questions about whether they could have shown more compassion to Alex and Penn or whether their room on the ship was on-sold after the couple cancelled. 

Travellers beware 

Alex and Penn had travel insurance, but because the cancer was a pre-existing condition that flared up, they weren’t covered by their policy. 

ÌÇÐÄVlog insurance expert Jodi Bird says conditions like cancer are often excluded in travel insurance policies and that passengers on cruise ships should be aware of the risk they may not be covered. He agrees there is more room for compassionate flexibility from the cruise industry. 

“Cruise ship companies do tend to be fairly strict on enforcing the terms and conditions. I think there could be a bit more latitude there from the cruise companies, especially given the demographics that they have got coming on board,” he says. 

Bird says cruise passengers are often forced to book up to a year or more ahead of their journey, making the risk of medical complications higher. 

Penn says there should be some changes in attitude and room for flexibility in the enforcement of policies of cruise ship companies.  

“I want people to know how we were treated and to be cautious about Viking Cruises. If you get ill or get into any issues, don’t expect them to help you, they will just take the money and run,” she says. 

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According to an industry insider who got in touch with us in early March, the cruise ship industry had somewhere between $700 and $800 million in Australian bookings sitting with cruise companies around the world when cruising came to a stop in early 2020.

With COVID shutting down travel, many Australians who handed over those dollars never boarded a vessel or got their money back, and many are still trying. 

‘We may never get this chance again’

About $10,000 was paid by Christine and her partner, one of the 4443 respondents to a travel cancellation survey we ran earlier this year. (The payment was for a cruise package including accommodation and flights.) 

She had travel insurance before she booked, but she still hasn’t got her money back. 

“We are both age pensioners, 77 and 83 years old,” Christie told us. “It was to be the trip of a lifetime as neither of us have ever been on a cruise. We have never spent that amount on a holiday and the money had been left to me on my mother’s death. We may never get this chance again.” 

Both have health problems that make mobility increasingly challenging. 

Irene booked a cruise from Singapore to London for her 80th birthday as part of a larger tour. Then COVID-19arrived and travel was off the cards. Irene also had travel insurance but has yet to receive a refund. She describes the process of trying to get one as “impossible and extremely stressful”.

Cathy’s in the same boat, so to speak. She had two cruises lined up with MSC cruises and paid a $7000 deposit for the first one. She says she’s had “minimal replies, nor any monies returned from them whatsoever”.

“We had a rude reception from cruise staff, who were very unhelpful,” Cathy says. “They refused to give us a breakdown of where money went. We had an automated response to our last email with no reply afterwards.”

Cathy* tells us she booked with Princess cruises for a May voyage with friends down the south coast of WA in January 2020. 

“We received an email saying we would get a full refund plus a credit for the hassle but have yet to receive either,” she says. She too has travel insurance, but it would only cover a quarter of what she’s lost. She’s still waiting for the refund. (*Not her real name.)

John, who had five cruises booked back to back, is $30,000 out of pocket. 

In some cases, however, cruise lines did the right thing, setting a standard that few seem to have followed.

Future cruise credits – are they usable? 

On paper, at least, the refund policies for the cruise lines depend on the length of the cruise along with other factors. Generally, the farther out before departure that you cancel a cruise, the more likely you’ll be entitled to a refund. 

As the departure date approaches, you’ll likely get less and less of your money back. 

Despite what the policies say, however, many customers are still waiting for whatever refund they’re entitled to. 

The alternative to a refund is a future cruise credit, or FCC, which nearly all cruise lines are offering. 

But there’s a problem, the industry source says: “When the credits were issued, communication was patchy and not all Ts and Cs were visible to the consumer when they signed up. The time frames to use the credits were short.” 

“Clients may still be holding FCCs that are going to expire soon or may be applicable to a short window, such as by the end 2021, when no sailing is likely to occur,” the source continued. “We have seen some cruise lines extend these, but it is not uniform.” 

Further cancellations

Customers who have already traded in their credits for a cruise scheduled this year could be looking at further cancellations, the source says. 

“So there will be cancellations on new trips, and many cruise lines are not offering refunds on these trips. The only remedy is for another future cruise credit. 

“There will be consumers who feel like they didn’t have full visibility of the Ts & Cs at the time and are now caught up in a ‘never refund’ option with some cruise lines.”

What the regulator says 

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the terms and conditions in your cruise agreement dictate your rights, but adds that the Australian Consumer Law is “unlikely to apply to cancellations as a direct result of government restrictions. This may impact the remedies available to consumers”. 

But our survey results suggest that not all cruise lines are honouring their Ts & Cs, at least not in a timely fashion. 

If you’re cruise had been cancelled

• The ACCC “expects that consumers will receive a refund or other remedy, such as a credit note or voucher in most circumstances”.
• If your Ts & Cs or the business say you had a right to a refund when you booked, the cruise line must honour this.
• Keep any communications with the business and contact them directly to request a remedy. This may be a refund or credit note or voucher, depending on your circumstances.
• Future cruise credits should have an expiration date long enough to allow you to use them.

Making travel credits fairer

Many travel providers have offered credits or vouchers in lieu of what their customers were hoping for – an actual refund. 

At the moment, the terms and conditions of these credits vary from provider to provider, and some will likely expire before they can be used. As part of our call for a cleanup of the travel industry’s approach to cancellations, we’ve laid out what we think should be the minimum requirements for all travel vouchers, regardless of who issues them. 

• A minimum term of three years before expiration.
• The ability to transfer the credit or voucher to another person.
• The ability to split credits over multiple bookings. 
• An obligation on travel and tourism businesses to convert credits or vouchers to a refund in certain circumstances including at the expiration of the term.
• An obligation to treat bookings made with credits or vouchers in the same way as bookings paid for in cash.

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Ocean cruising

Want to set sail on an enormous, floating hotel featuring pools, waterslides, restaurants galore and nightly gala performances? Then ocean cruising is for you. 

Cruise liners tend to be big and can carry thousands of passengers. They often provide children’s programs and activities, 24-hour dining, shopping, late-night entertainment, and days spent travelling through endless seascapes. On the down side, liners can be crowded, with queues for embarking and debarking at ports. While ocean cruises may offer cheaper base fares, they also tend to charge for extras, such as the cost of visiting ports.

River cruising

River cruising generally involves smaller ships with fewer passengers and amenities than ocean liners. You’re unlikely to get extensive entertainment options or access to swimming pools and will probably have set meal times. There are smaller crowds and queues than on ocean liners, less likelihood of sea-sickness, and river cruises tend to be truly all-inclusive.

River cruises mostly travel at night, reaching a new place every day, meaning more time to visit different destinations. Scenery on a river cruise changes more regularly, and ports of call tend to be the main attraction rather than the ship itself, as it is on an ocean liner. 

You can take a river cruise along the Danube and the Rhine in Europe, the Yangtze in China, the Chobe in Africa, the Lower Ganges in India, Alaska’s inland waterways or the Mekong in Vietnam and Cambodia, among others. Find out more in our guide to top cruising destinations.

Singles or solo cruises

If you’re looking to cruise alone, there are several options available. Some cruise liners offer single-occupancy cabins, and some don’t charge a solo supplement, while others facilitate cruise groups for solo travellers. Look for liners that offer solo services such as organised activities like craft, dance and language classes and catch-ups that allow you to meet other singles onboard.

Family cruises

Family-friendly cruises offer programs and kids’ clubs that will keep younger and older kids entertained. To find the right family-friendly cruise for you, look for one with age-appropriate activities for your kids, such as cartoon characters, pools and water slides and kid-friendly evening entertainment. Make sure you look into which activities and services cost extra. Check whether the ship has onboard babysitting if you want some alone time, and find out what the policy is for whether you can leave the ship while your kids are in care.

If you have a baby, choose a ship that has an onboard crèche. Be aware that some cruises will set a minimum age of between six months and one year for babies, and others will have a minimum age for children participating in kids’ clubs.

Adults-only and couples cruises

Not keen to share your ship with kids and prefer a more romantic experience? Then an adults-only ship might be for you. Several companies operate over-18s-only cruises, including Viking Ocean Cruises and P&O.

If that’s not an option, look for ships that don’t have amenities geared towards families and kids, or those with adults-only activities and areas.

Luxury cruises

Luxury cruises offer VIP service, more refined dining and better amenities. They tend to utilise smaller vessels, and may include such options as flexible itineraries, a personal butler, larger cabins, more exotic destinations and they’re more likely to be all-inclusive.

Adventure cruises

If you’re less keen on water slides and cabaret and more interested in nature-watching and remote villages, an adventure cruise may be a good choice. Adventure cruises tend to use smaller ships, which can access more remote destinations such as Antarctica, the Galapagos Islands, Arctic Norway or the Amazon. Shore excursions are wilder – perhaps white-water rafting or mountain climbing. On board, you may be treated to lectures from wildlife experts or historians.

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