Topic: Information About Gills Cruise - ABTA UPDATE

Hi there Tuggy - another 'cruiser' from Warminster - thought I was the only one !!!

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We booked our cruise through Gill's on the Ventura in March of this year. Gill's gave us £400 on board credit as against £200 from other agent's. Enough said.

Multiply that by 5000 passengers and lo and behold there is a £1million black hole. It occurred to me that that is probably why they went bust.

It's okay bragging about it but some of Gills customers have not been so lucky.

I don't suppose....

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I think the whole point of the post was not to question cruise.co's financial stability, even though cruise.co has been going a lot less time than Gills, but to draw attention to rumours about a TA and the damage it can cause.

In your reply about ABTA, surely, you miss the point - Carnival pulled the plug on Gills by ignoring the ABTA guarantee. Carnival wanted their money now, not after Gills had had a chance to be restructured! In my book Carnival panicked, and the others followed.

Many ordinary folk benefited considerably from Gill's discounting, and they should be congratulated, and not castigated for doing it - for some strange reason more folk shop at Tesco/ASDA than at Harrods!

I'm very glad to see that Gills business will resurface as WeCruise, and I hope their ex-employees will be hired by the new company.

Good morning Mel from a wet and windy Solent which may result in me being around a little today.

We meet again then on this issue, the previous thread appears to have disappeared.

I of course would disagree with you on your statement regarding Cunard and Gills.

I have it from an absolutely impeccable source that the letters sent out from Cunard and I quote...

'Cunard has unfortunately had to terminate its commercial relationship with Gill's Travel on the grounds of Gill's Travel's insolvency....'

That extract was from a Cunard letter dated 14 July 2011.

Now if you combine that with the opening statement of this thread, timed at 4.45 pm on the 15 July, you should get a more clear picture.

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Makes you wonder who will be next - 45 years in business - and a excellent reputation to boot.

Whitstable.com when the rent is due?

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In light of the Fiasco at Gills cruises will Cruisedot confirm or deny their Financial abilty to deliver the Services people have paid for.Such a statement would restore customer confidence in the industry and put peoples minds at ease.

QUOTE:

I think the whole point of the post was not to question cruise.co's financial stability, even though cruise.co has been going a lot less time than Gills, but to draw attention to rumours about a TA and the damage it can cause.

In your reply about ABTA, surely, you miss the point - Carnival pulled the plug on Gills by ignoring the ABTA guarantee. Carnival wanted their money now, not after Gills had had a chance to be restructured! In my book Carnival panicked, and the others followed.

Many ordinary folk benefited considerably from Gill's discounting, and they should be congratulated, and not castigated for doing it - for some strange reason more folk shop at Tesco/ASDA than at Harrods!

I'm very glad to see that Gills business will resurface as WeCruise, and I hope their ex-employees will be hired by the new company.

Mel it's pretty clear to me what the question was and the implications

Gills business plan worked well on a growing market now it has hit hard times with little price growth so the ball stops rolling

Yet again it would appear an opportunity has been taken over on Whitstable.com to have a sneer at this forum's owners.

Re: Gill’s Cruise Centre
by Dave » 16 Jul 2011 10:24
I can't see a problem with other cruise agents trying to get a piece of the action. After all, cruise.co.uk and others are businesses and have to seize opportunities when they arise.

I do see a problem with an agent hosting rumours and speculation on their website about the well-being of a rival company BEFORE the facts were known. Discussing it AFTER the event is another thing entirely.

For agents to seek to reassure their own customers about their own well-being is only to be expected and I'm sure will be taken with a huge pinch of salt by most people. Would you expect an announcement that they're having problems too?
Dave

What on earth is the boy talking about - an agent hosting 'rumours and speculation'.

This Cruises.co thread appeared at 4.45 on the 15 July. As I have said in comment # 23, Cunard sent out letters dated 14 July saying

'Cunard has unfortunately had to terminate its commercial relationship with Gill's Travel on the grounds of Gill's Travel's insolvency....'

Hardly 'rumours and speculation' then if looked at in a chronological order.

Gill's also suffered with appalling customer service and underhand tricks of not stating 1.5% admin charge on there well publicised prices. Also going against P&O rules and refusing me the ability to add on OBC given by booking a Future Cruise Deposit onboard a P&O ship. You only have to read P&O forum of the number of compalints about poor service and you see why they have gone bump. Since they gave me appaling service I have booked a number of cruises and never even entertained booking with Gill's whatever the price stated.

Update from Gills Cruises, apologies if it has been posted before.


Dear Gill's Customer

We are writing to let you know that travel company 'WeCruise' has acquired assets of Gill's Cruise Centre, after our company stopped trading following a period of 55 years in the cruise business, and we would like to thank our loyal customers for their support over the years.

What you should do if you have an existing Gill's booking

We realise that customers with existing bookings will have concerns, and we would like to reassure you that we have arranged for our cruise line partners to take over all of our existing bookings to ensure that you are protected. We recommend that you contact your cruise company direct and have listed their contact numbers below - their staff are briefed and ready to help you, and may in fact have contacted you already. If you have any queries or concerns please don't hesitate to contact our travel agents on 0844 488 9685 as they will be pleased to help you.

What the future holds

This is not the end of the voyage for the Gill's team; Gill's fine reputation for excellent service and our knowledgeable staff have been welcomed by 'WeCruise', which is a brand that has been established within highly-regarded travel group P&P Associates to complement existing brands WeFly.co.uk and forthcoming WeHoliday.co.uk. WeCruise will of course ensure that you receive the usual personal service with attention to detail going forward.

How can this new arrangement benefit you?

WeCruise will have more products and holiday extras available, adding to the traditional Gill's strength of ex-UK cruises to offer the complete service, including flights, hotels and transfers – everything for the complete dream holiday.

Our assurance to you

May we assure you that whilst Gill's Cruise Centre has ceased to trade, the family values and caring customer service for which we became known will be taken forward by WeCruise. We are delighted to confirm that WeCruise is ABTA, ATOL and IATA bonded.
With kind regards




Helpful numbers

P&O cruises – 0845 678 00 14
Princess Cruises – 0845 3 55 800
Cunard Line – 0845 678 00 13
Royal Caribbean – 0300 303 1522
Celebrity Cruises – 0300 303 1522
Azamara Club Cruises - 0300 303 1522
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines – 01473 746175
MSC Cruises – 0844 5617412
NCL Cruises – 0845 201 8900
Cruise & Maritime – 0845 4300274
Carnival Cruises – 0845 351 0556
Holland America – 0845 3510557