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How Queen Victoria's bottom flexed on our nightmare £60,000 cruise
WHEN Yorkshire couple Terence and Cynthia Milner booked a £65,000 cruise aboard the world maiden voyage of Cunard's Queen Victoria they were promised the "holiday of a lifetime".
But when the ship left Southampton and hit heavy seas in the Bay of Biscay, the metal floor of their cabin began to flex loudly, three judges at the Court of Appeal were told today.
From then on they were moved between cabins and the Harrogate couple, who are in their late sixties, suffered illness and finally left the liner in Hawaii, returning home on the Queen Elizabeth II.
Cunard today began an appeal to try to reduce the 22,000 damages awarded to the couple by a county court judge in Bradford.
Christopher Lundie, representing the ship owners, said the award was "manifestly excessive" and was likely to encourage speculative court action despite calls that damages for disappointment and distress should be restrained and modest.
He suggested the correct level was in the range of 2,000 to 3,000.
Sarah Prager, for the couple, said the Milners, who were given a 10% discount on the advertised price of the cruise, had been looking forward to their holiday for 19 months.
Mrs Milner bought 21 gowns costing 4,300 for the formal dining nights. She was unable to wear any of them and they had now become "an unwelcome reminder of the cruise".
The county court judge awarded her 2,000 for the wasted clothing costs, together with 7,500 each for the distress and disappointment and 2,500 each for the loss in value of the holiday.
Mr Lundie said the vessel was designed to flex in bad weather as a safety feature.
The metal deck snapped from convex to concave under extreme forces, creating a loud bang.
He said that although this was not meant to happen and repairs were made to the vessel, some noise was inevitable in heavy seas.
Cunard accepted that the couple were not able to sleep on the first two nights of their voyage and provided them with another suite which was upgraded between New York and Los Angeles.
Mr Lundie said the couple enjoyed their shore excursions and said the quality of the food and staff was excellent.
But he said they had left the cruise in Honolulu where they stayed for six weeks before boarding the QEII home.
The Milners had been refunded 48,240 of the 59,052 they paid for the cruise, said Mr Lundie.
Miss Prager said the first alternative accommodation after the ship left Southampton in January 2008 was an inside cabin fitted for the disabled which suffered from constant engine noise.
Their luggage remained in the cabin they booked and they had to move between the two to dress and sleep.
On January 13 they were moved to another suite but were worried how long they could keep it because it had been booked by other passengers joining the cruise at another port.
"They felt unwell and Mr Milner suffered from mouth ulcers and Mrs Milner from breathing difficulties," said Miss Prager.
On January 30 they had to move out of the cabin to make way for the passengers who had booked it and returned to their original cabin where the noise continued as before.
She said the county court judge had found that the cruise brochure led readers to believe they were booking "the experience of a lifetime".
The judge, she said, was entitled to take into account that: "Instead of a luxurious, stress-free holiday, the claimants received a highly stressful experience trapped aboard a vessel without any settled accommodation."
She said Mr Milner described himself as being "in a terrible state" and they were both "exhausted and inconsolable" after the holiday.
Lords Justices Ward, Richards and Goldring reserved their judgments to a later date.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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