On the crest of a wave thanks to SNJ call (From Stroud News and Journal)

On the crest of a wave thanks to SNJ call

A PENSIONER thought his dreams of a bargain cruise had run aground this week until the SNJ stepped in to salvage his wrecked holiday plans.

George Dickinson suffers from a heart condition and feared he might have lost his last chance to travel, after a reader offer in a national newspaper collapsed.

Mr Dickinson had collected coupons week after week in the Daily Express for an offer promising an exotic cruise for just £10.

But in the autumn hurricanes played havoc with travel in the Caribbean, and promoter Rise Travel was struggling with its plans to send thousands of holiday makers on the trip of a lifetime

Cruise cancellations led to a backlog of bookings which meant Mr Dickinson's hopes of a February cruise along the Brazilian coast were cruelly dashed at the last minute. "I got a phone call to say I wasn't going," he said.

"I was offered a replacement cruise in 2006 but I'm 83, I've got a heart condition and I don't know if I'll be around long enough to enjoy it. "I was very upset and to tell you the truth, rather embarrassed.

"I'd been telling everyone I was going, had booked in for my inoculations and had forked out on clothes and other things I would have needed for my travels."

A disappointed Mr Dickinson had tried to contact the company, but while he had been offered vouchers for a city break in Europe and a discount on a cruise of his choice, he had had no joy in persuading staff to book him onto a cruise instead.

But when the SNJ spoke to John Cookson, customer services director for Rise Tavel, he said the company would take into account the urgency due to his exceptional circumstances and come up with a comparable holiday to his planned Brazilian trip.

He said the hurricanes had caused chaos not just for his company but for global tourism and Rise had been under no legal obligation to offer alternative holidays.

But it had done the honourable thing and booked most people on replacements next year.

He said he would personally oversee Mr Dickinson's case and make sure he had his cruise as soon as possible.

A buoyed up Mr Dickinson, from Stroud's Summer Street said he was delighted with the result.