“Holidays ruined” as Cal Mac cancels travel bookings

Holidays to the Hebrides are being “ruined” it is claimed as crisis-hit Cal Mac stands accused of cancelling tourists' pre-booked ferry journeys.

Hotels in the islands are suffering a severe financial hit as visitors are forced to abandon trips.

Tourists are eager to come to the islands - Cal Mac just can't get them here.

In a desperate bid to clear backlogs, the shipping company has stopped accepting reservations on three Western Isles lifeline routes - and Stornoway, Barra and South Uist - for travel in the next two weeks which, added to extremely limited availability of the remaining mainland links, pulls the brakes on island hospitality businesses hopes of an early Covid recovery.

Tourism providers in the Western Isles are bearing the pain as ships are switched around to cover for the catastrophic breakdown of Cal Mac’s largest vessel, the seven-year-old £43 million MV Loch Seaforth, with extensive repairs to her two engines now running into a sixth week.

Amanda Leveson Gower who runs Langass Lodge in North Uist is deeply exasperated by the ongoing problems.

Four families cancelled for last Friday night (Fri), she had five empty rooms on Saturday and tells of more unfilled spaces each day into the middle of this week - all because "people's ferries have been cancelled."

Groups excitedly arranged island-hopping using different ferries and accommodation but are now "phoning us up, absolutely devastated because their family holidays have now been completely ruined."

"Cal Mac phoned them and said their ferries will not be running," she added.

No alternative route was offered, it is maintained.

"They are not going to come to the Hebrides again after this dreadful experience while we have just taken on lots of new staff. We've ordered stock in but we haven't got guests to sell it to.”

At the Lochboisdale Hotel in South Uist, Calum MacAulay is equally unhappy, especially as the MV Lord of the Isles - which normally berths outside his front door - is almost inevitably the first ship to be withdrawn to cover breakdowns elsewhere

Mr MacAulay said: "We've been losing bookings with cancellations last week and another six this week.

"Our season is so short and depends on visitor trade which is critical for any island hotel to survive.

"This a complete disaster and a total failure by Transport Scotland."

He echoed calls for Cal Mac to charter the surplus Pentland Firth ferry, MV Pentalina, to provide extra capacity into the network.

Latest revised estimates of the Seaforth’s return is 31 May, meaning the west coast ferry network will not be back to normal until into the first week of June.

A small number of turn-up-and-go spaces are held back for people who need to travel at the last minute said Cal Mac while islanders heading to urgent medical appointments will be accommodated as foot passengers, including free taxi journeys to and from the ferry terminal and their NHS destination.

Robert Morrison, operations director for Cal Mac, said: “As a result of the ongoing technical issues with the MV Seaforth, it has become necessary to suspend new bookings on the routes impacted up to midnight on the 7th June to accommodate existing passenger bookings.

"For travel from 8th June onward, these routes remain open for reservations.”

He added: “While every effort is made to avoid breakdowns, it is effectively impossible to completely remove the risk of this happening in technically complex vessels. During times of disruption, we always seek to deliver additional sailings wherever possible, such as deploying relief crews and using shore-based crews.

“We do not have any spare capacity to cover for situations such as breakdowns, and while we would welcome the addition of vessels on a charter basis, the availability of those that can operate within the constraints of the ports we use is extremely limited.”

Island hotels lose out and “holidays ruined” as Cal Mac cancel tourists’ ferry travel at last minute

24 May 2021

Lochboisdale Hotel is one of many tourism providers hit by the ferry chaos