For two days, 146 holidaymakers have been stranded in Budapest during a heatwave after the air conditioning failed on their Tui river cruise – and now the company has announced it will fly them home tomorrow with a full refund.
The passengers, booked on the Skyla for a trip along the Danube River, arrived in the Hungarian capital on Monday lunchtime only to be told the air con had broken. Temperatures in the city have soared above 35C this week, with forecasts of 39C on Tuesday.
“Tui passengers stranded in Budapest for two days after air conditioning failure will be flown home tomorrow with a full refund.”
Judith Dunn, 83, who paid £2,000 for the cruise as a special treat to mark her late husband's 60th wedding anniversary and her friend's 80th birthday, described the heat on board as "absolutely stifling". She told the BBC the trip turned into a "nightmare".
Around 1930 local time on Monday, passengers were transferred to hotels and had to arrange their own meals. Dunn said they later discovered the air conditioning had been faulty for some time: "In fact, the people who were here last week on a cruise had to be in a hotel as well. So they did know about this, so we were a little bit upset by that."
On Tuesday, passengers were taken back to the ship for lunch. Another traveller, Melanie Roberts, praised the crew for ensuring plenty of water, but added: "There are a few people who are quite distressed with the situation. There are some elderly people on here and people who are not as mobile as others. I think basically now we're getting to the stage where people just want to go home."
Tui River Cruises initially said it was "aware of a technical issue affecting the air conditioning on Tui Skyla following the extreme heat in Budapest", and that engineers were working to fix it. But later, in a letter to passengers seen by the BBC, the company said more time was needed and the cruise had been cancelled. Affected passengers will receive a full refund and a £100 goodwill voucher.