Couple say Saga felt like Titanic

FOUR deaths and a flooding turned a dream cruise into a titanic £18,000 nightmare, claim pensioners Allan and Sheila Watt.

Mr and Mrs Watt, of Lincoln Park, Amersham, returned home from the three-month world tour on the cruise ship Saga Rose last Tuesday after what they claim was a journey that, at times, felt as disastrous as that portrayed in the hit film Titanic.

And yesterday Mrs Watt had another shock when cruise operators Saga referred to her husband as 'The Passenger from Hell' adding: "It's unbelievable that they are saying that after what we went through. I just feel dumbfounded. We felt we had cause for complaint because of everything that went wrong on the ship."

Mr Watt, 67, said the trip was meant to be a holiday of a lifetime.

He said: "We saved for the trip for a long time. It was a lifetime's ambition for my wife and I, and it was going to be my wife's 60th birthday in the middle of the cruise, so it was a present to her as well.

"Also, I suffer from heart problems. I am currently under two consultants and they thought it would be a stress-free holiday - unfortunately it turned out to be anything but."

He said problems began even before the ship had set sail from Dover, on January 6, adding: "We were meant to sail from Dover but because of bad weather and engine trouble we had to go from Southampton instead, and we didn't leave until January 9."

After the delay, he claimed the luxury liner had to divert to northern Spain after a passenger was taken seriously ill and the ship had further engine trouble.

Mr Watt recalled: "The ship had engine trouble and we were told we were going to northern Spain. There was also a sick passenger who needed to be dropped off at a port."

The diversion meant the ship missed out on four planned destinations: the Azores, Bermuda, Miami and Playa del Carmen in Mexico.

The Watts had planned to meet their daughter, son-in-law and grandchild in Miami, so Saga, which specialises in holidays for the elderly, eventually flew the family out to the ship for free when it stopped in Costa Rica.

Mr Watt said four or five rooms were flooded after the ship left Southampton and there were leaks in the ballroom ceiling, adding: "It's just unbelievable - there were buckets in the corridors to catch the water.

"We had five cabins in three nights. We went to one cabin at 3am and the carpet was sodden. You could smell damp under the bed."

But the worst was yet to come - during the cruise three passengers died in the ship's hospital and one crew member committed suicide.

Mr Watt said: "The chief electronics officer jumped overboard near Australia and we had to turn the ship around. The captain announced it. His shoes were found. It certainly didn't add to the atmosphere on the ship."

"Other passengers died on board the ship. One had been quite fit and suddenly died of pneumonia in the ship's hospital."

Mr Watt said he is glad to be back on terra firma after his ordeal, adding: "We were particularly glad to get home after we had more engine trouble in the Bay of Biscay on the way home. One of the engine pistons failed and they had to replace it.

"We were passed by a car ferry asking if we needed help - and we were a luxury liner.

"I haven't seen the film Titanic. They didn't show it on board because they were running their own version."

But a spokesman for Saga said: "Mr Watt is the original Passenger from Hell. Hundreds of people on the cruise have re-booked on the ship. We have letters from customers telling us it was the best cruise they have taken.

"On day one in Southampton, when it became clear that delays in completing a £15 million re-fit would necessitate some early itenary changes, we invited Mr Watt to leave the ship and qualify for a full refund. He refused.

"The allegation that he and his wife occupied five different cabins on three nights is untrue. A noisy sea valve made it difficult for him to sleep so he was given an additional cabin to sleep in until the valve could be repaired."

The spokesman confirmed that four deaths occurred on board the ship, adding: "The sad loss of a crew member overboard was a tragedy unconnected with events on the ship. The person concerned had joined the ship only a day or so previously and was apparently facing a domestic crisis.

"There were three deaths on board: this was a community of some 1,500 people, many of them elderly, on a voyage of more than three months."

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