US cruise company fails leaving passengers grounded

One of America’s leading online cruise sellers folded last week, leaving many of its customers in a position of losing money they had paid the company.

East Brunswick, N. J.-based Cruise Value Center failed to pay $2-3 million in fares to various cruise companies, so that customers who booked their cruises through them may not have confirmed reservations on the cruises they paid for, according to a report in the industry journal Cruise Week. In addition, Cruise Value Center may not have purchased insurance on behalf of some or all of their customers.

In 2007, Cruise Value Center was acquired by Travel Holding Entity, and merged it with its company, Cruises of Distinction.

Calls to the company went unanswered on Thursday, and Ronald Smith, the registered agent with the state was also not able to be reached.

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office of the State of Michigan, Matt Frendewey, said that four customers had filed complaints against Cruises of Distinction. The last of the complaints was filed in 2007, and according to the spokesman, all four complaints had been resolved.

The editor of CruiseCritic.com, Carolyn Spencer Brown, has recommended that customers who booked their cruises through Cruise Value Center confirm the status of their reservations directly with the cruise line involved. She added that those who paid for their cruises with a credit card should be protected, but others may lose the money they paid.

www.mycruisevalue.com