✉ I was due to travel with Tui from Gatwick to St Lucia on October 23 with my family, but early that morning my son received a positive Covid-19 test result. Tui told me that I could change the date, destination or both, but after that I was given contradictory information, such as being asked to send emails to an address that didn’t seem to exist, and told that the test was invalid because it hadn’t been booked with one of its partners. My calls to customer services also disconnected numerous times. I’d like a clear explanation why I’ve now been told it’s not possible to change the holiday, after two employees said that it was and not to worry. Now I can’t even find an email address to make a formal complaint.
Scarlet Reyes Dominguez, via email
Booking your tests through Tui is not mandatory, so this would not be a reason to deny your claim, but it seems that none of its customer service team managed to explain clearly to you that the antigen test your son had taken was not sufficient proof for the trip to be changed.
A spokeswoman said: “Our policy states that if a customer tests positive for Covid and is not able to travel, they can change their holiday fee-free by providing proof such as a positive PCR test or via the NHS app. On this occasion the customer took an antigen test and not a PCR test. However, we’re happy to let the customer change their holiday fee-free and will contact them directly to arrange this.”
✉ My husband and I are planning a trip to the Amalfi coast and Sorrento next May, to celebrate my 50th birthday, with a couple of close friends, but we have no idea where to base ourselves. Ideally we’d like to stay in a hotel overlooking the sea, with access to a town with nice places to eat. Do you have any recommendations?
Karen O’Kill, via email
Stay in Sorrento, where excellent transport links make it easy to explore the Amalfi coast and the surrounding region — whether you want to hop on a bus to Positano, take the ferry to Capri and Ischia, or the train to Pompeii, Herculaneum and the excellent but lesser-known Roman site of Oplontis. And you won’t go hungry here either, with Trattoria Da Emilia and other buzzy waterfront restaurants in the port serving fantastic seafood.
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If you’re happy to splurge, stay at the Excelsior Vittoria, Sorrento’s grande dame run by the Fiorentino family for five generations. It has an excellent central location but is separated from the busy Piazza Tasso by glorious gardens, and has a splendid heated outdoor pool. There’s no finer spot for an Aperol spritz than its terrace, where you can take in the sweeping views of Vesuvius, and the next morning you can take the private lift down the cliff to the harbour for the hydrofoil to Naples. Three nights from May 6 start at £1,522pp, B&B, including flights and transfers (citalia.com).
You’ll also get mesmerising sea views at clifftop Maison la Minervetta, where all 12 rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, and there are two sun terraces and a plunge pool. It’s a ten-minute walk from the centre of Sorrento. Three nights’ B&B in May starts at £998pp, including flights, transfers and a concierge service to book restaurants and tours (kirkerholidays.com).
✉ We had a holiday booked to Barbados for this month but decided to postpone it to next year after realising that we would have to take a PCR test when we arrived and quarantine in our hotel room (or the quarantine centre) if it came back positive. We’d still like to go away in the next few weeks — do all Caribbean islands insist on this kind of testing?
David Hogben, via email
I’m sorry to say that you have acted too soon: last week Barbados scrapped its quarantine requirement and second PCR test for fully vaccinated visitors, becoming one of several islands that have recently relaxed their rules. The Cayman Islands are scrapping quarantine for vaccinated visitors from November 20, and if you fly that day and stay at the Westin Grand Cayman Seven Mile Beach Resort & Spa, a week basking in the Caribbean sun will cost you £2,667pp, room only, plus flights (ba.com).
✉ Before the pandemic my husband and I would drive to Tuscany from the UK for a holiday every year. We are eager to reinstate this tradition but don’t really understand how the Covid protocols in France and Italy work when travelling through each country. We normally take two days to drive there and three days to drive home.
Melanie Stokes, via email
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If you are planning a trip this autumn, the main requirement for your Tuscan trip will be an antigen or PCR test taken within 48 hours of arriving in Italy; this rule has just been extended for visitors from the UK until December 15. You’ll either have to time your journey carefully so that you can get a test before you leave, or buy one (for £25) at a pharmacy en route through France. You’ll also need to download the French TousAntiCovid app and scan your NHS QR code so that it can create a certificate proving your vaccination status that will act as your pass sanitaire — you’ll need it to access bars, restaurants and other venues.
If you haven’t made the trip since before the pandemic, you should also be aware of post-Brexit changes to driving in Europe, which, since September 28, include the requirement to display a UK sticker instead of a GB sticker.
✉ My husband and I have booked a cruise to India and Japan for February 2024, which cost us nearly £16,000. It’s a condition of our agreement with Imagine Cruising that we have adequate insurance, but I have reached a dead end trying to organise this. I want to get cover for the £3,840 deposit already paid, but because I’m trying to do this so far in advance, it appears that no company will cover it. Not many will give cancellation cover for more than £10,000. Can you help?
Julie Wheatley, via email
This sounds like an epic holiday, but it’s very difficult to get cover for a single trip more than 18 months in advance. AllClear, which could cover you for your £16,000 cruise, said: “Passengers will struggle to get cover so far in advance from any travel insurance provider as so much can change — as we have all seen since the pandemic.” It will offer cover 364 days before the trip, and not for anything you’d already paid for (allcleartravel.co.uk). To get cover for your deposit, you’d have to buy a suitable annual policy and renew it each year: LV’s Premier policy offers £10,000pp cancellation cover (lv.com).
Have you got a holiday dilemma? Email traveldoctor@thetimes.co.uk
