A travel firm has been ordered to pay a total of almost €3,500 in damages to 15 customers who were disappointed by the cruise they had booked.

Mr Justice Philip Sciberras delivered this ruling in appeals lodged from a decision of the Consumers Tribunal which had awarded each passenger €175 in damages. The Court of Appeal increased the damages award to €232.94

The passengers had booked a 16-night package tour from S Mifsud & Sons. The tour comprised one night in London, eight nights in Orlando and a seven-night cruise on a cruise liner.

They claimed that the package tour and the service they had received were not of an acceptable level and did not comply with the conditions agreed to by the company. They complained about the hotel in London and added that the hotel they had stayed in in Orlando was not a hotel but a motel and that it was very dirty.

They also said that they had missed out on excursions because their tour leader had asked the coach drivers to pick them up too early.

The passengers appealed from the Tribunal's award on the grounds that it was insufficient compensation.

Mr Justice Sciberras said that the passengers were requesting moral and not material damages by way of compensation for the ruin of their holiday. A judgment of the European Court had established that the tour operator was responsible to pay compensation for moral damages resulting from loss of enjoyment of a holiday. The court therefore found in favour of the passengers and ordered the company to pay each of them €232.94 in damages.