Cruise passengers 'stranded' after air con failure to be flown home

Judith Dunn had booked onto the river cruise as a special treat.

Cruise passengers left stranded in Budapest for two days during a heatwave after the ship's air conditioning failed will now be flown home.

Multiple people booked on to a river cruise aboard the Skyla, operated by Tui, complained to the BBC's Your Voice about a lack of information and said elderly passengers were struggling as temperatures in the city rose above 35C this week.

Tui has apologised and told passengers it has arranged flights home for tomorrow and a full refund.

Judith Dunn, 83, had paid £2,000 for the planned trip along the Danube River and told the BBC the heat on board was "absolutely stifling".

She was one of 146 people booked on the trip, which was meant to be a special treat for her and a friend.

It would have spanned Judith and her late husband's 60th wedding anniversary and the 80th birthday of her friend, whose husband passed away a year ago.

She said it turned into a "nightmare". Judith and other passengers arrived in the Hungarian capital on Monday lunchtime, but were brought to the ship only to be told the air con had broken.

Around 1930 local time, she said they were transferred to hotels and had to make their own arrangements for food.

"We have since found out that the air con has been broken for a little while, 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."

Europe has been in the grip of a heatwave, and temperatures are forecast to hit 39C in Budapest on Tuesday.

Passengers were today taken back onto the ship for lunch.

Another traveller, Melanie Roberts, praised the crew for ensuring there was plenty of water.

But she said there were "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."

In a statement, Tui River Cruises told the BBC it was "aware of a technical issue affecting the air conditioning on Tui Skyla following the extreme heat in Budapest, and we're very sorry for the disruption this is causing to our customers' holidays".

"The ship is currently in Budapest, where engineers and specialist teams are working to fix this as quickly as possible."

Following the statement, a letter given to passengers, seen by the BBC, said more time was needed to fully fix the problem and the decision had been taken to cancel the cruise.

People affected will receive a full refund and £100 voucher as a gesture of goodwill.

From her cabin window, Judith expected to be enjoying scenic views of a river cruise by now, instead of this view of a neighbouring docked ship.

Online forums are also filled with scores of comments from passengers who were on board the Skyla last week.

Johnny Wragg wrote he was on the "Skyla at the moment sailing the Danube with no air con".

"Very uncomfortable to say the least. Really spoiling our cruise and the crew are trying to laugh it away."

Tui said customers on the previous sailing had been offered compensation for the disruption to their holiday.

There are also reports online of passengers encountering previous air conditioning failures on board the vessel.

One cruise blogger who sailed on the Skyla in 2024 wrote "the one thing that was still a bit broken was the air conditioning, it was just really pathetic – like an old man blowing into the room".

Tui described the current issue as a new matter.