A reorganized Marine Expeditions claims it has put its troubled past behind it.
But passengers and travel agents burned by the Toronto-based firm's troubles last year say they remain wary.
The polar cruise company left 400 angry passengers in its wake last June as the company wallowed through a financial crisis that threatened to sink it last summer.
Passengers were unable to get refunds for thousands of dollars they had paid for cruises to Arctic and Greenland that were cancelled. Instead, they were given vouchers for future trips that many said they were unable to use.
While the company is still called Marine Expeditions, it has been completely reorganized and has no connection at all with Sam Blyth, who formed the company in 1993, said president Pat Shaw in an interview last week.
Dugald Wells, who was president of the former Marine Expeditions, is CEO of the new firm. Wells and Blyth continue to face charges of contravening the Ontario Travel Industry Act for not registering as travel agents or wholesalers for the previous company and of filing false information under the act.
The reorganized company has severed any connection to Blyth's travel agency, Blyth and Co., said Shaw.
It has also become a member of TICO, the Travel Industry Council of Ontario, which provides compensation for people who lose their trips because of failure of a supplier.
"We want happy clients and happy travel agents. We want to honour all our commitments," said Shaw.
Of the 400 clients who lost trips and got vouchers, 128 have signed up for a future trip in lieu, Shaw said. Another 60 have options for trips and the rest are arranging cash refunds. "If anyone is still concerned about their claim, they should call us," Shaw said.
But Jack Broxholme of Burlington, Ont., said he was so disgusted by the experience he has given up his claim. "I want to put this whole thing behind me," said Broxholme, whose five-day trip to Greenland last June was cancelled, leaving him out more than $1,300.
He received a future-trip voucher good for his prepaid cost plus 15 per cent, but he plans to give it to a charity.
"I'm not booking anyone unless they sign a waiver that we are not responsible for loss," said Gina Giacomin, an agent for Carlson Wagonlit Travel in Toronto. Two of her clients, both near 80 years old, finally arranged through Visa to get a refund through their Visa cards, "but it took months and months," Giacomin said.
Last year's implosion was the result of a double whammy that left the company with $3.5-million worth of liabilities and no cash to offer refunds, Shaw said,
Mechanical repairs delayed delivery of a ship at the start of a season of Arctic cruises. At the same time, Marine Expeditions had guaranteed debts of another of Blyth's ventures, the World Cruise Co., which went bankrupt and left passengers stranded in Tahiti.
Creditor John Ingle Insurance decided the company, which dominates the economy market for polar cruising, including sailings to Antarctica, was too good to let die, and arranged refinancing through Canadian Venture Capital Corp., Shaw said.
To launch the reorganized company, Marine Expeditions is offering a 5-per-cent discount for bookings made this month for cruises to the Canadian Arctic, Iceland or Greenland.