THE Circuit Court in Dublin heard yesterday how a honeymoon holiday in the Caribbean turned into a "disaster" for a solicitor, Mr Gerard O'Keeffe, and his bride.
After hearing that Thomas Cook (Overseas) Ltd accepted liability for the collapse of the couple's original "paradise cruise" on the triple-masted Windsong, Judge Raymond Groarke awarded Mr O'Keeffe Pounds 10,235 damages.
Their barrister, Mr Richard N. Kean, told the court that Mr O'Keeffe had paid Pounds 13,000 in advance to Cooks.
Mr Kean said that Mr O'Keeffe had arranged to marry his bride, Carla, on September 6th, 1994.
Before the marriage, he had made extraordinary efforts to ensure that the honeymoon would be the "holiday of a lifetime" for his wife.
She had never been on a cruise before and Mr O'Keeffe's intention had been to surprise her with an unforgettable and exquisite one.
His original intention had been to select a cruise in the Caribbean. However, acting on the recommendation of the cruise company, he had opted for an island cruise of the South Pacific on the Windsong.
Mr Kean said that the Windsong cruise would have been the highlight of the entire honeymoon.
Mr O'Keeffe had been looking forward to travelling to the South Seas and spending some five weeks there.
Eventually, his "secret" got out, and the cruise had been the main talking point at the couple's wedding reception.
"Mr O'Keeffe indicated to representatives of the defendants that, so enthusiastic was he about the holiday, money was to be no object." Mr Kean said.
"Hotel and travel was to be of the highest class and that had been made clear to Cooks."
Mr Kean said that on the morning after the wedding reception, Mr O'Keeffe received a phone call from Cooks telling him the "dream honeymoon" had not been booked. His expectation of picking up the tickets for the honeymoon, which was due to begin two days later, had been shattered.
The travel company had arranged a substitute five-week holiday which turned out to be bitterly disappointing. The couple's disappointment had been compounded by the fact that on this substitute holiday they were being ferried in a barge when the Windsong sailed close by.
Mr O'Keeffe, of Park House, Kanturk, Co Cork, said he was a solicitor with offices in Cork, Dublin, Kanturk and Mallow. Before his marriage he had been on numerous cruises and had seen most of the world.
"I had been on a dozen cruises. Carla had never been on one of any sort," he said. My original intention was that the cruise on the Windsong was to have been a surprise. I wanted to provide the best honeymoon in the world."
He said he was shattered when the honeymoon fell through. He felt wronged and believed he had been financially taken advantage of.
Mr O'Keeffe said that the alternative itinerary offered to him was to have included a substitute cruise and visits to Tahiti, Bora Bora, the Cook Islands and a necklace of islands off Fiji. However, on one occasion when he and his wife had gone off in a taxi, they had finished up in a leper colony.
"When I compare the substitute holiday with the original one, that visit, although accidental, seems quite appropriate," he told Judge Groarke.
They had found themselves with extra hours of air travel and long confined periods in airport lounges.
One hotel had been low-grade without maid service or air-conditioning. In all hotels they had been allotted twin rooms, although alternative arrangements had been made. One hotel had charged Pounds 1,800 to his American Express gold card, but this had been "straightened out" six months later.
Mr O'Keeffe said: "I trusted Cooks. I went to them and they destroyed our holiday. The memory of it has been a constant ulcer with me. I am still Lipset. One can never have a honeymoon again."
Mrs Carla O'Keeffe said she had been looking forward to the cruise for weeks. When she heard Cooks had failed to arrange it she had been in shock. "Gerard felt he had let me down. He had gone to a lot of effort," she said.
Both Mr and Mrs O'Keeffe conceded that, while their honeymoon plans were ruined they had derived some enjoyment from the holiday.
Judge Groarke told Mr Paul Fogarty, counsel for Cooks, that his client had clearly not fulfilled the original contract. He accepted that the company had an international reputation and clearly matters such as the one before the court were not frequent occurrences.
"I am surprised there has never been any apology from the travel company, even down to today. It may have meant something to the O'Keeffes," he said.
Mr O'Keeffe had been paying for top quality nothing but the best. It was clear to him that the couple had suffered very considerably, the judge added.