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Traveling by Greek Ferry? Know Your Rights

In view of the summer season, Greece’s consumer rights group EKPIZO urges passengers to be aware of their rights while traveling on ferries.

According to the Consumers’ Association ‘The Quality of Life’, EKPIZO, the following rights apply to all passengers traveling on ferries within Greece.

Ticket cancelation

If you cancel your ticket ahead of your trip, you are entitled to a refund of the original amount, depending on the time of cancellation.

Source: EKPOIZO

Source: EKPIZO

Travelers are entitled to a full refund (including reservations and VAT) if travel is canceled by the ferry operator.

Modification

You can modify your ticket (eg change date of travel/return) up to 48 hours ahead of scheduled departure, depending on date and seat availability. You are not entitled to a refund in case of fare difference.

Trip Cancelation

If the ferry operator is at fault for the cancelation, you are entitled to compensation or alternative refund options, in the case that you were not notified of the cancelation one week ahead of scheduled departure, or if you were not notified at least 12 hours before the scheduled departure time and offered the option of an alternative to your destination within 12 hours of the canceled trip.

Due to Ferry Damage

If your journey is canceled due to ship damage, you can:

  • if you are notified in due time – travel to your destination by alternative means within 24 hours, with all expenses covered by the ferry operator.
  • decide not to use your ticket and be refunded for the ticket fare in full.
  • in neither of the above cases, you are entitled to free meals and overnight accommodation (if required) inside the ship or at a hotel, or a refund of your fare in double, if you are not transferred to your destination within 24 hours due to operator’s fault.

Departure Delay

In case of delayed departure exceeding 90 minutes from the scheduled time due to the ferry operator’s fault, you have the right:

  • to request a full refund of your ticket (both passenger and vehicle).
  • receive free meals and stay onboard until the ferry departs.

For additional information or queries, contact port authorities at the point of travel: Piraeus: 14944 – 14541 – 210-4172675; Rafina: 22940-28888; Lavrio: 22920-26589, 22920-25249, or EKPIZO on 210-3304444 or info@ekpizo.gr.

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  1. Elena Reply

    Hi guys, same situation to me and my daughter. We were in Milos on 3th of Sept. and we spent the last two days of our holidays trying to reach to Santorini for our return flight to Italy on 4th sept. in the evening.
    At the end we spent more than €400 to arrive to Santorini on time for our flight.
    At the moment I had the total refund of the boat tickets but I sent a mail to SeaJets (our ferry company) to have the total refund of these expenses in force of EU law n. 1177/2010. Furthermore there is a recent sentence of the European Court of Justice (April 17, 2018) stated that strike cannont be considered as a reason of force majeure. The conclusion is that probably each maritime company as to refund this extra cost but it generally do not automatically happen The people generally have to take a legal action and for foreign citizens this is very difficult.But I will continue. This kind of thing against consumers and tourists has to be changed
    If you have additional information please let me know to: elenik67@libero.it

    I hope you will act too for your rights to be respected.
    Elena

  2. Masouris Georgios Reply

    What if you miss a flight by plane back home due to the strike of the boats. We can’t get to the airport of Zakynthos and our flight is leaving tomorrow afternoon. As we have to book a new ticket I would like to have a compensation for the extra costs of the new flight ticket and the extra hotelcosts we have to make due to the strike of the ferryboats.

    • Ivan Reply

      Hi Georgios,
      The same situation has happened to me and my gf on the 4th of september. We were reading many articles about cancellation caused by strike, but couldn’t find.any useful information about it. We have spent more than €300 for extra flights and train just to get back to Athens in time. Just wondering if you could find out how to reclaim that money back? Please ontact me on “forzanivan@gmail.com” if you have got any updates on this case. Thanks a lot and good luck to us! :/ 😀

    • Ivan Forzan Reply

      Hi Masouris,
      The same situation has happened to me and my gf on the 4th of september. We were reading many articles about cancellation caused by strike, but couldn’t find.any useful information about it. We have spent more than €300 for extra flights and train just to get back to Athens in time. Just wondering if you could find out how to reclaim that money back? Please ontact me on “forzanivan@gmail.com” if you have got any updates on this case. Thanks a lot and good luck to us! :/ 😀

  3. Ilianna Reply

    Interesting article. What about customer rights when cancellation or delay is because of industrial strikes?

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