Making a journey by ferry is extremely popular in Scotland with thousands of trips taking place each year.
Ferries are also a lifeline for many of the country's island communities, being used extensively by local residents in their day-to-day lives.
When a ferry is cancelled due to technical problems or poor weather, it can leave many wondering what they should do next.
Here are your rights when CalMac and other ferries are cancelled or delayed in Scotland.
The passenger capacity on MV Alfred will be increased from 2 - 5 August to support the Arran Farmers Show and Brodick Highland Games. Find out more at ➡️https://t.co/aa4ATRToSi @PentlandFerries @transcotland pic.twitter.com/S0zcdkTPOd
— CalMac Ferries (@CalMacFerries) July 31, 2023
What are your rights if your ferry is cancelled in Scotland?
According to the UK Government website, passengers who have their ferry journey cancelled are entitled to accommodation at a maximum value of £70 a night for up to three nights.
However, there are exceptions to this such as bad weather and the need to ensure the safe operation of the vessel.
In terms of refunds, passengers who have had their journey delayed for 90 minutes or more should be offered re-routing or a refund.
These must be provided within 7 days by the same method used to buy the ticket.
CalMac, for example, asks passengers affected by delays or cancellations to fill in a Passenger Rights Claim Form within two months of the date of disrupted travel.
If they are unable to complete the form online, passengers can contact the operator via 0800 066 5000 or +44 1475 650 397 for international customers.
What happens if my ferry is delayed in Scotland?
If a passenger is delayed for a period of 90 minutes or more, they are entitled to refreshments while those waiting four hours or more should be offered a snack or light meal.
Those waiting eight hours or more are owed a hot meal.
In terms of refunds, a passenger should be offered 25% of the ticket price if they are delayed by one hour for a four-hour trip, two hours for four and 8-hour trips and six hours for a journey scheduled to last more than 24 hours.
If the journey is delayed twice as long as the timing set above, passengers are entitled to a 50% refund.
Compensation for tickets worth £5 or less will not be paid.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here