If you travel as a passenger by water, for example on a sightseeing boat, ferry, or cruise ship, and your journey is cancelled or delayed, the carrier must refund part of the cost of your ticket. This applies to passenger transport by water throughout the European Union (EU).
No compensation in dangerous conditions
You are not entitled to compensation if the cancellation or delay is caused by weather conditions that make sailing unsafe or by other exceptional circumstances that the carrier could not have prevented, even with appropriate measures.
Complaints about the carrier
If the carrier does not provide compensation, contact the carrier first. If you are not satisfied with how the carrier handles your complaint, you can submit a complaint to the regulator in the European Union (EU) Member State where your port of departure is located. If you travel from a country outside the EU to an EU Member State, you can submit your complaint to the regulator in the country of arrival.
In the Netherlands, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) is the regulator. Due to limited capacity, the ILT currently does not handle individual complaints about passenger rights and does not mediate between passengers and carriers.
You can still notify the ILT of your complaint using the form Report other issues. The ILT can use your notification as a signal for oversight.
The EU's Passenger Rights app
The EU's Passenger Rights app allows you to quickly see what your rights are as a passenger. The app provides information for passengers travelling by aeroplane, ship, train, bus and coach in the EU. The app is available in 25 languages.
Passenger rights regulations
Passenger rights for waterborne transport are laid down in a EU regulation. A summary is available.