Cruisers lose thousands as Traveldream agency goes under – “We were completely let down”

• Traveldream, an online travel agency has gone under, jeopardising the holidays of many Aussies.
• Some cruisers, such as Donna Lamberth have lost tens of thousands of dollars due to the agency sudden collapse.
• The Australian Travel Industry Association says this is a “timely reminder” to only book through accredited businesses.

Donna Lamberth, from Injune in Queensland had been putting money away for two years in order to book her dream cruise, which would involve a cruise out of Alaska, as well as well as various other stops in the region such as Vancouver and Las Vegas.

Months ago, in December, she finished paying off her trip and began looking forward to bucketlist trip.

However, when Traveldream, the agency she booked her holiday through, suddenly went under, everything was thrown into disarray.

After some investigating, she learnt that while the money she had paid had been used by the agency to buy the flights, she still owed $7000 more for her cruise, as the agency had not been keeping up with payments.

Devastatingly, Lamberth wasn’t able to cover these extra costs and had to cancel her holiday, as well as the two months of leave she had requested.

This left her a massive $15,500 out of pocket, the hefty sum she had put towards the holiday after saving.

Unfortunately, Lamberth isn’t alone. News.com.au report that at least 75 people have been left in the same position, with more expected to come forward.

Amongst these people, there were cruises booked with Royal Caribbean, Holland America and more.

The Australian Travel Industry Association said in a statement: “This unfortunate situation serves as a timely reminder of the importance of booking travel only with an ATIA-accredited business.”

Other travellers share their stories

A notice appeared on Traveldream’s website:

“On Monday, 28 April 2025 Bill Karageozis of Mcleods Accounting, was appointed Administrator of the Company pursuant to Part 5.3A of the Corporations Act 2001.  We understand the Company acted as a service provider for varying travel booking intermediaries. 

“Contact your travel supplier (for example, Emirates, Best of Scandinavia & The Baltics, etc.) to confirm whether your booking remains valid. If your booking is current, you should liaise directly with the supplier regarding your travel arrangements.

“If the travel supplier advises that the booking is not current or has not been paid for, contact your travel insurer to lodge a claim. You should supply this notice as evidence of the Company’s insolvency when making your claim. Consider other options available to you that are not detailed in this correspondence.

“Customers are encouraged to take the following actions immediately: Where the above options are not available, please contact my office via email [email protected] to submit a claim in the Administration.”

Other travellers have shared their stories, with money once again being lost in the tens and thousands.

Narelle, another cruise shared her story.

“We booked a 19-day Alaska, Canada, and Las Vegas Tour with this company in May 2024. Apparently, Traveldream applied for Administration on 3 December 2024. Yet they had the nerve to ask for the final payment of our tour in April 2025. Now, there’s a total of $17598.00 lost

” Our friends are in the same position as us. I have checked with most suppliers. Air Canada confirmed our flights as we had upgraded our seats personally. The land portion in Canada had only had a deposit of $200.00 per person paid.

“The same for the Alaska Cruise. We were told by Royal Caribbean that $6000 was owing and past due date.

“We had also booked our shore excursions with Royal Caribbean and now have to try and get that back. We have contacted the administrators and were again advised to contact our travel insurance, but we hold little hope of recuperating any of any money.”

Traveller Luis lost $6000 on a package tour to China.

“We booked a package tour to China for a group of 12 people, scheduled for November 2025. In December, we paid a $500 deposit per person – a total of $6,000. Unfortunately, the company has now gone into administration, and we haven’t received any communication from them. 

“We’ve tried contacting them multiple times via phone and email but have had no response whatsoever. Since the trip is over a year away, we hadn’t yet purchased travel insurance, and we’re now left out of pocket with no clarity on whether we’ll ever see our money again.

“This experience has been incredibly frustrating and disappointing. We trusted this company with our plans and our money – and feel completely let down.”