Voyages of Discovery has said a problem with one if its ship's four engines should be fixed soon after it takes delivery of a new part this weekend.

The ship Discovery has been experiencing problems during the summer that have forced it to changes itineraries and miss ports.

Voyages of Discovery managing director David Yellow said passengers have been compensated when itineraries have been disrupted.

But the problems have prompted criticism from customers on cruise networking website www.cruisingtalk.com about a lack of warning about the problems.

Yellow said a newly manufactured bearing for the engine was due to be delivered this weekend.

He said the operator had believed on a number of previous occasions the problem had been fixed but it transpired bearings had been made to the wrong specifications.

“”The latest advice we have is that we should be getting the bearing over the weekend,” he said.

“There was an engine problem we thought had been repaired  but unfortunately a bearing had been manufactured to the wrong size.

“The problem we have had for the last three sailings was the advice we had from our engineers was that the problem was fixed but once it was tested they have found it wasn’t.

“Once we have received this notification we have advised customers of the position and the impact on their itinerary.”

However Ally Jones, an administrator for cruisingtalk.com, said the operator was risking its reputation by not forewarning customers of a problem that has been hampering the ship all summer.

She said: “They really should have something on their website about the engine problem, not let people book and pay for cruises, then pull the itinerary, change it about and rename it and expect guests to be happy with a 'by the way' type letter a few days prior to departure.

“Business is built on reputation and being open about a problem is part of that. Voyages of Discovery have really not done things right.”

Meanwhile, Yellow said he hoped the recent drop in oil prices might prompt the company to reduce its surcharge for future cruises.

The line is charging one of the highest surcharges in the sector, about 9% of the total cost of the cruise, with the additional bills being sent to customers with the demand for final payments.

Despite some reports of customers cancelling because they could not afford the surcharge, Yellow said these were isolated cases.

“We are looking now at our November sailings and will make a decision about surcharges next week. Certainly the change in oil prices will impact on our decision going forward,” he said.