IELTS Letter Writing / GT Writing Task 1:

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

You have taken a cruise on a holiday and have been disappointed with the experience.

Write a letter to the cruise provider. In your letter, say:

     –  what went wrong
     –  how you felt about it
     –  what do you want to be done about it

You should write at least 150 words.

You do NOT need to write any addresses.

Begin your letter as follows:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Sample Answer 1:

Dear Sir or Madam,

I have recently taken a cruise provided by your company on a holiday in Belarus. But the experience was below standard. I am writing to bring your attention to this unsatisfactory experience that I had with the Rose Cruises on March 17, 2020.

Regrettably, the boat was battered and small – contrary to what was advertised. It departed at least 40 minutes later than the scheduled time. Moreover, it was cold inside but when all the passengers boarded, the windows became drizzled due to poor ventilation, which made it impossible to enjoy the views.

Furthermore, even though we were promised a private table, we could not find one and no one came forward to explain it! The place was so crowded that we had a hard time moving from one place to another. Enough service persons were not present and we had to wait around 30 minutes to get our breakfast which was served cold. This was a stressful experience for both me and my wife.

I do not feel that is unreasonable to expect a full refund of the money paid to you following the misrepresentation of what Rose Cruises were offering. We expect, therefore, a refund of the full €300.

Yours faithfully,

Tom Behan

Sample Answer 2:

Dear Sir or Madam,

After taking a holiday cruise recently, provided by your company, I felt that I needed to write this letter to bring a few things to your attention as far as my experience with your cruise service is concerned.

In fact, the whole time, as long as I was on my holiday in your cruise ship, I felt like your company did not have any idea about how to professionally run and manage a holiday cruise. To begin with the problem, Initially, I was told that I would get a cabin on the top floor of the ship, for the price I was paying, so that I could enjoy the view of the ocean in the best way possible. But, when I got on your ship, I was given a cabin on the middle floor. Besides, I could also smell some kind of bad odour that was coming out of the ship. Finally, I was offered a very average quality of food for the whole week of my voyage.

In such a situation, I do not think that expecting a full refund from your company is unreasonable since the quality of your service was way below standard.

Yours faithfully,

Peter Onslow