If you’re planning to board a cruise ship soon, the recent news reports on the industry are probably causing concern. From vessels being refused docking privileges to passengers being confined to their cabins, cruising during this pandemic is iffy.
But many die-hard cruisers are undeterred and intend to sail no matter the outcome. So if you’re one of those cruise fans, here’s what could be in your cruising future.
Patrick Doyle and his wife recently boarded a Norwegian Cruise Line ship, vaccinated and COVID negative. They intended to celebrate Christmas with a tropical cruise sailing on NCL’s Dawn. Unfortunately, within three days of embarkation, Lee Doyle became very ill. In the medical center onboard the vessel, she received a diagnosis of influenza. Her husband, who was feeling fine, tested positive for COVID, and their holiday adventure suddenly took an awful turn.
Within hours, Norwegian crew members dressed in hazmat suits relocated the Doyles from their regular cabin to the medical floor. There, NCL personnel informed the stunned couple of how they would be spending the rest of the cruise. They would be required to quarantine not only from the rest of the passengers – but from each other, as well.
The couple says their days in quarantine were filled with boredom, loneliness, and poor communication from Norwegian Cruise Line. It was a decidedly very unmerry Christmas.
Norwegian Cruise Line just forced a triple-vaccinated husband and wife to stay inside their cabin without reprieve for four days. And when the ship finally returned to New York, two burly NCL crew members inexplicably continued to prevent the couple’s escape. How is this possible? That’s what the bewildered COVID-negative duo wants to know.
Kelly Cotto and her husband had never taken a cruise before last week’s bizarre experience. But after what they endured aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Gem, they likely never will again.
Now, finally released from their involuntary confinement, the Cottos want answers from Norwegian Cruise Line – and a refund. The couple is asking us to find out why NCL forced them inside their cabin for nearly the entire cruise.
But with the cruise line staying tight-lipped about NCL’s written COVID protocol, that might be a tall order. (Jump to: Jan 7 update)
Stephen Delisle is a seasoned traveler with a proven track record of successfully navigating the globe – even during the pandemic. But Carnival Cruise Line recently put an end to that success streak. His family planned to celebrate Thanksgiving aboard Carnival’s newest ship, the Mardi Gras. Unfortunately, they never made it past the pier on the day of embarkation. That’s where Delisle was summarily denied boarding the cruise by the boat’s medical personnel.
Delisle says the crew members made an awful mistake when they refused to let him board the Mardi Gras. That error caused his family to miss their much-anticipated Carnival cruise.
To add insult to injury, Carnival firmly rejected Delisle’s refund request for the missed cruise. Now he’s asking us for help. He wants the Elliott Advocacy team to properly investigate and prove this was the cruise line’s mistake, not his.
Can we do it?
Could a cruise ship passenger be denied boarding even if they have all of the required documents for sailing?
Lee Bolland says he knows the answer to that question is “Yes” because it happened to him. In September, he and his wife planned to cruise through the Mediterranean on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Epic. The couple flew to Spain to begin their adventure, and all was going well — until it suddenly wasn’t. At the port, NCL employees shockingly denied Bolland boarding and abandoned the couple there.
Now Bolland wants our team to show NCL the evidence that proves it mistakenly denied him boarding the cruise.
And he wants his money back.
But did NCL mistakenly deny boarding of the cruise to Bolland, or does the mistake lie elsewhere? That’s the question for today.
Anakarina Alvarez has a highly unusual story to tell — one that includes lots of confusing twists and turns. She says her family had been eagerly looking forward to a tropical vacation aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Gem. Unfortunately, those plans ended abruptly at embarkation when the cruise line denied boarding to her 11-year-old child. To add insult to injury, NCL refused the family’s $4,000 refund request, too.
Alvarez says NCL made a big mistake when it denied boarding their family’s dream cruise to her fully-vaccinated daughter. Now she wants our team to force the cruise line to admit its error and issue a refund and compensation.
But wait a minute!
The cruise line maintains it made no mistake — Alvarez’s daughter was not denied boarding in error. NCL requires all passengers to be fully vaccinated. And since children under 12 aren’t currently approved for any COVID vaccine, this 11-year-old couldn’t have been fully vaccinated.
Case closed. Or is it?
Well, that didn’t take long. The first wave of unvaccinated and partially vaccinated passengers who’ve been denied boarding their cruise ships has washed ashore.
As the cruise industry begins to return to the waterways, mass confusion about the requirements for cruising has ensued. One of the first casualties of this chaos was Joshua Maxwell and his fiancee. They showed up at the dock earlier this month, planning to set sail on Celebrity Cruises’ Equinox. Unfortunately, they weren’t fully vaccinated, and the cruise line rejected the couple and sent them home.
The twist? Maxwell says vaccination requirements confused cruise line employees, too. As a result, he says the duo were allowed to board the ship and settle into their cabin before being forcibly removed by security hours later.
So what’s going on here?
The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the travel industry — that’s for sure. But in these unusual times, can a cruise line really cancel your trip and also refuse your refund request?
Of course, the answer to that question is “no.” But Elizabeth Ramirez says that’s exactly what NCL did to her — canceled her cruise and kept all her money.
Now Ramirez is asking the Elliott Advocacy team to investigate and retrieve $7,300 from Norwegian Cruise Line.
This case is a strong reminder of the importance of keeping detailed records of all your refund requests. It’s especially true during this pandemic when thousands of other travelers are making similar requests — all at the same time. Unfortunately, Ramirez’s tale also shows that sometimes even when a consumer does everything right, things can go all wrong. (Reprint)
Gerald Stanton canceled a planned boat tour of the Panama Canal after suffering a terrible accident last fall.
That day trip through the canal was scheduled for January of this year — before the coronavirus crisis began. So why is the operator of this excursion blaming the eight-month refund delay on the pandemic?
That’s the $252 question that faces the Elliott Advocacy team today. (Reprint)
Always, always read the fine print.
Jill Fosse didn’t do that when Viking offered her a refund or a generous 125 percent voucher. And now she has a Viking cruise voucher problem that seems unsolvable.
