Here to help
Elliott Advocacy often mediates cases that involve cruises. These are the dramatic tales of the consumers who contact us about their cruise fiascos and our attempts to resolve those problems.
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. Read more “Can the cruise line cancel my trip and keep my money?!”
If you suffer a sudden medical emergency during a cruise and get offloaded in a foreign country, can the ship leave without you? Much to his dismay, Andrew Goldstein found out that the answer is ‘yes.’
During his last cruise aboard NCL’s Breakaway, the ship’s medical team informed him that he required an immediate blood transfusion. Unable to provide such a service on the boat, the cruise line sent him into St. Kitts to seek treatment. But when Goldstein tried to reboard the boat hours later, NCL denied him boarding, and the ship sailed away without him. Now he wants a refund for his missed cruise and reimbursement for his additional travel and medical expenses. But is this a reasonable request? (Reprint) Read more “Why did the cruise leave without me? I only needed a blood transfusion!”
It’s never a great idea to cruise with just a passport card. If you’ve ever thought about doing it, you’ll want to read this cautionary tale.
Daniel Sellers’ cruise fiasco is an unfortunate example of what can go wrong if you decide to cruise with just a passport card. Things may go just fine. But you should consider what will happen if you miss the boat and need to take a flight to catch up with it. Because although you can cruise with just a passport card, you can’t fly anywhere internationally with one. (Reprint)
Read more “You should not cruise with just a passport card. This is why”
Should you buy jewelry on a cruise? Well, if you’re Charles Onufer, the answer is no. But he came home from his last Regent cruise with over $9,500 of unwanted gems from Diamonds International. He says that during a port stop in Mexico, salespeople intimidated him into buying all of that unwanted jewelry. The jeweler says no such hard-sell occurred and that this is a simple case of buyer’s remorse. Is there a way to fix this problem? (Reprint) Read more “You should not buy jewelry during your cruise! This is why”
If you buy an unlimited alcoholic beverage package from your cruise line, can it change the terms later? That’s what Joan Barrett wants to know.
Barrett says that she was enticed to book a Princess cruise by the lure of an unlimited alcoholic beverage package. But later, Princess Cruises changed the terms to “just” 15 cocktails per day. And those changes are unacceptable to Barrett. Read more “Help! I’m being limited to 15 booze drinks per day on my cruise”
If your luggage goes missing on the way to your cruise, should you get a full refund? Pamela Shane thinks so. She says her pre-cruise hotel failed to deliver her suitcase to the dock in time for the ship’s departure. Now she wants $7,000 in compensation for the mistake that left her without her own clothes for the entire cruise.
But wait! There’s a twist. The hotel says it doesn’t even offer such a luggage delivery service.
Can the Elliott Advocacy team figure out what’s going on here? (reprint) Read more “My luggage went missing on the way to the cruise. I want a full refund!”
