A family’s dream Alaska cruise collapses when a flight delay leaves them stranded. Holland America refuses to issue a refund despite having booked their flights. Can they get their $3,952 refunded?

Question

I booked an Alaska cruise through Holland America for my family. A Holland America agent urged us to buy our Alaska Airlines flights through the cruise line. We did not purchase travel insurance. 

But when our flight was canceled because of a mechanical problem, the cruise line said we’d miss the ship and our only option was to cancel. 

We lost $3,952. Holland America refunded only taxes after weeks of fighting. Holland America’s agent promised us support if the flight was delayed or canceled. We would like a refund of the remaining balance since the mishap was a direct result of what was within their responsibility, not ours. Can you help? — Michael Ramer, San Jose

Answer

Holland America should have honored its verbal commitment to assist when your flight delay ended your cruise. It looks like your 7:15 a.m. flight was canceled because of a mechanical problem. The next flight didn’t leave until 10 a.m. That wouldn’t have given you enough time to reach your ship.

You booked your flights through Holland America’s Flight Ease program, which promises that if your flight is delayed or cancelled by the airline on the day you are on your way to or from your cruise “our staff is ready to assist you, 24/7. We’ll even take care of any flight changes if needed to join the voyage at the next available port of call.”

But Holland America doesn’t promise you will make your cruise or that it would refund your cruise under the Flight Ease program if you miss the boat. 

You made several mistakes when you booked your cruise. First, you should always give yourself a cushion between when you arrive and your ship leaves — preferably an entire day. You were cutting it too close. Second, always get travel insurance for your cruise. Insurance would have covered the full cost of your cruise. Flight Ease won’t.

Finally, in reviewing your paper trail, it looks like you spent a lot of time on the phone with Holland America. Certainly, when your flight is canceled, you’ll want to call your cruise line right away. But after that, keep everything in writing so that you have a reliable paper trail showing your efforts to resolve the case. You may need to forward it to the Holland America executives whose names I publish on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

It looks like you were dealing with a Holland America cruise consultant when you booked your cruise and airfare. I don’t see any evidence that the Holland America agent recommended travel insurance to you. He should have done that. 

More importantly, Holland America should have refunded your airline tickets. Under Department of Transportation rules, an airline must automatically refund you when it cancels a flight. It appears your airline had done that but Holland America didn’t pass the refund along to you. (Here’s our best guide to resolving a consumer problem.)

I contacted Holland America on your behalf. It agreed to refund $759 in airfare in addition to the $832 in taxes and port fees it had already returned. Unfortunately, you’re going to lose the value of your cruise. That’s an expensive lesson that I wish you could have avoided.

Did Holland America leave you stranded?

When the cruise line’s Flight Ease program fails and you miss your vacation, you need to talk to someone in charge. We have the executive contacts to help you get a fair resolution. Get the Holland America executive contacts