Travel scams often target cruise passengers, cruisers fall for scams, tourist traps

8 travel scams cruise ship passengers need to watch out for now

Cruise ship passengers frequently contact Consumer Rescue after falling victim to scams during their travels. Unfortunately, by then it’s usually too late to do anything – except to tell their stories so others can avoid the same fate. 

Here are the eight most common travel scams you should know before your next cruise.

Norwegian Cruise Line passengers miss their cruise, bad weather led to a missed cruise, NCL refund rejection

We missed our Norwegian cruise ship. How do we get our $4,500 refund?

Norwegian Cruise Line passengers Shirley Russom and her friend Robert intended to sail to Alaska last May. Unfortunately, the weather had different plans for them. En route to the cruise, severe storms rolled into Denver, Colorado, during what was supposed to be a two-hour layover.

That layover morphed into an unexpected two-day detour, and the friends never made it to Seattle, where Norwegian Encore waited. The ship sailed to Alaska, and the devastated friends flew back home to South Carolina.

Princess Cruises, missed cruise, flight delay

We missed our Princess cruise. Did we really just lose $21,000?

A Florida couple missed their much-anticipated Princess cruise after a flight delay caused them to miss their connection to Australia. However, that’s not the worst part of this story – not by a long shot. The real shock came when the stunned duo learned the fate of the $21,000 they spent on the 41-day sailing aboard Crown Princess.

According to their travel insurance company, the couple would receive just $1,000 for their missed cruise.

Cruise passengers scammed, cruise ship passengers heading into port

2 more cruise ship passengers say they were scammed in Nassau. What’s really going on?

Two more cruise ship passengers say they’ve been scammed during port stops in Nassau, Bahamas. However, the remarkably similar details shared by each of these solo travelers may leave you scratching your head. 

Are there dangerous schemes lurking in beauty shops along Bay Street, or are these simply cases of extreme buyer’s remorse?

You decide. 

Here are the latest cruise ship passengers to report their unpleasant experiences after accepting free facials in Nassau.

Carnival Cruise Line's Dream, cruise ship at sunset, Carnival Dream

Cruise ship passengers beware: No, you don’t have an Enhanced ID!

Carnival Cruise Line passengers John Harrison and his family of eleven recently learned a harsh lesson about Enhanced ID. They showed up at the cruise port in Galveston, Texas, expecting to quickly “get to the fun.” But the fun never happened for Harrison and his elderly parents. They were denied boarding Carnival Dream after presenting what they presumed to be EDLs.

Carnival employees told the surprised would-be passengers that their driver’s licenses were insufficient to take the cruise. The stunned trio was soon left behind as Dream sailed away with their other eight passport-carrying family members on board.

Celebrity Cruises denied boarding pregnant passenger, Celebrity Reflection, cruise ship on the ocean, Cruise ship at sunset.

Celebrity Cruises denied boarding to a pregnant would-be cruise passenger. Here’s why

First-time cruise passengers Marisa Vacca, her husband, and toddler couldn’t wait to board Celebrity Cruises Reflection last December. The family arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the night before embarkation and excitedly settled into their hotel. 

But then a heavily pregnant Marisa began skimming the Celebrity Cruises pre-boarding instructions, and her heart sank.

Bad behavior on cruise, Passengers misbehaving on cruise ship, Avoid poorly behavior passengers on your cruise, ruined cruise

Will your cruise be ruined by the bad behavior of fellow passengers?

You’ve likely seen the video of the Carnival passengers brawling in the Galveston, Texas, cruise port this week. Sadly, that footage, which shows a large group of cruisers assaulting each other as they disembarked from Jubilee, is not particularly shocking in 2025. Unfortunately, egregiously bad behavior among cruise ship passengers is becoming more commonplace. Should you be worried that the bad behavior of fellow passengers will ruin your next cruise?

Celebrity cruise, Celebrity Equinox, cruise ship on the ocean, Celebrity cruise passenger forgot passport

A Celebrity cruise passenger forgot her passport. FedEx made things even worse

As Sherry Warren and her husband prepared for their upcoming Celebrity cruise, she bought a colorful passport case. The little wallet was stylish and protective, with Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) blocking features. It would be the perfect way to carry their passports, Warren thought. 

And it surely would have – had she not forgotten the wallet with their passports inside when they left for the cruise.