How to get a refund from a bankrupt cruise line
If a cruise line goes bankrupt while holding a customer’s cash, does the money just go down with the ship?
MICHELLE COUCH-FRIEDMAN
Michelle Couch-Friedman is an author and consumer advocate. She is the founder of Consumer Rescue. Michelle has successfully mediated thousands of problems for troubled travelers and other consumers during her career as an advocate.
Welcome to Switzerland. Now you are going to jail!
Elena Pavlova just made the worst travel mistake of her life. Before setting off for her dream vacation to Europe, she neglected to check the entry requirements for Switzerland. Then she managed to board her Swiss Air International flight (SWISS) to Zurich with an invalid passport for her itinerary to the Schengen area. Not surprisingly, her vacation plans came to a screeching halt when she landed. She was denied entry and border police took her into custody.
Now Pavlova is asking why SWISS allowed her to board the plane with an invalid passport in the first place. And she’s demanding that the airline share the $3,000 cost of this travel mistake.
It’s critical to know and possess the required entry documents for your intended destination. If you don’t, you too may take an unpleasant international round-trip odyssey — no vacation and no refund included.
No, it is not possible to fly internationally with a library card!
Elgy Gillespie was on her way to the airport for a trip to Ireland when she lost her passport. No problem, she thought. Having recently read an article that suggested she could fly with just a library card, she was confident that she could talk her way onboard her international flight.
But when a Norwegian Air Shuttle agent unequivocally denied her boarding without a passport, she was stunned by his lack of understanding.
Now she wants our advocacy team to intervene.
Elgy’s story serves as a warning not to believe everything you read online. It also is a reminder of the importance of ensuring that all of your required travel documents are firmly in hand before stepping up to the airport check-in counter.
Norwegian Cruise Line made us stay inside our cabin for four days! Is this legal?
Norwegian Cruise Line 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 their bizarre experience. But after what they endured aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Gem, they likely never will again.
Royal Caribbean accepted my $4,200 upgrade bid for a downgraded cabin
Royal Caribbean offered Stan Fernald and his wife the opportunity to bid on an upgraded cabin for their upcoming cruise. So they did. Then just days before the Liberty of the Seas set sail, the cruise line accepted their $4,200 RoyalUp bid. But this wasn’t welcome news for the couple. Not at all. By that time, they had paid Royal Caribbean thousands of dollars to switch to one of the largest suites onboard the ship.
The cabin Royal Caribbean awarded the couple through RoyalUp was actually a RoyalDown.
My luggage went missing on the way to the cruise. I want a full refund!
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 plot twist here. The hotel says it doesn’t even offer such a luggage delivery service.
My Carnival cruise ended at the pier! Why was I denied boarding?
Stephen Delisle is a seasoned traveler with a proven track record of successfully navigating the globe – even during the pandemic. But Carnival Cruise Line 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 our advocacy team to properly investigate and prove this was the cruise line’s mistake, not his.
Can we do it?
This passport mistake will ruin your vacation every time
Trevor Seamon made a devastating passport mistake, and it ruined his family’s dream vacation. In all the preparation for the journey to Italy, he neglected to check the validity of their passports. That error led the Seamons to arrive at the airport with passports expiring within 90 days — invalid for travel. Denied boarding, they missed their eagerly anticipated trip and ended up right back home at the end of the day.
Seamon believes Air France is responsible for this passport mistake, and he wants our team to negotiate a refund. But is the airline responsible for the family’s ruined vacation?
Barbados rejected this couple. Will Royal Caribbean offer a cruise refund?
The massive lifting of travel restrictions in the past few months came a little too late for Ann Shepherd. In April, she and her husband missed their much-anticipated Royal Caribbean cruise when Barbados rejected them for entry. As their cabin aboard the Grandeur of the Seas sailed unoccupied, the cruise line quickly refused Ann’s refund request.Â
Ann says this isn’t fair since she believes the Barbados Ministry of Health refused them by mistake. Now she’s hoping Royal Caribbean will offer a replacement cruise for the one they missed.
Unfortunately, this cautionary tale highlights the confusing evolution of travel requirements and restrictions before, during, and after the pandemic.
Whose mistake really caused this missed cruise? That’s the question for today.
Did this Airbnb host forget to mention something really important?
Scrolling through Airbnb one evening, Jeremy Little thought he’d found the perfect vacation rental for his family’s trip to London. With scenic views and a spacious layout, it had everything he, his wife, and children could need…and more. Unfortunately, the “and more” turned out to be a real deal-breaker: total strangers sharing the common area. That’s something the host failed to mention until after Jeremy booked and paid for the Airbnb.
As a shared space rental was never part of his family’s vacation plans, Jeremy immediately asked Airbnb to cancel. Much to his surprise, the listing giant allowed the cancellation but refused to refund the payment.
After many unsuccessful attempts to retrieve his money, Jeremy hopes our advocacy team can help. But with Airbnb firmly on the side of the property’s Superhost, is there anything we can do?
