2,600 guests cancel at short notice – “never happened in 30 years”

Instead of the pleasant warm sun, the guests of a cruise ship headed north. Change course one day before departure. Anger is great.

BOSTON/CANADA – No one is immune to surprises in life. It’s silly when these can affect your own vacation and long-term plans are suddenly thrown out the window. This was the case with the MSC Meraviglia, a cruise ship serving the Italian shipping company MSC Cruises. A day before departure, the cruise ship surprised guests with a planned change.

Cruise ship changes course a day before departure – angering passengers

Like, other things D online reported, a trip to the Caribbean was planned. Many passengers aboard the MSC Meraviglia probably thought it would be perfect for the cold winter months. But then the weather changed and the MSC was forced to head towards Canada. North instead of South, iced instead of sipping cocktails on the water.

One guest on the cruise already expressed his frustration via Reddit. On the social media site, the disappointed traveler didn’t mince his words – and even linked to the travel company’s message, indicating specific reasons for the change of course.

CANADA INSTEAD OF THE CARIBBEAN: MSC Meraviglia has to arbitrarily change course – because the weather is so bad

Off the coast of Florida, but in the Bahamas, bad weather caused the MSC Meraviglia to involuntarily change course. Wind speeds above 40 (about 75 km/h) make docking and disembarking at destination ports almost impossible. The danger to crew and guests would have been too great.

That’s why a new plan had to be found – and a path that led in exactly the opposite direction. The cruise went to Boston (Maine, USA) and St. John, Canada. Passengers who do not wish to change their itinerary will receive a refund of their travel expenses in the form of an MSC Cruise Voucher. Guests on another ship also had this attitude, where the ocean liner was too dirty to dock.

“In 30 years of travelling, I have never had anything like this happen to me”: A disappointed traveler asks about similar experiences

That wasn’t good enough for a disgruntled passenger who took to Reddit to express his displeasure. “In 30 years of traveling I have never had something like this happen to me,” he said on the social media site. He didn’t hide his helplessness and wanted other travel enthusiasts to know about similar experiences.

“The same thing happened to me during Hurricane Matthew. Instead of heading to the Caribbean, we headed north from New York. We were also disappointed, but boarded anyway. It was the best trip of my life,” reads a short review in the comments. The reason for this: Half the passengers had postponed their journey. So the ship was only half full, but the experience was still great.

“You’re in luck. Not without 40 knots of wind. Enjoy the voucher. “You wouldn’t have wanted to experience that,” says another silent and direct intervention to a questioning Reddit user. True to the motto: Be happy with how it turned out. Meanwhile, among cruise travelers who criticized the eating rule Frustration also arose.

Wrong wardrobe due to misinformation: Cruise passengers preparing for Caribbean – land in Canada

Overall, the situation for European travelers was even more difficult. An anonymous German tourist reported that he and other Europeans had not received an email from MSC. It was only when they were on the cruise ship that they learned of the change of route.

Foolish for MSC Meraviglia’s uninformed passengers: they based their itinerary entirely on the cruise’s true destination, the Caribbean. Her wardrobe consisted of summer dresses, skirts and bikinis. Not ideal with five degrees and a gale on board while in Boston. In the end, 2,600 of the original 5,400 guests had to cancel their trip on the cruise ship. Canada? Not with them. Meanwhile, the passengers faced hellish temperatures on a journey that turned out to be a journey from hell. (Han)