Couple who tried to rebook honeymoon cruise canceled during pandemic turns to Action 9 for help
A Central Florida couple that had their honeymoon cruise canceled during the pandemic turned to Action 9 after they feared they might miss out on that cruise again. They were initially allowed to apply their credit from that 2020 cruise to one this December, but earlier this month, that credit disappeared.
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For Lindsay Fromm and her husband Benjamin, a Bahamian cruise was their dream honeymoon.
Lindsay Fromm said, “I like that there’s not a lot of planning, that you just pay and can go on and enjoy a vacation.”
With the help of gift cards, they scraped up enough money to book the cruise with Carnival. But after COVID-19 hit, their cruise got canceled.
They watched and waited to see what would happen following the shutdown. As soon as the restrictions lifted, they rebooked for a cruise this December. Lindsay told Action 9, at the time, Carnival allowed them to use their past payments as credit for the new cruise.
According to Fromm, “They just told us we wouldn’t be getting the onboard credit. But they did give us the money that we had first spent and put it towards the one in December.”
Fast forward to September 18th of this year. After Lindsay called to ask a couple of questions and pay off their remaining balance, she claims a different Carnival representative told her the other worker made a mistake and they shouldn’t have allowed that credit to be used in December. Instead, the credit had to be used on a cruise that sailed by the end of September, just 12 days away.
“I cried the whole day because I was really angry about it,” Fromm said.
Carnival then removed the credit from the December cruise and informed her they would have to pay for it all out of pocket.
Fromm told Action 9, I’m very aggravated with it. Just because I mean, we live in Florida. We like to go on cruises. It’s just upsetting.”
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Better Business Bureau President Holly Salmons said, “If you receive a credit at any point, it is really important that you pay close attention to the fine print. Understand what the expiration date of those credits might be, and also understand what are the requirements for using those credits,”
The Federal Maritime Commission notes on its website: Passengers should always carefully read their ticket contract, which states the cruise line’s obligations with respect to cancelled cruises and changes in itinerary.
As for Lindsay Fromm, she tried posting about it on social media and contacted Action 9 for help.
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After Action 9 reached out to inquire about it, Carnival Cruise Line emailed back with this message: “This was an error, and we do apologize to our guests for it and will be reaching out to them so it is corrected.”
Lindsay said Carnival has now reapplied their credit, and she’s now set to take the December cruise with her husband.
If you have a dispute leaving a U.S. port, you can file a complaint with the Federal Maritime Commission. In some cases, you might be able to make a claim against the cruise line’s bond to get the money back.
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