7 On Your Side: Couple struggles to get reimbursed after canceled criuse
PLEASANTON, Calif. (KGO) -- When booking a cruise there's always a chance it could be canceled for some reason. Lots of travelers are surprised to find they have very few rights to be reimbursed if a cruise is canceled.
That happened to a North Bay couple and they couldn't get their money back.
Ludy Nazareno and her husband had a great time on their last Mediterranean cruise.
"Every two years we're always taking a cruise," said Nazareno.
They booked another trip with friends aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines and planned to set sail in October from London.
She also booked two hotel rooms in London for the traveling party. They were all set to go when they found out there would be no cruise.
"We were told they would be docking for maintenance," said Nazareno.
They struggled to get their expenses reimbursed.
Norwegian canceled the cruise and booked the party on a different ship. The new one departed from Venice, Italy. Nazareno had already paid for non-refundable flights and hotel rooms. She wanted Norwegian to pay for them.
It turns out the Norwegian ticket contract says the company can change a sailing date for any reason without liability for any expenses passengers may have. It's a standard clause in cruise contracts.
Norwegian did agree to reimburse her for the return flights and one night at the hotel. That still left Nazareno stuck with $730 more in hotel fees.
"I was declined three times. I disputed it on my credit card," said Nazareno.
The Sheraton in London had warned the hotel fees were non-refundable, no matter that the cruise was canceled.
Nazareno contacted 7 On Your Side, who contacted the travel club that booked the Nazareno's trip.
The hotel agreed to reimburse her after all. Now she plans to spend freely at all those ports.
If you book a cruise, it's worthwhile to look at the contract. You'll find they have a lot of fine print releasing the ship from liabilities when things go wrong. You may want to book hotels and flights closer to the departure date, and consider travel insurance.
