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15 October, 2019

Cruise passengers riot, demand refund over missed ports and blocked toilets

By Alexandra Coulton

Hundreds of Norwegian Cruise Line passengers are demanding a refund after bad weather forced Norwegian Spirit to skip several planned ports of call.

The ship was completing the line’s ‘Mystical Fjords’ itinerary departing from Southampton, England with planned stops in the Netherlands, Norway and Iceland, all of which were cancelled according to ABC News.

However, the ship did make scheduled stops at Belfast and Dublin.

According to Twitter account @NCLHELL1, which is run by passenger Cody McNutt, passengers engaged in a riot in the ship’s atrium, chanting and holding signs to demand their money back.

McNutt also posted footage of passengers booing the captain as he tries to address the situation.

As captain tries to speak to angry passengers security offers stand by. Captain is booed until he leaves pic.twitter.com/nIYWqPv0Bu

— NCLHELL (@NCLHELL1) October 10, 2019

Passengers also took to social media to complain about broken toilets and temperamental wifi, which McNutt claims was a strategic move on Norgegian’s part to prevent passengers from broadcasting the situation.

A Norwegian spokesperson told Travel Weekly that Norwegian Spirit’s itinerary was altered due to “severe weather conditions”.

“While nine ports of call were originally planned for the voyage, the revised itinerary allowed the ship to call on eight ports. We are very sorry for any inconvenience and disappointment our guests experienced,” the spokesperson said.

The line confirmed it has offered passengers 25 per cent off their next cruise but McNutt said customers are still calling for a refund.

“NCL’s apology only created more uproar aboard the Norwegian Spirit 2019 Iceland. This is insulting offering passengers 25 per cent off another trip with them. We never want to travel with NCL,” he tweeted.

“We always do our best to provide our guests with a truly enjoyable and memorable vacation, but our very first priority is to ensure their safety and the safety of our crew,” the spokesperson said.

“We understand that it is disheartening when we are unable to call on ports that our guests have been looking forward to visiting. However, we do ask for our guests’ patience, cooperation and understanding that severe weather conditions are an act of God and cannot be controlled, influenced or remediated by the cruise line.”

Featured image credit: @NCLHELL1

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