Yes, you read that headline correctly. A “mutiny” occurred on a recent Costa Cruises holiday, which resulted in a French man being thrown off the ship.
Ok, not thrown overboard exactly, but still removed from the ship.
Per the UK Telegraph, the Costa neoRiviera cruise was set to sail around the islands of Madagascar, Maurice, Reunion and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.
But two days into the trip, the captain explained to the passengers that its three stops at Madagascar would be cancelled due to the outbreak of plague on the island, and this announcement didn’t sit well with one French chef Alain Jan.
Jan was travelling with his wife, and initially appeared to be fine with the decision.
But the very next day, yet another two stops were cancelled, and Mauritius was also given the chop from the itinerary.
To be fair to Jan, though, passengers were only offered just €150 ($228) to spend on board the cruise liner as compensation.
“Things started heating up — €150 when a major part of the trip is cancelled and a drink on board costs €5,” Jan told the Le Parisien newspaper.
“That evening, we organised a protest in the restaurant. There were 60 of us banging our fists on the table to alert other cruise passengers to this con job.”
The group then staged a second protest as the ship approached the Seychelles islands, forcing the Captain to call the local police, who then came on board and escorted Jan and his wife off the cruise ship.
“I spent two nights in a hotel in the Seychelles with my wife, then were flown home paid for by Costa. That’s how I was freed from the floating prison,” Jan said, per the UK Telegraph.
Jan claimed Costa Cruises had known about the outbreak of the plague in Madagascar for months prior to setting sail, but didn’t make any alternative arrangements until passengers were already on the cruise.
Costa Cruises has since denied Jan’s claims, issuing a statement which, according to the Telegraph, stated:
“The company made every effort to maintain the stop-offs on Madagascar, looking into all the alternatives.”
“Given the delays that would have created, and even longer ones if there were any suspect cases on board, and considering that passengers were already on board, the company was forced to restrict its trip to the Seychelles and Reunion.”
