SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — There's nothing like a well-deserved and well sought-after vacation, especially on the high seas.
"We packed up for the Pasadena area, Santa Madre, and we drove down to San Diego. So we get down there after a lot of traffic,” Mark Meahl said.
"Four hours,” Julia Meahl said.
Mark and Julia may have arrived in San Diego last Saturday, but their cruise ship from Holland America was nowhere to be found.
"We get down there and go, 'Wow. Are we at the wrong place? There's no ship here,’” Mark Meahl said.
The couple called Holland America to see what was going on. They heard on the other end of the phone is that the cruise had been canceled. The company had apologized and wasn’t sure why they weren’t notified.
"We were all set. We were standing there with our tickets and we're going there's no way this is canceled! We didn't hear anything!" Julia Meahl said.
The Meahls aren't the only ones to deal with this cancelation conundrum.
As ABC 10News reported, another couple from Nevadahad a similar incident with Holland America.
The company told ABC 10News that they acknowledge that a small number of people were missed in the outreach on the cancel, adding that they're working with those individuals to work out an option to sail again.
"We finally heard from them yesterday and they're willing to give us another cruise … a better stateroom and $100 worth of gambling,” Mark Meahl said.
Holland America has previously told ABC 10News that there was a failure and will look into why this happened.
Unfortunate things may happen, and the chips may fall where they do. But, for some, that still doesn't mean the situation is forgotten.
"You have to own up to anything that happens. And so, yeah, that's fine. I just think they should be jumping all over it and trying to make more amends,” Mark Meahl said.
Holland America has stated as it looks into what happened with customers falling through the notification cracks, that the company can improve its procedures and training for future situations.
The company also told ABC 10News on Thursday that everyone impacted by this has been contacted.
A spokesperson for Holland America said in a email: “All of those impacted originally were in an inside stateroom. We are moving them to a Vista Suite category (Verandah and larger) on Koningsdam. No costs. All expenses or costs to those guests related to this are covered. We will make good on anything in that regard.”
