SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A Nevada couple who was set to take a cruise with Holland America Line never got an email informing them the trip had been canceled, and they only found out about the delay after calling to ask a question. Even then, there was still confusion.
Kurt and Liza Maier were set to go on a California coastal trip that left from San Diego Saturday, Sept. 18.
The cruise line canceled the trip at the end of August, sending an email informing passengers of the decision Aug. 26. The Maiers never got that email.
Kurt said after they booked their trip on Aug. 17, they did not hear anything from the company. They downloaded the app and could see a clock ticking down, notifying them when their trip left.
Kurt said his wife called the cruise ship asking a COVID-19 question. She spoke with an employee and that employee never mentioned the trip was canceled. Then, two days later, Liza called with another question. That employee did tell them the cruise was canceled.
“This is the first time she was informed the cruise had been canceled,” said Kurt.
The couple says Liza was put on hold by the person who said it was canceled, so Kurt called on another phone to try to help get answers. He was shocked to get someone on the phone who said the trip was actually not canceled.
After multiple back-and-forth phone calls and employees relaying inconsistent messages, they decided to request a refund, frustrated about the confusion.
“Even if the cruise had been canceled on the 25th like Holland America claimed and they sent an email that we never saw or accidentally deleted, we still have three people - one on Monday and two on Wednesday - who all were telling us the cruise was still going,” said Kurt.
Kurt initially admitted he may have missed a cancellation email, but it turns out he did not. The couple reached out to ABC 10News to try to find answers, and a spokesperson for the company told ABC 10News that a mistake had been made.
The cruise line released a statement saying:
“Holland America Line sincerely apologizes that Mr. and Mrs. Maier were not notified about the cancellation of their cruise on Zuiderdam. All guests should have been contacted per our cancellation system, and we regret that there was a failure. We are looking into why this happened so that we can improve our procedures and training for future situations. We will work with the Maiers to reaccommodate them on another cruise of their choice at the same special offer they received.”
At this time, it’s unclear why there was an inconsistent message from cruise line employees.
