“16 days of hell” on a cruise ship
More than 200 passengers have voiced their fury after spending thousands of dollars on a dream cruise holiday only to have their ship transformed into a construction zone.
Two thousand passengers embarked on the two-week voyage between Miami and Los Angeles via the Panama Canal on the Norwegian Sun.
Despite paying thousands of dollars for their holiday, the upgrades closed restaurants and amenities, caused excessive noise and leaked the smell of chemicals.
Passenger Mae-Claire Locke says her family endured “16 days of hell” on the cruise.
“It wasn’t a vacation,” she said. “It was a full-on construction zone.”
Mae-Claire also said that shards of metal went into her son’s eyes.
“We had to take him to the doctor as we couldn't unglue his eyes with hot or cold face cloths. They put us all in significant danger.”
Passenger Charles P. O’Dale complained about the metal shards on a Facebook page created to bring attention to their nightmare cruise.
“These are the metal shards that rained down on us in our balcony from a jack hammer one metre above us.
“This is the danger to my health and safety they put me in with metal chips/filings that we were exposed to on our cabin balcony. Hopefully we did not inhale any while we vacated.
“Work like this requires eye/ear/breathing protection, we had none.”
Annie Barber, another passenger on the cruise, said she was stunned at the amount of construction work being done.
“By Sunday 18th March we were shocked at the level of work that was being carried out,” she said.
“Old deck flooring was being removed and new liquid flooring laid and then polished.
“Existing metal supports were also rubbed down when old decking was being removed. Debris from this work was constantly falling everywhere on the ship and airborne particles were very evident.
“There was a strong smell of chemicals for long periods during the cruise, not only in the public areas but also in our stateroom.”
Passengers Annie Barber and Alan Taylor sent a letter to the cruise line in the hope of receiving some compensation for their ruined holiday.
“We made many complaints to Guest Services as the noise was becoming impossible and we were getting quite worried by what we might be inhaling and ingesting through food and drink,” she wrote.
“We were also concerned that some deck areas (some still open to passengers and some not) were being used as storage areas for what looked like chemicals and paint tins, plant equipment etc.
“There was constant noise from equipment workmen were using, such as jack hammers and sanding/sawing equipment. Old deck flooring was being removed and new liquid flooring laid and then polished, existing metal supports were also rubbed down when old decking was being removed. Debris from this work was constantly falling everywhere on the ship and airborne particles were very evident.
“There was a strong smell of chemicals for long periods during the cruise, not only in the public areas but also in our stateroom. A lot of passengers were complaining of irritation to eyes/skin/breathing. Workmen were provided with industrial masks.
“ ... We will be looking for a refund of our entire so-called holiday — cruise fare, all flights and transportation costs. We would also expect some compensation for the ruined holiday of a lifetime, the stress and discomfort that this work created and now the amount of time that we are having to spend dealing with all this.
“We are also concerned at potential long/short term health problems passengers may suffer due to inhaling and ingesting these unknown chemicals and substances throughout the entirety of this cruise.
“ ... Had we been informed prior to the cruise that this extensive work would be carried out, we would have cancelled.”
The cruise line responded by offering impacted passengers a 25 per cent discount on their next cruise.
The passengers have criticised this offer and called it unacceptable.
A spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line told Newsweek: “At Norwegian Cruise Line, we continuously aim to offer the best vacation experience for all our guests. As part of our Norwegian Edge program, Norwegian Sun is currently undergoing enhancements to better serve our guests. The program is a significant investment designed to ensure every ship across the fleet delivers a consistently high-quality experience to all of our guests.
“While we do our utmost to minimise any impact on the guest experience when these enhancements are taking place, we recognise that in this situation our guests experienced some inconvenience.”