‘Sounds like bait & switch’: Couple books Norwegian Cruise from Miami. Now they’re accusing the cruise line of scamming them out of thousands
Finding a deal when booking a vacation is one of the most satisfying experiences. You not only get to have fun, but do so at a discount. What’s not to love?
That’s what one woman thought was happening as she was booking a Norwegian Cruise trip. However, things didn’t go as planned.
TikTok creator Taylor (@taylor.mart) posted a short clip with a surprising text overlay. “POV: you’re contemplating life after being charged $2,000 for a ‘cancellation fee’ after booking a cruise that apparently wasn’t the price the website stated.”
How Did This Happen?
Taylor followed up with a storytime video detailing the ordeal, which has racked up over 145,900 views.
“Norwegian Cruise Line is trying to scam me out of $2,000,” she begins. “So let me know if you think this is crazy.”
Taylor explains that on New Year’s Eve, she and her husband were planning their next cruise and comparing different cruise line options.
Eventually, they decided on the 7-Day Caribbean Round-trip from Miami offered by Norwegian Cruise. Naturally, the next step was booking a room.
“We were just gonna do a balcony or Ocean View room,” Taylor says. “That’s typically what we do.”
However, while comparing prices, she says she took a detour to look at the suites and found what appeared to be a fantastic deal: $1,978 for a two-bedroom suite with a balcony.
“I was like, ‘That seems too good to be true,’” Taylor says. But after refreshing the page and seeing the same price again, she decided to go for it.
She shows screenshots of the booking process using TikTok’s green screen feature. “Says the exact room number, it says the description of the room, all four of my family members’ names,” she describes.
Then Taylor shares a screenshot of the price breakdown: $689 for two guests each, while guests three and four are listed at no charge. The total comes out the same as advertised in the beginning: $1,978.
“It literally says ‘total due,’” Taylor explains, responding to commenters from the previous video who questioned whether the price given was per bedroom or just the deposit.
Then Norwegian Cruise Asks For $6,000 More
Right after she made the payment, Taylor received a confirmation from the cruise line that her room was successfully booked.
The next page after that one, though, surprised her. “We’re holding your cruise for free; however, time is running out. Make a payment now to complete your booking,” she reads from the screenshot.
“And then it tacked on like $6,000,” Taylor says. She went on the website again to check the price for a similar room, and the price was looking more like $8,000.
“So obviously that’s a huge difference,” she says. “That’s not my fault, though, that their website was having some sort of glitch or whatever.”
Not willing to spend that money, she booked the original pick she had in mind and assumed the reservation would be canceled, and she’d receive her money back.
But that’s not what happened. “I was very surprised two days later to see that they did successfully cancel it, but kept that $1,900 as a deposit.”
She asks her viewers to share their thoughts on the situation. “Was I in the wrong for this somehow?” she asks. “Should I get this money back?”
Taylor concludes the video by saying she’ll call Norwegian Cruise on Monday to solve the situation, and that, if push comes to shove, she’ll cancel the charge through her credit card.
People are on her side
In the comments, most users thought she should definitely get a refund.
“Dispute it with your bank,” advised one commenter. “Hopefully you used a credit card and not a debit card.”
“Something similar happened to us, not nearly as bad though,” another wrote. “We got a confirmation and everything. We didn’t get the, your cruise is on hold e-mail, until the next day. Luckily, our difference was ‘only’ like $600 or something, so we just paid it, even though we were not happy at all.”
“You were so smart to screenshot!” a third one said. “I hope they honor the price.”
There’s an update
In a follow-up video, Taylor says she spoke with customer support at Norwegian, and despite there being an issue with finding her current reservation, everything worked out. They said they’d refund her in 5-7 days.
Taylor says she asked the employee if they’d honor the original price for the suite or give her an upgrade. “She was immediately like, ‘No, I don’t think they do that,’” Taylor says.
While she is satisfied with the outcome, she says this experience has soured her view of the company. “I don’t know if I will be booking Norwegian again after this,” she says.
@taylor.mart Replying to @Sara cruise update!! Sorry for the delay, but happy to report they are going to process my refund in 5-7 days ? Then they “couldn’t find” my other reservation lol. So the call was a little bit of a confusion roller coaster. And as for honoring the price/apologizing for the mistake, they don’t seem to be interested in that! But at least I’ll be getting the refund ? #cruise #storytime #norwegiancruise #reply #update ♬ original sound – Taylor
What Does Norwegian Cruise Line Policy Say?
It’s not exactly clear what category Taylor’s payment would fall under. Norwegian Cruise Line has reservation deposits, but that’s usually a predetermined fee.
The company also offers what’s called a “courtesy hold,” but it doesn’t charge for those, and there’s no penalty if you cancel.
That further supports the theory that the situation was a website glitch.
The Mary Sue reached out to Norwegian Cruise Line to find out more about how this happened. We’ve also contacted Taylor via email for more information.
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