According to the NJ Record, an angry mob 300 strong stormed the main area of the Carnival Miracle this week seeking cash and chanting “refund, refund” — furious that their eight-day Caribbean jaunt was instead taking a 1,300-mile detour to Newport, R.I.   Miracle left New York City Aug. 29, and had to be rerouted because of Tropical Storm Hanna.

I second what one passenger said, “I was very embarrassed to live in the metro area,” because most of those aboard are from the New York/New Jersey area.  Like the majority of Carnival Miracle’s passengers, she knew the ship’s Captain had to avoid ports where servere weather made it dangerous to stop. 

However, this obscene behavior isn’t limited to New Yorkers: there have been other instances when weather or mechanical glitches have necessitated changing ports resulting in small number of passengers making very vocal demands.  And it’s important to realize, that, prior to 2006 passengers never ganged up and demanded refunds because ports were changed or cancelled. 

In January, 2006, on a 38-day voyage between Europe and South America, Queen Mary 2 developed a shudder shortly after departing Fort Lauderdale which indicated there was a mechanical problem .  Because the ship had to sail at a reduced speed, the Captain decided to cancel a stop in Barbados during the 12-day Florida-to-Rio de Janeiro segment in order to reach Rio on schedule.

A handful of passengers gathered together and began emailing friends and journalists all over the world to report that they had were very unhappy about the Captain’s decision.  Hey, Queen Mary 2 is a famous ship, so the world’s media jumped on the story.  TV and newspaper reports claimed there was a passenger mutiny aboard QM 2, which was far from the truth.   Princess Cruises, parent company of Cunard Line, caved in to the barrage of media attention and announced that all Queen Mary 2 passengers would get a full refund. 

When I wrote a column and said I thought Princess made a huge mistake in giving full refunds I was blasted for “being on the side of the cruise lines”.  My argument was that it would set an erroneous example for the rest of the industry, which is exactly what happened.  

You see, your passenger ticket clearly states that the ship’s Captain can skip or substitute a port FOR ANY REASON.  When you accept your cruise ticket you’ve agreed to the terms. In the case of Carnival Miracle, changed ports to avoid a monstrous tropical storm.  At the minimum, passengers would have been violently ill from seasickness brought on by high seas and wind.  Ships don’t stay in port during major storms because the vessel can be damaged by being slammed into the port. 

If you can’t handle the legal terms, don’t take a cruise.

The group of angry cruisers aboard Carnival Miracle was after money and fortunately Carnival Cruise Lines didn’t cave in.    When a ship substitutes new ports because of weather, passengers aren’t entitled to a refund. 

Perhaps I’m out of touch, but it seems that only cruise ship passengers act like three year olds when the weather doesn’t deliver their anticipated vacation.  Does anyone blame hotels and resorts when weather affects their vacation?   Should a LaGuardia-bound flight be diverted to Boston because New York is fogged in,  passengers will blame the true culprit, the weather.

Has your cruise ever been affected by bad weather?  How did passengers react?