5 Reasons More Cruisers Doing Nothing Wrong Are Being Kicked Off Cruises Than Before

We’ve all seen people getting kicked off cruises for breaking rules like fighting or jumping off the ship, but I was kicked off for doing NOTHING at all. And I found out, I’m not the only one!

And as I discovered one of several reasons people like me are being kicked off cruises these days are because they are oversold.

Kicked Off: Oversold

At the time of making this it was the peak Alaska, Mediterranean and European River Cruise season and in the last week alone I saw several examples of cruisers, like me, being kicked off cruises days before departure because they’d been oversold.

Cruise lines sell more cabins than they have available. They count on cancellations meaning they usually end up with just the right number of cabins filled by time of sailing. But they don’t always get it right, and so must kick some people off.

For example, Holland America notified guests on one of their Zaandam Alaska sailings just two days before embarkation that they needed to kick some passengers off that sailing. They offered incentives to get people to agree to change to another date or get a refund.

That same week Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas sailing out of Seattle to Alaska, also sent the same request days before departure.

But it’s not just happening in Alaska.

People like me booked on an 8-day romantic Viking Danube River cruise were asked if we were prepared to be kicked off and sail at a later date with some added incentives or get a full refund as the trip was oversold. With water levels disrupting cruises currently, I was happy to get kicked off and take a refund this time.

I have also seen, and been affected too, by something else leading to cruisers being kicked off cruises despite doing nothing wrong.

Kicked Off: Changes On Who Allowed

People are increasingly being kicked off by cruise lines changing who can sail on them.

Recently a big trend has been around whether only adults or families can cruise on a line or sailing.

For example, as I was making this Carnival turned several Carnival Jubilee cruises from welcoming all ages into only cruisers aged 21 or over being allowed on those cruises. They have converted then into adult-only casino-based cruises. Any cruisers that had people under 21 in their party were kicked off those sailings.

Two other lines made a similar change leading to kicking families off. First, Oceania changing to 18+ and Marella (a UK-based line) turning Marella Discovery 2 into adult only converting kids only spaces into a speakeasy, escape room, and karaoke

But in the opposite direction, UK-based P&O Cruises changed who could sail on their previously adult-only ships (Arcadia and Aurora), turning all sailings during UK school holidays into family-friendly cruises. And then inviting people who had booked for an adult-only experience to self-kick themselves off those cruises (without penalty at least!).

Cruise lines can, and do, change the rules on who can sail with them leading to people finding themselves kicked off. Often driven by conflicts or sanctions against various countries.

For example, most lines changed policies to prohibit selling cruises to residents of Russia. And I have also seen some, like Regent Seven Seas, also not allowing crusiers from Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, and Iran.

One of the other reasons I see far too many people being kicked off cruises, despite thinking that they’ve done nothing wrong, was due to paperwork issues.

Kicked Off: Paperwork Issues

Many cruisers get kicked off their cruise at check in despite arriving confident they had done nothing wrong because the line had either told them they didn’t need certain pieces of paperwork or didn’t warn them that they needed it in the first place.

As I was making this, there was chaos in Barcelona check-in for a cruise on Virgin Voyages ending in the UK. The reason being that hordes of passengers had not got the recently introduced UK ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) required to enter the country, and so were being refused boarding.

I saw a similar issue first-hand when I checked in for a Queen Mary 2 Transatlantic last month, where many people from the UK and other European countries were being asked to prove that they had applied for and got the United States ESTA required to enter.

Many people hadn’t got it and were scrambling to see if they could get it online before the ship boarded. People were angry as they argued that Cunard hadn’t made it clear nor told them they required it.

But without that proof, both the Virgin and Cunard travellers were denied boarding, and importantly with no refund at all. Why?

Cruise line terms and conditions say explicitly that it’s up to the passenger to make sure they have the right paperwork, passports, visas, or any other documentation. The line takes no responsibility. Even if they told passengers they did not need it!

For example, just after my recent Holland America South America trip departed Buenos Aires Argentina, around 100 American, Canadian, and Australian cruisers trying to board Celebrity Equinox were denied boarding and kicked off the cruise without any refund or compensation.

The ship was calling on Brazil which had recently introduced a visa requirement for those country passport holders.

And despite some passengers calling Celebrity to ask if they needed a visa and were told no, as the terms and conditions say it is the passengers’ responsibility to ensure they have the right documentation, Celebrity refused not only boarding but also gave no refunds, compensation, or assistance.

The same goes with other documentation like passports.

Many USA cruisers sailing out of the US to the Caribbean and Alaska are used to not needing a passport and using other forms of ID because of what is called a “closed loop” arrangement.

I saw many such cruisers being denied boarding and kicked off at check in also without refunds or compensation for a 10-day Princess cruise out of Port Everglades that included a Panama Canal partial transit. As the ship stopped in Panama and Columbia a passport was required as those are not part of the “closed loop” cruises arrangement.

Again, many claimed they had called Princess and had been told alterative ID was suitable. But Princess pointed out the rules are the passenger must ensure they check in with the right documentation.

You must stay aware and on top of this for all your cruises as the visa and electronic travel authorization rules keep changing and getting added. I mentioned the UK eTA issues, but Europe has the ETIAS coming in (or by time you watch or listen to this it may already have!).

There is another upsetting reason I see cruisers being kicked off despite not doing anything wrong, and that’s when things take a turn for the worst.
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Kicked Off: Illness & Accidents

Most cruisers go on a cruise expecting things to go to plan. But sudden illnesses and accidents can have you kicked off your cruise.

At the time of making this, it really came home to me as I followed the story of a young couple on their first cruise on Carnival. During an excursion in Roatán, Honduras, one of the couple (Kirsten Lindsey) was injured on a rope swing.

Initially, she didn’t think it was that serious and returned to the ship, but the injury accelerated quickly. The on-board doctor decided she needed to be evacuated to a local hospital and was disembarked in Costa Maya to a local hospital, where they were then left to fend for themselves.

The final cost of the medical care which included on-board care, Costa Maya hospital, medical private plane evacuation back to the United Sates for more care, and various surgeries was over $53,500.

They did not have insurance and started a Go Fund Me page to try raise funds.

It’s important to understand that the cruise ship medical centre is there to deal with minor issues and to stabilise more serious ones, and if the doctor feels it is more serious or an injury they cannot properly deal with, they will kick you off the ship into local medical care.

Of course, none of us expect nor plans to fall ill or have an accident, but things do happen. And I constantly see stories in Facebook groups and other chat groups of people falling ill, getting injured or having an accident and being kicked off the cruise.
I cannot stress enough that it is essential to have insurance with cruise cover so you can avoid huge bills like that $53,500 that Kirsten Lindsey from Louisiana ended up facing.

Kicked Off: Wars, Weather & Breakdowns

There have also been several stark reminders recently how conflicts, weather and technical issues can get us kicked off our cruise too.

Troubles

Most will remember how six ships (Mein Schiff 4, Mein Schiff 5, MSC Euribia, Celestial Discovery, Celestial Journey and Aroya Cruises) got stranded in the Middle East when war broke out with Iran. 15,000 passengers were stuck on ships and had to be kicked off the ships and sent home.

And the ripple effects continue as many crusiers have been kicked off their planned Middle Eastern cruises for a few years as lines like Explora Journeys, MSC, and AIDA cancelled their plans to sail there.

Mechanical Issues

I am seeing also these days how mechanical issues seem to be leading to more and more people being kicked off cruises.

One of the most memorable was when Emma Cruises and others boarded an Ambassador cruise that was cancelled a few hours after boarding and everyone was thrown off because of mechanical and safety reasons.

More recently, Queen Mary 2 encountered some difficulties on a Northern Lights cruise and diverted into Hamburg for repairs and cancelled the next planned short ex-Southampton cruise.

Then passengers on Disney Adventure due to depart from Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore on a 4-night cruise, found after boarding that departure was delayed due to propulsion issues, and then next morning they were all kicked off as it could not be repaired.

I followed that adventure as Bill and his wife from Ritzy Travel Guide who I appeared with on a Sailaway Magazine Podcast last year on was on that cruise and covered it in detail in a video on their channel.

Around the same time Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas had a technical issue and cancelled a trip sailing out of Sydney.

So, with this seemingly a growing issue it’s important keep an eye on ships that you have bookings to sail on.

Weather

While weather can have an impact on a cruise, it’s much more unusual that weather ends up getting cruisers kicked off a cruise as ships can normally work around weather by delaying leaving the port or by changing the itinerary.

Even if it can sometime be quite extreme!

Like a recent Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady sailing out of New York due to go to Bermuda, ended up sailing to Canada instead to avoid bad weather. Cruisers expected to have a sunny and warm cruise ended up in a rather chilly Canada.

The only recent examples I have seen of weather cancelling cruises and people being kicked off is first, Antarctica cruises where especially the fly-bridge cruises get cancelled as the runway on King George island is too icy or visibility too low, such as Will of Trek Trendy Channel had happen to him this year.

And a Royal Caribbean Spectrum of the Seas kicked passengers off a short sailing out of Shanghai because an impending typhoon closed the cruise port. As Shanghai is quite far inland, there was no alternative that the ship could go to because it needed to sail out down the river into the sea to go anywhere.

Kicked Off: Tricks & Traps

Another upsetting thing where people think they have done nothing wrong but find themselves getting kicked off a cruise is when they’ve fallen for scams.

There was a group of people from Florida, including two Florida women, Rochelle Price and Aisha Lambert who went public, about how they were scammed and were thrown off a cruise through a Facebook cruise ad scam.

If you want to find about that scam and many other scams you need to avoid these days, join me over in this article to find out what they are and how to spot and avoid them. See you over there.

 

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