Australia

Couple's Anniversary Cruise Goes Awry

A couple did not get to go where the cruise they signed up for said it was going. They went through hassles to get a refund... until they called NBC4 Consumer Reporter Randy Mac.

Jack and Janet Lucas have been going along strong for 45 years, traveling the world.

They've taken 40 cruises, nearly half of them aboard Princess Cruises ships.

On Aug. 18, their plan was to celebrate their 45th anniversary, setting sail from Australia aboard the Sea Princess.

"I started researching our shore excursions and noticed that the port was missing that I had already booked a shore excursion on," said Janet Lucas.

The Lucas' noticed a change in their updated itinerary.

They found the notification on the bottom of the fourth page.

It read:

"Please be advised that Sea Princess has experienced technical difficulties which have resulted in our inability to operate at full speed. Our technical experts have determined that it is necessary to make the following changes to our itinerary."

This worried them.

The Lucases say they've cruised with Princess nearly 20 times, spending roughly $200,000 with the company. This trip alone was $16,359, but when they asked for a refund, they were denied.

After they emailed NBC4 Consumer Reporter Randy Mac, they got a call, saying the company was going to give them a full refund.

The couple kept their deposit with Princess and say they'll likely cruise with them again.

The risk of being at sea 26 days on a boat already experiencing technical problems is one adventure neither wanted to go along on.

"Having the information to make an informed decision is what it's all about," Jack Lucas said. "In this case we didn't feel we had the information, truly."

NBC4's Tena Ezzeddine contributed to this report.

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