Holiday-makers who paid thousands of dollars to go on a cruise to visit three ports in New Caledonia were shocked to find out about a huge itinerary change and a $50 on-board credit for the swap a week after booking their cruise.
The outraged passengers were informed the cruise was no longer visiting the advertised tropical paradise but would instead stop in the Port of Brisbane, with some passengers flying from the city to board the ship in Sydney for the trip.
Brisbane neighbours David and Terry booked an eight-day cruise with their wives through Choose Your Cruise to visit the South Pacific paradise.
“How can you advertise somewhere where you know you’re not going to go,” they told A Current Affair.
“I booked the cruise to go to three South Sea islands, and we’re not going to any South Seas, we’re not going to see any white sandy beaches.
“We live in Brisbane so maybe we can come home and do the washing and go back to port in the afternoon.”
The retirees told the program they wanted to visit somewhere they had never been before and they saw the Choose Your Cruise ad that promised a stopover in Noumea with beautiful food, white sandy beaches and swimming with fish.
The cruise was advertised on Facebook as an island getaway with on-board entertainment from the 80s and 90s including performers such as Marcia Hines and Human Nature.
“Nowhere in any of it does it say, ‘Oh, by the way, you probably won’t get to see any of this,” the disappointed passengers said.
The couples paid about $4000 each for the cruise excluding the flights from Brisbane to board the ship.
“I do like entertainment, but a lot of those bands on the boat are not my type of music,” they said.
“The destination, the islands (were) my main reason for booking.”
Another passenger Kylie paid more than $6000 to go on a family holiday with her mum and daughter to visit New Caledonia.
The Gold Coast family said it was a “bummer” to receive an itinerary change a week after booking the cruise to find out it would now be going to Brisbane.
“Instead of going to the South Pacific we are now going still for the eight nights, but having one stop, and that was going to be at the Port of Brisbane,” Kylie said.
Choose Your Cruise project manager Caitlin Manov said in a statement that guests were advised of a change to their itineraries in September.
“Due to current conflicts and civil unrest in New Caledonia, and the associated travel warnings issued by Smart Traveller, we have had to adjust our planned ports of call in that region,” Ms Manov said in a statement.
“The travel warning remains in effect, and we want to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all artists and guests are our top priorities.
“We understand how much our guests were looking forward to the South Pacific itinerary and we share their disappointment that New Caledonia remains off limits for now.”
Ms Manov said due to the limited availability of ports in the South Pacific and because they had a jam-packed entertainment schedule featuring 40 music acts – some requiring access to an airport — Brisbane was the only viable port option for this voyage, to ensure the integrity of the entertainment program.
The company has refused to give its customers refunds for the trip but instead offered passengers a $50 credit that could be used on-board.
Guests were also informed they would also sail around Willis Island off the coast of Cairns and because it was an external territory of Australia, they could still get duty free.
“It is just a scenic cruise around a weather station that’s tiny,” Kylie said.
