A New York family missed their eight-day, $8,500 (CA$11,488) dream cruise because of a delayed flight out of John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Tisha LaSaine had been saving for a year to give her mother, her twins and her oldest son a dream vacation, all while celebrating her 50th birthday.e anniversary, according to media outlet ABC7.
Their vacation was ultimately doomed as the Carnival cruise ship pulled away from Port Canaveral at 3:30 p.m., right before their eyes.
“We missed the whole trip,” LaSaine’s son, Kaseem Miller, said in an interview with the outlet. “It’s been a whole week. It’s been eight days.”
“I think I cried more than the kids did and it was for them,” Tisha LaSaine admitted.
The trip got off to a bad start when their Delta Airlines flight to Orlando was delayed by nearly two hours due to a “crew issue,” according to the outlet.
Although the flight was scheduled for 9:54 a.m., they ultimately took off at 11:40 a.m., Miller said, noting that the flight was originally scheduled to land at 12:51 p.m.
“I went to my mother and said, ‘Mom, I don’t think we’re going to make it,'” the woman said.
Upon arrival in Orlando, they traveled 45 miles to finally watch the ship sail away before their eyes.
Carnival Cruise Line states on their website that “all guests must be on board by the final embarkation time printed on the boarding pass or they will not be permitted to sail.”
Moreover, the cruise company refunded the family the entire trip.
Delta Airlines, meanwhile, “apologized for the delay that led to this situation” and refunded LaSaine’s full $2,600 (CAD $3,515) ticket.
