The Trump administration declared a national emergency over the Coronavirus that originated in China. Airlines, including Delta and American, said they would no longer be flying to China starting on Monday. United Airlines will continue to fly to and from China but the number of flights will be extremely limited.
Despite the warning to stay away from China, one American family is being punished for taking necessary precautions.
A family from Maui, Hawaii decided to book a cruise in February 2019 on Norweigan Cruise Lines through Costco. They chose a destination and forked out $32,000 – roughly $4,000 a person – for their destination. The cruise, which is set to start in a couple of days, makes a stop in Hong Kong. It's what prompted Pua Morrison to cancel the trip.
But now they're being told they won't be refunded.
“We definitely wanted to go on this Asian cruise. It was always a lifetime thing we wanted to do–go on a beautiful cruise,” Morrison told KHON-TV.
Morrison contacted Costco, who told her to contact Norweigan Cruise Lines directly. She has called repeatedly over the last few days, begging for a refund, but they all say the same thing: no.
“(Norwegian Cruise) is saying, ‘we understand the situation’ and ‘safety is our number one issue’ and ‘we would never put any of our passengers in harms way. But the bottom line is if you cancel you lose all your money,'” Morrison explained.
The family had booked an all-out vacation, full of excursions and elevated packages. Morrison even purchased trip insurance, something Norweigan said doesn't apply to epidemics.
“I just want to be safe and I don’t want to go in the direction of the virus.”
Even though they're going to lose the money, Morrison said they're still not going to go.
“Rather than put myself through all that headache and most of all the risk of getting this virus, I just want to be able to cancel my cruise and get my refund," Morrison explained. "That’s all I ask. And I don’t think that’s a lot to ask with what’s going on. And it’s getting worse every day”
The cruise company said they haven't changed any of their itineraries but are implementing additional health screenings.