A cruise ship line is in hot water for refusing to refund a grieving mother, who miscarried, her vacation. The woman had miscarried just days before her vacation and pleaded with Carnival Cruise to give her the money back.
25-year-old Monique McChristian was only three days away from her cruise. She was headed for 10 days to Alaska on the Carnival Legend. Unfortunately, she miscarried just days before and needed to stay home for medical care. "I called Carnival the next morning and told them everything, but the agent was very black and white — that since I did not get the vacation protection, there was nothing they could do for me," McChristian told The New York Post.
She said, "I explained again everything that happened with the baby and she still gave me the same answer. She said I can try to reach out via email and plead my case and maybe they would do something. I sent that email explaining everything and attached a doctor's letter as well. I had high hopes that the cruise line [would refund me] and would understand our situation."
Cruise Ship Line Policies
She said, "It is a very serious medical emergency that simply no one could ever plan for. Also, Carnival is supposed to be about fun times but what is fun about having a miscarriage on a boat and having to pass my baby in the middle of the ocean?"
She tried contacting the cruise ship line's corporate offices via email. However, they ignored her.
"Now it's Monday, the day of the cruise, and I called Carnival again and relived the trauma again and they asked about the severity of the situation," she said.
They finally messaged her back and told her they couldn't refund or give her credit for another trip, citing policies.
"It's so inappropriate. I've told my story about five times to these people and each time doesn't get any easier," she said.
Fortunately, someone from the Carnival cruise line later reached out and offered compensation.
"It was the first time I talked to a real human being who understood the severity of my situation and how devastating it is," she said.
However, she still feels the cruise ship line was wrong.
"I take the blame, I didn't get the protection, but no one expects to miscarry two days before a cruise — it was a medical emergency and I wasn't going to pass the baby on a cruise ship," she said. "Life happens so fast and emergencies happen. This situation shows that we're people too and taking four days to respond and not being considerate of a miscarriage ... hopefully this will spread some empathy."
