'Don't you know that it's always overbooked?' Woman denied entry to cruise ship despite check-in

Since 'cruises to nowhere' were launched last November, Singaporeans have been getting on board with the idea of going on a cruise in lieu of an overseas holiday.

Even though they completed the online check-in and cleared their Covid-19 antigen rapid tests (ART), a young woman and her family found their weekend cruise plans dashed last Friday (Nov 26).

They weren't allowed to board the World Dream at Marina Cruise Bay Centre. 

Carys Wong posted a TikTok video recounting her unpleasant experience with Dream Cruises after she was refused entry. The video has since garnered over 112,100 views and more than 200 comments. 

@carrrys

thank you for the great experience dream cruise ? “dont you know its always overbooked??” nice nice

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The 20-year-old wrote that she had booked the trip in August, and had even completed the online check-in process on the day of the cruise. 

She also said that she received her ART results at 6.25 pm, which meant that she could make it for the cruise ship's last boarding time of 7pm. 

Instead, Wong received a paper slip saying that she and her family were denied boarding that day due to overcapacity.

When she asked a staff member for clarification, Wong was told: "Don't you know the cruise is always overbooked?" 

Wong told AsiaOne on Monday (Nov 29) that she was travelling with four other family members including a four-year-old child. 

"Imagine our disappointment when we were told that the cruise is overbooked despite having done the necessary bookings and swab tests," she said.

They left Marina Cruise Bay Centre at 7.30pm.

According to her, there were two other female passengers who were not allowed to board the cruise ship for the same reason. 

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Two days after her TikTok videos made a splash, Wong said Dream Cruises reached out to her and offered compensation. 

"We are still liaising with them and seeing what can be done," she said, adding: "The reason why we raised this issue was not because of the refund, but mostly because of the bad service they provided." 

Wong also told AsiaOne that the cruise operator has offered her family a make-up cruise next January along with a room upgrade. 

In response to AsiaOne’s queries, Dream Cruises said on Monday it’d like to apologise to the guest for the inconvenience caused.

“We have reached out to the guest to understand her situation and the matter has been resolved. We look forward to welcoming her aboard our ship soon,” a spokesperson said.

ALSO READ: Royal Caribbean responds to TikToker's claim of 'waiting 3 hours to get onboard' for cruise to nowhere

claudiatan@asiaone.com