As the week-long September school holidays begin, many are taking the opportunity to go on family vacations.
On Sunday (4 Sep) evening, people excitedly turned up at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore, ready to embark on the Genting Dream cruise.
The Genting Dream is a four-day, three-night cruise that departs from Singapore and passes Kuala Lumpur’s Port Klang to Penang before coming back.
But on that day, over a hundred passengers who booked the cruise learned that they were unable to board as it was overbooked.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
There were crowds in the waiting area and long queues at the check-in counters, with many hoping to resolve the matter.
On Sunday (4 Sep), Shin Min Daily News went down to the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore to check out the situation.
At around 7pm, they noticed people leaving the venue with their suitcases one by one.
According to one passenger, over 100 people showed up at the cruise centre, only to find out they were unable to board the ship due to overbooking.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
One of them was 43-year-old Mr Yang. He told the paper that he wanted to take the school holidays as an opportunity to bring his two young daughters out to sea.
He had even taken leave for the vacation but the overbooking saga threw a wrench into his plans. Naturally, his daughters were greatly disappointed.
Now, he plans to take them to Johor Bahru (JB) for a short trip but worries about the traffic jam and the availability of hotels on such short notice.
Another disappointed passenger, 72-year-old Madam Zhuang, was supposed to be travelling with seven others. They had booked three rooms but one of them was unavailable.
The group waited at the cruise centre from 5pm to 8pm. With no solution in sight, they finally gave up and left the place.
At about 8pm, the cruise ship had yet to set sail and there were reportedly still customers who had booked tickets remaining in the waiting area.
Responding to enquiries from Shin Min Daily News, Resorts World Cruises confirmed that the Genting Dream cruise scheduled to depart on 4 Sep was overbooked.
Source: TripGuru.Sg on Facebook
The company thanked passengers who willingly changed their cruise dates. They also shared that all affected customers will receive a full refund.
In addition, the company will also offer affected passengers a free cruise of the same class type. However, they must redeem the free trip by 28 Apr next year.
“We apologise for the inconvenience caused to our passengers and would like to once again thank our customers for their understanding,” Resorts World Cruises said in their statement.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and TripGuru.Sg on Facebook.
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