Family missed their cruise after email mishap. NBC6 Responds stepped in to help

Javier Soni said his three-year-old son was very excited about hopping on a cruise with his parents last year.

"He has been saying nonstop, 'I want to go into cruise ship, Mommy,'" Soni said. "I'm getting a cruise ship toy.' And we were super, super excited about this.”

Soni said the family was set to sail in December on a seven-night cruise through the Caribbean aboard the MSC Seascape.

But their plans took an unexpected turn when, hours before they were scheduled to arrive at PortMiami, they received an email saying there had been an emergency medical situation that was delaying the ship by three hours.

"So I called MSC and I said, 'listen, I got this email. It's very strange. Would you confirm this is true?'" Soni said he told the agent. “And they said, 'yes, be there by 6.'"

But Soni said when they arrived at the port at 6, they were denied entry and were given disheartening news.

"The ship has closed its doors," he said he was told. "You’re not coming in.”

"It was absolutely devastating," he added.

Soni said he called the cruise line but got nowhere.

"All they said was 'you’re on your own – call your booking agent,'" he said.

He told NBC6 the third-party website he used to book the cruise referred him back to MSC. After a few emails, Soni said he got a call from an MSC representative to discuss his options, including a shorter cruise, which was something he didn’t want.

"I asked them … 'listen, get me on the next ship, same itinerary, next Saturday,'" he said he told them.

But when he said he was told that was not an option, he decided to ask NBC6 Responds for help.

NBC6 Responds contacted MSC on the family’s behalf and received a statement from a spokesperson.

"The embarkation and departure of MSC Seascape’s December 14, 2024, sailing was delayed due to a medical emergency on the previous voyage. Though we made every effort to communicate the change, a small number of guests missed their sailing. We handled rebooking and compensation for those guests swiftly and thank them for their understanding during this unusual situation," the statement read.

"Your intervention was invaluable," Javier later told NBC6. "They showed a genuine interest to make things right. They were very, very apologetic. They mentioned how our experience was by no means a reflection of the standards they like to hold themselves up to."

Javier said he eventually reached an agreement with MSC he was happy with, but could not share any details. He did say the family was looking forward to sailing with the cruise line very soon.

"They really, really put a lot of effort into making things right for my family,” he said. "Thanks to…your team’s help, we were able to…solve this problem and I am very, very, very grateful for it."