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Dozens of Aussies stranded on a cruise with thousands of other holidaymakers will finally arrive at their final destination two days later than scheduled after their ship broke down mid-journey.
Melbourne couple Steve and Karen Dermietzel are among 111 Aussies onboard Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas for a seven-night voyage of Japan.
But their holiday plans were thrown into chaos after the ship spent two days docked at Yokohama due to ‘unplanned maintenance’, which was reportedly engine issues.
To make matters worse, the 4,500 passengers onboard were confined to the cruise ship while docked at the port near Tokyo and were unable to disembark to explore the city or catch an early flight home.
Passengers also reportedly had their passports confiscated when they first boarded in the Chinese port of Shanghai last Saturday.
The cruise ship has since left Yokohama and has spent the weekend at sea.
It’s scheduled to return to Shanghai on Monday morning- two days after it was due to arrive.
The Dermietzels can’t wait for the voyage to be over.
Steve and Karen Dermietzel were among 4,500 cruise ship passengers stranded on the Spectrum of the Seas
The Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas is expected to end its latest voyage on Monday
‘They won’t allow us onto the Japanese land. It’s weird because in the last 16 days, we’ve been on Japanese land on five different occasions,’ Mr Dermietzel told Seven News.
His wife added that lack of communication from crew and the cruise operator have added the nightmare, forcing them to seek assistance from the Australian embassy in Japan.
‘They don’t give us enough information though, and they blame Royal Caribbean saying it’s being handled by head office and therefore due to US time, there’s a time-(lag) as well,’ Ms Dermietzel said.
The couple added that the company’s compensation offer of $600 per passenger to re-book disrupted travel wasn’t enough to cover costs, which they hope to recoup through insurance.
It also means the couple’s upcoming four-day trip to Hong Kong has been slashed to just two.
Steve and Karen Dermietzel were confined to taking cruise ship selfies while docked at Yokohama
‘The people on the ship here are saying Royal Caribbean are dealing with it in their head office in the US, and, of course, with the time difference, it’s not fantastic,’ Ms Dermietzel told the Herald Sun.
‘I’ve done about eight cruises before but this has been the worst. I’ve never experienced anything like this.’
Other passengers have lost thousands of dollars worth of flights while one couple will miss a loved one’s funeral on Monday, according to the Dermietzels.
A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said the delay was caused by ‘unplanned maintenance’.
‘We have adjusted our current itinerary and cancelled our next sailing,’ she told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday night.
The Spectrum of the Seas ship (pictured) left Shanghai last Saturday and will finally return there on Monday
‘We apologise to our guests for the inconvenience and are communicating with our guests directly.’
Royal Caribbean didn’t respond to additional questions regarding compensation and why passengers weren’t allowed to disembark from the ship while docked at Yokohama.
Launched in 2019, Spectrum of the Seas can carry up to 4246 passengers.
The ship was diverted to Sydney the following year due to Covid regulations, where free cruises were offered firefighters for their efforts during the bushfire season.
The ship has since returned to Asia to resume cruise journeys in China, Japan and South Korea.
