In an unusual incident, a cruise had to abruptly change its course after a US judge granted an arrest warrant for the ship over a $1.2 million fuel bill. The Crystal Symphony was carrying around 300 passengers back from a two-week cruise in the Caribbean when this happened.?
The passengers and crew were expecting to reach land in Florida but the announcement that was made said that they would instead be disembarking in the Bahamas, which left them shocked.?
Musician Elio Pace told The Independent that he had just finished a rehearsal on board the ship when passengers were informed about the change of plans. This happened after the ship's parent company, Genting Hong Kong filed for liquidation.?
"There was literally eight seconds of silence, nobody could say anything. It was almost laughable... we literally just said 'are you kidding?' No one could believe that this ship was having to divert away from US waters like a pirate ship away so it didn¡¯t get arrested," he said.?
The warrant was issued by a judge under admiralty law as part of a claim for $4.6 million in unpaid debts against Genting-owned Florida-based cruise line Crystal Cruises.?
Pace added, 'I wouldn¡¯t believe it unless I was right here experiencing this surreal episode myself!'?
He also said that despite the unexpected change of plans, the passengers remained calm about the incident. Many rushed to change flights and hotel bookings after they were informed that they would be taken?back to Fort Lauderdale on a 3-hour ferry from the Bahamas.
'There¡¯s no panic, there¡¯s no tantrums, they¡¯re just getting on with it,' Pace said.?
Pace said that he felt bad for the ship's permanent crew, some of whom had spent 25 years working for the cruise line.?
"All these brilliant beautiful people, they¡¯re really down in the dumps and very despondent and very uncertain about what next or even if they¡¯ll get paid. It¡¯s a bit brutal," he said.?
"This end to the cruise was not the conclusion to our guests¡¯ vacation we originally planned for," Crystal Cruises said in a statement to the New York Times.
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