Earlier this year, a US family hit the headlines after claiming their £11,000 cruise holiday was cancelled by the travel firm just two days before setting sail after one pretty hefty social media mistake.
This week, however, having been felt feeling utterly robbed of not only the equivalent of $15,000, but an incredibly important vacation with her children, mother-of-four Tiffany Banks has provided her followers with an update on the situation.
And apparently, the cruise-lining company had a lot to say on the matter...
Advert
If this story isn't yet ringing any bells, allow us to fill you in.
Last month, Kentucky-local Tiffany took to TikTok to reveal that her husband and children had had their hearts set on sailing the seas together for months, having forked out thousands and pulled out all the stops to guarantee it would be the trip of a lifetime.
Having paid for their voyage on the Carnival Celebration ship upfront, Tiffany and her family were all packed and ready to board, when just two days before their scheduled departure date, she received an email informing her that the entire trip had been cancelled.
The devastated mum - who, with her brood, was scheduled to fly over to Florida the following day to board - naturally called the travel firm, where she was allegedly told by a representative that they'd cancelled her $12,000 cabin, which just so happened to be the largest room on the ship, upon request via their online system.
Advert
"We have nearly $15,000 tied up in for this vacation including excursions," she told her followers at the time.
"The room itself was I think $12,000 or $13,000, and then we’ve got a few grand tied up in excursions, and actually with almost $2,000 for flights."
The heartbroken holidaymaker claimed the travel company told her that the room she'd originally booked had been reserved by another customer, and that she'd been offered the cheapest room on the ship as an adequate replacement.
Advert
On top of this, as per the firm's policy - which says that no money would be returned within 15 days or less of the departure date - she was told she wouldn't receive a penny back.
In the hope that this was all a glitch, Tiffany and her family took a chance and flew to Florida, only to be turned away by cruise staff.
It was then that the TikToker was dealt the gut-wrenching blow that the trip had been cancelled after she'd posted the cruise booking reference number on Facebook when posting a countdown to the family holiday.
It transpired that, on that very same day, someone who had seen that made an account with Carnival and used the number before cancelling the family’s trip at the last minute.
Advert
As a result, Tiffany was told she was a 'victim of a form of identity theft', and subsequently vowed to never travel with the cruise line 'ever again'.
Advert
A Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson told LADbible Group in a statement at the time: "While we are not going to comment on any specific guest complaint or incident, it is never a good idea to post personal information about your travel plans, including a confirmation number for a booking, which could allow a bad actor or identify thief to use that information in inappropriate or even illegal ways."
Despite the mother having since made numerous follow-up videos explaining her family's past predicament, it was only this week that she accused the company of refusing to 'admit guilt' on their part.
Tiffany's accusation comes after she noticed that the cruise-liner had apparently updated its website and policy to protect customers from making the same mistake, after which she alleged that the company is 'admitting guilt without having to admit guilt'.
In response, a representative from Carnival this week told the New York Post: "Unfortunately, this guest failed to heed well-documented and very common travel safety and security advice."
Unfortunately, this situation has been far from plain sailing.
Rhianna Benson