Carnival: No Cabo San Lucas for You

Passengers furious over cancellations

A Carnival Cruise Line ship made an emergency stop in Long Beach on Thursday to let angry passengers off after its route was changed due to the swine flu.

The ship was originally scheduled to visit Cabo San Lucas, but because of swine flu, Carnival decided to reroute the vessel to San Francisco.

"There's nothing but screaming. You cannot enjoy this trip at all. This is our first trip -- me and my husband -- and everybody has a tragic story on here," said passenger Shawna Lawson.

"Like putting meat in front of a dog, and then pulling it back. Here's Cabo San Lucas, but we're not getting off the boat," said passenger Bob Jones.

A Carnival Cruise spokeswoman said that once the travel advisory was issued, they had no choice but to change the itinerary.

There were about 3,200 passengers on board when the Splendor set sail on Sunday. A port employee said that about 500 people disembarked during the courtesy stop in Long Beach. In all, 15 Carnival ships, including three in California, were affected.

Passengers will only be reimbursed $20 for every stop that was canceled, meaning most of them will only go home with an extra $40.

"I felt like, San Francisco? I felt like they were kidnapping us. I didn't want to go to San Francisco. I paid to go to Mexico," said passenger Clara Vega Isabell, who paid $1,200 for the trip.

Some passengers said they are talking about filing a class-action lawsuit to get refunds.

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