‘Carnival Freedom count your days’: Besties’ cruise is ruined when ship skips their favorite port, and they get a ridiculously small refund

Who doesn’t love a good old-fashioned travel mishap? One minute, you’re boarding a plane, whipping out your selfie stick in front of one of the wonders of the world, or psyching yourself up to go scuba diving, and the next thing you know, you’re delayed for eight hours, you’ve offended the locals, and you’re pulling sea urchins out of places that sea urchins should never be.

Indeed, whoever convinced the public that vacation was supposed to be relaxing and also something you should travel for, just might be one of the greatest pranksters in history. That person also likely inspired whoever was in charge of the cruise that TikTok‘s @sydnixann took recently, because their solution for a missed port is so hilariously paltry that it’s almost more insulting than not compensating passengers at all.

As you can see from the text in the video, Sydney and her bestie recently booked a cruise with the Carnival Freedom, a 952-foot long cruise ship that runs under Carnival Cruise Line. During the trip, they were supposed to stop at a port in the Turks and Caicos Islands — a stop that they revolved their trip around — but Carnival wound up having to cancel that particular part of the journey.

Sydney and company were probably hoping for reasonable compensation for the inconvenience, but they found no such thing in Carnival, whose apology for skipping the Turks and Caicos Islands manifested as a $15 refund. Now, instead of gorgeous shorelines and idyllic locales, Sydney can almost enjoy three Big Macs courtesy of Carnival.

Sympathy wasn’t exactly the name of the game in the comments section. Most seemed to agree that port cancelations were common occurrences when it came to cruise ships (especially in the winter), and that it’s unwise to not prepare for such a thing via travel insurance or otherwise. One commenter also pointed out how a $15 refund is actually quite common for situations like these.

But let’s address the real elephant in the room; if you center your cruise experience on a port stop rather than the cruise itself, then you might as well just take a vacation in the port city or country. The cheapest Carnival Freedom cruises, according to the official website, start at around $350, but with additional dining prices, the chance of sudden price changes, and the lack of guaranteed stops, even a noticeably more expensive vacation ensures the bang for your buck.

And let’s face it, if you’re going on a cruise in the first place, money probably isn’t the most pressing concern on your plate at the moment. So, let this be a lesson to you all; never, under any circumstances, allow an overstuffed, heavily-commercialized, itinerary-driven, hydrodynamic hotel dictate whether or not you’re going to have the experience you set out to have. Depart from the instant comforts of shuffleboard and cocktails and grab life by the horns instead. Disrupt the expectations, put yourself through that sweaty airport, and drink in that godforsaken Turks and Caicos sun like it’s the end of the world; I believe in you.