Passengers Stranded As Cruise Line 'Restructures'

toggle caption Courtesy of Tammy Hinshaw

Tammy Hinshaw and her partner, Lisa Zakolski, have always loved to travel. So when they got the chance to sail around the world on part of a yearlong cruise, it was a dream come true.

That dream, however, was fairly short-lived. Last week, the two -- along with their fellow passengers -- were abruptly dropped in St. John's, Newfoundland. Their cruise? Canceled.

Cruise West -- the Seattle-based company that owns the ship -- announced Wednesday that it was canceling the Spirit of Oceanus trip and suspending new bookings. By Friday, the company had fired 65 employees and was not speaking with the media.

Hinshaw and her fellow passengers were in disbelief.

"[We] were shell-shocked. No one could really believe that this had happened, including the crew and staff who were all really top-notch people," she tells All Things Considered host Guy Raz. "No one really knew what to say."

Hinshaw and Zakolski are longtime Cruise West customers and had sailed on the Spirit of Oceanus ship a number of times already this year -- visiting the Mediterranean and atypical vacation destinations like Iran and Algeria.

The Spirit of Oceanus cruise was scheduled to run through February 2011. Hinshaw and Zakolski had planned to take the ship on another five trips.

"Indonesia, the South Pacific, Mexico, Central America -- any number of places I was really looking forward to," she says.

Hinshaw says those passengers booked for the entire cruise were flown home by the company. She and Zakolski had planned to end this leg of the trip in St. John's anyway, but said they were still disappointed by the cancellation. Others were devastated.

"There were people who had cashed in 401(k)s, had rearranged pension funds. [It] was absolutely people's lifelong dream, and it's not going to happen," she says.

The two estimate they are owed upward of $50,000 for the canceled trips. Getting a refund will be difficult because they paid by check and did not have travel insurance. Cruise West isn't answering phone calls or e-mails, either.

"They have effectively washed their hands of refunds at this point," Hinshaw says.

The phones at Cruise West are silent. But on an automatic voicemail message, the company announces: "Cruise West has NOT been sold. However, management is in the process of restructuring the company."

Meanwhile, Hinshaw and Zakolski remain hopeful. If the company declares bankruptcy, they may be able to meet in court. As unsecured creditors, however, they know they'll be at the bottom of the list.

Until then, she says, they’re trying to look on the bright side and have already planned their next trip. This time, it's Disney World.

"It's the world's worst cliche … [but] you can't really be unhappy at Disney World," Hinshaw says.