British expats have ‘worst cruise experience’ in 20 years after police board ship at Barcelona port

A British expat and her husband had one of their worst cruise experiences in 20 years after the ship they were sailing on was held at Barcelona port and more than 60 passengers with incorrect visas were marched off the boat.

Marina Carter, 69, and Richard Carter, 71, were looking forward to the Mediterranean cruise they booked with their local travel agent, which was due to take them to Barcelona, Corsica, Rome, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Sicily and eventually Venice.

The retired couple, who moved from Britain to Malaga in 2020, set sail on 31 March and were given a cabin aboard the MSC Armonia. They were enjoying the pre-paid drinks package they had purchased, and exploring the activities on the boat when their trip suddenly took a turn for the worse.

Ms Carter told The Independent: “We docked at Barcelona and had the day there, but when we came back there was a big group of people standing by the entrance to the ship all crying. I said to my husband: ‘I don’t like the look of this, I don’t know what’s going on but I don’t like it’.”

The couple heard on the boat’s tannoy there was a problem with immigration, but no further updates were given.

“The boat didn’t embark when it should have done, it did not sail away, but we were told it would in the next few hours, then midnight, then we thought to ourselves this boat is going nowhere is it,” Ms Carter said.

The couple went to dinner but when they returned they found that one of the hallways they would usually access to get back to their cabin was blocked off by a police officer and a speedboat with police officers was circling the cruise ship.

Ms Carter added: “The national police were everywhere. They had what I would call their riot vehicles with them … they were just everywhere in the pool area … some of the passengers got put in these cabins along by us with the door shut and they were just guarded 24/7.

“People started getting quite upset as now this boat was not moving. We are starting to miss ports of call. When the boat did finally start to move off we watched them take some passengers off four at a time. We could see as our cabin overlooked the dock.”

Police aboard the vessel (Marina Carter)

Authorities said that 69 Bolivians on the ship lacked valid documents to enter the European Union’s border-free Schengen area. They were marched off and held on another boat for interrogation.

The Spanish government’s office in Barcelona said that 65 of the 69 Bolivians who arrived in the city would be flown out to the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz because they had false visas.

The Armonia leaving Barcelona after a number of passengers were removed (Reuters)

The incorrect entry requirements meant that the Carters, along with more than 1,000 other passengers were stuck for two days and not able to proceed with the cruise.

MSC Cruises said last week the Bolivian passengers’ documentation appeared correct upon boarding in Brazil. They also told The Independent that passengers were given regular updates about the incident and told how to claim compensation.

Spain’s national police were looking into the possibility of a fake visa scam, Solange Duarte, a Bolivian diplomat in Barcelona, told the Associated Press.

Passengers are photographed on the cruise ship moored in the port of Barcelona (AP)

Ms Carter said it was one of the worst cruise experiences they’d had and left them disappointed with the lack of communication from MSC Cruises.

She said: “Everybody was irate because nobody knew what was going on and though we are pretty laid back it was making us irate.”

The couple described having so many police on board as “intimidating”. The cruise vessel eventually set sail after two days, but Corsica, Rome, Corfu and Dubrovnik, were missed out on the trip.

MSC Cruises said in a statement Wednesday the Bolivian “passengers appeared to have proper documentation upon boarding in Brazil” but Spanish authorities later said the visas were not valid for entry into the Schengen area.

MSC Cruises added: “The guests were given daily written updates in the form of letters that were left in their cabins. Additionally, there were onboard announcements and they were written to detailing the compensation they were going to receive for the disruption to their cruise.”

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