Cruise passengers expecting a Bahamas vacation got Saint John instead
CBC
Aruba, Jamaica, ooh, I wanna take ya.
Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama.
Key Largo, Montego… Saint John?
Well, that's not exactly how the cheerful Beach Boys song goes, but it's how the plans of about 3,000 cruise passengers have gone.
Originally bound for the Bahamas, the MSC Meraviglia, operated by MSC Cruises, had to change plans last minute.
Stormy weather in the Caribbean made sailing south impossible, so they looked north instead.
Passengers were told before the cruise departed New York that it would now be heading to Boston, Portland, and Saint John.
"I would have liked to see some nice, warm weather," said passenger Mike Connor.
"I haven't got nothing against Saint John, but I would have preferred to have gone down south," Connor said.
Despite not having their feet up on a sunny, warm beach, most tourists were making the best of it.
"We're not at the Bahamas, but we're happy we're here though," said Daisy Rivera of Brooklyn, New York.
"I was bummed out, but regardless, we're on vacation. We are happy," said Rivera.
Fellow New Yorker Alexa Meyer had similar thoughts.
"We were upset, but it's whatever. We will make fun of it," said Meyer.