After husband's sudden death, widow seeks full refund for anniversary cruise

ARVADA, Colo. — After her husband's sudden death, an Arvada woman was stuck with a bill for a surprise anniversary trip she never got to enjoy. 

In February, Patty and Dick Layman went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse for a combined celebration of three occasions in one month.

"Dick said to me, he goes, 'Happy birthday. Happy anniversary. Happy Valentine's Day,'" Patty told 9NEWS. "And I said, 'Happy birthday. Happy Valentine's Day. Happy anniversary. And I turned and I looked at him, and he started to choke."

Patty tried to get up to help, but he passed out and fell back on her. Paramedics rushed Dick to the emergency room. A day later, the hospital told her he was brain dead and needed to be taken off life support. He died on Feb. 23.

When Patty started paying for funeral arrangements, she was surprised to find a $12,000 charge on the couple's credit card. Two days before their dinner, Dick had booked a 10-day cruise along the Columbia and Snake rivers in Washington and Oregon.

Patty found the paperwork in Dick's desk. She said she thinks it was meant to be a surprise anniversary gift. He was probably going to tell her about it at that dinner.

As sweet as the surprise was, Patty couldn't even think about taking a cruise set to sail two months after her husband died. She decided to cancel it and get her money back. Luckily, Dick had spent extra on a "cancel for any reason" plan from American Cruise Lines.

"In case we had to cancel, you'd still get your full payment back," she said. "That's what it meant to me."

But that's not what it meant to the cruise line. They told Patty the "cancel for any reason" plan has conditions. If a trip is canceled within 90 days of departure, American Cruise Lines will refund only 80% of the money, not the full amount. And, each passenger is charged a $250 administrative fee for canceling.

Dick died 73 days before the ship was set to depart.

Patty, in disbelief that the company wouldn't make an exception for her husband's sudden death, wrote to the CEO.

"I never even got a reply back," she said. "Not even a, you know, 'I'm so sorry for your loss, but this is the way it is.'"

After months of dealing with the cruise line, Patty contacted Steve On Your Side. We contacted American Cruise Lines to ask about Patty's case. After several emails, voicemails and other messages, they finally responded – to say that they don't comment about their guests.

We found that Patty isn't alone. Someone else complained to the Better Business Bureau, saying their mother died suddenly months before an American Cruise Lines cruise and the company wouldn't refund the whole trip. In a response to that complaint, the cruise line said they were simply following their cancellation terms.

"We hope that you can appreciate that we must be consistent in the application of our policies," the company said in their response. "This is done for fairness to all guests and to ensure that each reservation is handled appropriately." 

"They could have done it the right way," Patty said. "They could have made a bad situation better, and they haven't." 

After several months of back and forth, Patty got a check for $9,000 of the $12,000 cruise.

Steve On Your Side asked American Cruise Lines for comment about their cancellation policies involving death, but they never responded.