☹️🚢Shock at the dock: Brazil visa rule leaves nearly 100 passengers denied boarding

 ⛑️Consumer Rescue presents🛟

Tales from Consumer Advocacy Land

Real stories. Real rescues. Real advice.

Happy Sunday, friends! ❤️

I’ve finally set aside some time this morning to tell you about the big life transition I’m navigating this spring. This is one of the biggest transitions of my adult life — and I have a feeling my current situation may resonate with many of you. I’ll share a little bit each week as I work my way through it.

Of course, I realize not everyone is interested in what’s going on in my personal life. And that is perfectly understandable. If you’re curious, scroll to the bottom of today’s newsletter. If not, you can stay right here for the latest from Consumer Advocacy Land.

So let’s get to it!

Last month, I told you the story of a husband and wife who were denied boarding Celebrity Equinox in Portugal because they failed to check their visa requirements for the cruise.

Since I published that article, a wave of similar complaints began hitting the Consumer Rescue helpline. These would-be passengers were also denied boarding Celebrity Equinox, but on the other side of the Equator, in Argentina. These travelers say that nearly 100 people were denied boarding the cruise.

Today I’ll tell you why some of those passengers showed up at the cruise terminal without a visa — and the surprising reason they likely will end up with a full refund.

And here are a few stories you may have missed previously:

Consumer Rescue is an award-winning independent journalism and consumer advocacy site. It depends on display ads, sponsorships, and voluntary reader contributions/ subscriptions to keep this work going.

If you have the means and desire to support our mission, you can do that here. And if you don’t or can’t, that’s completely okay. This site will never have paywalls or hidden content. Everything here will always be free for everyone.

The way people find information online has changed dramatically. Google now summarizes articles directly on the results page, meaning fewer readers click through to the source content (the original website). Additionally, many readers use ad blockers, which makes for a better reader experience but prevents publishers from earning any revenue at all.

That’s why reader support plays an increasingly important role in keeping independent, service-driven journalism alive. If Consumer Rescue has ever helped you, here’s how you can support the work behind it.

Do you have an opinion about today's articles? Want to share a suggestion? I love to hear from you.

Our site's comment section is open and ready for you to offer your thoughts. You can also add your comments under our articles on the Consumer Rescue Facebook page.

Or you can join our "Consumer Rescue: What's Your Problem?" Facebook group. It's a community where we can discuss consumer issues, solve real-time problems, chat about consumer news and our articles, and get quick answers to questions. Members can also share tips, guidance, and travel experiences.

It's a private group, so only members can see what's inside. We hope to see you there!

🤗Welcome to all our new subscribers! We're delighted to have you here with us. 

*Ps. If you've received this newsletter as a forward, here's how to subscribe. 

Friends! Don’t be shy. Sharing our newsletter with other like-minded consumers is a great way to show your support for our mission!

I’m getting my house ready to sell, and it’s a task I was completely unprepared for.

I’ve lived in this house for 26 ½ years, and I’ve loved (nearly) every minute of it. I moved here from Manhattan as a newlywed; I’ve raised my children here, and my home has always been the place where everyone gathers for life events: pool parties, BBQs, holiday celebrations, sleepovers, baby showers, graduations, and more.

My life here has been everything I hoped it would be when I walked through the door the first time in early 2000. But now that my daughters have left the nest, it’s time to downsize. But getting a house ready to sell that you’ve lived in for nearly three decades is no easy task (emotionally and physically).

I thought it might be cathartic if I take you with me on this journey each week. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience and have words of wisdom for me, or maybe my public diary chronicling my path to selling my house will just be entertaining. Today’s entry, which involves the innocently looking door above, certainly falls into the second category. Luckily, I can laugh about it now, but…

I got locked in a 2½-foot-tall crawlspace under my deck for nearly three hours. Here’s how it happened and how I finally escaped.

As you can imagine, a lot of things, big and small, need to be done to prepare a house to sell — especially a house of a certain age. So I took a break from writing just before lunch one day this week and went out into the backyard to take inventory of what needs to be cleaned up there. I noticed the hose seemed to be disconnected, and the deck could use a power wash.

My goal was simple: to reconnect the hose under the deck. I opened that gate, looked into the crawlspace, and could see what I needed to do. I started crawling the 15 feet to where the hoses were located. I didn’t get far before the door slammed behind me — and I heard the distinct sound of the latch locking.

At first, it was comical… until I realized my true predicament.

I did not have my phone with me, and I live on three acres of land. I do not have any close neighbors that might hear me yelling. And my husband thought I was where I usually am — in my office. I knew he wouldn’t come looking for me, probably until dinner time. Yikes!

I knew I was going to need to find my own way out. First, I crawled the entire length of the space to the other door on the opposite side, hoping the latch might not be locked.

It was.

Then I looked around for something I could use as a tool to dig under the door. I figured if I could get my arm out, I might be able to reach the latch. As I scurried around under the deck on my search, I periodically yelled for help — but not surprisingly, no one heard me.

Then I found my tool: much to my good fortune, a lone plastic fork had made its way under the deck— an artifact from some long-ago BBQ.

I started digging under the gate and didn’t make much progress before the fork broke. Suddenly, I noticed a random pair of scissors on the other side of the gate in a garden bed. I stuck my arm out through the small hole under the door that I had made with the fork, but the scissors were just out of reach.

For the next hour, I dug the hole wider with my hands. Finally, I was able to reach the scissors and pulled them into my confines. Now that I had a sturdier, more effective digging tool, I knew my escape was imminent.

I dug until I could get my whole arm and shoulder down in the hole and reach up the other side to release the latch.

Using the scissors as an extension of my arm, I was able to nudge the latch up just enough to release it — and suddenly, I was free!

After crawling around in that dirt for hours, I was quite a sight when I finally made it back inside. My husband casually asked me where I had been all afternoon, as if I might have been out shopping, rather than imprisoned under our deck for hours — digging my way to freedom with an old plastic fork and a rusty pair of scissors. Believe me, I let him know all about it…

🛟 ⛑️It’s safe to say my biggest rescue this week wasn’t for consumers (although I did a lot of that, too). No, the biggest rescue this week was definitely my own!

Don't forget! Consumer Rescue is just a click away. One of us is always here to answer your questions. 

Of course, you can always reach me at [email protected]