Instead of holding hands in paradise on their honeymoon, Dan and Kari Isaacson’s dream vacation was destroyed the day after they exchanged their wedding vows. The couple booked their vacation plans over the Internet — but placing too much faith in an online travel agency led to a disastrous result.
Dan Isaacson– now a 21-year-old sophomore political science and business major — met his future wife Kari Isaacson six years ago when she moved into the apartment behind his family’s house in Grants Pass.
Although they knew each other as neighbors, Dan Isaacson, then 15 years old, and Kari Isaacson, then 19, strengthened their bond by working together at a steak and pasta restaurant. He was the head busser and she was a hostess, and during the summers they would coordinate weddings together.
One night, about three years ago, the couple shut down the restaurant early and had dinner together. A chocolate cake was brought out, and on top of the candle was a ring.
“She started to eat the cake; she didn’t see the ring,” he said. “And then she went ballistic.”
With more than 200 weddings under his belt as a banquet coordinator, Dan Isaacson worked with Kari Isaacson for more than a year planning their own ceremony on a $13,000 budget.
They picked the location; a country bed-and-breakfast house in Sisters, in Eastern Oregon. And on July 15, 2000, surrounded by family and friends, they were married.
The next day, they left for their honeymoon, which would turn out to be an experience they would never forget.

Cruise of a lifetime
The idea for the couple’s honeymoon destination was sparked from a similar trip Dan Isaacson took with his five-member graduating high school class: A seven-day cruise on the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line to San Diego and Ensenada.
So when it came time to plan their honeymoon, Dan Isaacson knew that a cruise would save them from having to drive or fly far and would let them dine in four-star style every night.
The Carnival Cruise Line trip was to start in Los Angeles and continue onto the Mexican Riviera, visiting such places as Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas. The couple booked their trip through a company they found in a budget-wedding book, South Beach Cruises and CruiseShopping.com.
After going online, they talked to a sales service agent, who booked them to leave July 16 for their honeymoon.

Dreams destroyed
That morning, they woke up at 5 a.m., drove to Portland and flew south on a 9 a.m. flight. They arrived in Los Angeles at 1 p.m. to find that Horizon Airlines had lost Kari Isaacson’s luggage: The airlines had boarded all the passengers without all the luggage.
After hours of waiting, Kari Isaacson’s luggage arrived at 3:15 p.m. But panic had set in because their ship was scheduled to leave in 45 minutes. They hopped on the last charter service bus, which dropped them off at the dock.
“They had cattle lines set up,” Dan Isaacson said, recalling the scene. “There were 300 people waiting in line and four ticket agents taking people four at a time.”
They waited for another two hours in line, videotaping the adventure as it went along. When they reached the front of the line, the ticketing agent asked to see their driver’s licenses and birth certificates.
“He paused and got this really weird look on his face,” Dan Isaacson said. “I thought they overbooked or lost our reservation.”
Then the problem hit: Dan Isaacson was 20 years old and Kari Isaacson was 23. And just four days before they purchased their tickets, Carnival Cruise Line had revised its policy to say no one under the age of 25 was allowed on the ship. An earlier policy allowed married couples on board as an exception to the rule.
But the travel agent did not tell the Isaacsons about the policies, nor did it tell its employees, Dan Isaacson said.
The sales agent who booked the Isaacsons’ trip sold them the vacation so quickly she forgot to ask their ages, Dan Isaacson said. As a result, the agent — in the process of receiving her $500 commission for the sale — wrote down their ages as 35, he said.
“She guessed wrong,” he said.
When he called South Beach Cruises, sales manager Guy Theodoro said he did not understand why the Isaacsons were not on board. He said he was not aware of the policy change and admitted the company was at fault, Dan Isaacson said.
South Beach Cruises was not willing to comment about the couple’s trip, and Bob Zweig, the company’s director of operations, could not be reached for comment.
“It didn’t dawn on me, until we were for sure not going on the boat,” Dan Isaacson said.
Once reality set in, Dan and Kari Isaacson, who had a small travel budget, realized they were stranded without credit cards or much cash.
“We cried together that day and watched the boat take off,” Kari Isaacson said.

Devastation sets in
Dan and Kari Isaacson had no way to get back to the airport, and their pre-arranged flight was not scheduled to leave for a week. They resorted to panhandling $40 from people who were still in line, and it was enough to get them back to the airport.
“It wasn’t anger. It was just devastation,” Dan Isaacson said, explaining his emotions as the couple rode away from the dock. “It was like the whole world had turned upside down.”
He said they had been looking forward to finally spending some time together just to relax. But instead, they spent their quality time in the Los Angeles airport. Their flight back to Portland was delayed three hours.
Because the only food they had eaten all day were the peanuts on the plane, the couple made the best of their situation and had dinner at an Italian restaurant in Santa Monica, Calif. with the remaining panhandled money.
“You just deal with the cards you’ve got,” Dan Isaacson said.
Fifteen hours after the whole fiasco had begun, their plane touched down in Portland at about 1 a.m., where Kari Isaacson’s parents were waiting. What was supposed to be an incredibly romantic night was instead spent at a Best Western hotel before the couple woke up and went home.
It would have been Kari Isaacson’s first opportunity to go on a cruise — something she called a “vacation of a lifetime.” She said that for more than a year she had saved up dresses and money for the trip.
“Even if we don’t have a honeymoon, we have each other and that is what counts,” Kari Isaacson said.

Lesson learned
After two weeks of talking to Zweig’s answering machine, Dan Isaacson received a refund from the Carnival Cruise Line, which in turn fined South Beach Cruises $500 for the agent’s commission. The courts dismissed Dan Isaacson’s first lawsuit against South Beach Cruises, but he is re-filing the suit in the form of a small claims case.
“I’m not a sue-happy person,” Dan Isaacson said. “But if they want to play hardball, I’ll play.”
He warned other students and honeymooners to make sure they are aware of cruise company rules, to be wary of online travel agencies and to “read the fine print.”
Jenny Neiwert is a travel consultant with the EMU location of Council Travel, a nationwide organization that offers travel services. Neiwert recommended meeting with a travel agent in person to prevent situations such as the one faced by Dan and Kari Isaacson.
“There is always a catch,” Dan Isaacson said. “If it is too good to be true — it is.”