'We found out while we were flying': Last-minute cruise cancellations leave travelers scrambling

• Royal Caribbean International on Friday paused operations on multiple ships due to COVID-19.
• Some of those sailings were set to depart as soon as Saturday, leaving some cruisers in a lurch.
• Affected passengers will have "compensation options" including a full refund.

Micah Cooper and her mother LaQuinta Spears left their home in Dallas Friday for Micah's long-awaited high school graduation trip: A cruise on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas.

They arrived in Miami in the afternoon. Their cruise, which had been originally canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, was meant to set sail Saturday. But as they waited to check into their Airbnb, they received a text message update from Royal Caribbean at 3:04 p.m.