Loxahatchee retiree says Miami Dolphins cruise promoter scammed her, other fans
Maria Caraballo has a story to tell about the recent Miami Dolphins Fan Cruise. Jeffrey Nahom also has a story about a cruise, although you’d never guess it’s the same cruise because his story and Caraballo’s bear little resemblance to one another.
Both sides agree that the cruise in late April, honoring the 50th anniversary of the Dolphins’ 17-0 season, didn’t turn out as planned. The Dolphins also agree. They’re suing Nahom, their partner in the endeavor, for about $1 million to recoup money they say he owes them, in part to cover costs for cabins during the cruise and appearances for nearly three dozen former players.
Nahom, whose firm, First Class Cruises, has an office in Boca Raton, said his plans ran aground because of last-minute changes by the Dolphins and Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino that were out of his control.
“They’re trying to take away my credibility,” he said.
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As far as Caraballo is concerned, Nahom’s credibility began taking a hit before the ship left port. Caraballo is a 64-year-old Loxahatchee retiree who paid more than $10,000 for the weeklong Caribbean cruise. She also put together a traveling party that booked 17 cabins through Nahom.
Caraballo said she didn’t pay by credit card because Nahom wouldn’t let her.
“What’s crazy is,” she said, “he wanted all of our bank account numbers. We couldn’t pay by credit card. He wanted our bank account numbers and our routing numbers.”
Although Caraballo wasn’t happy with the policy, she went along with it, looking forward to a trip of a lifetime. Although she’s from New York, she became a Dolphins fan at age 15 — an aqua and orange lone sheep of the family, you might say.
Her first move upon moving to South Florida was to buy season tickets. She has a ’13’ tattoo on her arm in honor of Marino, her favorite Dolphin. And she’s a ringleader of the “East 12 Tailgaters,” a group that gathers in the Hard Rock Stadium parking lot before games, typically a couple of hundred strong.
Cabin assignments didn't come until the last minute
Although Caraballo and her friends paid for the cruise either in full or with a significant downpayment up to six months in advance, months passed without passengers getting cabin assignments, boarding passes and booking numbers needed to plan excursions, according to both her and complaints posted online. It wasn’t until three days before the trip that Caraballo received her cabin assignment. Until then, all she’d gotten were assurances from Steve Bradley at FCC.
“I kept questioning him on a lot of things going on,” she said. “He’d say, ‘You don’t have to worry, you don’t have to worry. I own the company. Everything goes through me.’ ”
Documents?
“He kept saying you don’t need them,” she says. “Well, I was a travel agent for 15 years. You need your documents.”
Nahom said Bradley has worked with him for 17 years but added he doesn’t know if or why Bradley would claim to be the owner.
It’s unclear where funds collected by Nahom ended up. The money was supposed to be turned over to the cruise line, MSC Cruises, but part of the Dolphins’ suit is to recover the $251,371.62 in fares the Dolphins stepped in to pay MSC directly after Nahom “urgently requested” they pay, with the promise he’d repay them.
Nahom never gave a clear answer on what happened to the money despite repeated questions from The Palm Beach Post.
“Nobody did anything that wasn’t supposed to be done,” he said. “We signed a bad deal with the Dolphins.”
When the Dolphins filed suit in U.S. District Court in Miami, it was for $945,114.45 plus damages, interest, costs and expenses.
Nahom also runs a second firm, First Class Vacations, that has an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau, with 22 complaints against it in the past three years. Neither of his companies is licensed in Florida, according to the BBB.
Promises of gift cards and breakfast with Dan Marino: ‘None of us got what we paid for'
Part of the pitch that attracted Caraballo involved perks. They included Visa gift cards worth $400, plus another $400 in onboard credit. Not only a chance to meet Marino and show him her tattoo, but a private breakfast with him for her inner circle. Round-trip accommodations to a Dolphins road game, plus tickets to a home game. Put all that together and it helped justify parting with $10,000.
“None of us got what we paid for,” she said.
That includes the ship. They were supposed to sail on Royal Caribbean. It was switched to MSC Seascape, a new ship.
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“They said either do it or you’d lose your money,” she said. “There’s no refunds.” That included passengers who booked flights to South Florida before the dates of the cruise were changed to Easter week, she said.
Nahom disputed details regarding his payment and refund policies. He said he granted “dozens” of refunds. Sharon Neeld posted a comment under a YouTube video on the cruise saying she canceled when the date was changed, adding, “Thank goodness I did get my money back. I was very worried about that company.”
Nahom said “every fan cruise” relies on account number/routing number and that it’s preferred by First Class Cruises because credit-card companies charge booking agents for each transaction. If clients insist, he said, he will accept credit cards. In fact, some cruise lines’ websites do offer the option of paying with an electric check, but they also clearly state that credit card payments are accepted. Travel experts recommend using a credit card because many offer a layer of protection if there’s a dispute.
Nahom said he doesn’t know “exactly what the problem was” with cabin assignments but conceded the fault probably belongs to the cruise line and himself.
Amid the turmoil, Nahom sailed in an upgraded cabin. He said the upgrade was made by the cruise line without his knowledge.
Angry fans immediately gather to voice complaints
Once onboard, what had been passengers’ frustrations and red flags immediately boiled over. Fans believed they were paying for access to players for photos, autographs and conversation they’d otherwise never have. But within the first two days, they sensed many of Nahom’s marketing claims were empty promises.
“We had a grievance meeting the second night,” Caraballo says. “Almost 300 people showed up.”
Nahom said he doubted the crowd was that large, but a former player requesting anonymity backed Caraballo’s figure and supported her general list of grievances.
Nahom blamed the Dolphins for last-minute changes to the itinerary, in particular, faulting Marino for leaving the cruise a day earlier than planned.
Ralph Stringer, the quarterback’s representative, disputed Nahom’s account.
“The allegation that Dan did not fulfill his obligation to the Dolphins Fan Cruise is absolutely false," Stringer wrote in a statement to The Post. "First Class Cruises changed the original dates of the cruise, and there was clear communication to FCC that Dan would be departing the ship in Nassau on the third day of the trip as a result.
"Dan thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Dolphins fans on board, and certainly fulfilled all of his appearance obligations. Dan greatly values his relationship with Dolphins fans, and he would never take advantage of the best fans in football.”
Caraballo said the club was placed in an impossible situation because of Nahom, whose advertising included photographs of Hall of Famer Jason Taylor and linebacker John Offerdahl even though both were never part of the trip. He said he only used photos supplied by the team.
Caraballo said Nahom tried to smooth things over by upgrading her.
“He felt it would keep me quiet,” she said. “I said, ‘This is not what I wanted.’ I said, ‘I wanted to be with my group and you singled me out.’ ”
Fan says lawyers are wary of ever collecting
As for the Dolphins, “They were very, very helpful on the cruise ship,” Caraballo said. “They really stepped up to make things better for us.”
The Post spoke with others onboard who didn’t want to be identified. Multiple sources credited Nat Moore, former Dolphins receiver and current senior vice president in charge of alumni relations, for taking steps to accommodate fans eager to meet some of the team’s best-known former players, including Hall of Famer Larry Csonka.
“I was there and one of the victims!” Joseph Archambault wrote online. “Horrible experience however Nat Moore and the rest of the Dolphins saved the day. Thank you to them and their families. The cruise company needs to be prosecuted for embezzlement!”
Caraballo has been in touch with the Dolphins’ lawyers. She would like to spearhead her own class-action suit on behalf of her fellow fans.
No lawyer wants to touch it.
“Because the Miami Dolphins did file a suit, it’s now making it very difficult for us,” said Caraballo, who isn’t blaming the club for trying to recoup its money. “If he claims bankruptcy over a $945,000 lawsuit against him, where are we going to fall in?”
The bottom line: “We’re all out of our money.”
Nahom said he can make everybody happy with another fan cruise in 2024. Caraballo said he’s dangling “a very big discount” to those disappointed with their 2023 experience. But, she added, “nobody” is biting.
Nahom insisted “most people were happy” with the cruise and it was only a “small percentage that were really irate and causing a big trouble.” He said he would pass along an email to The Post to prove it. He didn’t.
For now, Caraballo and her friends are playing defense.
“We have contacted our banks and made them all aware that if anything were to come through, they’re not supposed to make payment,” Caraballo said.
Caraballo knows she won’t see her money again.
“We all work hard for our money," she said. “It wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right.”
Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter @gunnerhal.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Loxahatchee retiree and Dolphins fan calls cruise promoter ‘con artist'
