If you’ve ever been on a cruise before, you’ll know that last-minute changes to the itinerary or activities program aren’t all that rare. It can be inconvenient, sure, but they usually don't impact the holiday too significantly.

For one French man, however, a route change sent him overboard – literally.

The Costa neoRiviera cruise was scheduled to sail around the islands of Madagascar, Maurice, Reunion and the Seychelles, when it was forced to cancel three planned stops due to the outbreak of the plague.

Initially, Alain Jan, a French chef travelling with his wife, was fine with the change. But the next day, when it was announced that two more stops (including Mauritius) had been axed from the itinerary and that passengers would be compensated just €150 ($228) in onboard credit, Alain decided he’d had enough.

“Things started heating up – €150 when a major part of the trip is cancelled and a drink on board costs €5,” he told Le Parisien.

“That evening, we organised a protest in the restaurant. There were 60 of us banging our fists on the table to alert other cruise passengers to this con job.”

As the ship approached the Seychelles, the group staged a second protest, and the local police were called to escort Alain and his wife off the cruise.

“I spent two nights in a hotel in the Seychelles with my wife, then were flown home paid for by Costa. That’s how I was freed from the floating prison.”

According to Alain, the cruise company had known about the plague outbreak in Madagascar months prior to the trip but failed to do anything about it until passengers were already on board.

Costa Cruises, however, denied the allegations in a statement. “The company made every effort to maintain the stop-offs on Madagascar, looking into all the alternatives.

“Given the delays that would have created, and even longer ones if there were any suspect cases on board, and considering that passengers were already on board, the company was forced to restrict its trip to the Seychelles and Reunion.”

Tell us in the comments below, have you ever taken a cruise only to find the itinerary drastically different to what you expected?