I cannot argue the difference, but also apples and oranges in price. That said, for us, it was much more than Antarctica, but the whole cruise. If we were doing an expedition to Antartica, I would be traveling alone.
Do not doubt you but Carnival does not change the flights, the airline changes the flight. That said, used it 3 times and other than a change to a slightly earlier departure, nothing changed and ALL were direct.
Need more info before I send up the sos flare…. DId they have tickets? When did they get them? Etc etc. Of course there will be back up with two tenders. Let’s see how they respond after everyone back on baord. Then we can run it up the ladder