A major cruise company is being sued for allegedly changing the destination of a ship passengers thought was sailing to Bermuda.

Royal Caribbean Cruises, the world's second-biggest cruise operator, was taken to court by New Jersey for allegedly switching the route to less expensive ? and colder ? Canada and not offering holidaymakers a refund.

Tourists on ? which has been a regular visitor to the Island ? weren't able to use the pool and other outdoor facilities on the ship and couldn't go golfing, scuba diving or to the beach in Bermuda, New Jersey said.

Instead, the ship sailed to chilly St. John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

But the cruise company said they made the change because weather forecasters predicted a hurricane might cross the path of the boat, if it sailed as scheduled to Bermuda.

"We could not knowingly sail into a predicted hurricane," a spokesman for Royal Caribbean Cruises said, responding to the law suit.

New Jersey Attorney General Zulima Farber said today the Miami-based company told 3,600 passengers leaving Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey, on a July 24 trip to Bermuda that the ship would instead travel to Canada.

Travellers weren't contacted prior to the departure, Farber said in a complaint filed in a New Jersey state court.

A Canadian cruise is less expensive and passengers were only offered an onboard credit of $45.20, the difference in port fees and taxes between the two destinations, the lawsuit said. Passengers arriving at the dock were told to call a Royal Caribbean customer-service number, where a representative said travellers would lose their money if they didn't board the ship.

"We allege that Royal Caribbean misled customers about a planned itinerary change and then failed to refund consumers the difference in cost between the trip they purchased and the trip they received," said Farber in the statement.

New Jersey is seeking repayment for affected travellers and civil penalties for each violation of the state's Consumer Fraud Act.

The maximum penalty for each violation is up to $10,000 for the first offence and up to $20,000 for each subsequent offence, according to Kimberly Ricketts, director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs.

The state said it received 53 complaints from passengers since July. Ricketts' office said in an e-mail it won't comment further on the total amount of damages sought or potential number of affected passengers.

This is the first lawsuit of this kind Royal Caribbean has received, Michael Sheehan, a spokesman for the Miami-based company, said in an e-mailed statement. The National Hurricane Center forecasted on July 23 that Tropical Storm Franklin would strengthen to a hurricane and likely cross the path of the ship, he said.

Royal Caribbean didn't make a final decision to change the itinerary until the departure date and was unable to contact passengers in advance, Sheehan said.

Travellers received a letter before boarding detailing the forecasted hurricane, he said. Passenger ticket contracts state Royal Caribbean may make itinerary changes under such circumstances, he said.

"We could not knowingly sail into a predicted hurricane," Sheehan said.

"Similarly, because of our desire to avoid sailing our guests through rough seas created by the storm along the US East Coast, the cruise was redirected to ports of call in Canada."

Shares of Royal Caribbean rose $2.09, or 5.9 percent, to $37.51 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The stock has dropped 17 percent this year.

The weather in Canada was colder than Bermuda and rainy, the lawsuit said. Passengers weren't able to use the pool and other outdoor facilities on the ship and couldn't go golfing, scuba diving or to the beach in Bermuda, New Jersey said. The ship sailed to St. John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. was launched in 1999 and features an ice-skating rink, rock-climbing wall and nine-hole miniature golf course.

The lawsuit was filed in State Superior Court in Hudson County.