KITCHENER -- The government is urging any Canadians who are out of the country to come home as soon as they can, but for some it's not as simple as booking a flight.

A Waterloo Region couple is among 2,500 passengers stuck on Norwegian Jewel cruise ship after the ship was turned around from its initial destination.

"What was supposed to be a beautiful 25 day journey has turned into this nightmare,” said Melissa Balan whose parents are currently aboard the cruise ship.

Melissa Balan's parents boarded the cruise ship at the end of February destined for French Polynesia, but a few days ago the ship turned around and has since been denied docking at a minimum of four different ports.

"Folks on the boat are very ill-informed about what is happening to them. Friends and family on the outside are also very ill-informed. On top of that, the internet on the boat is very limited and very slow," said Balan.

Pam and Andrew McBride of Barrie are also on board and struggling to communicate with loved ones.

“They just told us that everyone needs to have a flight booked out of Fiji otherwise they won’t let us disembark in Fiji. So now we have 2500 people trying to use 14 computers with terrible internet in a mad panic trying to book flights,” said Pam and Andrew McBride, passengers on the Norwegian Jewel cruise ship.

Their daughter, Nikki, is also worried about the lack of communication from the company.

"Everything is up in the air, it’s definitely frustrating because they’re just floating around the pacific right now just trying to get home,” said Nikki Murphy whose parents are on the cruise ship.

Balan received a call back from a Norwegian cruise lines customer service rep Sunday, but that representative told her he had no knowledge of the situation and disconnected the call.

In a statement from Norwegian Cruise Line, the company says that they are working on finding a new place to disembark after a closure in Lautoka, Fiji.

“We are actively working to find an alternative port and are communicating with guests regularly as we have further information,” said a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line in an email to CTV News.

Family members say passengers have been told they may have to wait until March 23rd to port, exactly where is yet to be determined.