Vanessa Phillips confronted an alleged scammer aboard a Caribbean cruise after paying him nearly $1,100 for a trip he never booked her on.
Phillips, a Louisiana woman, had connected with Armonte Domious Wilson after meeting him on a cruise in December 2025. The two planned to sail together on the MSC Seascape’s seven-day Western Caribbean voyage from Galveston, Texas, departing Aug. 30 and returning Sept. 6. Wilson asked Phillips for $1,100 to secure her spot on the luxury megaship, she claimed.
Communication went dark as the sailing date approached. Phillips discovered Wilson had spent just $524 on his own cruise ticket and removed her from the reservation entirely, she alleged. Rather than stay home, she purchased a separate ticket with what she described as the “intention to get him to confess.”
The confrontation unfolded Sept. 5 in a video Phillips posted to Facebook. She found Wilson seated in a jacuzzi aboard the vessel.
“You thought I wasn’t going to get on here? You took my $1,100. You thought I wasn’t going to make it? Where my money at?” Phillips scolded him.
Wilson initially claimed he had her money, but when Phillips pressed whether he carried it on him, he admitted he did not.
“It’s OK for you to take my $1,100 and you on a cruise … Where’s my money?” Phillips continued.
Wilson then shifted his position, denying he took her money at all and insisting he had not removed her from the reservation. He called ship security as Phillips followed him away from the jacuzzi.
In a Facebook message accompanying the video, Phillips detailed the elaborate setup she now believes was fabricated. “I reached out to [him] and we made plans, plans that included a FAKE itinerary, FAKE AGENT BOOKING NUMBERS, INVOICES and payments sent totaling near $1100,” she wrote.
The MSC Seascape, recently awarded Forbes’ “Best Cruise for Families Overall,” runs packages starting at $524 per person — less than half what Phillips claimed she paid Wilson for her spot.
Wilson fired back on Instagram Tuesday, denying any scam attempt. He offered a different explanation for Phillips’s exclusion from the booking.
“Please consider the facts and documentation provided rather than relying solely on portions of the live conversation,” he wrote.
Wilson claimed he removed Phillips only after learning she had allegedly disputed Venmo payments sent to him. “Regarding the money that was sent, the transactions have been disputed through Venmo,” he continued. “I understand that Venmo may ultimately rule in her favor because I was unable to respond within the required timeframe.”
He added that he now awaits the payment platform’s resolution: “At this point, I am waiting to see how that process is resolved.”
The Western Caribbean itinerary Phillips and Wilson had planned to share together would have taken them from Texas to Mexico and Honduras before returning to Galveston.
MSC Seascape’s seven-day cruises from Galveston continue operating regularly through the fall season.