Eight Norwegian Cruise passengers, including a pregnant woman and an elderly man with a heart condition, claim they have been stranded on an African island without money and vital medications after the vessel left port without them.
Jill and Jay Campbell, from South Carolina, said they are stuck on the Central African island of São Tomé with four other American and two Australian passengers after the captain of the ship allegedly refused to let them reboard, according to WMBF.
But a spokesperson for the cruise line claimed the passengers were left on the island “on their own or with a private tour” and missed the “all-aboard time.”
“Guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship’s intercom, in the daily communication and posted just before exiting the vessel,” the spokesperson said.
The Campbells acknowledged there was “an issue” on their tour of the island, and the guide “didn’t get us back” to the ship in time on Friday.
“We were like, our time is getting really short, and they were like ‘No problem, we can get you back within an hour,” Jay recounted telling the tour guide.
He said the tour operator then contacted the cruise ship captain to let them know they would be late.
When they reached the port, Campbell said the ship was still anchored, and the island’s Coast Guard took them on a boat to a ship in order to get back onboard.
The captain then allegedly refused to let them board.
In its updated statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for Norwegian said they are “in communication with the guests” and have been working “closely with the local authorities to understand the requirements and necessary visas needed if the guests were to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call.”The Post has also reached out to Norwegian Cruise Lines for comment.“The captain could have made an easy decision to turn one of the tender boats back, pick us up, safely load us and then go on the way,” Campbell said.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
Should the cruise line have a responsibility to ensure all passengers, regardless of circumstances, are safely aboard before departing?
@9L8RGSF2mos2MO
People pay lots of money to go on cruises so they should never be forgotten.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
@F3deralistAndyVeteran2mos2MO
This was a private tour not booked through cruise ship. And that's the big chance you take when doing that - yes, cheaper but you're on you're on your own if something happens on that private tour and you don't make it back on the ship on time. This is really unfortunate and it sounded like a trip of a lifetime but if you know you're travelling with people with medical issues, elderly, not to mention you're thousands of miles away from home, and seriously, you paid for a 21 day cruise, you could have sprung that extra cash for an on-board tour.
@LovesickPretzelsForward2mos2MO
This was the first thing I thought about - where they booked the tour from. They were probably trying to save a couple of bucks without realizing the implications.
I've taken two cruises before with family, and even we knew why we should book any tours directly through the cruise. In fact, there was one time where the Norwegian cruise line had to wait, because their own tour was late.
Edit: Taken directly off the net - If a ship-sponsored excursion is late returning to port for some reason, the ship will either wait for you, or the line will take financial and logistical responsibility for getting you to a subsequent port of call to meet up with your ship
I’ve been on ships when a dozen or so people do not return on time. We watch from our balcony as people who return casually walk toward the ship, not even running. This is while the captain and the rest of the crew paces back-and-forth because we are now going to be around about an hour late to get to our next destination. People take private tours to save money, so I guess their money saving tactic didn’t work out for them this time. they have no one to blame but themselves certainly not the ship. Too bad so sad.
@MinorityClamDemocrat2mos2MO
I was a tour guide for 15 years, taking people from Florida to the Bahamas. I made it a point to say, (and also gave them a printed schedule along with my verbal warning) "If you are not back in time, we will assume you want to stay." I also gave them an estimate of what it would cost for them to find their way back to Florida if they missed the boat. In 15 years, I never had a passenger miss their cast-off time!
And yes, I also sold tours to the island, but I personally inspected each tour and only sold those that were legit. I also warned people about booking tours with an unautho… Read more
@FluentElectoralNo Labels2mos2MO
I can see if they missed the boat completely. But they were brought to the boat by the coast guard and the Capt refused to let them board. That is a different story. Add extra to the bill or something. But that was a conscience decision to stick it to these people. Stories like this reinforces why I would NEVER want to go on a cruise. You are at their mercy.
@L3ftLeaningPandaDemocrat2mos2MO
It's likely that the captain refused for liability reasons. Boarding a ship at sea from a smaller vessel pulled alongside would pose the danger of injuries that he wouldn't want to be responsible for. Also, the passengers passports had already been retrieved from their cabins and left with the port agent on shore.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
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