NCL passengers left in Africa highlight value of cruise line excursions
A group of eight cruise passengers were stranded in the African island nation of Sao Tome and Príncipe after their independant shore excursion arrived late at the port. The group of US and Australian passengers, which includes a pregnant woman and a paraplegic guest, booked a private shore excursion in Sao Tome when the ship docked on March 27th, and did not make it back to the port in time for departure.
The passengers were cruising aboard Norwegian Dawn on her 21-day respositioning voyage to Barcelona following her South African cruise season out of Cape Town. The travellers say they now do not have access to prescription medicine, credit cards or luggage, all of which are still in their cabins aboard Norwegian Dawn.
Due to local maritime regulations, the port call in Sao Tome had a strict cut-off of 3pm, for a 5pm departure, and although the passengers had advised their guide of the tight schedule, he did not return them to the port in time.
Norwegian Dawn was unable to berth in Sao Tome, so guests had to return using small boat tenders. However, they could not get a reply from the ship’s captain. “We sent emails to NCL, the NCL customer service emergency number, they said ‘Well, the only way for us to get in touch with the ship is to send them emails, they’re not responding to our emails’,” said Jay Campbell, who was joining the cruise from South Carolina with wife Jill.
The group managed to get the Sao Tomean coastguard to take them out to where the ship was anchored, but they were refused permission to embark. One of the passengers in the group was later flown back to the US with assistance of the American Embassy in Angola, according to WMBC news, while the remaining passengers tried to rejoin the ship at the next port of call.
The passengers did have passports with them, but little else. The Campbells, who had bank cards, told ABC they had spent over $7500 on accommodation, food and onward travel for the group.
As of Tuesday morning, they were still scrambling to catch up with the ship, because Norwegian Dawn was unable to dock in Banjul, Gambia due to bad weather.
Norwegian Cruise Line says it has been in contact with affected passengers.
“When the guests did not return to the vessel at the all-aboard time, their passports were delivered to the local port agents to retrieve when they returned to the port,” the cruise line said.
“While this is a very unfortunate situation, 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,” it added.
The incident highlights the fact that guests who choose to do independent sightseeing booked with a third-party guide are at far greater risk of missing their ship when they face delays returning to the port.
Cruise line will almost always delay a scheduled sailing time for a delayed shore excursion organised through the company, but they will not do so for independant tours.
