Eight unlucky tourists were forced to add some unexpected stops to their vacation when they became stranded on a Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) ship off the west coast of Africa, turning their dream getaway into a travel nightmare.
The group – which included a pregnant woman, four elderly people and a person suffering from a heart condition – was stranded in Sao Tome and Principe without any credit cards or medication. They failed to return to the Norwegian Dawn ship by its 3pm departure time on Wednesday, and said the cruise ship refused to answer their calls for help as they crossed the international border and tried to catch up.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to us before,” passenger Jill Campbell said. Worral.
Campbell and her husband, Jay, told US media that the Dawn was still docked when passengers arrived after the deadline. But to their dismay, the cruise personnel refused to allow the group to board the ship and ignored their calls.
Jay Campbell said: “The port captain tried to contact the ship, but the captain refused to contact.” ABC4 News. He described a frustrating conversation with NCL customer service that left him running around in circles trying to contact someone.
“We sent emails to NCL, NCL's customer service emergency number, and they said, 'Well, the only way for us to contact the ship is to email them, they're not responding to our emails,'” Campbell said. .
Campbell said they were transferred to the cruise ship by speedboat, thanks to the island's coast guard, but they refused to re-enter. Cruise personnel returned their passports to the dock but kept any credit cards, medications and other necessities left on the ship.
Back on the island, the group encounters another abandoned cruise passenger, an 80-year-old woman who was hospitalized and then left without money when the ship took off without her. Fortunately, the group helped the 80-year-old on his return trip to the United States, while the rest of the group appealed to the US Embassy in neighboring Angola to figure out how to reunite them with the ship.
On Sunday, the passengers traveled to Gambia in the hope of catching Norwegian Dawn in port. But the ship never reached a port in Gambia, where low tide prevented it from docking, and instead sailed towards neighboring Senegal, where passengers would try to catch it again.
In response, Norwegian Cruise Line described the situation as “unfortunate” but shifted responsibility to passengers for missing the departure deadline.
“Guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the announced time,” they said in a statement. statementAdding that the departure time was “widely advertised” throughout the ship. “Guests will bear any travel costs necessary to join the ship at the next available port of call.”
The cruise line also said it was coordinating with “local authorities” to understand what guests would need if they returned to the ship, and that it was “in contact with guests.”
This statement contradicts what the Campbell family told the American media. As of Sunday, they are He said They have not heard back from the cruise line.
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