Among a group of nine guests, two Australians have claimed that a cruise line completely abandoned them on an African island without any credit cards, medication, or means of communication after they returned late to their ship. This makes the nine-month cruise incident seem mild in comparison.
The group, which includes a pregnant woman, four elderly individuals, and a person who is paraplegic, is desperately trying to make their way across the continent in an effort to rejoin the Norwegian Cruise Lines ship, after being left behind at São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea.
According to Jill and Jay Campbell — two Americans accompanying the Australian guests — the delay in returning to the Norwegian Dawn from their day excursion was not their fault, as their tour guides had assured them they would be back in time.
“They were like: ‘No problem, we can get you back [to the ship] within an hour,’” Jay shared with ABC 4 News South Carolina.
Jay explained that his group contacted the ship to inform the crew they were running late and were relieved to see the ship still anchored offshore upon their return — yet, they were inexplicably denied boarding.
“The harbour master attempted to contact the ship, but the captain refused the call,” Jay stated.
“We sent emails to NCL (Norwegian Cruise Line), and the NCL customer service emergency number, but they responded, ‘Well, the only way for us to reach the ship is through emails, and they’re not replying to our emails.’”
Jay mentioned that the island’s coast guard even took them on a boat directly to the cruise ship to facilitate their return, only for the crew to deny them entry once again.
Upon returning to the island, Jay and Jill discovered an 80-year-old fellow traveler who had also been abandoned. She had briefly been hospitalized following an incident during the tour and alleges that Norwegian Cruise Lines did not contact her emergency number, instead leaving her stranded on the island without her belongings, including her money and medication.
The others left behind also claim they were not given any of their possessions — only their passports. With Jay and Jill being the only ones who had their money on them, they have been covering the costs for the entire group's accommodation and travel.
The couple further asserted that the cruise line has not communicated with them, leaving them to manage on their own.
However, Norwegian Cruise Lines disputes this.
“When the guests did not return to the vessel at the all aboard time, their passports were handed over to the local port agents for retrieval upon their return to the port,” the company stated.
“While this is indeed a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the scheduled time, which is clearly communicated over the ship’s intercom, in the daily announcements, and posted just before disembarkation.”
The company maintains that contrary to the Campbells’ claims, it is in communication with them and is also collaborating with local authorities to assist them in obtaining visas and other necessary documents to travel across the continent and return to the ship.
Ultimately, the company stands by its actions — if you’re late, it seems the responsibility lies with you.
