A group of Norwegian Cruise Line passengers was left behind after returning late to their ship in Africa.
Eight guests missed the last tender back to Norwegian Dawn while the ship was visiting the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson for the line. They were on a tour not organized through Norwegian.
Two guests, Jay and Jill Campbell, told South Carolina’s ABC 15 News their tour went longer than expected. When they returned, the ship was still in port, and the captain declined to let them board despite numerous attempts to reach Norwegian. At one point, they said, the island nation’s coast guard took them to the ship on a boat but told them to return to shore.
“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,” Jay Campbell told the outlet.
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“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, as per the regular protocol,” the Norwegian spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Our team has been working closely with the local authorities to understand the requirements and necessary visas needed for the guests to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call.”
Since then, the passengers have been scrambling to catch up to the cruise. Here’s…
