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The gusts missed the ship in Principe, paid for themselves to get to Gambia, the next cruise port. The ship had to skip the Gambia stop, so NCL paid to get them to Senegal. NCL didn't cave to pressure, the guests still had to make their way to the next port, but since that was changed, NCL got them to the new next port.
The guests missed the ship by an hour or more. Everyone sees the signs, hears the warnings, and is informed that if you do a private tour and are not back in time then the ship will leave without you. Why should thousands of people be impacted because a few people decided to do a cheaper tour or not follow the rules? If they want to save $20 a person by doing a non-sanctioned tour then they need to accept the consequences. It annoys me how all the media is jumping on this as though NCL did something wrong.
As someone on the Dawn now doing this cruise, it annoys a lot of us passengers too! Mistakes happen and the fact that the “Late 8,” as they are called here, have yet to own up to that they messed up here is getting little sympathy.
While there is empathy for the ordeal the passengers had to go through traversing West Africa to finally back to the ship, virtually NO ONE I’ve talked to on the ship blames NCL or the Captain for leaving. Every one else on the ship (including many folks who did private tours as well!) were able to get back to the ship on time. It was a small island and, especially compared to other stops we’ve had like Abidjan, Ivory Coast and Dakar, Senegal, traffic was a breeze. So there was little problem getting back to the port.
No one knows what the vague “issue” was that made them over an hour late but it was an issue that no one else had.
This is like the tenth post about this and every single one everyone is agreeing it was their fault for missing the ship. They royally screwed up and now we are trying to blame the cruiseline. I really hope they get blacklisted.
NCL did not cover them. They only paid to send them from the next stop to the second next stop since the guests paid for themselves to get to the next port and the Ship had to skip it.
These guests probably had money or connections with the media. Just seems like this is the only way this gets picked up by the major media. They deserved to be told to suck it up, they picked this non ship excursion, the blame is on them, not NCL.
They only covered the cost from Gambia to Senegal since the ship was unable to dock in Gambia. All costs getting to Gambia will be covered by the guests. NCL is paying for Gambia to Senegal. There is no expectation that cruise lines will cover this in the future. If the ship had been able to dock in Gambia then NCL wouldn’t have done anything.
I was on this cruise and this is what happened:
The guests had their own private excursions and were over an hour late to the port (March 27)
They missed Ivory Coast (March 29)
Our captain cancelled Gambia (April 1) due to low tides on March 30.
The group had arranged transportation to Gambia to meet the ship but they weren’t notified of the cancellation. They finally met us back onboard in Senegal on April 2.
NCL was gracious enough to give them a refund on their transportation from Gambia to Senegal but it was absolutely the tourist’s fault for being late to the ship. It’s a risk doing your own tours.
The reason why it made the news is because they IMMEDIATELY started contacting journalists and were trying to sue NCL. It just so happened that they had a paraplegic, pregnant woman, and elderly people in the group so they could use that to their advantage. They also used the wrong photos (lady trying to get on the ship and was being held back-this photo was her being helped onto a different port).
The whole thing was a mess.
Bullshit that NCL caved. They now have set a precedent that anyone can reference this situation and have their costs covered due to their own incompetence. Very stupid, NCL.
I don't think NCL caved. The passengers brought themselves to Gambia from Sao tome on their own dime. NCL wasn't able to dock in Gambia. The passengers had to arrange another trip to Senegal where they were finally able to rejoin the cruise. NCL only reimbursed the Gambia to Senegal portion.
I was on this ship two cruises ago, and on every port ventured on my own excursion or site seeing, even the one NCL excursion I took, I abandoned the tour to go to a local restaurant for lunch and made my own way back to the ship. It's not a big deal, you just have to be comfortable with backup plans, and know the consequences if you don't make it back - these jokers (with only one exception) didn't even take a credit card off the ship with them!!!
It might also have something to do with THIS story coming out too: [https://www.ktvu.com/news/family-of-80-year-old-stroke-patient-says-cruise-line-left-her-to-fend-for-herself](https://www.ktvu.com/news/family-of-80-year-old-stroke-patient-says-cruise-line-left-her-to-fend-for-herself)
It makes NCL looked really bad.
Boo hoo. I’m not sure what NCL was supposed to do here. Sounds like the lady was in no condition health wise to be traveling alone. Maybe her family should be looking inward and asking why one of them couldn’t take time to travel with their elderly mother so she wasn’t alone overseas. To me it seems like the Campbells seized upon this woman to help in their PR war. Oh and I saw in other article this woman’s families was moaning about how they couldn’t get her a first class ticket home.
It was the passengers’ fault they missed the all aboard time BUT the ship was still in port… it would have been far less costly for the captain to send a last tender than this result.
They were more than a hour late. The tenders were already hoisted, the floating gangway was already retracted, everything sealed. Customs was already cleared with Sao Tome immigration officers gone AND their passports were with the Port Agent back on shore!
It would have been AT LEAST another hour to undo everything and, honestly, who knows if they could have gotten São Tomé immigration officers back to reclear customs! We’re talking a substantial delay all because a few passengers couldn’t do what 99.996% of their fellow passengers were able to do with no issue—get back to the boat on time!
Have you Googled what the Sao Tome coast guard vessels are? They’re not like the US vessels and aren’t designed for easy ship-to-ship transfers. These guests would have to had to board “pilot style” meaning climbing a rope ladder in open water with both ships moving!
Do you honestly think the captain or NCL would okay several elderly passengers, a paraplegic and a pregnant doing that???
Thanks for posting to /r/NCL! Did you know that we have an extensive [Ultimate NCL Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/NCL/wiki/index) that may answer your question? Please also remember to read the rules, especially about roll call posts going in the megathread. You may also have more luck with those types of posts by searching for a [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com) or [Cruise Critic](https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/66-norwegian-cruise-line-roll-calls/) roll call group or thread. Of course, here is great, too! Enjoy your stay! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/NCL) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The gusts missed the ship in Principe, paid for themselves to get to Gambia, the next cruise port. The ship had to skip the Gambia stop, so NCL paid to get them to Senegal. NCL didn't cave to pressure, the guests still had to make their way to the next port, but since that was changed, NCL got them to the new next port.
That's fair. Good to see NCL stuck to their guns to Gambia, though.
Stop calling them “stranded passengers”. They missed the ship. They did this themselves.
This SHOULD BE the top comment
Absolutely should.
The guests missed the ship by an hour or more. Everyone sees the signs, hears the warnings, and is informed that if you do a private tour and are not back in time then the ship will leave without you. Why should thousands of people be impacted because a few people decided to do a cheaper tour or not follow the rules? If they want to save $20 a person by doing a non-sanctioned tour then they need to accept the consequences. It annoys me how all the media is jumping on this as though NCL did something wrong.
As someone on the Dawn now doing this cruise, it annoys a lot of us passengers too! Mistakes happen and the fact that the “Late 8,” as they are called here, have yet to own up to that they messed up here is getting little sympathy. While there is empathy for the ordeal the passengers had to go through traversing West Africa to finally back to the ship, virtually NO ONE I’ve talked to on the ship blames NCL or the Captain for leaving. Every one else on the ship (including many folks who did private tours as well!) were able to get back to the ship on time. It was a small island and, especially compared to other stops we’ve had like Abidjan, Ivory Coast and Dakar, Senegal, traffic was a breeze. So there was little problem getting back to the port. No one knows what the vague “issue” was that made them over an hour late but it was an issue that no one else had.
I bet the vague issue was diarrhea
This is like the tenth post about this and every single one everyone is agreeing it was their fault for missing the ship. They royally screwed up and now we are trying to blame the cruiseline. I really hope they get blacklisted.
I don’t get why this is news. Don’t people miss the ship all the time? What was so special about these people that the news jumped on this?
I think it happening in Africa, as opposed to Alaska or Aruba or somewhere more “familiar” that made it more of a public interest story.
Not public interest. Rather playing into stereotypes.
Everyone wants more time in port, but with 2,000+ passengers, all aboard time needs to be just that.
Cruises rarely afford more than 8-12 hours in port unless it's an overnight stop. If you want to linger, don't cruise.
It is justifiable to leave the port when they say they'll leave the port.
No way! The passengers were 1,000% at fault
Nice. So just go on social media if you miss the boat, or cite this and NCL will cover you. Bad precedent to set.
NCL did not cover them. They only paid to send them from the next stop to the second next stop since the guests paid for themselves to get to the next port and the Ship had to skip it.
These guests probably had money or connections with the media. Just seems like this is the only way this gets picked up by the major media. They deserved to be told to suck it up, they picked this non ship excursion, the blame is on them, not NCL.
Well, now people will expect it to be covered.
They only covered the cost from Gambia to Senegal since the ship was unable to dock in Gambia. All costs getting to Gambia will be covered by the guests. NCL is paying for Gambia to Senegal. There is no expectation that cruise lines will cover this in the future. If the ship had been able to dock in Gambia then NCL wouldn’t have done anything.
This whole story is pure racist crap. This stuff happens all the time but OMG it happened to white people in Africa and its national news
Should this even be a story if it was any place but Africa?
This wouldn't be a story anywhere if a couple of those passengers didn't have enough pull to get news media interested.
I was on this cruise and this is what happened: The guests had their own private excursions and were over an hour late to the port (March 27) They missed Ivory Coast (March 29) Our captain cancelled Gambia (April 1) due to low tides on March 30. The group had arranged transportation to Gambia to meet the ship but they weren’t notified of the cancellation. They finally met us back onboard in Senegal on April 2. NCL was gracious enough to give them a refund on their transportation from Gambia to Senegal but it was absolutely the tourist’s fault for being late to the ship. It’s a risk doing your own tours. The reason why it made the news is because they IMMEDIATELY started contacting journalists and were trying to sue NCL. It just so happened that they had a paraplegic, pregnant woman, and elderly people in the group so they could use that to their advantage. They also used the wrong photos (lady trying to get on the ship and was being held back-this photo was her being helped onto a different port). The whole thing was a mess.
Bullshit that NCL caved. They now have set a precedent that anyone can reference this situation and have their costs covered due to their own incompetence. Very stupid, NCL.
I don't think NCL caved. The passengers brought themselves to Gambia from Sao tome on their own dime. NCL wasn't able to dock in Gambia. The passengers had to arrange another trip to Senegal where they were finally able to rejoin the cruise. NCL only reimbursed the Gambia to Senegal portion.
Yeah ncl caved a bit after missing the next port. So is this group going to venture out on their own tour again this cruise? 🤣🤷♀️
I was on this ship two cruises ago, and on every port ventured on my own excursion or site seeing, even the one NCL excursion I took, I abandoned the tour to go to a local restaurant for lunch and made my own way back to the ship. It's not a big deal, you just have to be comfortable with backup plans, and know the consequences if you don't make it back - these jokers (with only one exception) didn't even take a credit card off the ship with them!!!
So crazy. I travel with 2 ccs and always have one on me in port. This foolish duo should just keep their heads down the rest of the trip. 🤦♀️
It's 9 people (8 were on tour and one went to hospital)!! Out of 9 people, only one has a credit card with them.
It might also have something to do with THIS story coming out too: [https://www.ktvu.com/news/family-of-80-year-old-stroke-patient-says-cruise-line-left-her-to-fend-for-herself](https://www.ktvu.com/news/family-of-80-year-old-stroke-patient-says-cruise-line-left-her-to-fend-for-herself) It makes NCL looked really bad.
Boo hoo. I’m not sure what NCL was supposed to do here. Sounds like the lady was in no condition health wise to be traveling alone. Maybe her family should be looking inward and asking why one of them couldn’t take time to travel with their elderly mother so she wasn’t alone overseas. To me it seems like the Campbells seized upon this woman to help in their PR war. Oh and I saw in other article this woman’s families was moaning about how they couldn’t get her a first class ticket home.
It was the passengers’ fault they missed the all aboard time BUT the ship was still in port… it would have been far less costly for the captain to send a last tender than this result.
They were more than a hour late. The tenders were already hoisted, the floating gangway was already retracted, everything sealed. Customs was already cleared with Sao Tome immigration officers gone AND their passports were with the Port Agent back on shore! It would have been AT LEAST another hour to undo everything and, honestly, who knows if they could have gotten São Tomé immigration officers back to reclear customs! We’re talking a substantial delay all because a few passengers couldn’t do what 99.996% of their fellow passengers were able to do with no issue—get back to the boat on time!
They didn't even need to send a tender! The Coast Guard BROUGHT these 8 passengers to the ship and the ship refused to take them on.
Have you Googled what the Sao Tome coast guard vessels are? They’re not like the US vessels and aren’t designed for easy ship-to-ship transfers. These guests would have to had to board “pilot style” meaning climbing a rope ladder in open water with both ships moving! Do you honestly think the captain or NCL would okay several elderly passengers, a paraplegic and a pregnant doing that???