Cruise Passengers Stranded In Africa After Missing “All-Aboard”
Six Americans and two Australians were stranded on an African island after failing to return to their cruise ship on time. Worse still, even though the ship was still anchored when they arrived, the captain allegedly refused to let them on.
Jay and Jill Campbell of South Carolina were part of the group that was left behind. They said their tour’s operator notified the cruise captain that they were going to be late to rejoin the ship and the local Coast Guard tried to get them on the vessel, but they weren’t allowed to board. Campbell told the “Today” show: “We were able to get to a tour agency there to arrange flights to the next port of call … Very difficult process — you’re dealing with multiple languages, language barriers, you’re dealing with different currencies … finding someone that even has dollars … trying to get an agent to understand where we need to get to.”
A Norwegian spokesperson didn’t seem to have much sympathy for the situation saying, “guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time.”
