Dawn passengers left “stranded” on African island

[ppcox]

We’ve been on many private excursions but always with a back to ship guarantee. That means the tour operator pays to get you to the next port if you miss the ship. In reality we are always back with plenty of time to spare. No way I would take a tour without that guarantee, especially in an island not so familiar with cruise ships. 

[Asawi]

Let me see if I understand this right...

 

They book an excursion that NCL doesn't get a cent from.

The excursion runs late. Not because of some unforseen happening, but basically from nonchalance.

They trust (?) the tour guide when he says he'll contact the ship. Even though he also said he'd get them there in time and that wasn't right.

They arrive way too late for the last tender. If their passports have been delivered to port authorities already we're not talking 5-10 minutes.

 

So NCL is the bad guy here?????

 

I'm guessing at this point the tender platform was put away and the life boat back in its position and crew doing their other duties. If that was the case (we don't know if it was), would it really be reasonable to expect all of that being overturned? I don't think so, but that's just my opinion.

 

So the coast guard arrives with these 8 people, a couple of them with mobility issues. How would they get onboard the ship? Pilot style? Fully understandable if the captain wasn't going to risk that! Imagine if something had gone wrong during an operation like that!

 

But yeah, NCL is the bad guy here...

Edited March 31 by Asawi

[Ashlynkat]

I am currently on this cruise and while I don’t know any detail about the 80 year old woman who apparently got injured on an NCL tour. From our balcony, I did see a few tenders running slightly past our 3:30pm all aboard time. (3pm was technically the last tender and it was ~15-20 minute journey from dock to ship)

 

In hindsight, one was apparently carrying their passports and it was a little after 4pm (our scheduled departure time) before it seemed like they had all the tender boats reloaded with floating gangway and everything else put away. 

Didn’t see the coast guard vessel (or at least something I recognized as a coast guard vessel). I don’t remember the exact time we pulled away but it was definitely later than 4pm but not too much later. Maybe 4:15?  
 

Compared to Abidjan, Ivory Coast (our next port after São Tomé), traffic on São Tomé was a breeze so that wouldn’t have held them up. It’s a small island so getting to and from the port wasn’t that difficult. I think the theories about the tour operator operating on “island time” and not taking seriously the all aboard deadline is likely true. 
 

Unfortunately we just found out yesterday that our stop in Banjul, Gambia is canceled because of adverse tidal conditions at the port. So this group will need to find a way to Dakar, Senegal to meet back up.
 

Dreadful situation and while many folks on this cruise have done private tours with no issues getting back to the ship, this definitely highlights the risks of booking those tours in new ports that aren’t use to cruise ship operations! 

Edited March 31 by Ashlynkat
Adding details with times I remember

[Asawi]

30 minutes ago, Ashlynkat said:

I am currently on this cruise

Thank you very much for your input! Answers at least a little bit of questions the rest of us may have.

[pete_coach]

Google "Pier Runners". There are hundreds of YouTube videos of folks missing the boat.

They all have their own sad story

I do not blame NCL at all. Ya pay your dollar and take your chances.

[Georgia_Peaches]

The story claims the coast guard took them to meet the ship and that the passengers were refused. This just doesn’t sound right. If true, why would the Captain refuse the passengers while still in port?

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, Asawi said:

So the coast guard arrives with these 8 people, a couple of them with mobility issues. How would they get onboard the ship? Pilot style? Fully understandable if the captain wasn't going to risk that! Imagine if something had gone wrong during an operation like that!

Excellent point and would certainly answer my question as to why the captain wouldn’t let them board. 

[BirdTravels]

13 hours ago, CynCyn said:

In all of this the thing that bothers me is the 80 year old lady who was dumped at the clinic and left on her own!!!

She was not “dumped”. Her medical condition, whatever it was, could not be safely treated on board. And for HER safety and wellbeing, she was medically evacuated to a shore side medical facility. At that point, her travel insurance needs to handle her transport. 

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, luv2kroooz said:

The devil's in the details and the details really don't matter, at this point.

 

The general public reads and concludes that big corporation NCL abandons guests in Africa. A paraplegic, a pregnant woman, a heart condition, a concussion, all abandoned by NCL without prescriptions etc. NCL refuses to help....yada, yada yada. The public (outside of cruisecritic) concludes NCL is bad.

 

If NCL had an opportunity to get these people on board, it should have done so. The article implies that it did, but who knows. If it did not, then so be it.

 

NCL to date has not disputed the story.....

 

What story??? The only story is that the stranded passengers failed to return to the ship on time and were left behind. There is no other story. The rest is sensationalize click-bait. 

Edited March 31 by BirdTravels

[Georgia_Peaches]

9 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The only story is that the stranded passengers failed to return to the ship on time and were left behind.

I think the ship's refusal to let the passengers board when brought by the Coast Guard is definitely part of the story.  The reasons for refusing them, while likely legitimate, could go a long way in the PR damage control @luv2kroooz references in his post.

[graphicguy]

37 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I think the ship's refusal to let the passengers board when brought by the Coast Guard is definitely part of the story.  The reasons for refusing them, while likely legitimate, could go a long way in the PR damage control @luv2kroooz references in his post.

That said, why acknowledge the story if it has no legitimacy.

 

Heck, anyone can say anything all the time about any cruise line.  I can't see them responding to them.  Why give the story any ink?

[organist65]

I, too am on this cruise. I had no idea about any of this until reading it just now. I'm having a great time, dancing up a storm in the evening, enjoying my breakfasts at O'Sheehans, looking out my balcony to the wide open seas + The only major disappointment for me is that we're not able to visit Gambia. I did my research for this cruise. I took an NCL excursion for Sao Tome. I purchased insurance. 

[Barb Nahoumi]

23 hours ago, Two Wheels Only said:

"...eight guests who were on the island on their own or with a private tour missed the last tender back to the vessel,..."

 

I've taken excursions that were booked through the cruise line.

I've taken excursions that were not booked through the cruise line.

 

I've been late returning to the ship while on a cruise line's excursion.

I've never been late returning to the ship while on a "non cruise line's" excursion. 

 

If an over-priced cruise line's excursion comes with the assurance that the ship will wait (up to a point) if I am late, I'll pay the extra...especially since I can use OBC to pay. 

We only book the ship's excursions for this very reason.  However, since the passengers were driven back to the ship while it was still there, the captain should have let them reboard.  

[Barb Nahoumi]

Please keep us informed as to whether the passengers were able to reboard the ship at the next port.

[www3traveler]

10 minutes ago, Barb Nahoumi said:

Please keep us informed as to whether the passengers were able to reboard the ship at the next port.

Will still be a couple of days before they reach Dakar, Senegal, since they are not going to Gambia tomorrow.

As I understand it, the ship was out in the bay and they were using the lifeboats as tenders.  The lifeboats had been brought on board and stored.  The boarding platform and ladder had been secured.  The only way to have boarded at point would have been through the hatch like a Harbor Pilot jumping from the ship to the Pilot boat.  Much Much to dangerous for passengers to try.  Imagine the screams if someone had fallen into the ocean and died because they could NOT make the jump. 

[julig22]

11 minutes ago, Barb Nahoumi said:

 However, since the passengers were driven back to the ship while it was still there, the captain should have let them reboard.  

Why?  Have you ever seen how boarding a ship at sea works after the platforms used for the tenders have been pulled up and stowed? No way would those passengers have been physically able to board the ship. And there is the question of the ship manifest, passports, etc.

Lots of stories of pier runners being left behind - just because the ship is still there doesn't mean boarding is possible for any number of reasons. 

The Port Pilot Boarding a Cruise Ship (cruisedeals.expert)

[PATRLR]

17 hours ago, icft said:

IOne thing I would point out is that if the local coast guard did take them out to the ship then of course the ship would not take them. Their passports had been turned over to the local shipping agent and were with the agent on shore. 

Why wouldn't the port agent have handed over the passports if they were indeed being brought back to the boat?  (Not that I believe they were.  I suspect the CG offered to bring them out and the ship said "no")

[BABAZ]

There is no one to blame here but themselves. They knew the risks, they rolled the dice, and they lost. Has nothing to do with NCL.

[floridafish]

Have you ever tried boarding a flight within 15 minutes of pushback? Once those gate doors are closed you can't board. Same principle. 

[MrsTocko]

For all of those that are saying they should have been allowed to board...look at it another way.  you go to a store named NCL Dawn.  It is now 5pm, and you have just arrived. Store closed at 4pm (all aboard time), but the employees of store are still there doing closing procedures (still in harbor). Should they reopen for you? or should they tell you to comeback when they are open again (next port)?  NCL Dawn was there and open for you until closing time. You got there late. whether it was traffic delay, or poor time management, it is not the store's responsibility at this point.

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, Barb Nahoumi said:

We only book the ship's excursions for this very reason.  However, since the passengers were driven back to the ship while it was still there, the captain should have let them reboard.  

You do realize that a harbor pilot had a 1 in 20 percent of dying every time he boards a ship? Very highly paid job, but extremely dangerous. 

[icft]

37 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

Why wouldn't the port agent have handed over the passports if they were indeed being brought back to the boat?  (Not that I believe they were.  I suspect the CG offered to bring them out and the ship said "no")

In the story the folks never mentioned the port agent. It is not like everyone on the island was sitting around a table trying to figure out how to get them back aboard. I suspect (guess) the port agent received the passports and the passports sat there waiting for the passengers to come get them. The passengers didn't show up. The port agent probably had no idea what the passengers or the coast guard were up to.

 

While they describe emailing NCL they never mention the on-the-spot port agent. I have always been amazed at the number of experienced cruisers who have no idea the port agent exists. On cruises on which you keep your passport most folks don't seem to know that if you are late to the ship then ship personnel will enter your cabin and search for your passport and turn it over to the port agent to facilitate your necessary travels. 

 

So I don't think the port agent had any idea what these folks were up to. 

[PATRLR]

6 minutes ago, icft said:

The passengers didn't show up. The port agent probably had no idea what the passengers or the coast guard were up to.

I would be shocked if the PA wasn't involved here.   I would be shocked if the CG got involved without the PA's involvement.  

But as you said, no one mentions the PA, so, we don't know. 

[dexddd]

16 hours ago, EPM said:

This wasn't a normal run in the mill cruise. They were on the reposition world cruise, which is literally traveling to ports ncl has never been to. 

This should have been an exception to the rule. It's not like they were in Nassau and could easily catch a flight. They are on a random island in West Africa. 

Yes, they should follow the rules. But there are always extenuating circumstances. 

This should have been one. 

 

 

Welcome to CC.  Meow.

[julig22]

1 minute ago, PATRLR said:

I would be shocked if the PA wasn't involved here.   I would be shocked if the CG got involved without the PA's involvement.  

But as you said, no one mentions the PA, so, we don't know. 

I would be shocked to learn that the CG actually got involved at all. Anything is possible I suppose but I have my doubts LOL.

Yes, I know the articles say the coast guard was involved but the reporters weren't there and the "facts" as relayed by the "abandoned" couple seem to have been creatively presented to sensationalize the incident, in favor of the "abandoned" passengers.