NCL leaves passengers behind in Africa

[DCLMP]

You're right. It is not that hard to be on time when you have been repeatedly told of the schedule, the accurate time so that watches and clocks can be synchronized/checked, and the impacts of not being on time.

Totally agree, but sometimes things happen outside of your control. I don't the whole story of what happened. Probably never will. Those of you that have never been late due to unforeseen events have really had a blessed life.

 

[SteveMouse]

Totally agree, but sometimes things happen outside of your control. I don't the whole story of what happened. Probably never will. Those of you that have never been late due to unforeseen events have really had a blessed life.

This incident doesn't look "unforeseen." It looks poorly planned.

I understand more than most about travel planning. My father was a sailing cruise ship captain. My mother was effectively the hotel director (everything from ordering ships' stores to customer service).

As an adult, I am now a full-time wheelchair user. I regularly sail out of Fort Lauderdale. I always have a primary and secondary ride set up to get me from my hotel to the ship if I did NOT get a transfer and/or hotel through the cruise line because the wheelchair-accessible taxis occasionally run late- like 4 hours late on scheduled pickups. Their lateness is not something that I can directly control. or is it something I expect the ship to cover.

I should add I know Fort Lauderdale exceedingly well, and the area around the port especially so. My home for 20 years- and my parents' for 50- was six blocks north of the Port. We used the US Post Office in the port at least once a month. My father's job took him inside the port regularly. We did business with tens or hundreds of companies in the area of the port. We were neighbors with the folks that created Alamo rent a car. My father was president or vice-president of the Marine Industries Association. Two of the city's mayors lived within three blocks of our house. Another neighbor owned one of the nicer hotels in town. Another friend managed Pier 66.

I will gladly take- and pay for- the ships' offering of transfers to the airport at the end of the voyage if they are wheelchair accessible (in the US, they have to be). I have confidence in the line to provide accessible transportation or make things right if they have a problem on their supply line- that's what I'm paying them for.

 

[Sykes]

Totally agree, but sometimes things happen outside of your control. I don't the whole story of what happened. Probably never will. Those of you that have never been late due to unforeseen events have really had a blessed life.

I'm not sure what new information would be helpful. They're the ones that went to the press and they're the ones that are trying to control the narrative here so we've heard their side of the story, as they chose to present it, straight from their mouths (with relatively little response from NCL). And they still look like entitled jerks.

 

[FreeTime]

Totally with you. It seems so crazy that a cruise ship would allow a minor to stay on while the guardian gets off. What if an emergency happens with the child and they have no way to contact the parent? Or vice versa? No way am I leaving my kid on the ship while I disembark.

How is this any different than leaving your minor with a babysitter, at a party, etc? You are giving the ship permission to treat them when you sign the waivers. You are also leaving an emergency contact on land for them. More than you are probably doing when you leave then with a friend.

 

[Mango7100]

How is this any different than leaving your minor with a babysitter, at a party, etc? You are giving the ship permission to treat them when you sign the waivers. You are also leaving an emergency contact on land for them. More than you are probably doing when you leave then with a friend.

Well I think there is a bit of a difference between leaving my child at my home with a babysitter I know or at a friends house I know in my town compared to leaving my child on a ship with hundreds of other kids with strangers in charge while I disembark in a foreign country where cell service may be unreliable. And, as this case shows, things happen and the ship can leave without you on it. So, no I don’t think it is at all like leaving your kid in your home with a babysitter, but that’s just me

And yes, when I have left my child with grandparents overnight I actually do write out a letter giving my parents permission to take them for medical care as well as our insurance card.

 

[mab2012]

How about getting to your airline gate after it has closed, and the plane is still there. That gate will not be opened.

Not really sure why I'm wading into this, but this happened to us a few years back, and yes, they opened the gate. We left for the airport in what should have been plenty of time, but it was one of those mornings when everything went wrong, including (among other things) a very long line at security and a ridiculously long line at customs (US pre-clearance). When my family finally made it to the gate, it was closed. The plane was still there. Another passenger came up just behind us. There was an airline employee heading down to the airplane who saw us arrive. The gate agent was in the process of rebooking us when the employee came back, stuck her head through the door, and said "the pilot says to let them board."

I think they figured it would take longer to pull our checked bags than to board us. We were very fortunate, and obviously wouldn't have blamed the airline if we'd missed it. But even this is not absolute.

 

[mjkacmom]

Not really sure why I'm wading into this, but this happened to us a few years back, and yes, they opened the gate. We left for the airport in what should have been plenty of time, but it was one of those mornings when everything went wrong, including (among other things) a very long line at security and a ridiculously long line at customs (US pre-clearance). When my family finally made it to the gate, it was closed. The plane was still there. Another passenger came up just behind us. There was an airline employee heading down to the airplane who saw us arrive. The gate agent was in the process of rebooking us when the employee came back, stuck her head through the door, and said "the pilot says to let them board."

I think they figured it would take longer to pull our checked bags than to board us. We were very fortunate, and obviously wouldn't have blamed the airline if we'd missed it. But even this is not absolute.

Sometimes they will, sometimes they won’t. And sometimes the baggage goes ahead. ETA sometimes the ships wait, sometimes they won’t. I don’t think captains toss a coin, it’s based on other issues.

 

[mab2012]

Sometimes they will, sometimes they won’t. And sometimes the baggage goes ahead. ETA sometimes the ships wait, sometimes they won’t. I don’t think captains toss a coin, it’s based on other issues.

Yes, and I don't have anything like the full story here, only what I've read in this thread, which has not even been entirely consistent. So I really have no personal opinion on whether the passengers were irresponsibly late or if the ship was unreasonable in leaving them behind.

You said "that gate will not be opened." Except sometimes it is. The people in charge have some discretion, and circumstances matter. None of us really know what they were in this case, on either side.

 

[Dug720]

Totally agree, but sometimes things happen outside of your control. I don't the whole story of what happened. Probably never will. Those of you that have never been late due to unforeseen events have really had a blessed life.

At least per the report I read, they SAW that it was getting tight, they TOLD their guide it was tight, their GUIDE said to relax and he could get them back in time - and they chose to believe him rather than demand to go back.

Unless the guide pulled a gun on them and said "We are finishing this tour" (which I'm sure we'd have hard about considering they have been squawking all over the place), they had a choice in the matter.

 

[Dug720]

Sometimes they will, sometimes they won’t. And sometimes the baggage goes ahead. ETA sometimes the ships wait, sometimes they won’t. I don’t think captains toss a coin, it’s based on other issues.

This. Things like the amount of time to get to the next port, the tides, the environment, the port schedule, etc.

I haven't seen this addressed, and NCL paid for them to get from Gambia to Senegal regardless, but I wonder if the amount of time they were waiting to begin with caused them to miss the port in Gambia since it was due to tides that they couldn't get in.