Other cruise nightmare for Norwegian Cruise Line passengers. A month after the incredible episode that saw eight people abandoned on the island of São Tomé and Príncipe (Africa) for not arriving in time to board, the company does it again, leaving an elderly couple stranded.
What happened
The protagonists of this story are Richard and Claudene Gordon of Salt Lake City (Utah). The elderly couple (he was 84, she was 81) had decided to take a cruise in the Mediterranean to celebrate the man’s 85th birthday. For this reason, therefore, they turned to the American company and boarded the Norwegian Viva together with relatives and friends. Neither of them could have imagined the terrible experience that awaited them.
Last Monday the ship docked at Motril, in Spain, and the couple decided to take an excursion to Granada using an independent service (not one of those offered by the ship). Unfortunately, during the return journey the group was surprised by a strong storm which led the means of transport to stop for safety reasons. A delay then accumulated and, once we arrived in Motril, the Norwegian Viva had already left, without worrying about who had or had not gotten back on board.
“I am a traveler a lot expert and I’ve probably taken at least 30 cruises in my lifetime. Never before have we failed to catch a ship on time at a port. So we are not someone who abuses the system“, Mr. Gordon told the CNN.
Apparently Norwegian Viva it was supposed to leave at 6.00 pm, so boarding was scheduled for 5.30 pm. Around 5.45pm, fearing the worst, Gordon contacted a family member on board to ask them to communicate the problem. Just like the case in Africa, the Norwegian Cruise Line staff didn’t want to be a little late, and the boat left anyway. Richard and Claudene Gordon therefore remained on dry land, in Spain. Not only. The ship left with everything the two elderly men had on board, including Mr Gordon’s eyeglasses, mobile phone chargers, hearing aids and some medications. The couple also said they had received no assistance from Norwegian Cruise Line.
“Fortunately my father has travelled, but he is still 85 years old,” declared the couple’s daughter, Marilee Barker. “Since the Norwegian Viva wasn’t docking again until Tuesday on the island of Ibiza, they took a bus to Granada and found a nice, cheap little B&B.”
Only last Wednesday were the couple able to return on board.
The previous
As we recalled, it is not the first time that Norwegian Cruise Line has adopted such behavior. Last month the Norwegian Dawn of the Norwegian Cruise Line left eight people stranded because they were late for boarding.
The passengers had to make an arduous journey to get back on board the ship.
