For one family, their cruise nightmare has only gone from bad to worse.
The Gaults were near the end of their family reunion vacation onboard Norwegian Encore when a mishap from a local tour operator caused them to miss their cruise ship, stranding all nine members of the group in Ketchikan, Alaska.
The nightmare began when the Oklahoma-based family was trying to return to the 4,004-passenger ship at the conclusion of an excursion to see a lumberjack show in the rural port that took place on July 12, 2024.
The family alleges that the tour operator wasn’t checking to make sure everyone on the shuttle back to the port had the proper tickets, relying on headcounts instead.
This allowed potentially non-ticketed passengers to take the places of people (like the Gaults) who had the proper credentials.
“We see the chaos getting onto the buses. We go to get on the bus and one of the attendees is like ‘The bus is full, and you know you got to wait for the next bus,’” Joshua Gault told KJRH, a local news outlet in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The family was told to wait for another bus, which never came.
With the all aboard time looming, they called the port authority for help, and a van was sent to retrieve the family – but the ride came too late.
The cruisers returned to the port just in time to watch as the Breakaway Plus-class ship sailed away with their belongings, including clothing, important medications, and their passports.
“You know, it was a nightmare. Six kids on board, minor children, and a 78-year-old mother-in-law, all on medication. We all had to quit cold turkey medication these last few days because it was all on the cruise ship,” added Joshua.
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Because all members of the family didn’t have their passports with them, they were also unable to meet the ship at the final stop of the 7-night cruise – a call on Victoria, British Columbia in Canada the following day on July 13.
Rejoining the 169,116-gross ton vessel would have enabled them to retrieve their belongings and sail back to the homeport of Seattle, Washington, with a bit less angst than what they ultimately endured.
Eight of the nine passports were transported off the ship, but one was left onboard – and this is really an all-or-nothing type of situation.
The ship returned to Seattle on July 14, 2024, and embarked on its next 7-night Alaska sailing the same day.
The Alaskan Nightmare Continues
While being left behind in port is a nightmare in its own right, the Gault family was not expecting to wake up to a charge of nearly $9,000 from Norwegian Cruise Line the next morning.
Citing the Passenger Vessel Services Act, the cruise line charged $971 (USD) per passenger for fees incurred from violating US Customs and Border Protection policies by missing the ship.
“The Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA) prohibits the transportation of passengers between two different U.S. ports on any vessel other than a U.S.-flag vessel that meets all requirements for U.S. coastwise transportation,” reads a notice regarding the PVSA.
“Any passenger who unexpectedly disembarks the ship at a U.S. port of call, i.e., Alaska, due to any reason, which results in a violation of the PVSA, may be charged by the cruise company supplying the transportation,” continues the memo.
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This expense was understandably an unpleasant surprise – especially as the family had already spent around $30,000 on their vacation and was quickly running up the bill trying to pay for meals, hotels, and new travel arrangements to get home.
Initially, all new expenses had to be paid out of pocket by the family, before Norwegian offered reimbursement and it was unclear if they would.
After a grueling ordeal to get home, which included stops in numerous cities, overnight airport stays, cancelled flights, and baggage pick-up, the family has made it back to their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Even so, the nightmare continues as several family members have been diagnosed with COVID-19, although it’s unclear where they were exposed to the virus.
Norwegian Cruise Line Tries To Make Things Right
While it wasn’t directly stated as such, context clues suggest that the family’s Ketchikan shore excursion was likely booked through the cruise line.
While cruise lines don’t usually wait for tardy guests due to a need to stay on schedule and the potential for hefty port fees that come with docking longer than anticipated, most ships offer a reassurance that they will wait for delayed guests if they are on an excursion booked through the cruise company.
However, the Gault family feels like NCL simply forgot about them and didn’t act quickly enough to help.
“‘We’re still looking into it, we haven’t forgotten about you,” Cailyn Gault said Norwegian kept telling them as they struggled to find a new way home. “And I was like, ‘No, we feel like you pretty much forgot about us when you left us in port and told us to go figure it out.’”
“You know, Norwegian treating this like it was a customer service issue rather than it was an emergency, is, I think, the worst part about it,” added Joshua.
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That said, the premier cruise line has been making a concerted effort to make things right.
First, NCL says that they attempted to contact the guests before the ship departed and assisted the family in making new hotel and travel accommodations, which differs from the family’s recollection of the story.
“When the guests did not return to the ship at the published time, we attempted to contact them but were unable to reach them. As such, we alerted the local port agent in Ketchikan and requested that they assist the family with booking a hotel for the night,” a spokesperson from the cruise line said to Cruise Hive.
“As the guests would be unable to downline in the next port of call, Victoria, British Columbia, the port agent also helped the guests with securing flights to Seattle the following day, July 13,” continued the statement.
Norwegian went on to add that the family will be reimbursed for all out-of-pocket expenses incurred as a result of the incident pending delivery of receipts to the cruise line, and that the family will be refunded for the two days of their sailing that they missed.
Additionally, the cruise line has begun the process to reverse the nearly $9,000 charge incurred by violating the Passenger Vessel Services Act, although it’s unclear when the refund will finish processing.
Last but not least, the company is providing all nine guests with a future cruise credit in the form of a 20% discount on a future sailing as “a gesture of goodwill.”
