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Eight cruise passengers who were stranded on an African island after their ship left port without them will be reimbursed for some of the costs they incurred trying to return to the ship, the cruise line said.
Jill and Jay Campbell, from South Carolina, along with four other Americans and two Australians, had to race across seven different countries in 48 hours to reboard the Norwegian Dawn in Senegal on Tuesday.
They had earlier hoped to board the ship at a port in Gambia in West Africa, traveling 15 hours through six countries to reach the port on Sunday, only to find that the ship could not dock due to low tides. According to WPDE.
From there, the group boarded a bus and had to take a ferry across the river, Kurt Geiss, the son-in-law of another passenger who was left on the island of Sao Tome and Principe after suffering a stroke, told The Washington Post. .
A Norwegian Cruise Line spokesman said passengers would be compensated for the costs they incurred while trying to race from Gambia to Senegal.
“Despite a series of unfortunate events beyond our control, we will reimburse these eight guests for their travel costs from Bangor, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal,” the cruise line said.
She had previously said that passengers – who were left on the island without any of their belongings from the cabin, including money, medicine and necessary travel documents – were “responsible for any travel arrangements necessary to join the ship.”
Follow The Post's coverage of the Norwegian cruise disaster
- Eight Norwegian passengers, including a pregnant woman and an elderly man suffering from a heart condition, are stranded on an African island without money and vital medicines after the ship left port without them.
- A spokesperson for the cruise line claimed that passengers were left on the island “alone or on a private tour” and lost “the entire cruise time” by more than an hour, according to the company.
- American Jill Campbell and her husband, Jay Campbell, said they were unsure if they wanted to resume the 20-day voyage after Norwegian Cruise Line forgot its “basic duty of care.”
- The eight passengers traveled through seven different countries over the course of 48 hours to reach Senegal, where the ship docked on Tuesday morning.
- Doug and Violeta Sanders, a stranded Australian couple, spoke of their ordeal, saying it was “the worst experience of our lives”.
- Julie Lenkov, 80, suffered a stroke while on a cruise ship and was left “alone” and “helpless” to find her way back to the United States, according to her family.
- Column: Cruise ship was right to dump late passengers in Africa
Check out The Post's tips on what to do if you're stranded like a Norwegian cruise passenger
As they scrambled to find their way back to the ship, working with the US Embassy in Angola, the Campbells had to pay more than $5,000 for food, toiletries and hotels — they were the only ones in the group with a Visa card on their person, they told WRAL.
The group finally returned aboard the Norwegian Dawn on Tuesday morning, but they had not spoken directly with cruise officials, Jess said.
The Dawn is now expected to continue its 21-day African voyage until next Wednesday, when it will dock for the final time in Barcelona, Spain.
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