Cruise Companies Don't Care about Their Clients!
Eight Passengers were recently left behind on Sao Tome by a Norwegian Cruise Company.
They'd been on a private tour of the island, not arranged through the Cruise Company (which makes them a fat profit) and so when they missed their embarking deadline they weren't allowed back on, despite the ship still being at anchor.
There's a working theory that the company is making a point about passengers NOT booking tours through private companies, but if this is the case this is one hell of a way of doing so!
Apparently only one couple had their bank cards or any money with them and some people didn't have their meds either, but still they had to make their own arrangements to get to Senegal to rejoin the ship, the costs of this were paid for by the Cruise company, apparently.
One advantage of this is that there was another woman who had had a stroke and the Cruise Company dumped her off (or 'medically disembarked' her in their terminology) at a hospital in Sao Tome without informing here next of kin, but one of the other abandoned people let the stroke-victims relatives know.
Apparently she had to make her own way back home, organised by the family, the Cruise Company just gave up on her...
Liability, not care!
The cruise ship managed to get passports to the abandoned people, presumably this was done by boat, and so presumably there are methods of boarding mid-water, so they could have just let them back on....? It couldn't be that difficult?
But probably risk and health and safety was the reason for not doing this - but this isn't health and safety for the benefit of the passengers, it's covering the company's arse - if anything happens to them boarding in an unusual manner the company I guess is liable, if anything happens to them when they're on Sao Tome, like dying because of lack of meds still on the ship, the company isn't liable.
This is one of the many reasons I would never go on a cruise or similar land based package holiday.
There is this veneer of care, but right beneath is the true motive of just outrageous cost-cutting and profit-making.
Read the small print in your cruise-deal and it is going to VERY clear that if you're late back from a private tour then it's your fault and you will be left behind.
Similarly with falling ill and having to return home or requiring medical treatment, you'll sign something to say if this happens, the ship won't wait for you and you're on your own.
I think it's a little different with people who go missing suspected of falling overboard, here the ship has a duty to return to the last place they were seen, but it's unclear how long they are expected to search for the person, it'll be minimal no doubt.
So I guess if yer going on a cruise, you have to include these multiple risk factors in your cost benefit calculations.
On the plus side is whatever benefits you'll think you'll get from a cruise (for me this is NONE), on the negative side there's the risk of being abandoned should anything bad happen to you.
So keep in mind, if you go on a cruise, the companies don't really give a toss about you!
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They should have done muster after leaving every stop.
They did I think. They just don't give a shit.
Yes all they really want is you to book any excursion with the shipping company. When we were in Mozambique on a cruise they has excursions at ridiculously high prices and I went for a walk on my own plus stragglers who thought I would protect them. In future I would just recommend staying on board eating and drinking as much as possible and avoiding any planned trips.
What sort of prices are we talking about for their trips out....?
Anywhere between $25 and $100. They offered a $100 high tea at a hotel when I know that price is 3 x the cost. My walk was free and I met up with the group that paid $25 for the trip to the market.
I was reading about this the other day. Supposedly, the cruise ships have quite small windows to get in and out of port, so they had to leave. But, from what I read, those travelers had a "bit of an adventure" ´to get back on!
They went through about 8 countries I think. I came across it because of the woman who had a stroke, they didn't even bother to inform her children. That was done by the one of the other 7 stranded people. It is all first world problems, I guess the staff are also maxed out in terms of responsibilities I know how these things operate!
Something analogous (but less serious) happened to me a few years ago. After my parents’ funeral, the feeder flight (on the same airline) from a small city in northern Pennsylvania down to Philadelphia was delayed a bit. Got to the gate for the connecting flight to Minneapolis and they wouldn’t let us board even though the plane was still attached to the boarding ramp a hundred feet from us. The doors had been closed. No exceptions. Fifteen minutes later, the plane moved away and headed for the runway.
I was resigned to sleeping in the airport and catching a flight the next morning, but my niece is a former flight attendant who knew who to talk to and what to say. The airline put us up in a nice hotel and we drank too much in the hotel bar but made it back to the airport the next morning.
Cruising sounds horrible. If you’ve ever wondered what it must be like to be cattle, go on a cruise! We often travel independently, booking flights and hotels ourselves directly. That way if we want to stay in two different hotels to explore different places we can.