When a Dream Vacation Turns Into a Nightmare: Family Left Stranded by Cruise Ship
The Gault family’s dream vacation quickly turned into a nightmare when their cruise ship, the Norwegian Encore, sailed away without them. The family of 16, who had spent $30,000 on their trip, found themselves stranded and scrambling for a way home.
During a stop in Ketchikan, Alaska, nine members of the family attended a local LumberJack show, an excursion organized by Norwegian Cruise Line. However, the return trip to the ship turned chaotic when they were unable to board their designated bus.
Joshua Gault shared the stressful experience with KJRH: “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.'”
The family waited, but the next bus never arrived. According to the Gaults, the ticket attendant at the bus failed to check documents adequately, allowing passengers from another ship to take their seats.
Realizing they might miss their ship, Joshua contacted the port authority, which sent a van. Unfortunately, by the time they reached the port, the Norwegian Encore had already departed.
The situation worsened when the family discovered they couldn’t travel to the next port in Canada because one essential passport was left on board. Joshua described the entire ordeal as “a nightmare.”
He explained the additional challenges they faced: “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.”
To make matters worse, each family member who missed the ship was fined $971, a discovery Joshua made when he noticed nearly $9,000 charged to his credit card while trying to book flights home. This led to days of unexpected expenses as the family had to pay for accommodation, travel, and food on their own.
The Gaults have since filed a complaint with the cruise line. Norwegian Cruise issued a statement explaining the situation: “On the afternoon of Friday, July 12, a family of nine guests missed the ship’s all aboard time in Ketchikan, Alaska due to a misstep by a local tour operator.
“Then 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 Ketchitan and requested that they assist the family with booking a hotel for the night.
“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,” the statement continued.
Additionally, the cruise line promised to reimburse the family for all their out-of-pocket expenses and refund the fines and the cost of the missed cruise days.