6 American, 2 Australian cruise ship passengers stranded on African island after cruise line refuses to let them board

Eight Norwegian Cruise passengers, including a pregnant woman and an elderly man with a heart condition, claim they have been stranded on an African island without money and vital medications after the vessel left port without them.

Jill and Jay Campbell, from South Carolina, said they are stuck on the Central African island of São Tomé with four other American and two Australian passengers after the captain of the ship allegedly refused to let them reboard, according to WMBF.

But a spokesperson for the cruise line claimed the passengers were left on the island “on their own or with a private tour” and missed the “all-aboard time.”

“Guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship’s intercom, in the daily communication and posted just before exiting the vessel,” the spokesperson said.

The Campbells acknowledged there was “an issue” on their tour of the island, and the guide “didn’t get us back” to the ship in time on Friday.

“We were like, our time is getting really short, and they were like ‘No problem, we can get you back within an hour,” Jay recounted telling the tour guide.

He said the tour operator then contacted the cruise ship captain to let them know they would be late.

When they reached the port, Campbell said the ship was still anchored, and the island’s Coast Guard took them on a boat to a ship in order to get back onboard.

The captain then allegedly refused to let them board.

In its updated statement on Saturday, a spokesperson for Norwegian said they are “in communication with the guests” and have been working “closely with the local authorities to understand the requirements and necessary visas needed if the guests were to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call.”The Post has also reached out to Norwegian Cruise Lines for comment.“The captain could have made an easy decision to turn one of the tender boats back, pick us up, safely load us and then go on the way,” Campbell said.