People who get stranded by cruises and open up about their experience often end up subject to critique and mockery, especially from other cruisers. It's often assumed that if you miss your cruise, it's because you were lazy, or didn't keep track of time, or somehow thought the ship would wait on you for no reason - essentially, it's "your" fault.
But those critiques don't apply to the Gaults, a family from Oklahoma whose recent vacation with Norwegian Cruise Lines went pear-shaped. By all accounts, the Gault family did everything right, yet they still ended up stranded in a remote Alaskan port, saddled with a long and expensive battle to get home.
A cruise vacation through Alaska turned into a travel nightmare for one Oklahoma family who got stranded without their belongings after a mishap with a local excursion caused them to miss their ship's boarding window. #cruise #alaska #news #abcnews
According to @abcnews , the trouble started when the Gaults attended a lumberjack excursion in Ketchikan, Alaska , an excursion that they'd booked through Norwegian Cruise Lines. Booking the excursion through the cruise line was a very smart move, because unlike with excursions booked through a third party, the cruise ship would wait for them if their return to port was delayed.
At least, that's what was supposed to have happened.
The nine members of the Gault family were not allowed on the bus back to port due to a lack of room, but the tour operator said another bus would pick them up. When the next bus didn't arrive, the Gaults called their port agent for help - again, another smart move. The port agent swooped in to help them, but unfortunately did so too late. The ship left them behind, and the Gault party, including six minors and their grandmother, were stranded in Ketchikan without their belongings or most of their passports.
A Long, Expensive Voyage Home
Their cruise vacation ruined, the Gaults were now faced with the laborious and expensive task of getting home to Oklahoma. They were forced to cover all their expenses out of pocket, which added up to around $21,000 for food, hotel, and plane tickets. Because the cruise ship was a foreign-flagged vessel, the Gaults were fined nearly $9,000 in customs fees, putting the grand total of their out-of-pocket costs at nearly $30k.
Thankfully, Norwegian Cruise Lines is doing their part to make this right. The company told ABC News that they will reimburse all of the Gaults' out-of-pocket expenses, and will also refund the enormous customs fee they were charged. Additionally, according to the full ABC report, each of the nine Gaults will receive a 20% discount from Norwegian to use on their next cruise with them.
Though this process is still ongoing, the Gault family seems optimistic that NCL will own up to their flub and make up for their mistakes.
"I think we are on a right path as far as both agreeing that something bad really happened here," said Joshua Gault, patriarch of the Gault family.
Cruise Port Excursion Tips
Normally, this is where I'd recommend that cautious cruisers book their excursions through their cruise lines to protect themselves against being left behind. Thing is, the Gaults did that, and they still got stranded. Hilariously, the ship waiting " for even the tardiest of tours " is cited in a 2018 article from Norwegian's official blog as one of the top ten reasons cruisers should book shore excursions directly through NCL. Clearly, something got messed up here!
While booking your excursion through your cruise should safeguard you against getting stranded, things can always go awry, just as they did for the Gaults. Hope for the best, but always prepare for the worst. As recommended by ABC News , always know who your port agents are, and if you go on a shore excursion, bring any essentials you'd absolutely need if you were stranded: passports and IDs (or at least color copies of them), money, medication, etc. No matter how meticulous you are when planning your cruise vacation , always remember Murphy's Law: anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.
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