- Eight passengers followed a cruise ship around Africa for six days.
- Norwegian Cruise Line confirmed on Tuesday that the passengers had reboarded in Senegal.
- They were stranded in Sao Tome and Principe and missed the opportunity to re-embark in Gambia.
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A group of passengers stranded on a small African island past their boarding deadline were finally able to reboard a cruise ship on Tuesday after nearly a week of tracking.
On March 27, a private tour overrun caused eight passengers to miss Norwegian Dawn’s 3 p.m. full boarding time by more than an hour, a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line confirmed to Business Insider in an email. .
Passengers realized they were stranded sao tome and principeCruise lines are calling the situation “a very unfortunate situation” for the island nation of about 220,000 people off the coast of West Africa.
According to the ABC affiliate, although the São Tomé and Príncipe coast guard took the passengers to the ship in a tender boat, the group was unable to reboard and had to return to land. W.P.D.E.
The first attempt to return passengers to the ship was made on Monday, with the hope of reembarking at the port of Banjul, Gambia, about 1,800 miles from Sao Tome and Principe.
However, due to “adverse weather conditions and tidal restrictions” the ship was unable to berth safely, a cruise line spokesperson said.
As a result, guests had to follow the ship to Dakar, Senegal, about 100 miles away, to reboard on Tuesday.
Norwegian said it would make it easier for passengers to obtain visas and reimburse them for their trip from Gambia to Senegal.
Jill Campbell, one of the passengers, said: NBC News She and her husband reportedly traveled to seven countries in 48 hours to catch up with the ship.
It was not clear exactly what route they took.
Campbell told NBC News that he believed Norwegian Cruise Line had failed in its “fundamental duty of care” and that the couple was considering not going on board.
But on Tuesday, six days after being stranded in Sao Tome and Principe, the cruise line confirmed that eight passengers, including the Campbells, had finally reboarded in Senegal.