One family’s dream vacation on an Alaskan cruise quickly turned into a nightmare when nine passengers, including small children and one elderly woman, were left behind from a cruise-sponsored excursion. The incident was apparently caused by a bus mixup with the local tour operator in the small town of Ketchikan, Alaska.
According to the New York Post, the Gault family was traveling from Oklahoma to Alaska for a family reunion. The vacation began with 16 people cruising to Alaska onboard Norwegian Encore. The New York Post reported the entire cruise cost the group around $30,000 for all 16 guests.
The Gault family boarded the Norwegian Encore in Seattle, Washington for a 7-night Alaskan cruise through Glacier Bay on July 7, 2024. The incident occurred on July 12, which was six days into their 7-night itinerary. Norwegian Encore was scheduled to return to Seattle, Washington on July 14 following the completion of the cruise. The ship had already visited Juneau, Skagway, and Glacier Bay before arriving in Ketchikan, Alaska.
This is when the nightmare unfolded for the Gault family. Nine of the family members had booked an excursion through Norwegian Cruise Line to see the famous Lumberjack show while the ship was docked in Ketchikan, Alaska. Included in the group of nine were six young children, two parents, and a 78-year-old grandmother.
The Lumberjack show is a lively, energetic performance where local Alaskan lumberjacks show off their unique skills to an audience. It's one of the most popular excursions in Ketchikan. Moreover, cruise-sponsored shore excursions are a popular choice for many travelers because of the added assurance that the cruise ship will not leave without you in case of delays. Or so, that’s what the Gault family thought.
Following the Lumberjack show in Ketchikan, cruisers started to load back into the busses that would take them back to the cruise terminal. This was when a series of unfortunate events began unraveling for the Gault family.
When the Gault family went to load their bus, they said it was chaos. Trying to get seats on the bus, one of the attendees told the family they needed to wait for the next bus because the current one was full. Unfortunately, that bus never came to pick up the Gault family, even though the family had excursion tickets through the cruise line.
According to the Gault family, the local bus operators were not confirming which passengers actually had tickets for the shuttle. Instead, the bus attendees were doing a basic head count when the shuttle filled up. Even though the Gaults had tickets, they were left behind.
Apparently, the tour operators allowed guests from another ship to take the family’s nine seats. Once the bus was full, the vehicle departed for the cruise terminal without confirming passengers' tickets. This is when the Gault family was told to wait for another bus to come to pick them up to take them back to the Norwegian Encore.
Joshua Gault told 2-News in Oklahoma, ”We see the chaos getting onto the buses. We go to get on the bus and one of the attendees tells us the bus is full, and you know, you got to wait for the next bus.”
For the Gault family, panic started to set in when they realized the bus was not coming back for them. They decided to call the port authority, who sent a van over to bring the family back to the ship. Regrettably, it was too late and the ship had already started departing from the dock.
The family watched in agony as the ship sailed away with all of their belongings, including medication, clothes, and their documentation. Gault shared with 2-News, “Six kids on board, minor children, and a 78-year-old mother-in-law, all on medication. We all had to quit medication cold turkey these last few days because it was all on the cruise ship.”
Although Norwegian Cruise Line provided most of the family’s passports with the port authority in Ketchikan, one passport was still missing. This meant the family could not meet up with the ship in Victoria, British Columbia, which was the next port of call for the cruise ship.
Left to fend for themselves in Ketchikan, the family had to spend thousands of dollars on flights, meals, accommodations, clothes, and more. The family of nine booked flights to Seattle where they would retrieve their luggage before flying back to Oklahoma. However, the family allegedly encountered canceled flights and an unexpected overnight stay at the airport during their long journey home.
Even worse, Norwegian immediately charged the family nearly $9,000 for missing the ship. The Gault family said their credit cards were charged the $9,000 fee the morning after they were left behind in Ketchikan.
The fee was apparently due to a violation of the customs laws. Because the family was unable to visit at least one foreign port during their cruise, they were technically violating the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Passenger Vessel Services Act (PVSA). Norwegian Cruise Line charged the family $971 per person for missing the ship. For nine guests, this totals an astonishing $8,739.
In a letter from the cruise line, shared with 2-News Oklahoma, the cruise line stated, “Any passenger who unexpectedly disembarks the ship at a U.S. port of call, i.e. Alaska, due to any reason, which results in the violation of the PVSA, may be charged by the cruise company supplying the transportation.”
The Gault family eventually made it back to Oklahoma after a few grueling travel days. As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, the Gaults arrived back at their home in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a bout of COVID-19. Joshua Gault told 2-News Oklahoma, “So yeah, we’re beat down right now. We’re unhealthy and beaten down.”
According to the Gault family, they are working with the cruise line to sort out the unfortunate situation. Apparently, while the Gaults were scrambling to get home, Norwegian kept telling the family they were looking into the incident and hadn’t forgotten about them.
However, the Gaults disagreed and felt abandoned by the cruise line. “And I was like...no, we feel like you pretty much forgot about us when you left us in port and told us to go figure it out,” Caitlin Gault told 2-News.
Speaking on the incident, Norwegian Cruise Line told the New York Post that they were working with the Gault family to reimburse their unexpected out-of-pocket expenses from the ordeal, including meals, flights, and accommodations.
Moreover, Norwegian Cruise Line clarified that officials onboard Norwegian Encore tried to contact the Gault family when they did not return to the ship on time “due to a misstep by the local tour operator.” The cruise line claimed to the New York Post that they were unable to reach the family during the incident.
When the Gault family did not arrive back on the cruise on time, Norwegian stated they worked with the local port authority to arrange hotels for all nine passengers. Because the family could not ‘downline’ to the next port of call in Victoria, the family was told to travel to Seattle instead.
The cruise line stated the family flew to Seattle, Washington the morning after the misstep occurred in Ketchikan, on July 13.
Perhaps most importantly, the cruise line is also planning to refund the family the $9,000 customs fee for violating the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Passenger Vessel Services Act.
“Additionally, we have already initiated the process to refund the family for the fee imposed by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, as a result of the guests not visiting a foreign port prior to returning to the U.S., as required when an itinerary originates from the U.S. in accordance with the Passenger Vessel Services Act,” said the cruise line in a statement to 2-News.
Norwegian has also stated that the family will receive a pro-rated refund for the two days they missed onboard Norwegian Encore due to the incident. Finally, as a gesture of goodwill, NCL stated that each of the nine passengers left behind will receive a Future Cruise Credit in the form of a 20% discount on their cruise fare, which the family can use for their next voyage.
This isn’t the first time Norwegian Cruise Line has made headlines for leaving passengers behind. Back in April, eight passengers were stranded on a remote island in Africa while sailing on a 21-day voyage along the coast of Africa. Norwegian Dawn departed from São Tomé and Príncipe without eight passengers when they failed to return to the ship on time.
Although the passengers attempted to board the ship with help from the local Coast Guard, the stranded guests claimed the captain would not allow them to board.
The eight passengers traversed across the continent of Africa to meet back up with the ship, costing the group thousands of dollars. Even worse, the Norwegian Dawn couldn't dock at its next port of call in Gambia due to weather and tide issues. The passengers were then required to travel from Gambia to Senegal to reunite with the ship - not an easy feat when visiting remote African islands.
However, these passengers were traveling on an independent excursion and experienced an unexpected delay during the tour. Excursions booked directly with the cruise line are typically low risk for these types of mishaps.
When booking a cruise-sponsored excursion, guests pay a premium for convenience and assurance. One of the biggest perks of booking an excursion with the cruise line is the promise that the cruise ship will not leave without you despite delays or unforeseen circumstances.
Allie Hubers
Allie Hubers has been cruising since she was a tiny toddler. What started as a yearly vacation with family quickly turned into a passion for travel, cruising and adventure. Allie's been on over 45 cruises all over the world. She even studied abroad on Semester at Sea, sailing the world on a ship while taking courses for college and visiting 4 continents.
