Abandoned family hit with huge fine by cruise line
A family of nine has been charged a whopping $13,000 for failing to return to their cruise ship after an excursion in Alaska, leaving them stranded by Norwegian Cruise Lines to find their own way home.
The Gault family, from Tulsa in Oklahoma, were travelling with six young kids and a 78-year-old grandmother when they disembarked from the Norwegian Encore in Katchikan, a small town in a string of south Alaskan islands, so they could watch a lumberjack show together.
All was going well until they went to board a bus back to the ship, when the local tour operator transporting passengers to and from the vessel miscounted and told the family there was no room and that they had to wait for the next bus.
“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,’” Joshua Gault told 2 News.
However, the next bus never came, and as the family found other means to rush back to the port, they arrived to see the ship sailing away with all their belongings, including passports and medications, onboard.
“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,” Mr Gault said.
From there, things only got worse for the Gault family, who had already spent about $44,500 on the trip, as they were immediately hit an almost $13,000 charge from the cruise line — $1,400 per passenger — for missing the boat.
That fee stemmed from the US Customs and Border Protection’s Passenger Vessel Services Act, which they violated by not visiting a foreign port before they returned to the US, as their itinerary planned.
Unable to rejoin the ship in Canada, the family decided to cut their losses and head home, arranging new accommodation and flights, making their costs continue to pile up.
After days of travel - which included stops in numerous cities, cancelled flights, and more than one overnight airport stay — the family finally arrived home, feeling strung out, tired, and having picked up Covid along the way.
“So yeah, we’re beat down right now. We’re unhealthy and beaten down,” Mr Gault said.
The family is still working with the cruise line to rectify the situation, as Cailyn Gault said Norwegian Cruises keeps telling them, "We’re still looking into it, we haven’t forgotten about you."
“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,’” Ms Gault added.
Norwegian Cruise Lines told The Post it has begun the process of refunding the Gaults the nearly $13,000 in fees they were charged, and will reimburse them for all their travel expenses once receipts have been received.
The cruise line also said it tried to contact the Gaults after they missed their bus due to “a misstep by a local tour operator,” and when they were unable to reach them, worked with the local port authority to help the family arrange lodging for the night before they were able to make a flight to Seattle the next day.
“In addition, these guests will be receiving a pro-rated refund for the two cruise days they missed,” a Norwegian Cruise Line representative said.
“As a gesture of goodwill, the company will also be providing each of the nine guests with a Future Cruise Credit in the form of a 20 per cent discount of their cruise fare that can be used towards their next voyage,” Norwegian added.
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