Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/19/21k-nightmare-norwegian-cruise-line-abandons-family-in-alaska.html
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Easy to avoid. Just don’t go on a cruise. As any sane person, or anybody with a modicum of concern for our planet would.
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“Never get out of the boat!”~Chef, Apocalypse Now
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… didn’t save him though 
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If they booked it through Norwegian then they absolutely have recourse to recover these expenses. That’s why you always book shore excursions through the cruise line for exactly this reason.
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The “cruise guy” is conveniently named “Chiron,” as communicated in the chyron?
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I looked around and it was a third party local tour. And frankly, from those stories it sounded to me like Norwegian did a decent job of helping them and getting US Customs charges reversed even though they actually have no responsibility when you get a third party tour.
You can certainly get a better price for most shore excursions with a local, not connected to the cruise, and usually you’ll be fine doing it. But if it bites you in the ass it’s your fault, so you’re taking a risk. So for something where you can’t get stuck somewhere - say a carriage ride in Victoria, BC, yes, by all means get it on your own. But for anything even remotely remote, where you could conceivably get stuck or stranded, you’re taking a big risk for your saving.
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A what show?
Also, was the bus operated or contracted by the cruise line? It sounds to me like the fault lies with the bus operator.
The first and last time I took a cruise, the carrier was very clear: if you book through us, we will wait for you. If you book on your own, you are on your own. We will not wait, but we will do our best to get you to our next port of call at a reasonable price. But you will pay. If these folks ignored the kinds of clear and repeated warning we had I am not terribly sympathetic.
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Lumberjack! Y’know, log rolling, log chopping, log climbing, log sawing, and plaid wearing.
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It’s mostly the plaid, isn’t it?
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And can you blame them? I mean, if you ask any girl from the parish around what pleases her most…
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They could get the same show in Branson for quite a bit less than 21 grand.
But then you’re stuck in … Branson. I think I’d rather be stuck in Sitka.
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And the suspenders, yeah.
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Free with your admission to the PNE (at the end of August, in Vancouver)!
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Plaid women’s clothes, though.
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And there may sometimes be a balance here. Booked via the cruise line likely means many more passengers at risk/to be accommodated by waiting. On your own means any maritime exigencies (like departure being dependent on certain states of the tide) will be more likely to be the determining factor.
Also - listen to the video. (@JDM) The reporter says the excursion WAS booked through the cruise line and that when they came to get on the bus back to the port, the bus was full and they had to wait for the next bus, which never arrived.
Also, they were not exceedingly late as the ship was apparently just “pulling away from the dock” when they got to the port. Seems like it could have waited.
But there are contradictions and discrepancies in the stories, here. Not least, how does a bus booked via the cruise line for an excursion get them there but have too many people on it on the return journey? Bus company used a different bus for each leg and fucked up?
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Couldn’t they find a nice gulch to live in?
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