Jamie Cisco and her daughter, Grace, were at the beach in Catania, Sicily, when they saw their cruise ship moving away from the port without them.
They looked at each other with confusion. “Grace was like, ‘Why is our ship leaving?’” Cisco told USA TODAY. “I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ We were told we had till 5:30 to re-enter the ship to leave again.”
The Norwegian Epic ship separated from the pier on May 30 during high winds, causing a guest to fall from the gangway into the water and leaving others stuck on shore. “Our concern was always the person that fell in that they were OK … but the lack of communication was just completely unacceptable and uncalled for,” the Illinois resident said.
Cisco was among a number of guests temporarily left behind – and it’s not the only recent incident of its kind.
The pair took the 10-day Mediterranean cruise to celebrate Cisco’s 50th birthday. After leaving the beach, where the gusts were so strong they couldn’t lay their blankets flat on the ground, they returned to the port, only receiving updates of the situation on board from other guests in a Facebook group. Cisco said Norwegian did not immediately communicate updates directly to guests who were on shore for most of the day.
