OAHU, Hi. (WSVN)– After a powerful earthquake struck off Russia’s coast, the seismic shifts and tsunami warnings trapped hundreds of passengers on a cruise ship excursion in paradise.
Speaking with 7News virtually on Wednesday, Tampa Bay resident Tiffany Monroe, one of those stranded passengers, said her vacation turned into a nightmare after her ship was forced to leave her and others behind.
“The ship is gone. They’re just leaving us,” she said. “No food, no clothes, no nothing.”
Monroe said her ship, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America, had to leave two hours earlier than expected due to the ongoing tsunami warnings caused by the earthquake near Russia, but never alerted the excursion tour guides.
“Our excursion didn’t end up actually leaving our specific bus until around 1:25 [p.m.],” she said.
Monroe said she, along with other passengers, boarded buses to head to Volcano National Park on Hawaii Island while receiving tsunami warnings on her phone.
“Norwegian never contacted the Polynesian Adventure cruise bus tour company for any of the buses that were coming to take us to Volcano National Park, so we just continued on, driving to Volcano National Park like we weren’t in danger,” she said.
On their way there, Monroe said, they received a notification from the cruise line that it was leaving early due to a directive from the Department of Transportation, essentially stranding the passengers on the excursion.
Norwegian Cruise Lines released a statement that read in part: “Guests participating in NCL Shore excursions were brought directly to a local high school, a designated safe location in Hilo, where refreshments were provided for their comfort and well-being. As a precaution and due to the temporary port closure, Pride of America has remained at sea, a safer location in situations such as this.”
But Monroe said she had a different experience on the ground.
“So we drove up, and the security person was like, ‘Listen, this is not a shelter, it’s closed.’ So we just sat on the side of the road,” she said. “The tour bus operators absolutely had nowhere to take us. They had no idea what they were doing, and they expressed that they were frustrated because they were receiving no communication from Norwegian about where to take us.”
Other passengers, such as TikToker Mandy the Cruise Planner, shared similar frustrations. While on the bus to the shelter, she explained in a video about her experience being stranded on the island.
“They told us to come back, we came back. Right before, you know, they told us we got there while they were still at the dock, but they still went without us, and so, now we’re fighting traffic to get again back to higher ground. The communication has been terrible,” said Mandy on video.
Norwegian Cruise Line said they were awaiting a safety assessment on the port, where the Pride of America had been docked, and once that assessment had been cleared, they would then return to pick up the stranded passengers.
As of 6 p.m., Wednesday, Mandy had posted another video telling her followers that the group of stranded passengers was back on buses, headed to the port to be picked up by the ship.