A couple has been filmed yelling out and pleading to the captain of MSC Splendida after missing their cruise ship departure.
The couple were on a nine-day cruise on MSC Splendida and were late getting back to the ship in the port town of Bari in Italy. The pair of them were yelling “Captain, wait for us please. You can do it if you want to.” However, their efforts were in vain and the cruise ship left without them.
A woman who was on the cruise told Mail Online she thought the efforts to help the couple were lacklustre.
“’I was on that cruise with my family when it happened. We were at lunch when they made only one announcement for two Italian-sounding names and then nothing further.
“The cruise didn’t leave even a minute over time. We felt there was little to no effort to find those people whether they were there or not.”
However, Ugo Patroni Griffi, president of the Port System Authority of the Southern Adriatic Sea told La Repubblica he had a different opinion.
“They tried to ask the ship to turn back, or at least to stop operations,” he said.
“Obviously it is impossible for cruise ships that have limited times and are also very expensive operations.”
Reportedly the couple had spent around $16,000 for the cruise, adding to their desperation to get onboard.
The cruise was set to visit destinations like Mykonos, Istanbul and Corfu.
No more cruises for us after Cunard changed our Cruise from New Zealand and the Fiords to Melbourne Brisbane Cairns, Port Douglas,Sydney, Melbourne 12 days. The day before we were to go and we were in transit with no email working I got a text and I rang them to learn the bad news.
We live in Brisbane and wanted to get away from the heat . We were offered a refund but we were in Melbourne already so thought what choice do we have as we would have had to buy another flight home . On boarding we were handed a letter that said No Port Douglas now no explanation. They offered us 50% off our next cruise but that is 50% of full price. So no more cruises for me with Cunard Lines. I am going to book a cruise to the Fiords New Zealand on a small ship next year. We have done a lot of cruises and never had any problems. It was the way or lack of care that I really did not like. I hear that maybe a New Prime Minister of New Zealand may improve things.