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"It has always been difficult for me to imagine leaving the incredible Celebrity brand, but the time is right for me to start an exciting new chapter and turn the helm over to a new leader," said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo . "It has been my great honor to lead this brand and work alongside the phenomenal Celebrity shoreside team and crew. Together, our accomplishments have been extraordinary. I'm excited to now work closely with Jason on broader initiatives as we sail toward an even brighter future."

Lutoff-Perlo's remarkable career with Royal Caribbean Group began in 1985 with her first role as a district sales manager and she went on to trailblaze a legacy of firsts. Along the way, she also led Celebrity Cruises to record growth, revenue, and profit, and she championed the brand's evolution into the incredible cruise line it is today. Under her leadership, Celebrity Cruises welcomed four new award-winning ships, and underwent the Celebrity Revolution , one of the largest fleet revitalization projects in the industry.

In 2005, Lutoff-Perlo became Celebrity's first female senior vice president of hotel operations. In 2012, she was named executive vice president of operations for Royal Caribbean International, the first woman in the industry to oversee both hotel and marine operations. Two short years later, she was the first woman appointed to president and CEO of one of Royal Caribbean Group's brands.

"I would also like to congratulate Laura for her appointment as the next brand president of Celebrity Cruises," Liberty added. "With her operational experience, business acumen and deep understanding of our company and the cruise industry, I know Laura is the right person to lead Celebrity Cruises to its next phases of growth."

Most recently serving as executive vice president, shared services operations, Laura Hodges Bethge has been with the company more than 23 years and has held senior positions in many different areas including product development, hotel and marine operations, sales, marketing, product innovation, market development and investor relations.

Hodges Bethge is an exemplary leader with a long history of success at the company. Previously, she was senior vice president of product development for Royal Caribbean International, and led the teams conceptualizing their groundbreaking ships, private island destinations, and new experiences introduced throughout the award-winning fleet, including the first island in Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day Island Collection – Perfect Day at CocoCay.

"Now 15 ships strong, this is an exciting time for Celebrity Cruises," said Laura Hodges Bethge . "This year alone, we'll be welcoming Celebrity Ascent , and reaching key construction milestones in the yet-to-be-named fifth ship in the revolutionary Edge Series . I look forward to building on the incredible achievements of Lisa and this world class team, as we continue to break boundaries and chart new courses in the industry."

For more information on Royal Caribbean Group's executive leadership, please visit  https://www.royalcaribbeangroup.com/about/ .

About Royal Caribbean Group Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL) is one of the leading cruise companies in the world with a global fleet of 64 ships traveling to approximately 1,000 destinations around the world. Royal Caribbean Group is the owner and operator of three award-winning cruise brands:  Royal Caribbean International ,  Celebrity Cruises , and  Silversea Cruises , and it is also a 50% owner of a joint venture that operates TUI Cruises and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises. Together, the brands have an additional 10 ships on order as of December 31, 2022 . Learn more at  www.royalcaribbeangroup.com or www.rclinvestor.com .

About Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises' iconic "X" is the mark of a fleet of 15 relaxed luxury resorts at sea taking guests to the world's best places on the world's best places. Celebrity revolutionized the industry with its cool, contemporary design and accommodation; dining, spa, and entertainment experiences for modern tastes; and culturally rich and diverse destination experiences, all complemented by warm, personalized service. Driven by wanderlust and a passion for opening the world, Celebrity journeys to all seven continents, visiting nearly 300 destinations in more than 70 countries. Celebrity Cruises is one of five cruise brands owned by global cruise company Royal Caribbean Group (NYSE: RCL). For more information about Celebrity Cruises, please visit  www.celebrity.com .

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Celebrity Cruises Just Delivered Its Newest Ship, Which Sails the Caribbean This Winter — and I Was the First to See It

Celebrity Cruises just delivered the fourth ship in its Edge-class series: the Celebrity Ascent. I was the first to see it — take a look inside.

Courtesy of Celebrity Cruises

This week, I was one of the first to see the brand-new Celebrity Ascent as it was delivered from the shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It's the fourth ship in Celebrity Cruises ' Edge class and will sail the Caribbean this winter. On the same day, the cruise line announced that Edge-class ship No. 5, coming in 2025, will be called Celebrity Xcel.

Saint-Nazaire, a small coastal city in France, is one of the few places in the world where cruise ships are born. Cruise ships aren't built by cruise lines themselves, but rather by specialized manufacturers. In Saint-Nazaire is the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard, established more than 160 years ago. They've just completed construction on Celebrity Cruises' newest vessel.

The day started quietly with the simple act of signing paperwork, which transferred control of Celebrity Ascent from Chantiers to Celebrity. Then, the fun began. More than 1,000 crew had already taken residence on board to prepare the ship for its departure from Saint-Nazaire, and they were joined by VIP guests, including government officials, Celebrity executives, and of course, the captains of the ship: brothers Dimitrios and Tasos Kafetzis. We all gathered on the sun deck to witness the traditional changing of the flag, from the French flag representing Chantiers to the American flag representing Celebrity.

"We have a lot of ceremonial affairs in our business, some of it superstitious in nature. The ability to kind of celebrate events like this is very special to us," said Jason Liberty, the president and CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, in an interview with Travel + Leisure .

Stefanie Waldek/Travel + Leisure

The 3,260-passenger, 1,073-foot-long Celebrity Ascent is the fourth ship in the cruise line's Edge class, following Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Apex, and Celebrity Beyond. I sailed on Celebrity Edge after its launch back in 2018, and noticed right away that Celebrity Ascent was not a twin, but an evolution of the class. And that's by design.

"On the guest side, we're very, very grounded in what our guests are telling us, understanding what were things that worked as we had expected, better than we had expected. And what are things that we might want to tweak? That's a constant journey that we're on," Liberty said. He notes that over time, guest interests and needs change, too, so the design of the ships must always consider both the passengers of today and of tomorrow — as well as the needs of the crew. "Operationally, our crew gives us a lot of feedback. Sometimes you design what you think is a perfect space, but operationally, it can be a little bit challenging," he said.

As I toured Celebrity Ascent , I certainly saw elements that have carried over from ship to ship in the Edge class, like the grand Eden space in the stern, an immersive multifloor, multipurpose venue that changes from restaurant to entertainment venue over the course of an evening. Some smaller design elements remain the same, too, such as the black rattan hanging chairs in the spa's thermal suite, surrounded by greenery and black-and-white tiles.

But perhaps more noticeable were the design changes. From the get-go, Celebrity tapped world-class designers to devise striking interiors throughout the ship, from Nate Berkus to Kelly Hoppen. That deeply rooted design focus hasn't changed, but the look of some of the spaces has. One particular change that caught my eye was the addition of Le Voyage, a restaurant by Daniel Boulud, which was first introduced on Celebrity Beyond. On Celebrity Ascent, the space is awash in a Champagne palette dominated by striking lighting embedded in the ceiling and the walls. A semi-private dining room is cocooned by scalloped green walls and anchored by a bold marbled table, mirrored by a marble-pattern rug.

But the changes between ships go far beyond what's visible to guests. The engines on Celebrity Ascent , for instance, are designed to be easily upgraded for future innovations in greener fuels — namely, a transition to methanol, an alternative that emits far less carbon than traditional fuels, and eventually to an even more sustainable fuel called green methanol. As I learned earlier in the day, that transition is on its way.

Before we celebrated Celebrity Ascent 's delivery, we were treated to a special steel-cutting ceremony for the next Edge-class ship, Celebrity Xcel, due to be delivered in 2025. That ship will have the first tri-fuel engines in the Royal Caribbean Group fleet. "These engines will allow us to burn traditional fuels as well as methanol," Liberty said. "And then as we can get methanol from its current state to be green methanol, then that ship is able to be net zero." The company hopes to achieve net zero by 2050.

The steel-cutting provided a rather poetic sentiment to the day. Shortly after the celebrations, Celebrity Ascent departed Saint-Nazaire for a transatlantic journey to the Caribbean, where it will spend the winter season. But there's little rest for the builders at Chantiers — the cycle now begins anew with Celebrity Xcel .

Seven-night Caribbean itineraries on Celebrity Ascent start from $767 per person; book your voyage at celebritycruises.com .

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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure .

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Celebrity cruise ship rescues 7 people from small vessel 'adrift' between Cuba and Mexico

A Celebrity Cruises ship rescued a group of people from another vessel between Cuba and Mexico this week.

Celebrity Apex “encountered a small vessel adrift and in need of assistance” on Monday, according to a spokesperson for the cruise line.

“The ship’s crew immediately launched a rescue operation, safely bringing (seven) people onboard,” the spokesperson told USA TODAY an emailed statement. “The crew provided them with medical attention, and is working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard.”

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Celebrity cruise ship rescues 7 people from small vessel 'adrift' between Cuba and Mexico

Celebrity Cruises ships from newest to oldest — a complete list

What's the newest Celebrity Cruises ship? If you're thinking about booking a trip with Celebrity, it's a good thing to find out.

The newest Celebrity ship is typically also the Celebrity ship with the most bells and whistles and the most up-to-date venues, including cabins, restaurants, bars and attractions. It's what you want if you desire the very latest and greatest in a vessel for your Celebrity Cruises vacation.

Right now, the newest Celebrity cruise ship is Celebrity Beyond. It just debuted in April 2022.

Although Celebrity Beyond is barely more than a year old, it'll soon be supplanted as the newest Celebrity Cruises vessel by Celebrity Ascent — a very similar vessel in the same Edge-class series of ships as Celebrity Beyond. Celebrity Ascent begins sailing in December 2023.

For more cruise guides, reviews and news, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

Other relatively new Celebrity cruise ships include Celebrity Apex , Celebrity Flora and Celebrity Edge . All began sailing in the last five years.

In all, Celebrity Cruises operates 15 vessels. On average, the line comes out with a new ship every two years, and it typically keeps vessels in its fleet for around 20 to 30 years before retiring them from the fleet. The oldest Celebrity ship, Celebrity Millennium, is 23 years old.

In general, Celebrity's newest ships are bigger and packed with more venues than its older ships. If you are looking for Celebrity ships with the most restaurants, bars, lounges and other amenities, you'll want to stick to vessels built in the last few years.

Related: 4 types of Celebrity Cruises ships, explained

That said, the above is a generalization that comes with an asterisk. One of Celebrity's newest ships, Celebrity Flora, is also one of its smallest ships.

With room for just 100 passengers, Celebrity Flora is one of three very small vessels in the Celebrity fleet that operate year-round tours in the Galapagos. It's essentially an entirely different business for Celebrity than the mainstream, big-ship cruising that is at the core of the company.

Celebrity is, in a sense, two cruise lines in one: a big-ship brand with 12 vessels that carry 2,000 to 3,000 passengers and sail around the world, and a Galapagos cruise tour operator with three tiny vessels that carry just 16 to 100 people. We include all of the vessels in this guide.

Here, every Celebrity Cruises ship currently in operation is ranked from newest to oldest:

1. Celebrity Beyond

Maiden voyage: 2022 Size: 141,420 tons Passenger capacity: 3,260

2. Celebrity Apex

Maiden voyage: 2020 Size: 130,818 tons Passenger capacity: 2,910

3. Celebrity Flora

Maiden voyage: 2019 Size: 5,739 tons Passenger capacity: 100

4. Celebrity Edge

Maiden voyage: 2018 Size: 130,818 tons Passenger capacity: 2,908

5. Celebrity Reflection

Maiden voyage: 2012 Size: 135,366 tons Passenger capacity: 3,046

6. Celebrity Silhouette

Maiden voyage: 2011 Size: 122,210 tons Passenger capacity: 2,886

7. Celebrity Eclipse

Maiden voyage: 2010 Size: 121,878 tons Passenger capacity: 2,850

8. Celebrity Equinox

Maiden voyage: 2009 Size: 121,878 tons Passenger capacity: 2,850

9. Celebrity Solstice

Maiden voyage: 2008 Size: 121,878 tons Passenger capacity: 2,850

10. Celebrity Xploration

Maiden voyage: 2007 Size: 320 tons Passenger capacity: 16

11. Celebrity Constellation

Maiden voyage: 2002 Size: 91,000 tons Passenger capacity: 2,170

12. Celebrity Summit

Maiden voyage: 2001 Size: 91,000 tons Passenger capacity: 2,158

13. Celebrity Infinity

Maiden voyage: 2001 Size: 91,000 tons Passenger capacity: 2,170

14. Celebrity Xpedition

Maiden voyage: 2001 Size: 2,842 tons Passenger capacity: 48

15. Celebrity Millennium

Maiden voyage: 2000 Size: 91,000 tons Passenger capacity: 2,137

What is the newest Celebrity Cruises ship?

The newest Celebrity cruise ship is Celebrity Beyond. As noted above, it debuted in April 2022. Measuring 141,420 gross tons, it's also the biggest cruise ship in the Celebrity fleet.

What is the oldest Celebrity Cruises ship?

The oldest Celebrity cruise ship is Celebrity Millennium. It was unveiled in 2000, right at the turn of the millennium (hence its name).

What new Celebrity Cruises ships are coming?

Celebrity Cruises currently has two new cruise ships on order. The first to arrive will be Celebrity Ascent in December 2023. It will be followed by an as yet unnamed vessel in 2025.

The two Celebrity Cruises ships on order will be the fourth and fifth ships in Celebrity's Edge-class series of vessels that began debuting in 2018. The first three ships in the series are Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Beyond.

The Edge-class vessels are being built at the giant Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France.

Related: 5 things to love about Celebrity Beyond

What is the newest Celebrity Cruises ship available for booking?

Celebrity Ascent is the newest Celebrity Cruises ship that you can book right now. While Celebrity Ascent isn't yet sailing, its initial sailings scheduled for December 2023 are already on sale, as are future sailings through April 2025. The other, as yet unnamed Celebrity Cruises ship on order for delivery in 2025 has yet to open for bookings.

What is the newest class of Celebrity Cruises ships?

The Edge class is the newest class of Celebrity Cruises ships. Currently in the midst of rolling out, it'll be made up of at least five vessels.

The first Edge-class vessel, Celebrity Edge, debuted in 2018. Two more — Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Beyond — began sailing in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

The last two ships in the series currently on order, Celebrity Ascent and an as yet unnamed sister vessel, are due in December 2023 and sometime in 2025, respectively.

The Edge-class vessels aren't just the newest ships in the Celebrity fleet but are also the most advanced vessels in the Celebrity fleet. Designed to carry 2,908 to 3,260 passengers apiece at double occupancy, they each have such innovative new features as "infinite veranda" cabins with outward-facing walls that are entirely made of glass.

Another innovative feature of the Edge-class ships is the 90-ton platform along the side of each of the vessels called the Magic Carpet. As big as a tennis court, the platforms are cantilevered over the side of the vessels and can be raised and lowered to serve different functions — from a waterside bar to a water shuttle boarding area.

What's the difference between newer and older Celebrity Cruises ships?

Newer Celebrity Cruises ships generally are bigger than older Celebrity ships — in some cases by as much as 35% bigger. As a result, they have room for more onboard venues and attractions than the line's older vessels.

On Celebrity's newest and biggest Edge-class vessel, Celebrity Beyond, for instance, you'll find an expanded resort-within-a-resort area for suite passengers called The Retreat that isn't on the smaller vessels in the Edge-class series or on other older ships in the Celebrity fleet. It offers a new two-story sun deck with hot tubs, lounge chairs and private cabanas that are open exclusively to passengers staying in suites.

Celebrity Beyond also has 179 more cabins than its sister vessels, each of which has 1,467 cabins. As a result, it holds 3,260 passengers at double occupancy. That's up from a 2,910-passenger capacity at double occupancy for Celebrity Apex and a 2,908-passenger capacity at double occupancy for Celebrity Edge.

Celebrity's oldest Millennium-class ships, by contrast, only carry about 2,100 passengers at double occupancy. As a result, they have a more intimate feel, at least in the pantheon of relatively big, mass-market ships.

That makes them a good choice for someone who wants to try Celebrity but isn't eager to travel with big crowds. The oldest ships in the Celebrity fleet thus appeal to a subset of Celebrity fans who prefer more intimacy in a cruise vessel and don't mind giving up some onboard amenities to get it. They are also often less expensive per day to sail on.

Related: Celebrity Cruises Captain's Club loyalty program: The ultimate guide

Celebrity's three very small Galapagos-based vessels have the most intimate feel of all. They are like tiny boutique hotels that float.

Note that all Celebrity ships are renovated and upgraded on a regular schedule every few years, so even the oldest Celebrity cruise vessels have newer carpeting, updated furniture, modern decor in cabins and other updates. In many cases, they also have had entire eateries and bars renovated over the years with concepts that first debuted on newer vessels.

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Simone Biles, 19-time World Champion and seven-time Olympic Medalist has added another very special title to her decorated career – godmother for Celebrity Beyond℠. In her role as Godmother, Biles named Celebrity Beyond – the gold standard ship and most luxurious vessel in the Celebrity fleet – at the official ceremony in Fort Lauderdale on November 4, 2022.

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Cruise ship carrying 1,500 passengers stuck in Spain port due to Bolivian passengers’ visa problems

A view of the cruise ship MSC Armony moored in the port of Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Authorities said Wednesday that a group of 69 Bolivians are not being allowed to disembark from a cruise ship in the Spanish northeastern port of Barcelona because they lack valid documents to enter the European Union’s Schengen area. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A passenger is photographed on the cruise ship MSC Armony, moored in the port of Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Authorities said Wednesday that a group of 69 Bolivians are not being allowed to disembark from a cruise ship in the Spanish northeastern port of Barcelona because they lack valid documents to enter the European Union’s Schengen area. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Passengers are photographed on the cruise ship MSC Armony, moored in the port of Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Authorities said Wednesday that a group of 69 Bolivians are not being allowed to disembark from a cruise ship in the Spanish northeastern port of Barcelona because they lack valid documents to enter the European Union’s Schengen area. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A cruise ship reportedly carrying 1,500 passengers was stuck Wednesday in the Spanish northeastern port of Barcelona due to the visa problems of a group of Bolivian passengers who were due to disembark there, officials said.

Authorities say 69 Bolivians were not being allowed to leave the ship because they lacked valid documents to enter the European border-free Schengen area. Solange Duarte, a Bolivian diplomat in Barcelona, told The Associated Press she received reports some of the stranded Bolivians had been duped into obtaining fake visas but had no further information.

“We have asked the families to indicate who has processed this visa and we have not gotten answers,” she said, adding she heard it was possible the Bolivians would be transferred to a different ship.

Spain’s national police was looking into the possibility of a fake visa scam, Duarte said.

Spanish state news agency Efe and other media said some 1,500 passengers were on board the MSC Armony hoping to continue the cruise to Croatia.

Bolivia’s deputy foreign affairs minister, Fernando Pérez, said the country was waiting “to see what the Spanish authorities decide what to do.”

A statement from the Bolivian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said the Bolivian Embassy in Spain and the country’s Consulate General in Barcelona “are carrying out the pertinent steps to address this case,” coordinating with Spanish authorities, as well as with the MSC Cruises Company.

MSC Cruises said in a statement the Bolivians included families and children.

It said the “passengers appeared to have proper documentation upon boarding in Brazil. We have been informed by the authorities that the visas are not valid for entry into the Schengen area. As a result, passengers have not been able to disembark in Barcelona, which was their final destination.”

The company said the ship remained in port while it works with authorities to facilitate the process.

The Schengen area is an ID-check-free travel zone comprising 29 European countries, most from the European Union.

This story was corrected to show that the Schengen zone is a European rather than European Union creation and comprises 29 countries.

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Norwegian Cruise says stranded American passengers were over hour late to ship, given passports: report

Jay and jill campbell, a south carolina couple part of the stranded group, said the cruise line 'followed the rules too rigidly,' according to a report.

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Norwegian Cruise passengers, who were stranded on an African island , missed the boarding time by more than an hour, which is why they were left behind, according to reports.

Eight passengers, including six Americans and two Australians, were on a private tour of São Tomé and missed the 3 p.m. all-aboard call on Friday, the cruise line said. 

A cruise line spokesperson originally told Sky News the group was late by more than an hour, which was confirmed by the New York Post. 

"When they missed the all-aboard time of 3 p.m. by more than an hour, their passports were left with the local port agent for retrieval when they returned to the port from their private tour (not organized by us), per the protocol," a cruise line spokesperson told the Post. 

AMERICANS STRANDED BY NORWEGIAN CRUISE SAVE ELDERLY PASSENGER, FAMILY SAYS: SHIP ‘LEFT HER TO DIE’

A Norwegian Cruise Line ship is pictured. Passengers on a recent trip to Africa said the cruise line stranded them there. (Getty Images)

When passengers on excursions or private tours are late, it's the cruise line's right to sail away to stay on time. 

Two members of the group – Jay and Jill Campbell, a South Carolina couple – said in news interviews that their tour guide ran late and did not get them back to the ship on time Friday.

The boat was still in sight of the island, and the Coast Guard ferried the group to the ship, but the captain denied them entry. 

AMERICANS STRANDED BY NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LEFT WITHOUT MONEY, VITAL MEDS

"Guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship’s intercom, in the daily communication and posted just before exiting the vessel," a spokesperson for the cruise line said.

Jill said the cruise line "followed the rules too rigidly" during a Tuesday morning interview on The Today Show . 

"I really feel that they forgot they are people working in the hospitality industry and that really the safety and well-being of their customers should be their first priority," Jill said, and the crew had a "basic duty of care that they had forgotten about."

Jill and Jay Campbell, from South Carolina, were among the eight passengers left behind by Norwegian Cruise Line after they missed the all-aboard call. (Jill and Jay Campbell)

The Norwegian Cruise Line secured the group's passports, as part of protocol, according to their statement, but didn't grab vital medicines, money or other belongings, according to the Campbells. 

Among the group is a paraplegic, a man who has a heart condition and a pregnant Delaware woman and her husband.

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"When the guests did not return to the vessel at the all-aboard time, their passports were delivered to the local port agents to retrieve when they returned to the port," the company said. 

After chasing the ship through several countries, the eight stranded passengers finally caught up and boarded the ship by Wednesday morning, Norwegian Cruise Line told Fox News Digital. 

The company has been criticized by passengers who said they were recently stranded on an African island. (Reuters/Gary Cameron)

Fox News Digital reached out to the Campbells, and Norwegian Cruise Line said they're working on getting answers to followup questions, including an unrelated incident where an elderly woman had to disembark for medical reasons. 

Julie Lenkoff, 80, suffered a stroke and potentially a heart attack during the trip, and the cruise line said they thought it was in her best interest to send her to a local clinic on São Tomé. 

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But her family said the cruise line never called Lenkoff's emergency contacts, and left her behind. 

That's when the Campbells learned she was on the same island and took care of her.

"They're heroes," Lenkoff's son-in-law, Kurt Gies, told Fox News Digital about the Campbells. "They saved our mother."

Julie Lenkoff smiling before a medical emergency forced her off a Norwegian Cruise on an African island, where she was left behind. (Facebook)

The South Carolina couple helped Lenkoff reach her family in the U.S., and she was eventually flown to the states on a 30-hour flight from São Tomé to Lisbon, Portugal, to Toronto to Stanford Hospital in California "that no one was sure she would even survive."

She's since been admitted to Stanford Hospital, where she's been under constant care, Gies said. 

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Norwegian Cruise Line said in statements to Fox News Digital on Tuesday that the unrelated incidents were both "very unfortunate situations."

Chris Eberhart is a crime and US news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to [email protected] or on Twitter @ChrisEberhart48.

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Eight passengers stranded on African island after Norwegian cruise ship left without them

A dream cruise vacation has turned into a nightmare for eight passengers left stranded on the African island of São Tomé and Príncipe after their ship left without them because they were late to return from a private tour.

The tourists — six from the U.S. and two from Australia — were aboard the Norwegian Dawn, a Norwegian cruise line ship , which departed from Cape Town, South Africa, on March 20 for a 21-day voyage up the coast of Africa set to end in Barcelona, Spain, on April 10.

But on Wednesday, the group of eight tourists was late to return to the ship by more than an hour for the all-aboard time of 3 p.m. from a private excursion on the island, which was not organized by the cruise line.

Jay and Jill Campbell of South Carolina were part of the group that was left behind.

They said that their tour’s operator notified the cruise captain that they were going to be late to rejoin the ship and that the local Coast Guard tried to get them on the vessel but that they weren’t allowed to board.

As a result, the couple and the rest of the group have been stranded for days on the island off Nigeria, grappling with language, currency issues and complicated travel to catch up with the ship.

“The lovely people of São Tomé were very gracious, very hospitable. They had reached out as much as they could to help us find hotels,” Jay Campbell said on NBC's "TODAY" show Tuesday morning.

“We were able to get to a tour agency there to arrange flights to the next port of call. ... Very difficult process — you’re dealing with multiple languages, language barriers, you’re dealing with different currencies ... finding someone that even has dollars ... trying to get an agent to understand where we need to get to.

"It’s one of those ‘You can’t get there from here,’" he added.

A Norwegian spokesperson called the incident a “very unfortunate situation” and said, “Guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time.”

The cruise line said that after the guests failed to return, their passports were delivered to local port agents, in line with protocol. The company said it was working with local authorities to understand “the requirements and visas needed for the guests to reboard the ship at the next available port of call.”

On Monday, the guests had made arrangements to rejoin the ship in Banjul, Gambia, but the ship was unable to safely dock there because of “adverse weather conditions” and “tidal restrictions,” Norwegian said. The guests were then contacted and provided with information to rejoin the ship at Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday. 

Jill Campbell said they traveled through seven countries in 48 hours to arrive in Senegal on Monday night.

But the couple was reconsidering whether they even wanted to return to the cruise.

"We are considering whether or not we are going to board the ship. It is in dock here in Senegal," she said. "We believe there was a basic duty of care that they had forgotten about, so it does concern us."

"After what we witnessed, we truly believe that although there’s a set of rules or policies that the ship may have followed, they followed those rules too rigidly. I believe that they really forgot that they are people working in the hospitality industry and really the safety and well-being of the customers should be their first priority," she added.

Ultimately, the eight passengers did rejoin the cruise before 8:30 a.m. ET Tuesday in Dakar, Senegal, Norwegian told NBC News in an e-mail Tuesday evening, after this story originally published.

Norwegian said the passengers were responsible for making their own travel arrangements to rejoin the ship.

"Despite the series of unfortunate events outside of our control, we will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjur, Gambia to Dakar, Senegal," a cruise line spokesperson said in a statement. "We remain in communication with the guests and are providing additional information as it becomes available."

A silver lining of the catastrophe was that the Campbells were able to connect with another Norwegian Dawn passenger — Julia Lenkoff, 80 — who was also left on the island, but for a medical reason.

Lenkoff was on a different day tour Wednesday. She had "medically disembarked" from the cruise to seek local treatment on that day, Norwegian said.

Norwegian said that its care team tried to call Lenkoff several times and was unable to reach her and that it worked with its port agent in São Tomé and Príncipe for updates on her health.

The Campbells met Lenkoff and were able to put her in contact with her family in California, who flew her home — a move Lenkoff's daughter said "saved her life."

"She's a world traveler. She travels all the time. So this was going to be one of her bucket list trips, because she's been to 120 countries so far, and she wanted to get to 130," her daughter, Lana Lenkoff Geis, said in an interview that aired Tuesday on "TODAY."

Norwegian said Lenkoff was escorted on a flight to Lisbon, Portugal, then put in the care of airport staff members to continue her journey back to the U.S., where she has safely returned.

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Why cruise line Norwegian Dawn did the right thing by ditching passengers

Eight people have accused Norwegian Cruise Line of abandoning them. Now, one cruiser said the ship’s captain did the right thing.

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Eight people have accused Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) of abandoning them on a tiny island in Africa after a private tour ran late and the group missed the embarkation cut-off time.

Four of the group are elderly and another is pregnant , and though the ship was still at anchor, they were denied boarding.

The ship, the Norwegian Dawn, set sail without them – and it was right to do so.

Once, I was late to check in for a flight. I jumped out of the taxi, sprinted to the counter (which is no mean feat when you’re hauling luggage) and arrived at the desk sweating bullets, prepared to get on my knees and grovel if it meant I’d be allowed through. I began to tell my sob story to the lady at the desk, heart hammering and lungs gasping for air, when she politely interrupted and shook her head.

In the nicest way possible, she said this: “Stiff bickies.” (OK yes, I’ve paraphrased.)

Sure, the plane was still at the airport, no more than a few hundred metres from where I was standing. However, the luggage had already been loaded, the manifest had already been finalised, and the other passengers were already boarding. There was no way they were going to let me board, nor should they have.

You see, I had been on a whale-watching tour about two-and-a-half hours south of the airport – hey, it was my last day, I wanted to make it count. I planned it to perfection, except for one detail: we spotted a playful pod right at the very end, so the captain offered to give us some bonus time to enjoy the view.

With one eye on the magnificent mammals, and another on my watch, I held on to a flicker of hope that I might make it. I jumped on the bus back to town, flagged down a cab, and asked the driver to hurry. I launched out of the car like a 100m sprinter launches out of starting blocks and ran into the terminal.

Alas, my proverbial ship had sailed.

Was it a bummer? Absolutely. But imagine delaying the other 158-or-so passengers scheduled to depart on the Boeing 737, asking the crew to extend their shifts, or holding the plane and disrupting airport traffic … all so little old me could drop off my bags, scurry through security, and find my gate.

Imagine the awkwardness if I stepped onto that plane. What do you say? “Sorry guys, my bad, lol.”

That doesn’t even scratch the surface of a cruise ship’s operations. Norwegian Dawn can accommodate 3372 people – 2340 passengers and 1032 crew – and this group of eight expected it to wait?

A ship’s departure time isn’t exactly a mystery.

I sailed on Norwegian Dawn in February and the departure time was published in NCL’s Freestyle Daily newsletter the night before and announced over the loudspeaker multiple times in the morning. It was also posted on signs at the doors where guests disembark.

The golden rule is clear: Make sure you’re back on time, or the ship may sail without you.

So what do you do if you’re left behind? Generally there are two options: either catch up with the ship at a later port or head home. If you’re lucky, you’ll have brought your essentials with you – your passport, phone, credit card, and medication – because all of your belongings will stay on board until the end.

Please don’t get me wrong, of course I’m sympathetic to the distress of those who were left in a foreign country without the safety of the ship. It would be scary and stressful to figure out next steps, especially for the members of the group with higher needs, and disappointing to miss out on their holidays.

However, the unfortunate reality is that ships can’t always wait.

Private tours are a whole separate issue, because while the ship will wait for official tours – those which have been organised by the cruise ship operator – to return, all bets are off for passengers taking their shore excursions into their own hands. Unofficial tours can be slightly cheaper than those on the ship’s itinerary, with slightly more availability, so they can be attractive. However, while operators will do their best to stick to scheduled times, all bets are off once you board that bus and leave the port.

Think of it like booking multiple legs of a trip with different airlines. They’re not in the same network, they don’t owe each other anything, and they can’t guarantee that you’ll make your connection. Say the bus breaks down. Maybe someone wanders off and takes ages to find. Perhaps the group lingers over a delicious lunch. Someone might need to stop at an ATM or a loo. You could get stuck in traffic. Or maybe your tour will be like mine and you’ll see something incredible that simply makes you want to pause.

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And so, eight passengers were left in São Tomé and Príncipe, Africa’s second-smallest country.

“While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time,” NCL said in a statement, adding that it is communicating with the guests about their next steps. It’s harsh but fair, especially since the other 3364 (or so) people on board got it right.

Kirrily Schwarz recently sailed on Norwegian Dawn as a guest of Norwegian Cruise Line.

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‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Star Sonequa Martin-Green on the Show’s Unexpected Final Season, the ‘Pressure’ of Representation and Taking the ‘Trek’ Cruise

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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Sonequa Martin-Green ’s first memories of “ Star Trek ” are of her parents watching it on TV — but really, they’re of Nichelle Nichols.

“I don’t even know as a child if I knew her real name, but I knew, here’s this beautiful Black woman,” Martin-Green says. “This is Uhura.”

When Martin-Green and her castmates shot Season 5, they didn’t know that it would be the final mission for “Discovery”; the show was well into post-production on the season when Paramount+ made the announcement. But in an uncommon show of goodwill, the streamer and CBS Studios carved out an additional three-day shoot for the series finale so “Discovery” could have a proper send off.

“We wanted to conclude on a high note, and it was so important to honor the series’ incredible legacy and to give it the final season it deserves,” says Jeff Grossman, EVP of Paramount+ programming. “We’re so grateful to the producers for developing an extraordinary coda to bring ‘Discovery’ to a close.”

Remarkably, even though they weren’t designed to be this way, the first four episodes of the season, which Variety has screened, have a striking finality to them. Several characters make momentous life choices while the crew of the USS Discovery embark on a season-long adventure that feels like a culmination of sorts for everything they’ve experienced to that point. 

“I think it will feel like we had baked it from the beginning,” says executive producer and showrunner Michelle Paradise.

What was your very first exposure to “Star Trek”?

I can remember seeing it on the television when I was a kid. I can remember watching my parents watch it. I never sat down to watch it, but I knew what it was. I knew that’s “Star Trek,” that’s Nichelle Nichols. I don’t even know as a child if I knew her real name, but I knew here’s this beautiful Black woman. This is Uhura. I remember LeVar Burton. It’s interesting — I have flashes of a few people, but the two of them are the most prevalent in my memory.

Recently, Paramount+ posted a fascinating conversation between you and “Lower Decks” star Tawny Newsome , and one thing you discussed was how you’ve realized that, early on in the show, you took on too much responsibility. How did that manifest for you?

It was present when we were all establishing this culture of family on the set. I knew that that was exceedingly important, invaluable even, and everyone agreed with me. So I was mindful of that as we were going along.

But also it affected me in my work between action and cut, honestly. I felt so much pressure. Most of it I had put on myself. It needed to be perfect, and it needed to be right, and I needed to do it justice, and I needed to, I needed to, I needed to. It was very much, I must, I must, I must.

You can’t stay in the place that I was in because it is stagnating, and it does stifle your creativity. Thankfully, it was able to pass through me. It took time, longer than I thought it would take, but it did eventually get to where I finally could be authentic without that pressure.

Was part of that pressure because of this franchise’s history of breaking ground in representation with Nichelle Nichols and George Takei?

Oh, yeah. George Takei, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew. That’s exactly why. We knew that [“Star Trek”] was an heirloom, and to me it was heavy at first. At the time, I was still dealing with a great deal of internalized racism as well, so there was the imposter syndrome. There was the idea that I needed to prove that I deserve to be there, that I needed to make those who came before me proud, that I needed to prove my worth to them because of what had already been accomplished, because I knew that I was there largely because of them.

Of course, I knew that God had placed me there as well. I was always very clear about that, but I knew that they had paved the path that I was walking on. It was very much that I need to be perfect because of who came before me and what they accomplished.

How often are you meeting fans for whom “Discovery” is their first “Star Trek”?

What do they say to you?

They’ll say, “You’re my ‘Trek.’” And that could bring a tear to my eye, because that’s the whole point of this.

How do they say they came to the show?

There’s a little bit of everything. I get people saying, “I watched you on ‘Walking Dead,’ and then when I saw that you were on this, I decided to watch this, and now I’m watching other ‘Treks.’” Some people will say, “My sibling or parent or spouse or best friend was watching it and encouraged me to watch it.” I’ve heard, “I was there from the very beginning. I watched the original series when it was on television.” Of course, these people are typically in their early seventies, and they’ll say, “But I love ‘Discovery.’ Thank you for bringing ‘Trek’ back.”

I’ve been in tears with people before, because they’ll say, “This was what me and my dad shared,” or, “This is what me and my grandmother shared before they left.” Or they’ll say, “‘Discovery’ actually brought my family back together. There’s not very many things that we agree on, but we come together every week as a family to watch ‘Discovery.’” I’ve had more than one person say that to me.

You were just on the official “Star Trek” cruise — were you having those kinds of interactions often with fans?

Oh, yes. The thing about the cruise is that everybody’s there for the same reason. Usually, when I meet people at conventions, they could be there for lots of things. But on the cruise, it’s pointed. It is about this .

What are you doing on the cruise? What is your day like?

Oh, you’re doing all kinds of things. You’re playing a lot of games. There’s karaoke, there’s interviews. You’re also doing things like sushi making, wine tasting. There are variety shows at night. There’s sketch shows, there’s performances, there’s music, there’s concerts. Anthony Rapp did a concert. Tawny and Eugene [Cordero] did some improv. It’s all kinds of everything. 

How much interaction do you have with “Star Trek” alumni who you’d not met before?

More than I was expecting and more than I typically have. We see each other at events here and there. But I was really moved by being able to be with other people from the iterations. What really struck me was, man, I talk a lot about the family of “Star Trek: Discovery.”

But I realized on the cruise how every iteration was its own family. We learned a lot about the “Next Gen” family through Jonathan Frakes, who’s one of our most beloved directors of “Discovery.” He took us under his wing, and he would talk to us about how they were such a family. But being able to see it, it’s different.

There’s an intimacy between “Star Trek” actors and the fandom that isn’t nearly as present for other franchises — like, Ewan McGregor isn’t going on a “Star Wars” cruise. What has it been like stepping into that aspect of it? 

The fans would yell out to us at press events, at panels, “Welcome to the family!” I just met a group of ladies just a couple of months ago at a convention who said, “We only know each other because of ‘Discovery,’ but we are now like family.” That happens a lot. But it is overwhelming, too. It makes you feel that much more responsible for the story.

There are also fans who are the opposite, who’ve said, “You’re not my ‘Star Trek,’” or “This isn’t how ‘Star Trek’ should be.” What has that experience been like for you?

It is something that we have to contend with, especially in the beginning. We never allowed it to discourage us, because we understood their point of view. We would discuss these things on set all the time, because we felt as if we were caught in a kind of whirlwind. But this is an intelligent group of people. They are loyal, and they’re speaking from their hearts. They had issues, and rightfully so. They were justified to have their points of view.

It’s always hard for a new iteration of “Trek.” Apparently, this is a sort of rite of passage, to have a little bit of a rocky beginning. This is what we’ve heard from other iterations, that it took a second for the audience to grab ahold of them. That was the case for us as well. 

They did not like how futuristic we were — that’s a broad term. They didn’t like that I was at the helm. They didn’t like all the representation. They didn’t like the look of the Klingons. They didn’t like how advanced our tech was. But we had to say, “Well, but this isn’t 1966.” I remember hearing one person say that “Trek” is supposed to make you look forward, and that’s what we were doing. But it was hard for people at first to wrap their brains around it — or, really, I guess I should say, wrap their hearts around it.

You finished shooting Season 5 before Paramount+ decided it was going to be the final season — how did it feel when that announcement was made?

I kept thinking about how culminating the story seemed. It is so conclusive in a way, is it not?

It really is.

But we just thought, “Hey, see you for Season 6, and we will go even bigger.” So when I got the news, it was bittersweet and shocking. But I always felt a great sense of peace about it, and just gratitude and accomplishment and achievement.

I’m so happy we were able to go back for the coda, that Michelle Paradise and [executive producer] Alex Kurtzman really fought for that and CBS said yes. We were able to have that real experience of, “Oh, this is the last time we’ll ever do that.” It felt like a gift. I don’t know if we needed it, but man, we really appreciated it.

The next series, “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” is set in the 32nd Century, contemporaneous to “Discovery.” Are you anticipating Michael Burnham making an appearance on that show?

Finally, while I was visiting the “Section 31” set for the cover story, I saw the cast and crew participate in what they called the Crew Appreciation Award — at the start of each day, everyone gathered around, and one member of the crew gave the award to someone else on the crew, and the following day, that person passed the award on to a new crew member. When I asked Alex Kurtzman how it started, he said I should ask you about it. What is it?

Aw! That almost makes me want to cry! That’s great to hear. I didn’t know that. OK, so, Crew Appreciation started in Season 1. A director came in — I don’t want to get his name wrong, so I won’t even say — and he said that this was something that he had come across in his travels. At the time, it was this neon construction vest, and you would pass it crew to crew. And I thought, “What a lovely thing. Let’s do that here. But it can’t be a vest because that’s cumbersome. So it’ll be a medal.” I bought some clay, and shaped it into a medal, and then I painted it gold and put a strap on it. 

And then what was so endearing is everybody added something to that medal. Costumes put a fabric backing on it, and then lighting put a lighting strip around the edge. Everybody just kept adding little pieces to it. We would do it every single day. It was a big part of our show’s culture. Some people would be embarrassed and they would say, “Thank you guys so much. Can you please just not clap for me?” So we would be like, “Got it, we will appreciate you in silence today.” But it was always so fun. One of my favorite things.

Where’s that medal now?

We don’t know! The last time somebody saw it, we hung it up in Stage 4, and we were like, “It’ll be waiting for us [for Season 5].” When we went back, it wasn’t there anymore. So it’s somewhere at Pinewood Studios. As we were shooting Season 5, we ended up 3D printing another one. Maybe we’ll have to have a scavenger hunt reunion one day.

This interview has been edited and condensed .

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