She was one of 11 Star passengers who left the ship last Monday at 8:15 a.m. in a tour bus. When she did not show up at the agreed-upon departure point sometime after 11 a.m. that morning, news reports from Hawaii say that the tour bus driver alerted park workers -- and told them she'd need to find another way back to the Norwegian Star.

Alas, the ship departed for Fanning Island without her and her husband, who hadn't taken the tour and had no idea his wife had not made it back onboard, was unaware she was missing. It wasn't until he fruitlessly searched the ship that he raised the alarm with officers. They reported her missing to police on Hilo.

A hiker found the woman's body in the park the next morning. Investigators there say there's no sign of foul play though the cause of death is at this point unknown.

The passenger's husband had to stay onboard the ship until Friday, when Norwegian Star docked in Maui; he then flew to Hilo. The NCL spokeswoman said "we assisted the husband in his travel needs as well as flying his brother over to be with him" and expressed the usual condolences*.

Source:Cruise Critic

Odd, seeing as though the other passengers she went with were aware she hadn't come back with them. Didn't they say anything on re boarding? NCL would have known she wasn't aboard too.

How could NCl be liable vg? Had it been a ship's tour they may have searched for her there and then and her husband may have known sooner, but would still have been the same outcome

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Originally posted by vg5157:
I don't get it,what is the reason for those check in and check out cards that we have onboard,they don't know someone is missing, once the ship departure,any explanation for this ?

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A sad story, indeed.

I think the main purpose of the check-in and check-out system is to stop intruders (non-guests) getting onboard.

NCL should have detected that there was one passenger missing - in fact they probably did? I assume that they decided sail anyway?

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

NCL should have detected that there was one passenger missing - in fact they probably did? I assume that they decided sail anyway?

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I expect NCL did know she wasn't aboard. Probably even rang the cabin, if her husband was there he wouldn't have known. They aren't going to wait for her [we left one behind on Cozumel & a friend left 10 there last week, so a common occurance]. The report is somewhat sketchy, they only ever tell half the story so imagination fills in the rest in the worst way; as I said before, I doubt the other people she was with wouldn't have informed anyone she hadn't returned with them.

1. As has been said, NCL should NOT be liable at all... Perhaps they did not tell the husband soon enough but that is it... Certainly they did not kill the wife!

2. Dolphins mentioned the cards... It is very common for passengers to scan them improperly... If you put it all the way in, it registers you aboard, but if when you pull it out you pull, push in slightly, and then finish pulling, it will register you as having left the ship... So it will say that you are missing.

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Originally posted by Dolphins:
On HAL the cabin cards are scanned going on and off the ship and they are used to check if everyone is back. My wife came aboard from ashore and did not scan her card properly so as to register. Before we sailed, the front desk called our cabin to check if she was back on board.

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It's unusual that your wife made it back on board -the scanners are usually well watched - I've been asked to reinsert my card a couple of times when the green light didn't flash - bet someone got hauled over the coals for that omission.

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Originally posted by lougee1043:
Announcements, on HAL ships, although not 'beamed' into the cabins, can certainly be heard - we make a point of opening the door to clearly hear what's going on.

emergency announcements are indeed broadcast into the cabins-----lifeboat drill etc.... i think a missing person is an emergency and deserves a full ship public announcement

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Your point is taken but I said 'announcements'

- it is certainly to be hoped, and is a fact, that Emergency Announcements are heard throughout the ship - I personally do not appreciate having my afternoon siesta disturbed with a Bingo type announcement.

I fear no announcement was made in this case because - in no particular order - (a) it reflected badly on the 'scanner observer' and, sad to say, (b) the husband did not observe that his wife was not on board and (c) other members of the ‘tour’ did not report a ‘no show’.

On one group cruise we had a passenger who (could be called a 'vip' )missed the sailing time - he had to pay, by special arrangement, to catch up with the ship - he felt very foolish! We were charitable and didn't tease him too much!

Seriously though, the coach driver did his duty - the organizer of that trip has, I think, something to answer for.

My husband and I are 'not joined at the hip’ so to speak but if I go ashore on my own, or we separate for a few hours, it's with the understanding that we will meet up on board (place designated) at least 30 minutes before sailing - 15 minutes to go and one a 'no show', the other, for sure would be asking questions and speaking up.

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Originally posted by Green:

My husband and I are 'not joined at the hip’ so to speak but if I go ashore on my own, or we separate for a few hours, it's with the understanding that we will meet up on board (place designated) at least 30 minutes before sailing - 15 minutes to go and one a 'no show', the other, for sure would be asking questions and speaking up.

We've done the volcano tour 4 times now and I wonder seriously if the sulphur vents were in any way connected with this poor woman's demise. With even the slightest 'breathing problem' one can be adversely affected.....so afflicted, I know of what I speak!

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MrP and I usually split up; on the last trip we never went back aboard together, but we always make sure the other is back aboard 30 mins before sailing.

If N Star is similar to N Sun, which I imagine it probably is, your card is scanned by a crew member, not yourself, and your image appears on his screen for identification. On each occasion I boarded this was checked, they always looked at the image and then you, so I don't think it would have been a case of them thinking it was a poorly scanned card.

The important announcments are made throughout, but for bingo and such you have the option of switching that off in your cabin. We had quite a few calls on N Sun for people... then you saw them running down the pier! Never understand why people can't get themselves onboard in time. Of course I suppose some may intend to jump ship.

Who packs up the stuff for people who miss on the last port before return to say Miami? The ship wants the cabin cleared pronto on arrival! I expect there's a hefty charge for it?

Back to the Lady.... I was wondering if the park workers advised would have looked for her? Or is that not their job... but might have passed to a 'ranger' type person. Don't know what they're called in Hawaii. She could have been overcome by fumes.. that stuff can knock anyone out. Never go alone, the tour arranger should have made sure of that.

I still think we don't know half the real story, but I don't suppose that'll ever make the news

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Originally posted by PamM:
If N Star is similar to N Sun, which I imagine it probably is, your card is scanned by a crew member, not yourself, and your image appears on his screen for identification. On each occasion I boarded this was checked, they always looked at the image and then you, so I don't think it would have been a case of them thinking it was a poorly scanned card.

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I think that's a good system... On Princess and RCCL you scan the card yourself and it is easy to make errors... The crew members just stand aside monitoring the computer screen. People go through fast enough that I don't know if they check each image (obviously I don't have ESP ).

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I was wondering if the park workers advised would have looked for her? Or is that not their job... but might have passed to a 'ranger' type person. Don't know what they're called in Hawaii. She could have been overcome by fumes.. that stuff can knock anyone out. Never go alone, the tour arranger should have made sure of that.

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I imagine that the the driver did not characterize it as a missing person, but rather made it sound to the park employees (they are called rangers in national parks BTW) as though she wanted to spend more time there and so elected not to take the bus back to the ship... So really they driver should have said that they have a missing person and that she should be found. If worded incorrectly it wouldn't sound all that alarming.

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Pam

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Looking at our volcano pictures last night, we talked about this and came to the conclusion that we really can't recall seeing workers or rangers around the actual volcano site. They were much in evidence close to the Centre and lava tube but anyone falling or slipping in there would certainly have been noticed by others.

I didn't go in but hubby did and I'm sure we have some pictures - I'll see if I can find them and post.

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Originally posted by Green:
Looking at our volcano pictures last night, we talked about this and came to the conclusion that we really can't recall seeing workers or rangers around the actual volcano site. They were much in evidence close to the Centre and lava tube but anyone falling or slipping in there would certainly have been noticed by others.

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