Active trips ruined by people not up to it

A bit off topic, but a Swedish friend was staying when there was a TV news item about a woman who’d fallen seriously ill during a Norwegian fjords cruise, and had to be taken off the ship.
While they were trying to pass her over, the poor woman was dropped into icy water!!!

Swedish friend said, ‘That’s Norwegians for you - you just can’t trust them!’
Sorry to say that despite the appalling facts, that really did crack me up!

As for the ship not doing a proper head count that was unforgivable

This is the beginning and end of how this tragic event came about.

However: four of us were on an excursion from a cruise ship abroad one time and the coach pulled away, well before the declared departure time.
My friend's husband was still in the toilets getting changed out of his wet swimming kit.
We all shouted out and the driver stopped and waited for him.
It shook us all as if he'd gone on that excursion by himself, he could very easily have been left behind. When you're with a group of people you don't know, you can't tell if one of them isn't there.
No headcount had been taken that day either.

Indeed - it's always been the thing hasnt it that one should take a headcount of those getting off a coach and then another one of those getting back on again if you're responsible for the coach.

Back in my political activist days - when I sometimes landed up as a steward on a coach = I always counted them off and then counted them back on again. It's just what you do. The only time that didnt work as expected was when I'd started out with a half-full coach and by the time we got back home again I'd got a full coach (as I'd told the driver to stop and pick up another half-full coach worth of people that were obviously stranded with a coach breakdown en route back). That was an "interesting" journey back - given we were CND and they were some obscure religious sect......I think they were so gobsmacked that there wasn't a peep out of them...

Tizliz

I can't understand the lack of care from the other passengers. Was there no-one willing to sit with her?

This is the bit that got to me. How people are so wrapped up in themselves, they can't be bothered to chat to another.

It’s not only cruises and holidays that can be spoiled. I regularly go on my local council run Health Walk. This is usually split into two groups, a long and a short walk, the long walk being for those of us who are fitter and can cover a greater distance in the hour. Invariably someone joins who is obvious aware of their abilities and holds us up for frequent rests and we have to wait at field boundaries or gates for them to catch us up. They always get upset when we suggest they join the short walk, but it is unfair on us who are fitter and want to walk quickly and further.

Allira

^Active trips ruined by people not up to it^

So are you saying this woman ruined the trip for others by getting left behind then dying?

So inconsiderate of them

As a person with reduced mobility I make sure I know what is involved with any trip out or holiday before I commit to going. How near can I park? How much walking is there going to be? Will there be lots of steps and slopes?
I am very conscious of the distance and speed I can walk so I would not go on any jaunt that would not be suitable for me. I also think that it isn't fair to expect other, more-able-bodied people to wait for me or become a type of carer. That would not have been what they signed up for, either.
Consideration for myself and others is a factor in my trips and holidays.

A headcount ought to be mandatory. As the teaching staff do for children out on a coach for school trips. It’s not hard.

Perhaps she branched out on her own which was why her absence wasn't immediately noticed. Do we know the full facts?

On the one and only cruise we’ve been on, along the Nile, everyone was handed cards, like a bank card, as we departed on excursions, and they had to be handed back in to crew as we returned, so they were assured everyone was on board.

I think it’s unfair to blame the poor woman in Australia for this event and only hope her end was swift, maybe a heart incident, and she knew little of nothing of it.

I know women in their 80’s who think nothing of doing 10-15 miles of hillwalking in a day, it’s what they enjoy in life. I doubt I’ve ever been capable of such efforts, I don’t have the stamina.

V3ra

^As for the ship not doing a proper head count that was unforgivable^

This is the beginning and end of how this tragic event came about.

However: four of us were on an excursion from a cruise ship abroad one time and the coach pulled away, well before the declared departure time.
My friend's husband was still in the toilets getting changed out of his wet swimming kit.
We all shouted out and the driver stopped and waited for him.
It shook us all as if he'd gone on that excursion by himself, he could very easily have been left behind. When you're with a group of people you don't know, you can't tell if one of them isn't there.
No headcount had been taken that day either.

Cruise ships do have to leave on time and keep to the schedule.

However, if this was an organised trip by the cruise operator, they did have a duty of care to make sure she was with the rest of the group and was counted in on return.

If someone decides not to join the organised group and go off on their own, that's different.
Excursions organised by the cruise companies can be
expensive and people are often tempted to make their own arrangements, find a local taxi etc butch they have to make sure they are back in time before the ship sails.

Lizard Island isn't very big and it looks as if this lady was with the organised group so yes, the company is at fault.

Her daughter, Katherine Rees, said that her mother had felt ill and was asked to head down, unescorted. She never made it back to the ship.
www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/nov/01/luxury-cruise-cancelled-after-80-year-old-left-behind-on-lizard-island-dies-alone

Her daughter, Katherine Rees, said that her mother had felt ill and was asked to head down, unescorted. She never made it back to the ship.

All the more reason for the person leading the group to make sure she'd got back safely.
What a dreadful thing to have happened.

Oh dear - that British misuse of the word "asked" again!!! When will my own race get it into their heads one does not "ask" someone to do something unless it's a genuine request they can easily refuse?

In other words she was "told" (not asked!) to head back down on her own.

If I worked for that company I would be finding out just who ordered her to head back down/getting all my facts in order on that - and probably sacking them for bringing the firm "into disrepute".

The Coral Adventurer is a small ship, carrying just 120 passengers, not a huge cruise line carrying thousands.

What a dreadful thing to have happened
Yes, and inexcusable.

We went on a cruise round the Med, and one stop was in Seville. I managed to keep up in Seville, but had an 'incident' whilst stopped in a town with a basilica - not mobility related but forgetfulness. I had not held up anyone Once boarded on the coach to return to the ship I was abused from the 'gent' behind for over half an hour. On getting off the coach I let him know I had heard every word and that I hoped, when he grew older, that people would be kinder to him than he was to me. He had the grace to look embarrassed!
I have subsequently become less mobile, so even gentle walks are beyond me, but I do have some wonderful memories

www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/28/woman-in-her-80s-found-dead-on-great-barrier-reefs-lizard-island-after-failing-to-return-to-cruise-ship

The ship only carries 120 passengers!

Duplicate post Allira, I was just reading your link.

Sorry if I sounded judgemental. Obviously the cruise line should have taken better care of visitors and warned them how hard it was in advance.
Once went on an Austrian cruise ship and the cruise director insisted everyone attend a briefing each evening if next days activities were strenuous. Woo betide anyone who went on a trip they could clearly not manage.
We were discourage from a canoe trip when he pointed out that the boats were made for Malaysian bottoms which might be considerably smaller that our English bottoms!

X post, V3ra 🙂

It's not the first time someone has been left behind at the Barrier Reef and I should have thought that 'lessons should have been learned'.

I do know my limitations now.
However, sudden illness could happen to anyone.

If I was on that trip , I don't care how much it cost me , I would not have left an any man or woman, regardless of age behind if they were struggling ..I hope I would be observant to notice that someone hadn't returned and raise the alarm. The selfishness of some people astounds me .
It doesn't matter how old or fit you are , illness can come on suddenly and can be unexpected . Young athletes, fit as a fiddle have dropped dead suddenly . Perfectly well before they started .
As you were!!!!

Please don’t let me get old and doddery. Poor woman was said to be quite active yet she was left behind. The downside was the amount of people who kept saying she was 80. So what? She could have been 60 and left behind. Heartbreaking.

sparkle1234

If I was on that trip , I don't care how much it cost me , I would not have left an any man or woman, regardless of age behind if they were struggling ..I hope I would be observant to notice that someone hadn't returned and raise the alarm. The selfishness of some people astounds me .
It doesn't matter how old or fit you are , illness can come on suddenly and can be unexpected . Young athletes, fit as a fiddle have dropped dead suddenly . Perfectly well before they started .
As you were!!!!

Quite! re the fit young athletes.

Could have sworn I put up a post commenting on how many fit young athletes have come over ill or dead suddebnly since 2021......!which coincided with....what I've refused to have myself that started then....

Post made at 1540.

Purplepixie

Please don’t let me get old and doddery. Poor woman was said to be quite active yet she was left behind. The downside was the amount of people who kept saying she was 80. So what? She could have been 60 and left behind. Heartbreaking.

She wasn't left behind on the walking tour. According to her daughter, who must have been told by someone who was there, that she had felt unwell and was told, presumably by the tour guide, to make her own way back down to the ship.

That is negligence.