The Norwegian cruise line that abandoned eight passengers in Africa defended the decision to leave the travelers behind after they were over an hour late to the dock. 

The tourists boarded the Norwegian Dawn in Cape Town, South Africa, on March 20 for a 21-day excursion up the African coast. The cruise liner remains headed for its final destination in Barcelona, Spain, where it plans to make port April 10. 

Last Wednesday, a group of travelers from the U.S. and Australia disembarked for a private tour of the African island of São Tomé, HNGN previously reported. 

Later, the Norwegian Dawn left without the eight passengers after they failed to make it back for the ship's 3 p.m. boarding time, said cruise officials.

"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 print communication and posted just before exiting the vessel," Norwegian Cruise Lines said in a statement, according to Australian local media.

"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, as per the regular protocol," the cruise line said. 

"While the eight guests made arrangements to re-join the ship in Banjul, Gambia, on April 1, 2024, unfortunately, the ship was unable to safely dock at the destination due to adverse weather conditions, as well as tidal restrictions that require specific timing for safe passage," the statement added.

"While we share in our guests' disappointment, this modification was made with great consideration for their safety and that of our crew, which is our top priority. We contacted these eight guests regarding this itinerary adjustment and provided them with authorization to re-join the ship at Dakar, Senegal, on April 2, 2024," the statement continued.

"Despite the series of unfortunate events outside of our control, we will be reimbursing these eight guests for their travel costs from Banjul, Gambia, to Dakar, Senegal."

Jay and Jill Campbell of South Carolina were among the tourists who were left behind.

They claimed their tour's captain notified the ship they would be late, but still the cruise liner would not let them rejoin. As a result, they spent several days stuck on the island. 

"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 told the TODAY Show.

"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," he explained.

"It's one of those, 'You can't get there from here,'" said Jay.

The Campbells said they traveled through eight countries in two days to rejoin the cruise Tuesday evening. 

Jill accused the cruise line of following their 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 said.