Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 15) – Transport authorities have expressed dismay and sought an explanation from the agent of an international cruise ship, the terminal operator, and the third-party transport service for the alleged “mishandling” of the Nov. 30 arrival of thousands of international cruise passengers at the Port of Manila.
This was after a social media post by Facebook user Nelson Terible became viral, detailing what he called a “nightmare” suffered by passengers of the Norwegian Jewel International Cruise, which included his fellow overseas Filipino workers and other tourists.
Terible said cruise passengers were packed like “sardines” in a small space, had to wait for a long time and go out in the heat to collect their baggage which they had to carry themselves, before they could exit the cruise ship.
\”No porters or luggage carts were provided. I think there were approximately 20 porters to service 2,500 passengers, mostly seniors with full luggage (hand carry and the usual 20-kg [kilogram] maletas),\” Terible said in his post on Dec. 9.
He added: \”We asked why there’s only one exit considering the heavy buildup of passengers. Can the other exits be opened? They said, ‘Ayaw nila eh’ [They don’t want to] (referring to Ports Authority personnel), and what else could we say? Nobody could move, we were packed in like sardines carrying big luggages that we couldn’t leave, and shuffling slowly.\”
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