And that's the big chance you take when doing that - yes, cheaper but you're on you're on your own if something happens on that private tour and you don't make it back on the ship on time. This is really unfortunate and it sounded like a trip of a lifetime but if you know you're travelling with people with medical issues, elderly, not to mention you're thousands of miles away from home, and seriously, you paid for a 21 day cruise, you could have sprung that extra cash for an on-board tour.
@LovesickPretzelsForward2mos2MO
This was the first thing I thought about - where they booked the tour from. They were probably trying to save a couple of bucks without realizing the implications.
I've taken two cruises before with family, and even we knew why we should book any tours directly through the cruise. In fact, there was one time where the Norwegian cruise line had to wait, because their own tour was late.
Edit: Taken directly off the net - If a ship-sponsored excursion is late returning to port for some reason, the ship will either wait for you, or the line will take financial and logistical responsibility for getting you to a subsequent port of call to meet up with your ship
