UPDATE (8:45 p.m.): Norwegian Sky has been cleared to sail and all guests are embarking on the ship. The cruise ship is expected to arrive in Nassau, Bahamas as scheduled.
Original article: Norwegian Sky was evacuated in Miami on Friday afternoon after a passenger boarded the cruise ship without scanning their cruise card.
Local10 News is reporting that a passenger cleared the pier side security checkpoint and bolted onto the ship after his key card made some kind of noise when it was scanned. Miami-Dade police were called and all the passengers who already boarded the ship were evacuated as a precaution. The incident happened at approximately 12:30 p.m. local time and Norwegian Cruise Line issued a statement apologizing for any inconvenience this may have caused their guests.
Police and Customs and Border Protection officers are undertaking a secondary security sweep of the ship as a precaution. The 2,200 passengers were given water and sandwiches along with milk and cookies for the children. Passengers are expected to begin boarding the ship shortly according to Marissa Bagg at NBC 6.
The ship was originally scheduled to leave port at 5 p.m. EST for a three night cruise to the Bahamas. The ship is still expected to arrive in Nassau on Saturday morning as scheduled. The ship will stop in the cruise line’s private island of Great Stirrup Cay on Sunday before arriving back in PortMiami on Monday morning.
Some passengers posted videos and photos on Twitter while waiting to board the ship.
Feel so bad for this bride and bridal party who's wedding was interrupted by the evacuation #norwegiansky #miamiport pic.twitter.com/NkHxsliGys
— Djangelic (@djangelic) December 5, 2015
Cruise ship passengers determined to have fun despite 4 hour delay to board Norwegian Sky @nbc6 #PortMiami #Birthday pic.twitter.com/1sTAtD2qo4
— Marissa Bagg (@MarissaNBC6) December 5, 2015
Hundreds of passengers forced to wait as Norwegian Sky cruise ship undergoes 2nd security sweep #PortMiami @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/AAt3EpPVcq
— Marissa Bagg (@MarissaNBC6) December 4, 2015
Lol. Those ports got bars. Get hammered! It’ll make the boat ride more fun anyways. It’s pretty boring after the first day lol