Customs and Border Patrol offered an explanation after thousands of passengers aboard a cruise ship were delayed for hours when they tried to disembark and visit San Francisco on Tuesday. The 3,000 passengers aboard the Norwegian Encore woke up to a bright and sunny San Francisco morning. Many ma de their way around the city, doing the things tourists love, but they said the hours-long delays on Tuesday left them with a very unfortunate impression. A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection told NBC Bay Area there were a number of reasons for that delay. Among them, he says the Norwegian Encore was three hours late docking, meaning CBP agents were delayed getting aboard. However, passengers say that doesn’t line up. Ronald and Martina Bode, from Germany, said they were delayed by the Customs process for hours. Another passenger said they believed the ship arrived earlier than scheduled as well. CBP says there were other issues as well; for example, because the Encore arrived to the city from Mexico, foreign passengers had to go through a rigorous arrival process, which includes a biometric screening interview and finger printing. The agency also says the facial recognition tech used to verify U.S. citizens wasn’t working, so everyone had to go through the biometric screening. The delays left many on board disappointed and meant bad news for a city that thrives on tourism. Mayor Daniel Lurie encouraged visitors to come back to the city for a longer visit. “We want our tourists and those coming by boat to enjoy every single hour available to them to visit the greatest city in the world. And so, we’ll look into that matter,” he said. The CBP spokesperson also cited another challenge, saying an older passenger had passed away on the ship, so they had to wait for the Medical Examiner’s Office to take custody of the body. NBC Bay Area reached out to the Medical Examiner’s Office for details but hasn’t heard back. Many of the passengers on the Norwegian Encore are part of a 21-day cruise that started in Miami, went through the Panama Canal and will end in Seattle. Despite the delay, many passengers say they enjoyed their time in the city by the Bay. Earlier on Wednesday, Holland America’s Koningsdam ship also arrived in port. The passengers went through their CBP screening in San Diego earlier this week when it arrived from Mexico. “I think Customs was a little delayed getting on the ship, so we got off about an hour and a half later than we expected, but not a big deal,” said Rina Dangelo from Toronto, Canada. “When we went through, it was not an issue at all. But we waited until the line greatly subsided, and we did not have an issue,” said Jim Babicz from Sarasota, Florida. ...read more read less