AITA for abandoning my parents at an island in the Caribbean so I could get back to our cruise in time?
An 18-year-old took a family cruise and repeatedly warned their parents to follow the strict excursion schedule. When the parents continued shopping and ignored the departure time, the teen returned alone to the ship, leaving them behind.
The parents missed the boat by 45 minutes and had to fly to the next port at a high cost, now blaming the teen for not getting the ship to wait. Read the original story below…
‘ AITA for abandoning my parents at an island in the Caribbean so I could get back to our cruise in time? ‘
I graduated from high school back in December. As a gift my parents got me a cruise. It was also for my 18th birthday. It was also a family vacation. We usually stay at all inclusive resorts but I have always wanted to go on a cruise.
I told my parents it was different and that if we went on excursions we had to follow the schedule no matter what. Well it was a week-long cruise and they would not head back to the ship when I said it was time to go. They were busy shopping and bargaining with the locals.
I finally said that I was heading back to the ship. My mom waved me off. The missed the departure. By a lot. Like 45 minutes. They got ahold of me through WhatsApp. They wanted to know why I didn’t get the boat to wait for them.
 I wanted to scream that they were not going to inconvenience 3,998 people because two could not understand what a schedule was. They ended up having to fly to the next port from there and it was expensive. They are pissed at me for leaving them behind.
I don’t know what I was supposed to do. They literally told me that they knew what they were doing. I wish I had never asked for this. They are making me miserable because I left without them.
Check out how the community responded:
OwlPal9182 − NTA they seriously think the ship will delay for 45 minutes, yea no. The docks and ship have a schedule to keep. They are adults and need to be responsible for getting back on time. Which is something you have figured out in less than 6 months of being an adult. At least you don’t have to go on any more vacations with them after this.
ParsimoniousSalad − NTA. Your parents are acting entitled. Tell them you saved them the expense of a third ticket to the next port.
Aggravating-Pain9249 − Your parents are in the wrong. I don’t do cruises but I have some experience with them because I travel to a place were cruise ships are common. I also thought passengers were warned that the ship leaves no matter who is on board.
You would never have been able to prevent the cruise chip from leaving. They have a schedule and they keep to it. The ship waits for no one. This is ALL on your parents.. They didn’t respect the ship schedule.. NTA
WesternBlueRanger − NTA. Cruise ships have a schedule to keep, and there was no way they would wait for just two passengers without knowing where they were. They MIGHT wait if there’s a whole bunch of passengers being delayed on an excursion that was organized by the cruise ship company, but that’s iffy.
The_Coaltrain − What precisely do they think you could have done? Kidnapped the captain? Staged your own drowning? You didn’t abandon them, they abandoned you, don’t let them weasel word this around to being your fault in any way, shape or form!
I’m really sorry your parents have ruined this for you. It’s pretty pathetic of them to blame you for their extremely easy to avoid deliberate bad decision. They owe you at least two apologies, one for ignoring your sage advice in the first place, the second for behaving like spoiled 4 year olds. NTA, and I really hope you make your parents read this thread.
Silmariel − I would 100% ask for help from an official looking employee, and make my parents stand there with their straight faces and have to listen to that employee explain it to them.. NTA
chocolaux − NTA. In addition to you explaining that the ship will not wait for them, I am sure they were made aware of this by the cruise workers many times. They chose to ignore the guidelines and as a result had to face the consequences of their actions.
That’s what being an adult is, and they seem immature and narcissistic for trying to shift the blame onto you for their poor decisionmaking skills.
I_wanna_be_anemone − Look at it this way, you saved them having to pay out for a third airline ticket. They were warned, thought they knew better, now are facing the consequences. Ask them sincerely what else you were supposed to do in reality when they’ve signed contracts as part of being on the cruise?
I guarantee the cruise line has it in writing that passengers are responsible for getting themselves back to the ship on time. NTA
Toasterinthetub22 − Do they think a plane would wait 45 mins for them? Clearly they were able to navigate that. You are NTA.
DinaFelice − I’ve been on a half-dozen cruises in my life. On every single one, the information about returning to the ship on time was: listed on the tickets, announced in welcome/safety announcements, on a placard in the room, and prominently posted when you disembarked the ship.
Your parents are adults… There is absolutely no excuse for them to claim that they were unaware of this extremely basic rule of cruising. On top of that, you even warned them when you were off the ship, and they chose to disregard you. And now they have the nerve to blame *you* for not magically having the authority to override all of the ship’s policies? NTA
Should the teen have done more, or were the parents responsible for their own actions? Share your thoughts below!