Teens Thrown Off Ship -- Proper Penalty?

[CFD130]

Because they are kids on vacation does not mean they are free to run wild and do as they please. i have seen this so many times- both on a ship as well as at resorts. Kids allowed to roam and act like hooligans. Push and shove-cut in front of adults etc. There are well mannered teens onboard because I have met them but they are farther and fewer in between. It has come to the point that when i meet a well behaved teenager-I will compliment them. PArents-if you cant or wont control your kids-leave them home

[Happy ks]

While I do agree that IF this was the only instance of inappropriate behavior, the penalty seems a little harsh. However, when was the last time we on CC received the full untarnished story.

 

Who knows, this could have been the last straw for the captain. Maybe security had already had a couple of run ins with these kids. Kicked out of the casino, caught wondering the halls in the crew quarters, playing on the elevators, etc,etc.

 

I'm more inclined to give the Captain the benefit of the doubt and he did what he did for a darn good reason. He's earned my respect.

 

 

However the story came from cruisejunkie and that site never posts two sides to any story. CC'rs just have opinions, we're all entitled to those ;)

[phoenix_dream]

I have raised three sons and I agree strongly with the idea of accountability. That said, if we do in fact have the whole story (which of course is doubtful) it seems to me a very excessive step. Please do not misinterpret that I take the actions lightly, but a strict warning and maybe a monetary fine or something would seem more appropriate. I say that even more so considering the holiday and all (no, people should not slide because it's the holiday, but admit it - we all tend to be a little more forgiving at that time of year). If they had already gotten a warning or had other bad behavior, that is a different story.

 

I am of the belief that it was possibly a "strike 3" and they had already been warned about behavior.

[Traveler353]

Based on what was reported here, it sounds a little harsh. I am sure that there is more to the story. Other actions of the kids or the parents could have esculated the incident to where the Captain felt that he had no other choice but to toss them off of his ship.

[ovccruiser]

There seems to be some missing information here:

 

A) There were other events which led the captain to take such steps, or:

 

B) The families involved are bringing a law suit, or:

 

C) The whole story is a myth.

 

More information would be helpful. Was the story reported in the press?

 

I'll go for C

[G'ma]

Good for the Captain.

 

Some kids need to be kept on a leash until they are about 25.......

 

Lesson learned the hardway: Acting like a fool, destroying property and ignoring the rules have serious consequences.

[Hflors]

Totally appropriate regardless of the season. A 13 year old is old enough to know what they did was wrong. If it were someone much younger I could see a severe warning.

 

There is a problem today with accountability and parental accountability in particualar. What were these little darlings doing in a cabin unsupervised? Why weren't they in the teen program?

 

No grinch that I can see. The kids deserved it for the act, the parents for not being responsible.

 

I totally agree. (and could not have said it be better!)

[sail7seas]

> snip>

In a different thread, I saw a (presumably) teenage poster talking about playing "ding-dong ditch" down the corridors. He thought it was just innocent fun. I'd notify security.

 

 

 

I'm intrigued...... :D

 

What is 'ding-dong ditch'? :) Never heard of that before but really wonder.

 

 

 

 

 

I thought I saw it on the Carnival boards too. I remember reading about it. I wonder if it is written in some fine print somewhere not to throw anything overboard or if it is just considered common sense. If that is the case then should throwing that 'bottle' overboard yield the same consequences?

 

 

Nothing fine print about it. It is clearly and plainly advised in such places as daily programs that there is a 'nothing overboard policy' on every cruise ship.

 

If one cannot figure that out for themselves, they do not make a hidden secret about it.

 

I agree with those who say we have probably only heard a small part of the whole story.

 

[geoherb]

It would be great if parents of teenagers pointed out this complaint to their kids before bringing them on a cruise.

[RoofingPrincess]

I'm intrigued...... :D

What is 'ding-dong ditch'? :) Never heard of that before but really wonder.

Ring the doorbell (or bang on the door) and run.....

[carlmm]

Based on the information available here, the punishment is far to harsh.

 

Tell them, make them understand, that is was wrong but do not treat them as if they were major criminals.

They are children. The probably did not even now that severe consequences might follow. A goofy game maybe. Nobody was hurt, they did not run around to destroy the ship or to disturb anybody.

 

To destroy the family vaction was IMHO a total overreaction. The point of time, christmas, makes it just worse. Wasn't there something about love, forgiveness, families united, weapons silent even during war?

[uppitycats]

One thing we don't know is what happened with the other family? Were they thrown off the ship, too? Was it shown that these two boys were the instigators, and/or didn't apologize appropriately? Or?

[Krazy Kruizers]

I for one am glad that the captain did that!!

 

My opinion -- where the parents when these "KIDS" were all in one cabin?? That spells trouble right away!!

 

These parents are not the type I want to meet who don't keep track of their children!!

[luddite]

Based on the information available here, the punishment is far to harsh.

 

Tell them, make them understand, that is was wrong but do not treat them as if they were major criminals.

They are children. The probably did not even now that severe consequences might follow. A goofy game maybe. Nobody was hurt, they did not run around to destroy the ship or to disturb anybody.

 

To destroy the family vaction was IMHO a total overreaction. The point of time, christmas, makes it just worse. Wasn't there something about love, forgiveness, families united, weapons silent even during war?

 

No. A thousand times no.

Now, the kids understand that there are cosequences. Actually, even the parents now understand this concept.

[matj2000]

Putting them off the ship was a little too harsh. There was no damage done or a crime commited. They should have just scarred the kids and give the parents a warning.

Also I do not believe the story is real...

[Cruisergal1208]

On a holiday cruise on the Zenith, the captain put 2 or 3 families off at one of the ports. The kids had been destroying ship property and breaking into the liquer cabinets. I respect the Princess captain for what he did.

[Liz54]

The reason you will not hear from the family is that they have their own set of worries just at the moment and probably do not want to come here to get flamed. I have three boys, thankfully now young adults. Boys do unbelievably stupid things. My boys did their share. Ours have been difficult enough that we have develped a long standing relationship with a psycologist. Her comment after a very difficult family meeting years ago was "Boys - they are hopeless till they are 25!". As a three boy mother, she was only half kidding.

 

I can wait till my boys are 25. I don't know how long I can wait for strangers to stop rushing to judgement! There sure are a collection of exemplary parents on these boards.

 

I believe that could have happend to us, and lacking any more information I would say the penalty was harsh.

[Arwenmark]

The cruiseline can be fined up to $500,000. for littering, though admittedly probably less for the amount of litter involved here but $50k is not out of the question if they were caught.

 

Perhaps the family would like to pay that bill?

 

The Captain did the right thing.

[cruiselover57]

Found this post on another site, couldn't find it on CC. Just wondering what others think of this. The right penalty?

 

 

My own experience: I love kids, but I think one of the reasons RCCL started charging for Johnny Rockets was the amount of waste. On our 1st cruise with a JR I witnessed whole sandwiches being thrown overboard by teens and younger ones numerous times.

 

 

My thoughts: the penalty (especially considering the season) was a bit harsh. Your thoughts?

 

 

" For Christmas, my husband and I gave our two grown sons and their families a cruise to Mexico on the Sapphire Princess departing and returning to Los Angeles. We were spending Christmas on the ship. It would have been the first time I had managed to get both families together in 20 years for the holiday. On Dec. 23, at sea between Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas, my two grandsons, age 13 ands 15, were in a cabin of another boy they had met on the ship and they had thrown some articles of food overboard including a fork. Apparently, they were spotted on camera by security. The next day in Cabo San Lucas (Christmas Eve day), my son, his wife and the two boys were ordered off the ship by Captain Tony Herriott and had to pay their own way back to Los Angeles. Three other families whose sons were also involved were ordered off the ship. The Captain's actions devastated us all. Needless to say, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very depressing days for the seven of us that remained on board. There is now a new Christmas Grinch out there and he is the Captain of a Princess cruise ship!

 

I think the punishment was a bit harsh - although the boys were definitely old enough to know better, maybe a very stern warning should've been given. I think too the ship may incur hefty penalties for anything being thrown overboard. Just my opinion - it's not like they started a fist-fight or anything - not technically saying what they did was right either; it was definitely wrong and they should've known better.

[Warmer Climes]

Before I took my 16 y.o. son and his 16 y.o. cousin on a cruise, I sat them down and told them exactly what would happen if they misbehaved- the whole family put off the ship and, worse, the apocalyptic wrath of ME. They took it in and were an absolute pleasure to cruise with- so much so that I took the cousin with us again the following year and miss cruising with them now that they are in college.

 

I have no problem with the captain's actions (if they have been accurately reported here.) My fellow passengers have not paid to cruise with people acting worse than animals and I haven't raised my kids to act like that.

[linkerbink]

Speaking from 11 years of experience as a juvenile probation officer, it's not up to perpetrators and/or their parents/significant others to question the penalty of an offense. You may recall the old slogan "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime." The captain has the ultimate responsibility for his ship...if in his view the appropriate disciplinary action was removal from the ship, so be it. I've seen too many kids over the years whose main problem is that they were allowed to get away with too many little things, then the little things escalate and they can't understand why they are punished. Hard lesson, but effective.

[happy cruzer]

Based on the information available here, the punishment is far to harsh.

 

Tell them, make them understand, that is was wrong but do not treat them as if they were major criminals.

They are children. The probably did not even now that severe consequences might follow. A goofy game maybe. Nobody was hurt, they did not run around to destroy the ship or to disturb anybody.

 

To destroy the family vaction was IMHO a total overreaction. The point of time, christmas, makes it just worse. Wasn't there something about love, forgiveness, families united, weapons silent even during war?

 

If they are such "children", they should have been supervised. and if they weren't then the family could be booted for not supervising children that could jump off the balcony or anything else.

 

I agree with others that there is more to the story. But I think if the individual is too immature to reason a bit and follow rules, they should be supervised to avoid paying the consequences... calender age does not denote maturity.

[pg.]

The reason you will not hear from the family is that they have their own set of worries just at the moment and probably do not want to come here to get flamed. I have three boys, thankfully now young adults. Boys do unbelievably stupid things. My boys did their share. Ours have been difficult enough that we have develped a long standing relationship with a psycologist. Her comment after a very difficult family meeting years ago was "Boys - they are hopeless till they are 25!". As a three boy mother, she was only half kidding.

 

I can wait till my boys are 25. I don't know how long I can wait for strangers to stop rushing to judgement! There sure are a collection of exemplary parents on these boards.

 

I believe that could have happend to us, and lacking any more information I would say the penalty was harsh.

 

Sorry Liz,, I don't think you realized this forum is only for people with perfect children. Or childless people ,, who of course would have done a better job raising kids then most other people,, LOL ,, I think you are spot on,, but give up,, there are just some very judgmental types on this board,, and they do not even care what the entire story was.,, if it involved a teen,, the the teen must be demonized, and the parents are the problem ,, in all cases.

 

As for those who posted about pushing and shoving teens at buffets. , I have been elbowed out by SELF RIGHTEOUS old people at the buffet( I am mid forties) and I have seen OLD people treat kids and teens rudely. Apparently they feel their rudeness is ok. They also tend to be the same people that yell at bus boys,, and complain about every little thing.

[navybankerteacher]

Putting them off the ship was a little too harsh. There was no damage done or a crime commited. They should have just scarred the kids and give the parents a warning.

Also I do not believe the story is real...

 

When you say "scarred the kids" - am I to understand that you feel that they should have been given sufficient thrashing as to leave permanent marks, or simplythat youdo not kow how to spell?

[francesam]

Kids can be quite stupid at times, especily boys of that age. They may well have got overexcited and forgoten the rules.They egg each other on and it's a peer presure thing. The punishment seems a mite harsh, surely something else could have been done and no second chances for them. Can't really blame the parents unless you know them, and how they controll their children. It's just not possible to chaperone 13 and 15 yr olds all the time. My own son and his friend sank a couple of rowing boats at a holiday camp at that age, i was mortified and offered to pay damages. I don't consider myself a bad or leiniant parent because this happened. However we never went back there.