Inspiration Passengers Missed the Ship!

[Hogladyrider]

Oh how you have to love teenagers who "know it all" - been there done that, but the trying times they cause for their parents.

 

One of my co-workers received a frantic phone call from a friend who is currently onboard Inspiration. It seems this mom, had taken her 18 year old son and a friend (my co-worker's stepson) on this cruise as a graduation present.

 

Well the two young men flatly instruction the mom to please allow them to have some fun and not be under her thumb all the time and for her to cut the strings loose.

 

Well guess what? These two young men were in port at Calica and were busy doing what most 18 year old "men" do, partying and they missed the ship when it left port headed back to Tampa.

 

Needless to say the mom was frantic. Carnival staff stepped up to the plate, notified local police and had a Carnival rep in Claica searching for the boys. At 2 am EST this morning my co-worker received a call that the teens had been found and they were safe and Carnival was checking them into a hotel and providing monitoring of their whereabouts until they were put on a commercial airline flight back to Tampa. All of course, at the passengers expense.

 

The mom phoned my co-worker today at noon and she is so upset over all this, though grateful her son and friend are safe. It was not her fault but what a way to end up a cruise.

 

All these ship to shore phone calls and the hotel and airlines are for the two young mens account and my co-workers plans on enforcing his stepson to pay off the bills on his own.

 

Years down the road it will be looked at and laughed at but for now this mom on ship went thru a lot of emotional anguish over her missing son and friend and the boys are showing no remorse!

[mrdood]

It was not her fault but what a way to end up a cruise.

 

Not to burden her further, but YES it is her fault, she was legally responsible for them per her cruise contract. The choice to "cut them loose" was also hers.

 

Bummer for her, she can make the boys pay, if they will, but highly doubt the sound responsible enough to do that.

[Hogladyrider]

Yes I agree with you completely. It was a poor choice of words on my part when I typed "it was not her fault".

 

Your points are very true and well taken.

 

Will let everyone know how things turn out when they arrive home.

 

As of this typing the young man who is the stepson to my co-worker has not even phoned his own mom to let her know he is ok!

[MikeG]

At 18 she is not legally responsible for them, they have both reached the age of majority in all 50 states and in almost every country in the world.

[Guest YesitDonna]

I was on the Inspiration last week and 6 people were left behind. Seems age doesn't matter, people always think... oh they don't actually leave people behind. Ummm yeahhhhhh they do!!!!!

[pstow]

I think the strings that she cut loose... should now be tied around their necks as a leash...:eek: they do not sound like they are responsable 18 year olds to me... If I had been responsable for any teenagers on a cruise,, I would have been looking for them before the ship left port..

 

She should have set a time for them to meet before the ship left port..

[mafiadon]

we are legally responsible for them until they are 21, I should know as we had to provide child support and health care until they were 21. They were graduated from high school and not going to college. It was not just a provision in the divorce it was told to us by the judge that the legal age was 21 unless they got married or moved out of their mothers home. Which neither one did. Linda

[blackwing]

I'm not sure if there's much this mother could do to control those boys. Remember when you were 18? Parents are "uncool" and you'd do anything to get away from them.

 

At 18, many go away to college, and who knows what goes on there these days. It sucks for that mother, but I'd say the responsibility and fault lies with the boys themselves.

 

If I were her, this would probably be the LAST vacation I'd ever pay for for the son ever again. And he'd have to find a way to pay me back for all the extra money shelled out as a result of his idiocy.

 

The boys probably are finding this amusing and getting a kick out of the fact that they ditched the ship. I wouldn't be surprised if when they come home they find it funny and are proud of it and laugh when telling people the story.

[MTcruiser]

She has no control over them if they're 18....all you could hope for is they would respect her enough to be responsible.

[mrdood]

At 18 she is not legally responsible for them, they have both reached the age of majority in all 50 states and in almost every country in the world.

 

...per the cruise contract, as I stated, yes she is, as an 18 year old must be accompanied by someone 25 or older who assumes legal and financial responsibility for their actions on board per the cruise contract. What holds up in court is a totally separate matter if they want to take it there, but per the contract she is legally and financially responsible for them on board.

[Leo Jay]

Could happen to someone of any age, or at any level of maturity -- might have been ship time / local time confusion, who knows? Of course, it's still their own responsibility -- I just find it interesting that people tend to assume they were being 'typical' irresponsible males whiling away the hours in some local bar or bordello, oblivious of the passage of time... :)

[wwakla]

As of this typing the young man who is the stepson to my co-worker has not even phoned his own mom to let her know he is ok!

 

 

The kid propably knows he is screwed. :eek: Mine would be.

[MikeG]

we are legally responsible for them until they are 21, I should know as we had to provide child support and health care until they were 21. They were graduated from high school and not going to college. It was not just a provision in the divorce it was told to us by the judge that the legal age was 21 unless they got married or moved out of their mothers home. Which neither one did. Linda

 

My apologies, there are a few states left at 19 and 21 it seems.

 

Alabama - 19, No modifications.

D.C. - 21 years of age, or at the point the minor is self supporting through marriage, employment,

Mississippi - 21

Nebraska - 19

New York - 21; NY has no statute with respect to emancipation*; issue is decided on case-by-case basis; emancipation can take place before 21, if appropriate court so decides

Puerto Rico - 21 years of age, or whenever minor is self-supporting through marriage.

[MikeG]

...per the cruise contract, as I stated, yes she is, as an 18 year old must be accompanied by someone 25 or older who assumes legal and financial responsibility for their actions on board per the cruise contract. What holds up in court is a totally separate matter if they want to take it there, but per the contract she is legally and financially responsible for them on board.

 

the contract would not hold up in court, same as the "sign this liability waiver" contracts do not hold up in court. The contract is only the cruise line trying to cover their asses.

[gr1634]

In the final analysis (at this point) it doesn't much matter whether they are 18 or 21. Point is they are supposed to be somewhat responsible. They knew when the ship was leaving and should have been back on time. Mom trusted them and they violated that trust to the tune of great anguish and many $$$. As was noted earlier - later in life it might be funny but right now it is a big deal and those young men would be learning what a lack of trust and responsibility can cost. Grounded for life comes to mind just for starters. Blame the mom on the ship if you want but I see her act as one of attempting to help these kids grow and give them a little freedom (right or wrong - its all a matter of opinion - some will agree and some won't) and it didn't work. Not good, but reality. The good part of this story is they were found and are safe. It could easily have gone the other way.

[bthorn1108]

We took our 18 and 19 year old sons on a cruise for their graduation present. We were concerned that they might try to get off the ship without us in port, so we took their S & S card so that they couldn't leave the ship. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

[caribbean dreams]

Could happen to someone of any age, or at any level of maturity -- might have been ship time / local time confusion, who knows? Of course, it's still their own responsibility -- I just find it interesting that people tend to assume they were being 'typical' irresponsible males whiling away the hours in some local bar or bordello, oblivious of the passage of time... :)

 

They were not found until around 2am, so i don't think they barely missed the ship and were sitting at the port authority trying to get ahold of their mother or the police would have found them right away.

[Leo Jay]

 

They were not found until around 2am, so i don't think they barely missed the ship and were sitting at the port authority trying to get ahold of their mother or the police would have found them right away.

 

Ok, so maybe they spent hours and hours looking for the local police, until they were finally told that they could be found at the bordello.

[seamama1]

I'm not sure if there's much this mother could do to control those boys. Remember when you were 18? Parents are "uncool" and you'd do anything to get away from them.

 

At 18, many go away to college, and who knows what goes on there these days. It sucks for that mother, but I'd say the responsibility and fault lies with the boys themselves.

 

If I were her, this would probably be the LAST vacation I'd ever pay for for the son ever again. And he'd have to find a way to pay me back for all the extra money shelled out as a result of his idiocy.

 

The boys probably are finding this amusing and getting a kick out of the fact that they ditched the ship. I wouldn't be surprised if when they come home they find it funny and are proud of it and laugh when telling people the story.

 

There was plenty she could have done. First, don't let them off the ship alone, for crying out loud - they're kids. Then, if she did, set a curfew time for them to be back on the ship and meet somewhere - at least one hour before the ship sails. The best thing to do now is to make sure these brats pay back all the money it cost for their little lark.:cool:

 

I am sure, being immature teenagers, they will get a lot of mileage out of this story. They will be "cool" to their friends. I'll tell you one thing. It would be a long time before I ever unleashed these babies.:cool:

[robintennis]

bthorn1108....that is exactly what DH & I do with the cherubs. We keep their cards until we are all ready to leave the ship. I don't know that all teenagers are trying to be irresponsible and forgetful, they just are.

 

You should hear the whining and moaning over that, however I do have a remedy....another one of foo-foo drinks with the umbrella please. Amazing how you can't hear a thing with one of those in your hand.

 

Robin

[seamama1]

Could happen to someone of any age, or at any level of maturity -- might have been ship time / local time confusion, who knows? Of course, it's still their own responsibility -- I just find it interesting that people tend to assume they were being 'typical' irresponsible males whiling away the hours in some local bar or bordello, oblivious of the passage of time... :)

 

And, so.........they missed the ship because??????????

[MikeG]

And, so.........they missed the ship because??????????

 

because they were irresponsible young adults, not because of anything the mother did. At 18 like it or not they are just that, young adults and responsible for their own actions.

[petro772]

IMO it probably would have been better to keep a little tighter leash on these guys. But the cruise ship contract doesn't apply because they weren't on the cruise ship--they were in a foreign country. And New York law doesn't apply because they weren't in New York--they were in a foreign country. After all, you can drink in Aruba if you're only 18, even if you're from Alabama.

[dad son team]

I am torn with the issue of she's wrong/not wrong. At 18, they can join the military and go to Iraq, vote, go off to college, etc. all on there own. They are old enough and should know how to be responsible. On the other hand, their level of maturity plays a bigger part than their age. Like it was said, they didn't "just miss" the ship if they weren't found until 2am. I really want to know where they were. I think each 18yo should be given that responsibility on a case by case basis. There are probably many 18/19/20yo's that are allowed off the ship and return safely and on time, we just don't hear about them.

 

But as for the mother...when she confirmed that they were not back on the ship before if left, she should have gotten off to find them. There is no way that I would leave a foreign port without my travel companion let alone my son, no matter what his age. What if something tragic had happened to them? If they still had not found them by the time the ship got back to the US would she have flown back to Mexico to look for them? Just my thoughts.

[gr1634]

Hello test 1, 2. You bet I would not have left my daughter in a foreign country and sailed off into the night. Not happening!!! I can only imagine the stress this poor woman was under and I can at least give her a bit of a break for bad judgement. Hind site is a wonderful thing huh??