When most parents go on vacation, they’re hyper aware of the new environment, the new faces, the new potential for danger. Other parents lean into the relaxation aspect of vacation. Some perhaps a little too much.
We don’t know if that was the case for the parents of these children sitting on the railing of a cruise ship, but from the looks of the photo from the incident, it certainly seems that way.
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Liz Pride took the image from another cruise ship.
Social media users are calling for the family of the two boys to be banned from all cruise ships after the image of the two with their legs dangled over the ship’s edge surfaced online. But it might be hard to enforce this consequence because people are reportedly not quite clear on which vessel the boys were on.
From the look of the ship, many believe it was a Royal Caribbean ship. A Facebook user who belongs to the Carnival Cruise Line Miami Blog page shared the image on with the caption, “Where are the parents?”
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Another user provided more information about the image.
Robert Dempster, a man traveling on a separate ship close to the one carrying the two boys, said he saw a fellow passenger take the picture. Dempster claimed the boys were on the Royal Caribbean ship Serenade of the Seas.
“This was taken a week ago today at CocoCay,” Dempster said. “The kids were on Serenade of the Seas and the photo was taken from someone on the cruise I was on, on Oasis of the Seas,” Dempster said. “Unbelievable, but thank goodness it didn’t end in disaster!”
Royal Caribbean's safety policy forbids this type of behavior.
Royal Caribbean’s conduct policy details that “sitting, standing, laying or climbing on, over or across any exterior or interior railings of other protective barriers, or tampering with ship’s equipment, facilities or systems designed for guest safety is not permitted.”
The rules also detail potential consequences. Anyone found violating them may have to face law enforcement or “removal from the ship at the next port of call.”
Some social media commenters were not happy with what they saw.
The full context of the situation isn't exactly clear — it's possible there was a balcony right beneath the two boys. But still, the image, with the limited information it provides, caused a strong reaction from social media users, who weren’t shy about sharing their shock and outrage.
“Them and their parents should be banned from all cruise ships,” one user wrote on Facebook.
Royal Caribbean issued a statement in response to the image.
“Holy moly!" another Facebook user shared. "My anxiety just went out of control seeing this.”
Someone suggested that if Royal Caribbean found out the identity of the boys and their guardians, they would be permanently banned from all their cruise ships.
A spokesperson from the cruise line told Tyla guest safety is a top priority for the company and guests must follow the conduct policy.
“The safety of our guests and crew is our upmost priority at Royal Caribbean International. To ensure the safety of everyone on board, we have a guest conduct policy that all guests must adhere to. We remind all guests of this policy, and we take any violations to this policy very seriously,” the spokesperson said.
