Teenager leaves family behind on island after they miss cruise departure

A teenager has been questioning whether or not they made the right decision to abandon their family on vacation.

In a recent Reddit post shared to the popular “Am I The A**hole?” subreddit, the teen explained that for a combination of an 18th birthday present and a high school graduation present, their parents got them a cruise, which became a family vacation.

Normally, the family only goes to “all inclusive” resorts and were warned ahead of time that cruises run with a strict schedule that needs to be followed.

“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 teen wrote in their Reddit post.

Their parents ended up missing the ship’s departure by 45 minutes and reached out to the Reddit poster to question why they didn’t stop the boat from leaving without them.

“I wanted to scream that they were not going to inconvenience 3,998 people because two could not understand what a schedule was,” the teen continued. “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.”

After posting, many people were quick to turn to the comments section to agree with the teenager’s opinion and general frustration with their parents, pointing out that the two adults should have been capable of getting back to the ship on time.

“They seriously think the ship will delay for 45 minutes, yeah no,” one comment began. “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 six months of being an adult. At least you don’t have to go on any more vacations with them after this.”

“Your parents are in the wrong,” another commenter agreed. “I don’t do cruises but I have some experience with them because I travel to a place where 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 ship 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.”

A third commenter even pointed out that they weren’t sure what the teenager could have done to stop the ship from leaving given how the schedule is typically emphasized prior to the cruise itself.

“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!” the comment read.

“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 four year olds.”