Family watched cruise ship leave without them after staff made huge travel mistake

A family were left devastated as they turned up to board their cruise ship to be turned away.

Shannon Nutting had put together a surprise trip for her children, which she started to plan back in November 2023.

Shannon drove her family eight hours from North Carolina to Florida's at Port Canaveral to board their Royal Caribbean cruise, and when they arrived, she informed them of the exciting trip they were about to embark on.

"My 9-year-old was so excited, she was speechless and started crying," Shannon told ABC11.

But those tears quickly turned into sad ones.

Shannon Nutting had surprised her kids with a cruise (ABC11)

As they were checking in, Shannon presented staff with her disabled son's student ID — something she'd been assured would be accepted as a form of identification.

Despite this, Royal Caribbean staff refused to let them board.

"He said, unfortunately, you're not going to be able to board today because the school ID is not acceptable," Shannon recalled.

"So, I explained to him that we had talked to Royal Caribbean, and they had assured us that the school ID was valid, and I was upset by that point, crying, so I asked could I speak to a supervisor."

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Upon speaking to the supervisor, Shannon explained that her teenage son has special needs, which is why he doesn't have a state-issued ID.

She says she called Royal Caribbean in advance to make sure he could get on the ship with it, but the supervisor in question wasn't having it.

Ultimately, Shannon and her kids weren't allowed onboard and they were left stood at the port and watched the ship sail away.

Shannon went on to say of the ordeal: "All that year of saving and paying on it, everybody was just heartbroken and devastated. Everybody was exhausted.

"I did not want to get on the road for eight hours and travel back I-95 with four kids by myself and my babysitter."

The family stayed in Florida while Shannon spoke to her travel agent about the incident.

Royal Caribbean apologized for the ordeal, citing human error for the mistake, and said that Shannon and her kids should have been able to book.

Initially they suggested they fly to Cozumel to then board the ship they were supposed to get on in Florida. But the mom-of-four didn't want to do this and instead stayed in Florida for a few days.

The mom-of-four isn't happy with the options she's been given (ABC11)

As per ABC 11, Royal Caribbean has since given Shannon three options to rectify the matter: the amount she paid for the cruise could be used as 100 percent future credit on another cruise, plus a $700 onboard credit; get a full refund; or a full refund on the cruise plus 25 percent future cruise credit.

Discussing the options she was given, Shannon said: "We wanted the money for the cruise back and the expenses. The expenses that we had for traveling to Florida while we were there for meals, gas, the lodging, and all of that."

A representative for Royal Caribbean has said that the cruise line has provided additional training to staff at the port to prevent this from happening again.

UNILAD have approached the cruise line for additional comment.