Two sides to the recent cruise eviction story

The cruise industry in the United States has had a full fledged controversy brewing for the past few days, after a family with a sick baby was asked to leave their cruise ship.
Luis Cortes and his wife boarded the Majesty of the Seas with their two children and their young baby in tow for a five day Caribbean cruise sailing from Miami. One day into the trip, Joie Cortes, only seven months old, began vomiting and experiencing diarrhea. The ship was docked in Nassau at the time, and the ship’s doctor told them they would have to leave the ship to seek medical care on land.

The family had no passports, and due to new US laws affecting returning citizens, they had to be issued emergency passports before they could get home. When the story hit the news, not all the feedback was of the expected sympathy. Many viewers were of the opinion that the doctor did exactly the right thing, as such sickness can spread quickly.

A Royal Caribbean spokesman says, “Medical staff explained the situation to the parents, who agreed to take their baby to the hospital. At 11:45 p.m., an ambulance was called. Ship staff offered the Corteses the option to have one parent take the girl and the other stay on board with the other two children, but the family chose to debark all together.”

www.royalcaribbean.co.uk