Family Kicked Off Cruise Because Child Was Sick

Orange County, FL (WFTV) - A Florida family says a cruise line kicked them off the ship and abandoned them in the Bahamas when their seven-month-old baby became sick.

Now, they're asking for refund for the money they had to spend to get back home.

The Cortes family says their Royal Caribbean cruise was a living hell. They boarded the Majesty of the Seas last Monday out of Miami. The next day, they were kicked off in Nassau, Bahamas.

"Everyone was crying and pleading that they wouldn't throw us of the boat, begging them if we could stay," says Luis Cortez, the girl's daughter.

Their seven-month-old child, Zoie, was throwing up and had diarrhea. A doctor on the ship said she was dehydrated and had to be treated in a hospital.

The family says a security guard gave them 10 minutes to pack their bags and get off the boat. It was 11 o'clock at night.

"I asked if my wife could get out of their pajamas and there was no time for that, we had to leave," Cortez says.

A doctor at the emergency room diagnosed Zoie with a cold, not dehydration. He signed a form and cleared her to travel.

The ship, however, had already left. The Cortez family was stuck in the Bahamas with no passports to get home.

"We had to find out the way to the U.S.Embassy," Cortez says. "All of this on foot a family of five in this town we knew nothing about."

The embassy issued them emergency passports for 445 bucks. They spent another $650 on plane tickets back to Florida.

The emergency room bill was $600. All together, the Cortes family spent more than $3,000 on their disastrous vacation, and they want a refund.

"I don't want this to happen to another family," Cortez says.

Royal Caribbean says they were concerned because the child was so young and they didn't want to take any chances. The company plans to give the family a credit to use on another Royal Caribbean trip, but says it will not reimburse them for the passports and plane tickets because they did not pay for trip insurance.