Teen leaves parents on Caribbean island to return on cruise

A recent high school graduate went viral after sharing that he left his parents on a Caribbean island so he could return on a cruise in time — and that his parents missed the boat.

In a post shared on Reddit, the teen says his parents recently treated him to a family cruise in honor of his 18th birthday and high school graduation.

Anticipating that their parents might not be able to stick to the planned nature of a cruise, they write that they were told “that if we went on an excursion, we had to follow the schedule no matter what.”

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“Well, it was a week-long cruise and they didn't want to go back to the ship when I said it was time to leave,” the teen wrote. “They were busy shopping and negotiating with the locals. I finally said I was going back to the ship. My mother waved me off.”

Finally, the teenager adds: “They missed the start. By a lot. Like 45 minutes.”

“They contacted me via WhatsApp. They wanted to know why I hadn’t taken the boat to wait for them,” the teenager wrote.

The teen adds that they “wanted to shout” to their parents “that they weren't going to bother 3,998 people because two of them didn't understand what a schedule was.”

“They ended up having to fly to the next port and it was expensive,” the teenager wrote. “They’re mad at me for leaving them behind.”

Adding that their parents “make me unhappy because I left without them,” the teen begs the internet to ask them if they were wrong.

Overall, Reddit commenters side with the teen.

As one person wrote, cruise ships keep a strict schedule and don't stay docked so people spend more time shopping.

“The docks and the ship have a schedule to keep,” the commenter wrote. “They're adults and they need to be responsible for coming back on time. That's something you figured out in less than six months as an adult. At least you don't have to go on vacation anymore with them after that.

Other commenters criticized parents for expecting the ship to wait for them, with one writing: “Do they think if they arrive late at the airport the plane will wait a few hours ? It's not rocket science. It is a mode of transportation. , you arrive on time.”

Still others offered a more direct assessment of parents' behavior, writing: “It seems [the original poster] is the adult and the parents are the two children.