Family Wrongfully Turned Away from Cruise 'Heartbroken' After Mom Spent Over a Year Planning

A North Carolina mom says her family cruise vacation was ruined after her teenage son was denied boarding on the ship

Shannon Nutting of Pembroke, N.C., recalled how her family arrived at Port Canaveral in Florida to board their Royal Caribbean cruise when they ran into an unexpected issue, she told ABC 11 on Friday, March 21.

Nutting told the outlet that the trip was a surprise for her four children and that she had taken time off from her job as a teacher to make it happen.

Since she put so much effort into planning, she made sure to confirm with the cruise company about which documentation she needed to bring for her kids. However, when her family arrived at the terminal, she says staff members told her there was an issue with her 16-year-old son’s student ID.

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"He said, unfortunately, you're not going to be able to board today because the school ID is not acceptable. So, I explained to him that we had talked to Royal Caribbean, and they had assured us that the school ID was valid,” Nutting told ABC 11.

She noted that she was so upset at that point that she began crying. Despite this, she says she asked to speak with a supervisor, who she claims didn't help her with the issue at all.

“My son has special needs," Nutting says she explained to the supervisor. "That's one of the reasons he did not yet have a state-issued ID, and that I called to make sure he could board without it. She said she didn't care what he had, and we couldn't board, and she just walked away."

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She and her family were then stuck at the port as they watched the cruise ship leave without them.

"All that year of saving and paying on it, everybody was just heartbroken and devastated. Everybody was exhausted," she said.

When Nutting’s travel agent reached Royal Caribbean, the cruise line representative admitted that her family should have been allowed to board and the crew members were wrong to turn them away, according to ABC 11.

PEOPLE has reached out to Royal Caribbean but did not receive an immediate reply.

An employee at the company reportedly advised that her family fly to Cozumel, Mexico and board the cruise there.

After Nutting decided she didn’t want to do that, Royal Caribbean allegedly offered her three options: a credit towards a future cruise plus a $700 onboard credit, a full refund for the entire trip, or a full refund along with a 25% future cruise credit.

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The mom of four said she felt these were all “unacceptable” options.

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

She added, "If I made the mistake and they offered me anything, any kind of refund, then I would think that would be gracious of them. But I didn't make any mistakes. I made sure we had our documentation. Everybody's birth certificates were certified. The people who needed IDs had IDs, and I just feel like them offering a refund of the cruise price is just unacceptable."

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