‘I abandoned my parents – they were late for the cruise and missed departure’

A Reddit user sparked a heated debate after sharing their dilemma about leaving their tardy parents behind as a cruise ship set sail without them.
The individual took to Reddit’s AmITheA**hole forum, questioning if they were wrong for departing on time while their parents lagged behind, engrossed in shopping and bargaining with locals despite repeated warnings.
In the post, the user explained: “I graduated from high school back in December. As a gift my parents got me a cruise. It was also for my 18th birthday. It was also a family vacation.
“We usually stay at all-inclusive resorts but I have always wanted to go on a cruise. I told my parents it was different and that if we went on excursions we had to follow the schedule no matter what.”

The parents’ disregard for the cruise schedule led to a fallout, as detailed by the recent graduate: “Well it was a week-long cruise and they would not head back to the ship when I said it was time to go,” the post read. “They were busy shopping and bargaining with the locals. I finally said that I was heading back to the ship. My mom waved me off.”
The story climaxed with the parents missing the ship by a significant margin: “The missed the departure. By a lot. Like 45 minutes. They got ahold of me through WhatsApp. They wanted to know why I didn’t get the boat to wait for them. I wanted to scream that they were not going to inconvenience 3,998 people because two could not understand what a schedule was.”

“They ended up having to fly to the next port from there and it was expensive. They are pissed at me for leaving them behind. I don’t know what I was supposed to do. They literally told me that they knew what they were doing. I wish I had never asked for this. They are making me miserable because I left without them.”
The majority of comments sided with the teenager, labeling the parents as “entitled” and in the wrong. One user commented: “NTA they seriously think the ship will delay for 45 minutes, yea no.

“The docks and ship have a schedule to keep. They are adults and need to be responsible for getting back on time. Which is something you have figured out in less than 6 months of being an adult. At least you don’t have to go on any more vacations with them after this.”
Another user expressed their frustration: “This is ALL on your parents.. They didn’t respect the ship schedule.”
A third chimed in: “What precisely do they think you could have done? Kidnapped the captain? Staged your own drowning? You didn’t abandon them, they abandoned you, don’t let them weasel word this around to being your fault in any way, shape or form!”.