The teenager received the cruise as a gift for his 18th birthday, but now regrets asking for it.
After a birthday gift turned into family heartbreak, an anonymous teenager took to the Internet looking for advice on how to deal with the situation.
The story, posted on Reddit’s anonymous “Am I the A-hole” forum, saw the teen’s parents guide the family’s first cruise for his graduation present, and then continue to not follow fairly standard cruise protocol.
In fact, they blame the baby for everything, leaving the teenager depressed and regretting having even ordered a cruise.
Keep reading to see the full story and how Redditors reacted.
“I graduated from high school again in December. As a gift, my mother and father bought me a cruise. Plus, it was my 18th birthday. It was also a family trip. We generally maintain inclusive resorts, but I have all the time I need to go on a cruise.”
OP (aka Original Poster) then explained how they went out of their way to make sure their parents understood {that a} cruise works differently than what they are used to experiencing, with OP emphasizing “that if we continued excursions that we needed to stick to the schedule no matter what.”
That’s when things got terribly fallacious.
“It was a week-long cruise and they didn’t come back to the ship after I said it was time to leave. They have been busy buying and trading with locals,” wrote OP. “I finally mentioned that I was heading back to the ship. My mother dismissed me.
They needed to know why I didn’t get the boat to serve them
And so, finally, the inevitable happened. “They lost the match. By loads. About 45 minutes,” OP wrote, adding that their parents contacted them via WhatsApp and “they wanted to know why I couldn’t get the boat to meet them.”
“I had to yell that they weren’t going to bother 3,998 people because two couldn’t understand what a schedule was,” the post continued. “They ended up having to fly from there to the next port and it was expensive.”
Getty inventory image
Father upset by son’s ‘very inappropriate’ swimsuit on domestic cruise, the web disagrees until it sees the photograph
See story
Now, says OP, “they’re upset with me for leaving them behind. I don’t know what they used to do. In fact, they informed me that they knew what they were doing.”
“I wish I never asked for this,” the anonymous teen lamented. “They’re making me feel depressing because I left without them.”
OP’s concern was that they were a jerk for “not staying with my parents again and costing them more in flights to the next port” or “for not dragging them back when the time came.”
“I don’t know what they expect from me,” they wrote.
As expected, Redditors almost unanimously got the teen back, with one mentioning that staying behind might have made mom and dad feel better, but it also “would have been an extra plane ticket, a lot more money down the drain.”
“I’ve been on a cruise. They make it very clear that the ship is not waiting for anyone,” wrote one commenter. “Dad and Mom played and discovered it.”
Most commenters were surprised that mom and dad thought their baby should (and even could have) gone on a full cruise to suit them. “Even when the OP tried/requested, I highly doubt the workers would have even considered postponing the departure,” wrote one Redditor. “Did OP’s mother and father count on him to break down the bridge door and commandeer the ship until they completed the purchase?”
Getty inventory image
Grieving father spending dead son’s school fund on travel provides update, comforting shock and supplies
See story
A common thought was that the parents were really embarrassed because their 18-year-old son was fine and was one of the three who did right – so that they would be fine. “Yes, projection is an important protective mechanism for people who never encountered emotion regulation skills as children,” explained one commenter. “I’m disheveled and can’t deal with these feelings of hysteria, so it’s actually all YOUR fault.”
While some Redditors joked about the mom and dad immediately talking to the captain, one suggested showing the parents different stories about this specific thing happening. “Story after story of the same thing happening to others who failed to return before leaving Porto,” they wrote. “They were lucky they were able to fly to the next port, many others were stranded or worse.”
One commenter went on a rant about the mom and dad, writing, “What exactly do they think you could have done? Kidnapped the captain? Staged your individual drowning? You didn’t abandon them, they abandoned you, don’t allow them to fail this round as being your fault in any way, shape or form!
Did OP’s mom and dad count on him to break down the bridge door and commandeer the ship until they completed the purchase?
“Actually, I’m sorry your mom and dad ruined this for you. It is quite pathetic of them to blame you for being extremely easy to avoid a deliberate dangerous decision,” they continued. “They owe you at least two apologies, one for ignoring your sage advice in the first place, the second for behaving like spoiled 4-year-olds.”
Another suggested that the teenager call a ship employee to explain to his parents. “I would ask the cruise officer to explain if there was anything you could have done to stop it,” wrote one, while another suggested, “Are you young enough to pull the ‘Oh I feel so dangerous because I didn’t do it? the ship anticipated my parents and now they are upset with me. How do I get the ship to my parents at the next stop? Then let the official person explain.”
“Child, present this topic to your mother and father. These ships don’t anticipate anyone. Not even your snowflake parents in particular,” wrote one Redditor, summing up the forum’s sentiment.
What do you suppose?