“The parents should be banned” – debate rages as nine-year-old gets cruise life ban

• A nine-year old has been given a cruise ban banned for life by Carnival Cruises after property damage and fighting with other guests.
• The mother was informed at the end of their cruise that her son would no longer be welcome aboard with Carnival.
• Many cruisers feel that the parents should be banned as well when situations like this arise.

The classic debate about children’s behaviour on cruise ships has been revived, along with much we should be blaming parents, after a nine-year-old spectacularly found himself banned for life from Carnival Cruises.

Cruise YouTuber Just Don revealed the case on his channel, saying a young traveller has ended up on a permanent ban list for continued bad behaviour onboard his cruise.

He explains how, when the child was on his own, he found himself in all sorts of trouble.

“He did get into some trouble. Including damaging one of the machines, a major damage, apparently. As well as getting into a fight with one of the other children.”

He said his parents were told: ” ‘Look, if you’re going to remain on this cruise, and not get kicked off, your child cannot leave your side for the rest of this cruise.'”

But it didn’t work. “On the final night of their cruise, a letter was delivered to the stateroom, saying not to leave the cabin in the morning until further instructions.”

Then the next morning, the bad news was delivered.

Two Carnival employees came with a note on Carnival letterhead, signed by the captain and the chief security officer, saying that the child, because of his destructive behaviour on board, has now been banned by Carnival Cruise Line for life.

What are people saying?

With the child in question being so young, most commenters appear to be pointing their finger at the parents.

One user wrote: “Who lets a nine-year-old roam a cruise ship by themselves? Says a lot about the parents.”

Another wrote: “Why aren’t the negligent parents banned? Aren’t they responsible for the actions of such young children?”

Other users specifically noted that they felt the ban was justified: “If a nine-year-old is that bad, the cruise line is well within their rights to ban this person. Probably the parents should be banned as well.”

Another commenter echoed a call to ban the entire family: “Ban the parents also. A nine-year-old should never be on their own on a cruise ship or anywhere in public. This parent should be reported to social services.”

Other users report experiencing unfavourable behaviour from children on their cruises.

“Just got done with a cruise from Hale last week, and numerous kids acted like this. Dropping shoes off the balcony onto the elderly, for three days, we couldn’t use the pool, as they were puking in the pool every day. They were commandeering the hot tub for five hours and fighting with other passengers. We were disgusted. Never again!”

Another commenter agreed, hoping this ban is a sign of a crackdown on this type of behaviour.

“Noticed a lot of unacceptable behaviour from children on my last Carnival cruise; worse than I’d ever seen. Time to crack down on this and send a clear message that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated.

“Carnival has recently changed the age limit when it comes to proximity of children staying in their own cabins, so it’s a problem onboard of kids lacking adult supervision.”

Other cruisers offered their own perspectives on what constitutes good behaviour on a cruise.

“My kids were 9 when they went on our first cruise with us. They stayed with us the entire trip. The parents are to blame for letting their kid run free. I hope they learned their lesson for the future. Perhaps banning for life is extreme in this case but I guess they are getting stricter.”

What do you think? Should the child have been banned? Should the parents? Tell us in the comments below.