It’s the video that has sparked controversy amongst cruisers and non-cruisers.

Last week, a video emerged of a couple missing their ship in the Bahamas, and they are captured chasing one of the world’s largest ships, Symphony of the Seas after it left port without them.

The Royal Caribbean ship waited for the couple, who were 45 minutes late getting back to their cruise.

They were filmed by onlookers as they chased the ship, yelling at the crew and begging them to lower the gangway.

But cruise lines have strict policies and departure times and often, the ships are charged extra if they are delayed in port. Every day, the cruise lines provide information on their daily itineraries, with the time that guests must reboard the ship.

While some readers have been sympathetic towards the couple, many have also said that the pair should have just followed the rules.

One of our readers, Denise replied to our story and said, “Really it serves them right and teaches them a lesson for future cruises. Expecting to hold up +4000 other passengers. You’re told what time to be back and there is a sign as you leave the ship clearly stating the time you need to be back and departure time that is usually 30 mins later.

“They don’t sail then either if someone is missing. Announcements are made over the ship public address system paging those missing and I been on ships that have waited anything from 30 mins more to an hour. If people just expect that the ship will wait for them they are very wrong. You will often find that every port someone is late its often the same people.”

While she makes a point, some other readers like Beverley said we can’t be too quick to judge.

“We don’t know why this happened. Maybe a traffic hold-up? We can’t comment on it, unless we know how it occurred. A long time cruiser myself and I have never missed a departure, but I have seen people rush on at the last minute due to a tourist mini bus breakdown, and another time due to something similar. So let us not be to ready to criticise this couple.”

And some, had some quite amusing stories to relay.

“Many years ago on the Fairstar we waited for well over an hour after our scheduled 10pm departure from Suva, Fiji. A crew member was late back from a night out on the town. We were all very merry and singing up on deck when eventually a cab pulled up at the dock with the missing crew member who was assisted aboard. We all cheered as the ship got under way immediately,” said reader Mark Smyth.

“Turned out to be our Italian captain who was late back. He had shown throughout the cruise he was quite accustomed to having as much fun as the guests. This is a true story from 1984. Fortunately, I haven’t come across another captain like him.”

We’ve compiled together some of the most devastating videos of people just missing their cruise ship. These guys weren’t as lucky as the Fairstar’s Italian captain.

Video created by Jemima Skelley