- A Royal Caribbean crew member was filmed waving a giant foam hand that said “Bye!” just moments after the ship pulled away from two passengers left behind on the pier.
- A video of the incident was posted to the Cruceros Puerto Rico Facebook page on Tuesday.
- A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean told INSIDER the crew member was “not directing her wave to our guests on the pier,” though the timing is pretty perfect.
- No matter the intention, it’s certainly not the first time cruise ship passengers have been left behind.
- Visit INSIDER’s homepage for more stories.
It sucks to watch your cruise ship float away from you because you showed up late.
It sucks even more to see a crew member rubbing it in your face.
That’s what appeared to be happening when someone filmed a crew member of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship waving goodbye after late passengers were left behind in St. Maarten.
A video posted to the “Cruceros Puerto Rico” Facebook page, which details the cruise ships visiting the San Juan, Puerto Rico port, on Tuesday shows what appears to be a man and a woman left on the pier as their Freedom of the Seas vessel pulls away from them.
People in the background can be heard yelling: "They missed it!"
The camera then pans to the cruise ship, zooming in on the upper left part of the ship where a crew member can be seen waving a giant foam hand that reads "Bye!"
It's unclear in the video whether or not the staff member was waving at the left-behind passengers, though the timing of his waving is pretty perfect.
The translated caption of the video reads: "Today two passengers from the Freedom of the Seas arrived late to board the cruise and stayed on the island of St. Maarten."
In this situation, passengers usually have to take a flight to meet the next destination of the boat - which was apparently St. Kitts in this place.
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean told INSIDER the crew member was "not directing her wave to our guests on the pier," however.
"She was waving at our sister ship, Anthem of the Seas, which was also in port and scheduled for departure," they added.
"The gesture was one of respect and nautical camaraderie between crew members.
"We regret the inconvenience our guests experienced due the late return to the pier. Guests are encouraged to be back by all-aboard time. Departure times are routinely announced onboard, posted in shipboard newsletters and at gangways to keep our guests informed at all ports of call."
This is hardly the first time passengers have been left behind by a cruise ship, either.
In February, a couple were filmed by another cruise passenger missing their chance to board the Royal Caribbean vessel the Symphony of the Seas in Nassau, Bahamas.
The distressed woman from the video, Maria González Roesch, told INSIDER's Tom Murray that the ship left two hours earlier than it had done at previous destinations, which resulted in the pair catching a last-minute flight to Miami in their swimwear.
According to Royal Caribbean's FAQs, passengers who miss their cruise due to travel delays can contact their Emergency Travel Team to discuss their options going forward.
There is also a Travel Protection Program available, which reimburses you for additional accommodations, meals, and "catch-up" transportation expenses.
However, if you don't have a good excuse and you haven't opted for the Travel Protection Program, Royal Caribbean says you "are responsible for any expense incurred to meet the ship at its next port of call."
