Stranded couple reveal “nightmare” moment their cruise ship ditched them
Newlyweds Maria Gonzalez Roesch and Alessandro Di Palma didn’t think for one moment that their honeymoon would become a headline around the world, but that was before they were spotted running after their Royal Caribbean ship which left without them – and their passport and bank cards.
Speaking to the The Sun, actress Maria described the moment the couple realised that they were left stranded after hearing the ship's horn blast as it sailed away.
“There was a platform with two crew members, and they were mad with us,” said 26-year-old Maria who is originally from Costa Rica.
“We started yelling to them, ‘Please, please let us on, the cruise is still here.’
“But the guys said, ‘You are not going to be so lucky and we are closing the doors and leaving’.
“Alessandro was in shock because it was his nightmare and it actually happened.
“He was so frustrated he wanted to jump to the ship. But (the drop) was so big and dangerous.”
Holding punctuality as a top-most priority, Maria revealed that she has never missed a train, plane or boat before, but due to the relaxing nature of their honeymoon, the pair had let their guard down.
The ship was expected to sail at 5:30pm, but in a turn of events, left two hours earlier from the Bahamas.
The couple reached the port a few minutes before the ship was ready to depart but didn’t realise that it was leaving so soon.
“We thought we were on time,” said Maria. “We were there 4:10 pm or 4:15 pm and we heard the call from the ship – but there were so many cruises we thought it was another ship.
“Then we heard the horn. When we arrived to the pier we were in shock.”
To their horror, the vessel was getting ready to leave and they watched on as the gangway was removed.
“I think the worst feeling was to see that the boat was still there and knowing we can go inside and see the boat leave without you,” said Maria.
“I think I would have preferred to have been at the pier and the boat had already gone.”
And as if the situation wasn’t stressful enough, Maria and her husband discovered that they had left their passports and other valuable possessions on board, meaning they were stranded on the island with nowhere to go.
Thankfully, the crew managed to return the items, including all travel documents and bank cards to the newlyweds.
Once they reached the immigration office, they learned that they were among six other people who had missed the boat.
“There were two other couples. One (couple) were very, very angry so we didn’t keep in touch but the other two were nice,” said Maria.
“They were a young couple from California.”
Upon returning home, Maria and Alessandro believed that the entire ordeal was over, but in the age of the internet, footage of the two running after the ship had gone viral.
But despite the stressful incident, the two still saw the humorous side of it all.
“Of course, it would be better if it didn’t happen. But it could have a positive flip-side,” said Maria.
“Now I can say it was a funny experience and we have a good story to (tell) our kids …”
Have you ever missed boarding a plane, train or cruise ship on your travels? Let us know in the comments below.