Royal Caribbean Reportedly Apologizes After Mom Says Adult Son with Autism Was Kicked Off Cruise: ‘There Was No Compassion’

Royal Caribbean says they “could have been more sensitive to their needs,” in a statement shared with ‘The Philadelphia Inquirer’

A South Jersey mom says she did everything she could to prepare for her 60th birthday cruise with her four sons. However, the trip came to an unfortunate end when her eldest child with autism was reportedly kicked off the ship.

“With all of the information about autism, there was no compassion,” Carolyn Piro tells The Philadelphia Inquirer. “They treated him as a fully functioning adult.”

Piro detailed the events of her seven–day Caribbean Celebrity Cruise for the Inquirer’s Wednesday, Jan. 28, report. But a month before the trip, the Cherry Hill, N.J., mom says she reached out to the cruise line to inform them about her children’s special needs. In addition to her son with autism, she has two younger boys, one with mosaic Down syndrome and another with fragile X syndrome.

In the report, Piro claims her 31-year-old son, Sean Curran, was kicked off the ship in Cozumel, Mexico, on Christmas Eve after she says cruise officials lacked understanding of his disability.

On the fourth day of the cruise, Curran says he was in the pool lounge when a teenage girl asked him to purchase her a Long Island iced tea. Without knowing the drink contained alcohol, Curran says he made the purchase and gave the girl the drink.

As this was Curran’s fourth cruise, he was allowed to wander on his own, so his family was not around at the time of the incident.

Curran says the girl proceeded to touch his chest and stomach, used profanity and followed him to a hut tub, where he lifted her like Shrek carried Princess Fiona in one of his favorite movies.

The girl’s parents later arrived screaming, according to Curran. The 31-year-old was then allegedly brought to a security office where he was asked to give a statement. During the questioning, Piro says Curran claimed he offered an apology to the girl’s parents and repeated that he has autism.

“I have autism and I was just trying to be nice,” Curran wrote alongside a few sentences in the statement given to ship personnel and obtained by The Inquirer.

Celebrity Cruises employees subsequently gave Curran 90 minutes to pack and leave the ship, according to his mother. She accompanied him along with one of his siblings. As they left, she claims other passengers said, “Look at them: They’re getting kicked off the ship.”

“It was just so shameful,” Piro adds. The family later reunited when the ship docked in Florida.

Piro said she thinks cruise officials could have handled the situation differently, instead they could have restricted Curran to his room, revoked his room card that allowed him to buy drinks, or allowed him to disembark at the next port of call. Instead, she says they were kicked off.

When the family returned home, Piro says she received an apology directly from Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises’ parent company, after she complained and shared her story publicly. She says she also asked for a $20,000 reimbursement for what she spent on the cruise.

According to Celebrity Cruises’ website, the brand has achieved the “Autism Friendly Cruise Line status” and offers interactive initiatives for families. However, in a statement shared with The Inquirer, the company “concluded we could have been more sensitive to [the family’s] needs during the debarkation process.” The spokesperson added that they plan on implementing additional training for employees.

Neither representatives for Royal Caribbean nor Celebrity Cruises immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Piro tells the outlet she plans to monitor Royal Caribbean and their plans to implement additional training.

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For Curran, he says sharing his story is “making me feel better.” He adds: “I want people to treat other people with dignity and respect, compassion and kindness.”