Carolyn Piro and her four sons planned to celebrate Christmas together on a cruise.
The New Jersey-based family spent Christmas Eve in Mexico, where their Celebrity Cruises ship had stopped. “We went to Cozumel and we swam with the dolphins,” Piro, 61, told USA TODAY. “It was really fun.”
But when they returned to the ship, Piro’s son Sean Curran, 31, who has autism, went to the pool on his own. Shortly after, she was summoned to the ship’s security office, where they were told Curran had 90 minutes to pack his bags and disembark after he bought a cocktail for a teen guest.
The girl asked Curran to buy her a Long Island iced tea, which he said he did not realize had alcohol. “Sean thinks a Long Island iced tea is an iced tea from Long Island,” Piro said.
Curran said he bought himself a Sprite, and the girl followed him to the hot tub. “We got in the hot tub,” he recalled. “I picked her up like Shrek did to Fiona, like a groom picks up a bride.”
Her parents arrived and “started screaming at him,” Piro said.
“She got out of the hot tub, then I got out of the hot tub, too,” Curran said. “Then I came to the parents, and I apologized.” They called security, according to the family (Piro said she only knew the girl’s first name).
At the security office, Piro said the crew asked her to confirm that Curran had autism. “And I said, yes, he does,” she recalled. “And then they said, ‘But it’s high-functioning, right?’ To which I said, ‘That’s a relative term.’ You know, like, he can’t make change, but he can cook a frozen pizza.”
The staff had Curran write out a statement and later asked for Piro’s credit card to book a flight out of Cozumel. “They said, ‘Who’s going to go with Sean?’ So they knew he couldn’t go by himself,” she said.
The soonest available flight was for the following day, and Piro had to book a hotel in Cozumel for the night. Security escorted the pair to their cabin and waited while they packed. One of Piro’s other sons joined her and Curran, while two of her other children – both in their 20s, one of whom has mosaic Down syndrome – stayed behind.
“So Sean and his other brother and I were shown off the ship,” she recalled. “It was pitch dark, everything was closed.”
She had no cell phone service, but stumbled upon a paramedic who spoke some English and flagged down a taxi. The driver turned on his mobile hot spot so Piro could look up the hotel’s address. “And that was our Christmas Eve.”
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported the news. Royal Caribbean Group, Celebrity’s parent company, told USA TODAY that it “concluded we could have been more sensitive” to the guests’ needs during debarkation following a review of the incident and will be providing additional training to staff.
In a separate statement, the company added, “We stand by our action to disembark the guest given significant violations of our Guest Conduct Policy.”
Celebrity offers a number of activities and accommodations for children and adults with autism, from expedited check-in, boarding, and disembarkation to sensory-friendly movies and more, according to its website. Passengers can notify the cruise line of any special needs or dietary restrictions using a form available online.
‘This is something we can learn from’
Piro said she and two of her sons flew back to Florida on Christmas and got a hotel, waiting for the ship to return to Fort Lauderdale three days later.
Piro said Curran had taken multiple cruises with Celebrity before, and had gone four days with “no issues” during the December voyage. “I’m not making an excuse,” she said. “Sean should not have bought a stranger a drink and he should not have picked them up in the pool. Was he aggressive? Was he malicious? Was he, you know, a predator? No, he’s none of those.”
Piro contacted Celebrity about a week after returning home. The company initially apologized, she said, and offered to cover the cost of her cruise and expenses. However, the offer she received was less than what she paid. Piro, who works as a therapist, also requested that the security team apologize to Curran directly and offered to participate in training for staff.
“I said, ‘I’ll be happy to come down – I’ve done corporate trainings. I will be happy to come down and participate in training of security, and please don’t let my story go die off,’” she said. “‘Don’t let it disappear. This is something we can learn from.’”
Piro said the company emailed her asking her to sign a nondisclosure agreement, which she declined. She has not heard from the cruise line since.
The news comes after a Florida mom said her family was kicked out of Universal’s Epic Universe theme park in late December following a misunderstanding involving her autistic daughter.
Piro said she decided to speak out in an effort to prevent similar incidents from happening to other families. “I’m not saying Sean is innocent, and I’m not saying that he gets a free pass because of his autism,” Piro said. “He doesn’t, but there were other options than kicking us off the ship on Christmas Eve.”