It was supposed to be a memory maker for a lifetime.
Instead a Stuart family vacation has turned into the cruise they wish they could forget.
"The whole experience is scarred now," says passenger Amy Yeater. "Thats what Im going to remember. I was stranded in the Bahamas."
The family was on the Carnival Glory ship back in late June. It was part of a seven day trip through the Western Caribbean.
They booked a chance to swim with dolphins as a shore excursion through the Carnival ship. According to Carnivals website, booking an excursion through the cruise line "guarantees" the ship will not leave without them.
The family says bad weather pushed back their chance to swim with dolphins at the Atlantis Hotel. The shore excursion staff however told them repeatedly they could still go swimming and the ship wouldnt leave them.
"When we talked to the staff they said, Nope, everything would be fine. That wed have enough time to get to the ship," says Yeaters fiancee Scott Wierzbinski.
When the shore excursion bus pulled up to the dock though, the family says the Glory was gone.
Two families, another from Massachusetts, had been left in the Bahamas. They were all without passports, without much cash and wearing wet bathing suits.
"I wasnt scared until he said this ship has sailed, this ship is gone. And Im thinking what are we going to do?"
Carnival eventually got both families onto another one of their ships. They were given two other rooms, a T-shirt and some toiletries.
The Destiny ship however was sailing back to Miami instead of Port Canaveral where these families had departed. The family says they had to find their own transportation from Miami to Port Canaveral.
Carnival Cruise Lines apologized to the family. They tell us however the family was exploring the Atlantis property on their own and did not show up on time for the bus pick-up point.
"We will hold a ship if people are late getting back from a shore excursion, if the excursion itself runs late," says Carnival Cruise spokesperson Jennifer De La Cruz.
The family says the shore excursion was running late and the staff was in constant contact with the ship.
The family says now they want more. They want their vacation back.
"I had a room with a balcony I didnt get to use that day." says Yeater. "I had a nice dinner in a dining room I didnt get to have that evening."
