A woman says her family was not allowed to board a Disney cruise because she was pregnant.
Emily Jackson has a family of 10, and a baby boy on the way. She said her family was so excited about their Disney cruise they had tee-shirts made, but the trip became a nightmare.
“I felt so bad because I felt like it was my fault that everybody couldn’t go,” said Jackson.
Jackson says she and her family went through security and boarded the cruise but as they waited for their room keys, crew members singled her out for being pregnant.
According to Disney’s policy, women who are 24 weeks pregnant during the cruise will be refused passage. Jackson is 25 weeks pregnant and said her doctor gave her the okay to go on the trip. A spokesperson for Disney said the woman’s family never made onboard the cruise because while she was filling out check-in paperwork, it was discovered that she was 25 weeks pregnant, and was against boarding policy.
Jackson said when the family complained, things got ugly.
She alleges a security guard with a gun intimidated her, scaring her two kids. She added that the guard smirked and laughed at the family’s misfortune. Disney said the man in the video is a Miami-Dade police officer.
“They had the guy with a gun following us, they had the K9 unit. So when they had to take both babies outside, wait almost two hours for our luggage outside in the heat and both babies are red-faced. It was just terrible,” said Jackson.
A Disney spokesperson released the following statement about the incident:
“While we understand the guests’ disappointment with not being able to board the ship, for health and safety reasons, our policy does not allow women who have reached the 24th week of pregnancy to travel, which is consistent with other cruise lines and is noted on our website and in travel documents our guests receive before sailing. The Miami-Dade Police Department is responsible for security at the port and handled the situation as they felt appropriate given the guest’s actions.”
Jackson says the cruise line offered her a refund for the cost of the cruise but it will not cover their other vacations costs including plane tickets for 10 people.
