A distraught couple looked on in tears as a cruise ship sailed away with their young children on board after they missed the departure time.
The woman had reportedly been late to arrive at the port in Nassau, Bahamas, and her husband disembarked the ship to go to look for her.
But dramatic footage recorded by passengers on board the Norwegian Breakaway shows the parents, from the US, racing to catch the ship as it set off on its three-day journey back to its home port in New York.
In one clip, the father jumps off a buggy and waves his arms, while his wife drops her bags, falls to her knees and clasps her hands in front of her chest as she begs the crew to stop, but by then it was too late.
Spokesman for Norwegian Cruise Line, Archie Pottinger, told MailOnline Travel that the mother had been late for the cruise ship’s departure.
‘The onboard team located her husband and children on board but the family was not able to reach her, nor did they know when she would be returning,’ he said.
“Due to the circumstances, the ship went beyond normal protocol and waited an additional half an hour for the guest.
“When she had still not returned and following consultation with the family, it was decided that the husband would disembark with their travel documents to wait for his wife while the children would stay with their uncle and his family on the ship for the remainder of the voyage.