Horrific tragedy

[Shanna]

I just recently returned home from a cruise with Princess Cruises, on the Regal. Some kids threw a golf ball at a pelican while out at sea, and hit the poor bird. They caused it to crash to the deck, hurting its leg. (NOT WINGS) The poor bird was in shock! A crew member told us ,( my husband, myself, and others) that if the bird couldn't fly they would incinerate the pelican. They didn't even give it a chance to try and fly. Instead the got a box , retrieved it, and took it away to be burned alive!  The kids recieved no discipline, and this cruel act really hurt my heart! Surveillance would have told them which child was lying and discipline of some kind, should have been given. Along with freedom to the Pelican!

[LukeJ]

@Shanna that sounds s absolutely disgusting. That poor bird, innocently minding it's own business and ends up treated in such a way. Humans can be vile, especially these days. They have no respect for one another, their attitude is pathetic and to get away with things like that, shows how low is as a society have fallen. As a father, if I had found out that my child caused that, he would be severely punished and made to understand that this is not acceptable. But people nowadays just do not care. 

[PaulB]

I agree with @LukeJ, what is wrong with people these days. How can you find that entertaining, injuring and innocent animal like that. I've noticed that the first instinct on people's mind is spite, and not be happy to allow people or things just to continue living the way they want.

[Cruising Caribbean]

@Shanna This is such a sad story! First of all, Princess Cruises isn't known for children, but now the children that make it onboard are terrible! I have children, and they would never throw a golfball at a pelican or any animal or anything. It's upsetting to read the poor pelican had to die because of parents negligence and unruly behavior. Children make mistakes but not that the expense of a living thing! I'm curious, how old were these children? I find it unacceptable, but that kid had some aim. I can barley hit a golfball straight, let alone throw it to hit something. With this kind of strength, it sounds like a teenage perpetrator. 

[LukeJ]

There are some horrible children about these days. I see it in society, passed down from horrible people. It shocks me that the attitude nowadays is pure ignorance. The disrespect and the foul mouth and even the way they think is just horrid. I was on a plane last year and there was a child just kicking the back seat of a gentleman seat and the mother just sat there and allowed it. The child was kicking for a good twenty minutes maybe longer, and the parent didn't flinch. I felt so sorry for the gentleman in the seat. Absolute horrid child. 

[3Sisters]

@Shanna That's so disturbing. It must have felt to upsetting to see, happening right before your eyes. I'm not sure if you have heard about that whale hunts that happen in Torshavn, but one ship actually visited the port during this time of year and it was a horrific sight. I can't imagine getting excited to visit such a breath taking destination just to approach a sight line the one below. During this hunt 78 whales were killed. It's such a shame! The cruise line ended up apologizing to its guest for the horrifying sight. 

[LukeJ]

I hadn't heard that but that is just barbaric. It's bad enough for adults to see, I'm assuming children must have witnessed this surely. And how can this be classed as legal in today's world. This is on par with fox hunting, something I couldn't get my head around. All classed as sport. There is nothing sporting about any of these acts.

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@Shanna That must have been such a horrifying sight! That poor pelican, no one should be so inhumane. I'm assuming/hoping the goal of that child wasn't to harm the bird, but you have no idea. You never know what's going through a person's head. Let's just hope that out of control behavior doesn't continue on, putting other people/things in harms way. I tell my children) who are young), if you don't learn how to behavior yourself properly in society/with others now, you are going to break the rules when you are older. That would lead them to a life in jail. It's my job as a parent to teach my children how to behave and acceptable coping mechanisms. Throwing and hurting things are not acceptable behaviors at any age. 

@LukeJ It was a horrifying sight, I understand it's cultural practice, but I can't get onboard with it. I can't imagine how it would have felt to approach this scene. It would have ruined my day. In fact, I think it may have ruined many of the guests' day onboard that cruise itinerary. 

 

[Miss Lizzie]

On 4/2/2024 at 9:49 AM, Kendall James-Vargas said:

@Shanna That must have been such a horrifying sight! That poor pelican, no one should be so inhumane. I'm assuming/hoping the goal of that child wasn't to harm the bird, but you have no idea. You never know what's going through a person's head. Let's just hope that out of control behavior doesn't continue on, putting other people/things in harms way. I tell my children) who are young), if you don't learn how to behavior yourself properly in society/with others now, you are going to break the rules when you are older. That would lead them to a life in jail. It's my job as a parent to teach my children how to behave and acceptable coping mechanisms. Throwing and hurting things are not acceptable behaviors at any age. 

@LukeJ It was a horrifying sight, I understand it's cultural practice, but I can't get onboard with it. I can't imagine how it would have felt to approach this scene. It would have ruined my day. In fact, I think it may have ruined many of the guests' day onboard that cruise itinerary. 

 

I am going to be on the Regal Princess soon. I can't believe that children under a certain age are allowed to do golfing without a parent present.  I hope this was not a teenager. 

I hope Princess will put some policies in place to prevent this from happening again. What if the child threw the ball at a person and hit them. 

Shouldn't the golfing area have netting around it to prevent the balls from going into the ocean and polluting the ocean. Netting would prevent birds from flying into the area. 

The child was wrong and Princess hanging of the situation is unacceptable. 

[Cruising Caribbean]

@Miss Lizzie I wish more parental supervision was recommended. I'm not sure why parents give their children so much freedom while cruising at such a young age. I have noticed many absent parents at the playground too. I don't think it's safe to allow your children to play at a park unsupervised. Some of my neighbors do this for their 5 and 6 years olds! I agree it should have been bigger deal. I hope those children were punished for their actions. Maybe the parents could be to blame here. You can't be surprised when children act childish. 

[Kendall James-Vargas]

@Miss Lizzie I agree that parental supervision is a must! Children shouldn't be trusted. Older children are still children, and if they aren't properly taught, they aren't going to behave well because they weren't taught. I have a pet peeve about this because I find so many parents aren't parenting anymore. If you don't teach your children right from wrong, how are they supposed to behave? If you can't trust your child, don't leave them unsupervised. There have been instances where children are sitting off of balconies. I ask myself, where are the parents? Have they not taught their children about this danger? The ramifications are horrifying. I feel so scared to even look at this real photo.

[Miss Lizzie]

On 8/23/2024 at 1:09 PM, Kendall James-Vargas said:

@Miss Lizzie I agree that parental supervision is a must! Children shouldn't be trusted. Older children are still children, and if they aren't properly taught, they aren't going to behave well because they weren't taught. I have a pet peeve about this because I find so many parents aren't parenting anymore. If you don't teach your children right from wrong, how are they supposed to behave? If you can't trust your child, don't leave them unsupervised. There have been instances where children are sitting off of balconies. I ask myself, where are the parents? Have they not taught their children about this danger? The ramifications are horrifying. I feel so scared to even look at this real photo.

I know it's horrible 😞 

[Cruising Caribbean]

@Miss Lizzie I totally agree. I can't stand looking at this photo. Can you imagine if these were one of yours? Kids can make silly mistakes, but this one would forever horrify me. Believe it or not I have had a nightmare about something similar, and I refuse to book balcony cabins with my children now. It's just too scary to me.