Two famous influencers are facing harsh backlash for leaving their two young children unattended during their recent Royal Caribbean cruise.
The couple - Matt and Abby Howard - are known for their online presence, as the two are the hosts of a popular podcast called The Unplanned Podcast. In addition, the couple has a large following on Instagram and TikTok, where they chronicle their lives as parents of two young children to millions of followers. Their children include two sons, a 1-year-old named August and a 2-year-old named Griffin.
The controversy comes after Abby shared on her Instagram story about their recent cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas. The mom of two shared with her 1.3 million followers how she and Matt decided partway through their 5-night cruise to leave their children unattended in their stateroom during dinner.
In the now-deleted Instagram story, Abby said, “So, we ended up taking them for 5 nights and it became apparent that they weren’t enjoying it and therefore we weren’t either.”
“So, THEN we switched our dinner time to AFTER their bedtime and we FaceTimed the [baby] monitors while we ate,” she continued. Further, Abby shared how their baby monitors wouldn’t work onboard Navigator of the Seas unless they were within 10 feet of the device.
Abby stated, “And that worked out muchhhh better for everyone!”
According to online reports, Abby had shared that the parents had tried to leave the children with the onboard childcare services, but their baby was too upset by the ordeal. Moreover, Abby shared in an Instagram story how they tried to reserve slots for their children, but struggled to find availability.
“Our game plan was to play all day with the kids and then let them hang out in the kids club while the adults went to formal dining, as long, nice dinners [are] not a setting designed for them,” Abby said.
“Well, you need to book ahead if your child is under 3 and pretty much all of the dinner slots were already booked before I could get to the nursery (an hour after boarding),” she continued. As a solution, the parents opted to put their children to bed before dinner, relying on their phones to FaceTime a baby monitor to watch the kids.
As a family-friendly cruise line, Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas provides nursery care for children under 3 years old for an additional cost. The cruise line states on their website, "If you’re cruising with a baby or a toddler, you’ll be pleased to know that Navigator of the Seas offers an abundance of childcare options for little ones, like the cruise line’s award-winning Adventure Ocean Youth Program and the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery. That’s in addition to convenience-boosting amenities like cribs brought to your stateroom and babysitting services run by qualified, caring professionals."
According to Royal Caribbean’s website, Royal Babies and Tots has an additional cost based on an hourly rate. Parents need to register their children and reserve slots for the nursery, which is fully equipped with staff to supervise young children safely.
Unsurprisingly, the Instagram story has brought the parents under scrutiny for leaving their young children alone in their stateroom to have dinner. The story, which was shared to r/royalcaribbean on Reddit, garnered more than 200 comments. The original post on Reddit was captioned, "Influencers leave their kids in their room unattended… y'all, do NOT DO THIS!!"
Social media users and cruisers alike were outraged by the incident, calling the parents “neglectful,” "insane," and “irresponsible.” Moreover, many questioned how the parents would reach their children in the event of an emergency, such as an onboard fire.
“They could have easily had their dinner brought to their room and ate there. So irresponsible and selfish,” states one commenter.
Another cruiser stated, “I mean, I’ve cruised a lot and there is always something crazy that happens. A rogue wave. A lockdown. Storm. Lost child. The ocean is wild and to leave your 1-year-old and 2-year-old alone on a boat at any time is so so so so so so stupid.”
“If you can’t stay with your kids at all times or have appropriate adults watching them, then don’t bring them!”
Another user shared, “I expected to see a bunch of overreacting, assuming the kids were a bit older. 1 and 2? One is entirely helpless and the other is self-destructive. Yikes.”
“Wow, this is insane. I just took my 2-year-old and 11-month-old on a cruise and I never thought to myself, I should leave them alone in our room,” writes another commenter.
One person commented, “I was thinking that maybe they were older kids since I’m not familiar with these TikTokers. This information makes it so, so much worse.”
Others compared the incident to the story of Madeleine McCann, in which the British parents of the 3-year-old toddler left her unattended in a resort-style apartment to have dinner with their friends nearby. Other children were in the apartment at the time of the incident as well.
Although the parents took turns checking on the kids during dinner, the young Madeline was gone from her bed around 10PM that night - and she remains missing to this day.
“Clearly, they’re too young to know the story of Madeleine McCann. That’s exactly what happened in their case and I am sure those parents regret that choice to go have dinner when the kids are sleeping every single day,” writes one commenter.
Similarly, another person commented, “Dude. No way. Older little kids can leave the room without you stopping them. [For] babies, [it's] basically criminal neglect to leave like that. Madeleine McCann, anyone?”
“I guess they’ve never heard of Madeleine McCann?” commented one user on social media.
Another echoed this sentiment writing, “This seriously reminds me of the Madeleine McCann. Like many years ago, a couple on holiday left their child in the room for dinner and she was kidnapped. I mean that’s a worse case scenario but like literally a billion things can happen."
Abby and Matt have not responded to the criticism publicly, although the couple did remove the story from Abby's Instagram following the backlash.
