Pregnant Woman Barred From Disney Magic Cruise, Escorted Out By Armed Guards

A six-month-pregnant woman was barred from boarding the Disney Magic cruise with her family last week.

Emily Jackson, 22, from St. Louis, Missouri, travelled to Miami to board the Disney cruise with nine other members of her family. The rest of her family were already on-board the ship when Jackson was stopped at the terminal and told that a woman who was more than 24 weeks pregnant, could not board the cruise, as per Disney’s policy, the Miami Herald reported.

“Women who have entered their 24th week of pregnancy as of their embarkation date or who will enter their 24th week of pregnancy during the cruise will be refused passage due to safety concerns. Neither a doctor’s medical statement nor a waiver of liability will be accepted,” the policy reads on Disney’s website.

Hence, despite the fact Jackson received an all clear to sail on the cruise from her doctor, Disney officials refused to let her on the ship. When her father tried to persuade the officials, armed guards intervened, a confrontation was caught on tape and later uploaded on her YouTube channel, The Jackson Hive.

Jackson and the rest of her family tried to resolve the situation, as their luggage was already on the ship. They were told to wait outside the port in the heat, as their luggage was retrieved from the cruise.

“So we are leaving and trying to find flights for tomorrow and they sent out guys with AR-15s when my dad was talking to the desk about not being able to get on. And literally all he said was can we hurry up and they sent out AR-15 guys,” she said. “They had the guy with a gun following us. They had a K-9 unit. So, we then had to take both babies outside, wait almost two hours for our luggage outside in the heat. Both babies are red-faced, and it was terrible.”

Although the family was refunded for the cruise, Jackson said the “terrible Disney experience” was a huge disappointment and they would be voicing their concerns soon. Another person complained off camera that the Disney guards used “scare tactics” to escort the family off the cruise.

"I was crying,” Jackson said, the Palm Beach Post reported. "I felt so bad because I felt like it was my fault that everybody couldn't go."

Cynthia Martinez, a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson issued the following statement regarding 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.”