What are the rights & wrongs when things go wrong?

The Cortes family claims that they were kicked off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and left stranded in the Bahamas after their 7-month-old child became sick. They say they were given no help by RCI and had to make their own way home with an ill child and two other children.

In response, Royal Caribbean International released the following statement:

"While Royal Caribbean strives to provide all guests with exceptional vacations, our first priority is always the health and well-being of those on our ships. […] the parents of seven-month-old Zoe Cortes telephoned the Guest Relations Desk onboard Majesty of the Seas, to ask about bringing their daughter to the ship’s Medical Facility, because of their concerns regarding her health.. Upon examining Zoe, the onboard medical team learned she was experiencing diarrhoea and vomiting. Because of this, and her young age, the onboard medical team was concerned she might also be experiencing some level of dehydration […] All of these issues were explained to Zoe’s parents, who agreed to her departure from the ship. […], an ambulance was ordered to take Zoe to Doctor’s Hospital in Nassau, where the ship was docked at that time. Because the ship was scheduled to depart Nassau shortly thereafter, the ship’s staff offered to assist Zoe’s parents if one of them would like to remain onboard and care for their two other children, while the other parent escorted Zoe to the hospital. The parents declined that offer and decided the entire family would escort Zoe to the hospital. The ship’s staff then asked the family to gather their belongings to go ashore. Despite the company’s strong disagreement with the manner in which the Cortes family's situation has been recounted in the media, as a gesture of good will, Royal Caribbean is providing the Cortes family with a refund of its cruise fare and reimbursement for its flights home. "

Well, here are some other questions about the situation:

1. how much should Royal Caribbean be held responsible, when the family didn’t purchase travel insurance or carry their passports?
2. what level of medical care should be expected for very young children on a cruise ship?
3. What do you think about this experience? Have you ever had something similar happen when you’ve been on a cruise?