Toddler served alcohol on cruise in Hawaii

Hawaii News Now

A mother has been left furious after her three-year-old son was accidentally served a vodka and orange on a sunset cruise in Hawaii.

Army specialist Bingyan Cai said her son Michael became flushed, unruly hot and uncomfortable halfway through his drink.

She ordered two pineapple juices and an orange for Michael on the Memorial Day Alii Kai Catamaran.

But Cai noticed something wasn't right when he started turning bright red. She told Hawaii News Now: "His whole ears, his neck... I don't know if he's allergic to alcohol. He just got really red and he just kept mumbling, 'Momma it's hot, it's hot'. He was just so wild, so full of energy and tried to run here and there but couldn't even stand straight."

After Cai, family members and other nearby tourists checked the drink, she confirmed it was vodka and alerted the server, who told the manager.

But she was not happy with the "level of care" she received, saying they were given a bottle of water, but no offer of medical attention or follow up at the end of the cruise.

Cai said: "One of the servers walked to me and approached me and said be hush, hush and don't get too loud, cause we don't want other tourists to know and ruin the whole boat for the whole night."

But the company that manages the Alii Kai dinner cruise, Roberts Hawaii, has since issued a formal apology, with Safety Officer Jennifer Hill writing: "We sincerely regret, and are mortified at the error. We have had an alcohol safety procedure in place for 20 years and this is the first time we have had an incident like this.

"Once our crew realised what had happened, their immediate focus was on the well-being of our guest; we are pleased and relieved that he is okay.

"Roberts Hawaii's highest priority is the safety of our guests. We have taken a number of immediate actions to ensure such an incident does not ever happen again, including changing our beverage containers so it will be much easier to differentiate the alcoholic beverages from the non-alcoholic ones, and holding additional staff training and meetings. We are also reviewing all other aspects of our food & beverage operations to identify what else can be done and we are committed to making additional changes as needed to improve."

Roberts Hawaii also agreed to refund the $280 the family spent on the dinner cruise.

Bingyan Cai said she has no plans to sue the company, but wanted to raise awareness of the incident so that it doesn't happen again.