A North Miami Beach mother is facing child neglect charges after police say she left her four young children, including a 2-month-old infant, alone at home so she could take a 3-day Carnival cruise.
Most cruise travelers go on short sailings to get away from work and responsibility for a while. But according to a recent arrest report, a Miami mom left her four minor children to fend for themselves while she sailed off to Carnival Cruise Line’s new private destination.
Nathalie Belizaire, 29, was arrested Monday morning when the 3,000-passenger Carnival Conquest returned to PortMiami.
According to the arrest affidavit, officers from the North Miami Beach Police Department were waiting for her as the ship docked.
After leaving the ship, she was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and then released into the custody of North Miami Beach police.
The arrest report stated that Belizaire left all four minor children, which included the infant and a 2-year-old, inside the apartment without adult supervision while she sailed to the Bahamas. The ages of the other two children were not revealed in the report.
Carnival Conquest departed PortMiami on Friday for a short weekend itinerary that included a stop at Celebration Key on Grand Bahama Island before returning Monday morning.
Police received a call over the weekend from the father of the 2-month-old. He was concerned after seeing a WhatsApp post from Belizaire about the cruise.
When he asked her about the children, she told him she planned to leave them with their great-grandmother.
But when the father went to the apartment on Saturday night, he said he only heard a television and the children’s voices. That led him to call 911.
First responders forced entry into the home. The police report states that all four children were found inside without adult supervision and were hiding together in the bathroom.
The great-grandmother later confirmed that Belizaire had told her she would drop the children off but never did. Belizaire’s brother also told police he received a text from her on Saturday evening instructing him to check on the children.
In a previous incident with the law, Belizaire was arrested in January 2025 after allegedly pepper-spraying a neighbor in the face during a dispute over claims the neighbor had been harassing her daughter. She was charged with aggravated battery in that case.
When interviewed after her arrest, Belizaire declined to provide a statement and invoked her right to remain silent. She now faces four counts of child neglect without great bodily harm.
Carnival Conquest regularly sails these short 3- and 4-night Bahamas cruises out of Miami.
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