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Carnival Passenger Missing

A passenger from Carnival Cruise Line's Celebration is feared drowned after falling overboard as the ship returned to Jacksonville...

...While falling from a cruise ship is a rare occurrence, a quick review of the Cruise News archives reveals that at least 11 passengers and crew have fallen overboard from a cruise ship since February of 2000. According to the information in our files:

- Males are much more likely to go overboard than females (9 vs. 2)
- Carnival passengers (6 incidents) are more likely to go overboard than passengers from other cruise lines...especially passengers on the Fascination (2 incidents)
- The average age of a passenger who goes overboard is 33 years old
- You are most likely to fall overboard on the last night of your cruise
- For some reason, people from Virginia go overboard more than others (3 incidents)
- Falling overboard does not necessarily mean you will die (3 people have been rescued, one after 18 hours in the water)
- Most people who fall overboard are either drunk or doing silly things (climbing on the railing or between cabin balconies)

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1) Book an Inside cabin.

2) Avoid the open decks on your way back to your cabin each evening.

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

Joking aside, Joe you said: Most people who fall overboard are either drunk or doing silly things... Do you mean 'all' or have some some how fell overboard not being silly?

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Since the actual reason they go overboard is often never established, I wanted to leave open the possibility that someone might have gone overboard without having done something silly. I can't think of one though.

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Originally posted by joe at travelpage:
Since the actual reason they go overboard is often never established, I wanted to leave open the possibility that someone might have gone overboard without having done something silly.

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Hmmm...you should have been a Barister, Joe. That's a lot of words just to say that 'you don't know'!

I suppose drink and/or drugs is the main cause, mixed with a large slice of STUPIDITY! Not forgetting the occasional suicide.

[ 11-30-2004: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
[QB]I suppose drink and/or drugs is the main cause, mixed with a large slice of STUPIDITY! Not forgetting the occasional suicide.

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Once when we were sailing with Princess in the early '90s, a waiter jumped overboard never to be found again despite turning the vessel around, calling all passengers with binoculars out on deck to search, and a search by air (I think the Danish Coast Guard helped out).

The thing was, we weren't informed of what was going on until well into the drama. Our first indication that something was up was when the ship experienced tremendous lateral movement. We were getting dressed for dinner, but perhaps if we were out on deck we would have realized we were making an abrupt U-turn. Also, PA announcements in Italian were being made periodically throughout the ship, including staterooms. Strange, tall men wearing black suits and dark sunglasses (I kid you not), were roaming the ship and we swore we had never seen them before on the vessel.

We went to dinner and found a substitute for our waiter Alejandro. The sub said that he was sick that night. Halfway through our main course the traditional Princess chimes sounded and the captain came on to inform the passengers that a waiter had been missing since that afternoon (named Alejandro) and despite a thorough search of the vessel no clues turned up. He was last seen setting up his tables for dinner. According to the captain we were turning around to commence a search of the waters were he was suspected to have jumped overboard.

Needless to say, we were shocked (and no longer hungry). Our substitute waiter assured us that it was not our Alejandro, but that was hard for us to believe. The whole mood of the ship changed instantly. The next day was spent at sea (again) instead of Amsterdam, with the decks lined with passengers and a helicopter in the air searching the seas. No body; nothing.

We went to dinner that night relieved to see OUR Alejandro, safe and sound. We had never been so happy to hear that somebody was actually sick.