A passenger on the Carnival cruise ship Fascination is suspected to have fallen overb

[Ziggy7]

U.S. Coast Guard Conducting Search</I>

MIAMI -- A passenger on the Carnival cruise ship Fascination is suspected to have fallen overboard about 14 miles southeast of Key Biscayne.



http://images.ibsys.com/2004/0723/3569872_200X150.jpgThe man was last seen around 3:30 a.m. Friday. He was reported missing shortly after 7 a.m. when his traveling companion told crewmembers that she could not locate him.



http://images.ibsys.com/2001/0402/569347.gifImages: Carnival Cruise Ship Fascination (http://www.nbc6.net/slideshow/news/3569884/detail.html)



Crewmembers said they tried paging the guest and searched the ship several times....

Click Here for FULL Story from NBC6.net (http://www.nbc6.net/travelgetaways/3569877/detail.html)

[flamingosun]

Really sad. Hope they find him...

[chefajax]

I heard that this happens more often then is reported. All cases I heard have been on Carnival, perhaps the bar should water down the drinks more...Dennis

[ore-ee-gun]

How awful. I leaned over the rail trying to get a look at the prop wash, and even though I wasn't leaning far enough over to be even a little unsteady, it scared me enough to not do it again....

[grannynurse]

A friend who was on the 8 day QM2 out of NY (June12) tells me that a man supposedly jumped overboard on the return trip. Apparently the ship was delayed 8 hours returning to NY.
GN

[kryos]

A friend who was on the 8 day QM2 out of NY (June12) tells me that a man supposedly jumped overboard on the return trip. Apparently the ship was delayed 8 hours returning to NY.
GN
I've only been on HAL, but ... please pardon my stupidity ... how does someone "fall overboard?" I can't imagine being able to do this accidently on the Rotterdam. Are Carnival ships laid out differently or am I just not being "creative?" :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

[arzz]

Very sad -- many years ago on the Regent Sun our Christmas dinner was cut short due to a call of "man overboard" -- we were sent to our muster stations and counted repeatedly for two hours while a thorough search of the ship was conducted (the ship had already slowed down and had been circling the suspected area for a couple of hours before we were mustered) -- after we were finally allowed to leave our muster stations they periodically paged two people on the public address system for much of the night. We never got the end of the strory, however, since Christmas was out last night on board -- breakfast the next morning was too soon for the ship's rumor mill to percolate out the truth -- I have often felt it was better not to really know.

[Peter D]

I've only been on HAL, but ... please pardon my stupidity ... how does someone "fall overboard?" I can't imagine being able to do this accidently on the Rotterdam. Are Carnival ships laid out differently or am I just not being "creative?" :)

Blue skies ...

--rita
I have seen the actions of certain people on board various ships on which I have cruised and some of the behaviors that I have witnessed leaves me wondering about the mental acuity of these passengers. On one Greek line 15 years ago, I summoned a crew member when I became concerned about some horseplay near the railing. The response from the crew-member was that if the passengers did fall overboard, they would indeed have a long swim to the next island.

Through my cruise travels I have generally found crew-members reluctant to become involved in correcting passengers' inappropriate behaviors.

The bottom line is that you choose to engage in risky behavior at your own peril either on board or on land. Some call it freedom of choice : I call it stupidity.

[grannynurse]

I don't know if this is true or not, but we have been told that on some lines officers patrol the deck at night to look for shoes and eyeglasses, both of which are purportedly removed before someone jumps.

There were several threads last winter about people disappearing/jumping from a cruise ship.
GN

[Orcrone]

This has been fairly big news here, as the person lived locally. He was a DJ with Astro DJs. They DJ'd our wedding 6 years ago. I hope it wasn't the person we had, but I do think he had the same first name (Chris). He went with his girlfriend and was supposed to propose to her on the cruise. The last anyone saw of him is when he left the casino at 3:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, you'd have to assume that he won't be found, and even if he is, no one will ever know what really happened.

Our prayers go out to his fiance and family.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:) Orcrone

If this is really the person you think it might be, you don't think that the girl may have turned him down and he got depressed??!!!

Oh, what a sad state of affairs.

:)

[Orcrone]

:) Orcrone

If this is really the person you think it might be, you don't think that the girl may have turned him down and he got depressed??!!!

Oh, what a sad state of affairs.

:)I can't really remember whether it's the same person. I thought his name was Chris, but at my wedding the DJ wasn't the person who stood out obviously. It's a large company with 60 DJs.

I haven't heard any feedback as to whether he had proposed, although I assume he did as it was the last night of the cruise. And nothing has been said as to her response. They spoke to the owner and other people at the DJ company and they said that he was very happy.

[gizmo]

I've only been on HAL, but ... please pardon my stupidity ... how does someone "fall overboard?" I can't imagine being able to do this accidently on the Rotterdam. Are Carnival ships laid out differently or am I just not being "creative?" :)

Blue skies ...

--rita
Some of these people have sat on railings, or climbed over the railing.

Some guy climbed over the railing and fell. It made all the papers.

There was a crew member who was sitting on a railing and also fell.

I don't remember which cruise line either of these overboard incidents happened on ,but it was in the past year or so.

[tomc]

I did a totally unscientific survey, based only on anecdotal evidence over a period of time, and came up with the theory that the last night out is "Jumper Night" for pax or crew. (Please note the first eleven words in this post.) But it seemed to work out pretty well. Maybe some crew, or ex-crew, members can give their opinions one way or the other.

I was on the old Rotterdam and one of the entertainers just didn't seem right. I kept an eye on her for a little while, then went to the ACD (who happened to be with one of the ship's nurses). I said, "This is none of my business and if you say so, I will not be offended in the least." Then I told them what I observed. I did not get to the part where I mentioned the gender when one of them said, "Oh, the woman; yes, we are aware of her." We never did a figure-8 maneuver, so I assume that all ended ok. I was also relieved that I said something, as I'd have a hard time knowing that I could have warned the crew and didn't...

[mimikens]

A year ago, there were two overboard instances on Carnival. I know one was out of Texas. the guy was found in just his undies. All he remembers is being majorly drunk and waking up in the gulf of mexico!

Many years ago on Carnival Mardi Gras, I met a cruise staff member who was leaving the ship because she thought a male passenger had committed murder on the previous cruise. Several passengers had reported a man throwing a large garment bag overboard. His wife was never seen or heard from again. The cruise line refused to get involved but said that the Panamaian or Liberian government would have to handle it. A few of the passengers reported it to the Bahamian govt, but they couldn't do anything since it occurred in International waters. This cruise staff member was just so upset that someone was apparently allowed to commit murder and get away with it, that she had asked to end her contract. She said she would never work on a ship again. So, I don't know if it was true, but virtually EVERYONE on the ship had heard the story within the 3 days so a lot of crew & staff must have been talking about it.

[mhshapiro]

If there is any credible evidence that a passenger or crew member has gone overboard, the ship's captain is required to follow certain search procedures.

I was on a Crystal Harmony cruise in January that did have a crewmember go overboard. We had reached Fanning Island when it was discovered that he was missing. The ship was searched twice, and the entire island was searched. He did not turn up during these searches. At that point the tapes from the ship's security cameras were reviewed, and he was seen in one tape moving towards the stern in the early morning hours. Assuming that he went overboard after that, the time stamps on the tape were used to determine the approximate position of the ship when he was presumed to have gone overboard.

The passengers were called back to the ship, and we hauled anchor and proceeded at maximum speed back to the location (about 80 nautical miles north of Fanning Island). The Coast Guard was notified. They launched a C-130 search plane from Hawaii, and -- most importantly -- they declared a search and rescue emergency and took control of the ship. We spent more than a day running north-south search patterns, while the Coast Guard plane ran east-west search patterns. All available crew members were posted at various lookout stations with binoculars and infrared cameras. Eventually, the Coast Guard plane had to head for Christmas Island for refueling and crew rest. A Navy Orion was launched from Hawaii to continue the search.

The crewmember was never found, and we eventually were released from the search and allowed to continue to our next port.

My point is that emergencies at sea are taken very seriously. The captain's license is at stake.

[mimikens]

Wow, that's quite an adventure! I wonder how much was done because the ship was Crystal Harmony. The guy that fell off the Carnival ship last year was reported missing to an officer by his travelling mate. The cruise was not stopped, and this was before he was found by the freighter. A ships' registry has a lot to do with how things are handled. For instance, in the sinking of the Oceanos in 1991 where the captain and all officers left the sinking ship, none of the officers were charged with any crime nor did they lose their licenses as the ship was registered in Greece. They had not broken any maritime laws there. I was dating a Norwegian staff captain at the time. He said that he would have lost his license for doing that.

I hope there is a law in International Maritime that governs man overboard. I tried to find it online, but couldn't. I'll keep looking.

[Ziggy7]

I hope there is a law in International Maritime that governs man overboard. I tried to find it online, but couldn't. I'll keep looking.
If you find anything let us know please :)
Thanks!

[stillfrantic]

The young woman who disappeared on a ship about a 18 months ago....was she ever found? The family was on TV, and it was in the papers. I never heard of any resolution.

[spcl4cs_gal]

When I booked my recent cruise with Vacations To Go, the travel consultant told me about a man who had booked through them who had fallen overboard and treaded water until he was picked up by some other ship. He was a firefighter from somewhere she told me. Luckily there weren't any hungry sharks in the area at the time. He was also lucky that he didn't drift out of the shipping lanes either.