Person Overboard, Dies on Coral Princess

Very sad news to report. Today (Sunday March 24) someone went overboard from the Coral Princess while we were out at sea (in the Carribean) and their body was later recovered.

Around 2:00 - 2:30 Central time the Captain announced "Man overboard" and instructed the crew to their appropriate stations. The ship begain to slow down but of course it takes a long time to stop a ship this size. Sometime later we heard a page for a passenger. Then a bit later the Captain came on again to update us - he said that several passengers had witnessed someone going overboard.

Then around 3:30 - 4:00 maybe (I may be off there) all passengers were ordered to their cabins so that they could check to be sure who was here.

I later saw from my balcony a low flying prop plane (I think it was the US Coast Guard but I was looking into the sun and I'm not sure) circling a couple of times and more activity from the Princess rescue craft as we pretty much just stayed in one spot, occasionally rotating in place. Finally around 6:00 the Captain announced the sad news that the body had been recovered.

One passenger said that they "heard" the person had been climbing on the rail, and while that is very believable, I have no idea if that is accurate or not.

The person was traveling with at least one other person, and I can't imagine how they must be feeling right now.

For those curious, the Captain announced we would be arriving at our next port of call (Grand Cayman) as scheduled.

If I hear anything else, I'll update this post at that point - maybe some other people who saw more will be able to add more details.

Pretty sad.

Very sad indeed

Srpilo

Wow...how terrible...

Sorry for the new.

Very sad.

Suicides are not unheard of and are more common on other lines than Princess due to the tiered balcony structure. On Princess, they would have to be on Promenade or an Emerald mini-suite on the Grand-class ships and the Coral/Island which limits the possibilities.

That is heart-breaking. Whether an accident or intentional, someone has lost a loved one. If it was intentional, I can't imagine what despair that person was in to do something like that. Praying for all concerned.

Has to impact the crew, as well.

So sad...who knows what was going on in that poor persons mind.

Yes, this is very sad. It also has an impact on the Coast Guard crew that is deployed for a rescue that becomes a recovery. I'm praying for all involved.

This is so very sad. Prayers.

May that person rest in peace.Comfort prayers for passengers and crew

My parents are also on the Coral Princess right now. They called me today to let me know about the man overboard and to let me know they were ok in case I saw it on the news. They feel terrible for that man and his family. They are in my prayers

Terrible news, my condolences to that person's family and friends.

This is very sad. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family.

Any updates are appreciated as our party of 6 will be boarding the Coral Princess on Wednesday.

That is heart-breaking. Whether an accident or intentional, someone has lost a loved one. If it was intentional, I can't imagine what despair that person was in to do something like that. Praying for all concerned.

 

Has to impact the crew, as well.

I agree totally. So very sad either way...but to have such depression and despair to go overboard while on a cruise is heart breaking. I feel so terrible for the family and all those that knew and loved the person.

Such sad new! Praying for the family and friends of this person!

We actually had a crew member go overboard in the middle of the night on our Ruby Princess sailing 2 years ago in the Mediterranean. We were awoken to the call "Man Overboard" and saw the lights off the side of the ship searching for him. They eventually did pick him up alive but the fiasco delayed our port time into Venice by many hours and the poor ship staff were busy handling people and phones to reschedule all the port tours for later times.

Has there been any other news as to why he was climbing the railing? Such sad news, the poor family. Prayers for them. Anyone see anything on the news ?

Cori

Anyone see anything on the news ?

Cori

I searched online however the only references to this event was to this post on Cruise Critic. I'm surprised that no news agency has picked up the story but maybe eventually there'll be some additional information.

So sad. :(

I searched online however the only references to this event was to this post on Cruise Critic. I'm surprised that no news agency has picked up the story but maybe eventually there'll be some additional information.

The news media seldom reports on these types of things. Think about the accidents that happen at theme parks, you rarely hear much about them either. It's sort of an unspoken agreement they have with the media.. it's also why the media gets lots of perks (free passes), in particular at theme parks!!

Very said. Our hearts break for the family.

We were just on the Mar 7-17th sailing of the Coral and had an emergency medical evacuation by the US Coast Guard as we were returning to FLL and were north of Cuba. The hard work of the Coral crew and the Coast Guard helicopter crew out of Key West to save the man's life was exceptional.

So sorry to hear that this was not the result of Sunday's efforts.

Its too bad for so many that they have this memory of their time on the coral. It was my favorite ship to date. Of course its very hard for the family as well and our prayers are with them.

I had read this thread this morning and also thought how sad this was... and how a few had mentioned that it wasn't in the news.

This afternoon on CNN.com I saw a link to a story about the FBI investigating a death on a cruise ship and thought it was related. Sadly, another passing - this one made it to the news based on the mystery of her death. :(

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/26/travel/cruise-ship-death/index.html?hpt=hp_t2