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Current Island Princess rescue


mrsihopes

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We are currently onboard the Island Princess somewhere between Costa Rica and Jamaica. The captain noticed a boat afloat and we turned around and the boat is currently alongside the ship. There are 5 people onboard a small boat and they state they are from Jamaica and were heading for a bbq on the other side of the island and ran out of gas and have been adrift for 3 weeks. The captain is bringing them onboard now and will let the boat go. Will do a secure security screening on them and the coast guard has been informed.

 

Way to go Princess!!!!!

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We are on the Island Princess right now between Costa Rica and Jamaica. The captain stopped the ship, turned around and went back to check out a rowboat floating adrift. We rescued five Jamaicans who it turned out have been adrift for about three weeks. They have been brought on board and the Coast Guard has been notified. Kudos to the captain and crew for a dramatic rescue at sea and for keeping the passengers fully informed the whole time.

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We are on the Island Princess right now between Costa Rica and Jamaica. The captain stopped the ship, turned around and went back to check out a rowboat floating adrift. We rescued five Jamaicans who it turned out have been adrift for about three weeks. They have been brought on board and the Coast Guard has been notified. Kudos to the captain and crew for a dramatic rescue at sea and for keeping the passengers fully informed the whole time.

 

a "rowboat"...the picture looks like more tan a row boat?:confused:

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We were getting back on the ship yesterday in Jamaica and Jamaican police were taking all 5 away. They were handcuffed except for 1 who was holding his stomach (appeared as if he was in some discomfort). It was not a rowboat - motor boat with 2 large engines.

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We were also on the cruise. It was announced that there was a carcass of a goat onboard that they were supposedly bringing to the barbecue. Cruise staff assumed that this was how they were able to survive for so long. It also had been pretty rainy, so fresh water may have been available.

Many rumors were circulated on board, but no one official would really talk about what happened after they left the ship.

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my husband and i were also on the ship and witnessed the rescue.

many people felt their story of three weeks adrift and heading to a bbq was off.

either way, you could tell they were hungry and thirsty. i'm glad princess was able to get them to land safely.

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my husband and i were also on the ship and witnessed the rescue.

many people felt their story of three weeks adrift and heading to a bbq was off.

either way, you could tell they were hungry and thirsty. i'm glad princess was able to get them to land safely.

 

Interesting. That is my supposition too. ;)

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We were also on the ship. I noticed the boat as I was passing and asked my husband if we were near land. We weren't and then we got out the binoculars and looked at the boat. It appeared as if no one was on board. Then a few minutes later, the ship stopped and turned around and went to look for the boat. The captain made an announcement that the ship was turning around to look for a possible craft in distress. When the ship was within shouting distance, we heard the men begging for water. It was a small boat with 5 men on it. The boat itself didn't look like much, but there were two huge outboard engines that looked kind of expensive and not very old. There was also an empty 55 gallon drum in the middle of the boat- it was transparent blue plastic- could have held water. There was a tarp covering the rear of the boat. Lot's of people were yelling and asking what's under the tarp. When the boat was next to the ship, a hatch opened on the side of the ship and water and food was handed out to the men on the boat. Eventually- the men did cut the ropes to the tarp and reveal what was underneath- but we couldn't see from our vantagepoint. The men were alongside the ship for about 20 minutes before they were taken inside the Island Princess. Once we were underway, the captain made another announcement with the story about the men being adrift for 3 weeks and lost on the way to a BBQ. Few people believed that story. The boat was set adrift with a box in it to let other ships know that the occupants had already been rescued.

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A bit long, can you survive that long without food or water?

 

Without food yes, without water no. You can get water by eating fish eyes and intestines. In fact, people will start to crave things not 'normally' on the menu.

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  • 2 weeks later...

After hearing nothing about the resolution to this whole thing, I did some Google searching of Jamaican new sources. Evidently, all of the young men had to be processed through Jamaican health and immigration and were then returned home to their families. I'm sure they were all very thankful on Christmas!

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