Woman missing on the Pearl

[garycarla]

I think that would be "Skinny Dip" by the entertaining SoFL author and columnist Carl Hiaasen....

 

Yes, very fun book to read. We read a few more of his after finding that one, via a thread here at Cruisecritic.

[cruiseat50]

Did anyone read the book about the husband who throws his wife overboard and she survives thanks to a bail of marijuana keeping her afloat. Great story.

 

Originally Posted by starrian

I think that would be "Skinny Dip" by the entertaining SoFL author and columnist Carl Hiaasen....

 

Yes, very fun book to read. We read a few more of his after finding that one, via a thread here at Cruisecritic.

 

So this wasn't a true story? Is this a fictional book and are the others he wrote about cruising?

[johnql]

I haven't read the whole thread, so I'm sorry if this has been covered.

 

I'm the first person to suspect a spouse or partner when something like this happens. After all, statistically speaking, the vast majority of homicides are committed by people against people that they know. Furthermore, in a cruise ship setting, throwing someone overboard seems like a near-perfect crime if done late at night (no witnesses) and if done outside the view of the surveillance cameras. Yes, there could be circumstantial evidence but it is extremely difficult to prosecute a murder without a body (not impossible but extremely difficult).

 

All that said, if indeed the woman was caught on tape going overboard without anyone else present, how can anyone speculate that the husband had anything to do with it? As for his waiting for 8 hours to report her missing, who are we to judge his situation? Nobody here knows this couple and their relationship. It's entirely possible that being apart during a cruise is not at all unusual for them, even for 8 hours. Going to sleep without the spouse in the cabin might not raise eyebrows either for them. I don't think it's fair to assume anything without knowing a lot more about this couple (e.g., close relatives/friends testifying that the couple would always go everywhere together).

 

I think we need to let this play out and wait until more facts come out. We may never know exactly what happened but I'm pretty sure we'll hear more from the investigating authorities.

[MoneyGuy]

One thing I hate about these incidents is other folks (non-cruisers) sometimes use these mishaps as reasons for not cruising and criticizing those of us who do for being foolish. We have a cruise booked this April and someone I know has been telling me that I'm foolish for cruising; "It's dangerous, don't you know? People fall overboard or otherwise go missing on board ships." Nonsense.

 

Great idea! So do we.

 

I've noticed several of your posts and you've enlarged and bolded the type. Please stop. It's bad form. We'll read your posts without you yelling.

[starrian]

Did anyone read the book about the husband who throws his wife overboard and she survives thanks to a bail of marijuana keeping her afloat. Great story.

 

Originally Posted by starrian

I think that would be "Skinny Dip" by the entertaining SoFL author and columnist Carl Hiaasen....

 

 

 

So this wasn't a true story? Is this a fictional book and are the others he wrote about cruising?

 

It's fiction! Very fun and amusing, but over the top. It's entertaining the way he pokes fun at some aspects of S. Florida life. I've read a few of his novels, but not about cruising.

[rcacace]

why didnt the ship stop?

 

Stop where? They had no idea where she went over board. It's a big ocean out there.

 

[derf5585]

Did anyone read the book about the husband who throws his wife overboard and she survives thanks to a bail of marijuana keeping her afloat. Great story.

 

by heaving Joey off the deck of a luxury cruise liner and into the Atlantic Ocean, far from Key West. But--whoops!--Joey, a former swimming champ, doesn't drown.

from

http://www.amazon.com/Skinny-Dip-Carl-Hiaasen/dp/0375411089

[*Wink*]

Were they in a balcony cabin?? Sounds like they were.

So are we assuming she fell from their own balcony? Can't the video of her falling pin-point the location she fell from? And, I'm sure the video is time stamped, so I think they would be able to assess where the ship was when she fell.

[trafficbabe2000]

I was on The Pearl last year for a western Car. cruise. It was during Hurricane/tropical storm Noell. The balconies on the staterooms are too high to simply fall overboard, The balconies on the public areas of the ship are even higher. You would have to climb up on a chair, or be thrown overboard. Even during our last night when the seas and winds were at their highest, there was no chance of falling overboard. When the winds became too strong the officers of the ship made everyone come down from the top deck above the pool, and they did it fairly quickly. The last thing I heard on MSNBC was that they were using infarred to try and find her. She either jumped or was pushed. No one can go up to the very bow of the boat and do the "I'm the king of the world" thing. There is no access. I'm sure they have cameras like the ones used earlier this year when the women who sailed from NY to Bermuda went overboard and they saw where she actually tried to climb over the balcony and around it to the stateroom next door. The shear height of it is hard to imagine if you haven't been there. Being on the Pearl was the best experience of my life. The most fun I have ever had, and I really hate to hear this. God be with this woman and her family.

[derf5585]

Just wondering one thing: If someone was depressed and wanted to commit suicide, other than it would be very easy why go to the trouble of booking a cruise vacation and doing it there? It seems like a heck of a lot of effort when a mouthful of pills would be far easier. Or run a hose from a tailpipe into a car. I can't imagine wanting to do it on a cruise ship what with all the effort in making the arrangements.

 

Because being a suicide it is very hard to hide your body.

[derf5585]

From

CruiseCritic.co.uk

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=2987

[derf5585]

A Norwegian Cruise Line cruise ship at the center of a missing person mystery returned to the Port of Miami this morning, where FBI agents stood waiting.

 

Today they launched an investigation into the disappearance of Jennifer Seitz, 36, who was a passenger aboard the Norwegian Pearl, officials said.

 

"We're looking to see if a crime was committed on the high seas," said FBI Special Agent Michael Leverock. He added that agents interviewed numerous passengers and crew members this morning and searched the cabin Seitz was staying in for any potential clues to what may have happened to her.

 

Surveillance footage from a camera on the ship shows a woman falling overboard about 8:08 p.m. on Dec. 26, U. S. Coast Guard officials said today.

from

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sfl-flbcruise1228sbdec28,0,7401968.story

[Bigdoghd]

We were on the ship the cruise before theirs, maybe in almost the same room. We were on the 11 floor in 111150 I believe, a few rooms off the aft set of elevators. Noway you can just fall over the railings in the rooms.

[curiouscat]

Yea, i just got off a few hours ago. i was in a room right across from them(they were in the elevator area deck 11 aft, below the cafe). it started on friday morning.....i was going upstairs to grab a coffee when i noticed that they had the crew going through the room, then when i was coming down they had duck-taped the door shut. and it wasn't until today that they closed the door the the hallways entrance to the elevator lobby. I only saw a glimpse of the hallway when someone when in. there wasn't much, only more crew and investigators. And when we got off, of course the news people were interviewing everyone.

 

 

What i dont get is that for the whole cruise we didnt know anything had happened. and the ship said nothing about anyone being missing.....if they would just tell us some one might find something and also the theory was that she fell overboard right? then how do you fall over that TALL handrail and why didnt the ship stop?

 

How could you have not known what was going on if they turned the ship around back towards Cancun to look for her... the coast guard boats, planes, mexican navy etc....:confused:

 

We were on a sailing when a vessel ran aground and we had to assist. It was rather exciting. They sent some crew out in the lifeboats to see if they could assist.. goast guard helicopters everywhere....:D

 

Oh, and we were delayed till the coast guard arrived... we couldn't leave till they arrived.

 

Very interesting

 

CC

[momofmeg]

CNN is reporting that a woman is missing on the NCL Pearl near Cancun. http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/

 

We just heard about this today. My mother in law called my hubby and asked what ship we were on last month. Hubby told her "the Pearl" and she said, "I think that is the ship that woman is missing from, I hope you are careful when you are on those cruise ships." She is a worry wart- and whenever she hears such things-she automatically thinks that could have been us.

 

When that 21 year old guy fell off the Mariner of the Seas (early 2006) a few months after we were on her, she said the same thing-even though the ship's camera caught where he had climbed over the railing to barf-which was why he fell.

 

She is still convinced that somehow people "fall off" cruise ships.

[momofmeg]

i would hope the husband would have figured out before 4 AM that his wife was still on shore...i would think that since i presume you have to swipe your key card into a machine when you exit and enter the ship, they know she was onboard.

 

Yes the ship knows if you are not back.

 

last year when we were on the Celebrity Constellation in Halifax, Nova Scotia, we were scheduled to leave port at 7:30 pm- and had to be back on by 7- at 6:30 pm they called my stateroom asking me if I knew where my hubby was-SCARED me to death-as it turned out-he was the only person who had not reboarded-and they wanted to leave port earlier. as soon as he boarded-10 minutes later-they started leaving.

[kcwingwalker]

Where is the husband? Did he go back to Cancun or did he stay with the Pearl? I'm sure he has been questioned extensively by many.

 

Also, have been thinking that if the security cameras caught someone falling from the ship at approximately 8:00 pm on the 25th security would be able to show the husband's whereabouts at that time. Certainly if he was in the casino, etc. he would be on tape. There would also be records of any purchases such as drinks and hopefully this would show date and time. And, the cameras should have been able to pick up when he exited and entered the cabin on the evening/morning in question.

 

[AFT_LOVER]

I find it quite interesting that the husband is a secret. News has her name with wrong first letter, which usually isn't stated, but now a secretive husband that people who know both of them could assist with the way they were with each other.

 

Too many folks take a chair out to the balcony, climb up & sit on the railing for a photo, a wave hits & over they go. The camera do catch folks in the process to get them off. On the new NCL ships that the aft balconies have others right below them to catch you. Princess has this on the sides on Grand, Golden & other new ones.

 

UPDATED: 8:43 am EST December 27, 2008

MIAMI -- The U.S. Coast Guard will resume searching for a missing cruise ship passenger who may have gone overboard near Cancun, Mexico.

The Coast Guard stopped the search for 36-year-old Jennifer Feitz during the night, but a spokesman said the search will resume Saturday. The Coast Guard will search with a C-130 aircraft.

Authorities said Feitz's husband reported her missing from the Norwegian Pearl just before 5 a.m. Friday. Her hometown was not available.

Norwegian Cruise Line said the ship left Sunday from Miami for a seven-day western Caribbean cruise.

from

http://www.justnews.com/news/18365718/detail.html?rss=mia&psp=news

 

Mexico's Fifth Naval Regional Command said in a statement that by late Friday it had found no sign of Feitz and was having to deal with "adverse conditions" and strong waves in the search taking place just over 17 miles east of Cancun.

from

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-bk-missing-cruise-ship-passenger-122708,0,4485302.story

[derf5585]

Where is the husband?

 

And why do we not know her hometown or his name. I guess he is not "Speaking"

[momofmeg]

I have to say I find this very fishy. If the woman went overboard at 8pm I think it's very weird that the hubby didnt report her missing for almost 8 hours. Sure, some people split up from their hubbys and do different things on the ship here and there but... for 8 hours? And, on Christmas?? No, I just dont think that's normal. Whether or not the hubby was involved I find the whole thing disturbing. I agree that people are hearing about other incidences on cruise ships and getting sneaky ideas.

 

Back in the spring when I was on the Westerdam my hubby and daughter BOTH did not return one night until 2 am-I had turned in at 10 because I was not feeling well- they finally came in-but before they did- I was FRANTIC and was ABOUT to go hunting for them. I just did not know If I should hunt for them or/ report them missing.

 

So it DOES happen. All we know is the husband REPORTED it at 3 AM-that does not mean that he did not search the lounges on his own already.

[cruisedude135]

We were on the ship the cruise before theirs, maybe in almost the same room. We were on the 11 floor in 111150 I believe, a few rooms off the aft set of elevators. Noway you can just fall over the railings in the rooms.

 

thts wat i was saying!!! i was in the room across, they duct tapped he door shut and there were alot of fbi agents

[cruisedude135]

And why do we not know her hometown or his name. I guess he is not "Speaking"

 

i think i saw him...........but im not saying anything untl i can see a pic of him to confirm

[cruisedude135]

I find it quite interesting that the husband is a secret. News has her name with wrong first letter, which usually isn't stated, but now a secretive husband that people who know both of them could assist with the way they were with each other.

 

Too many folks take a chair out to the balcony, climb up & sit on the railing for a photo, a wave hits & over they go. The camera do catch folks in the process to get them off. On the new NCL ships that the aft balconies have others right below them to catch you. Princess has this on the sides on Grand, Golden & other new ones.

 

Why would they be taking pictures.....on there balcony.... at 8 oclock @ night?

[Planer's Edge]

thts wat i was saying!!! i was in the room across, they duct tapped he door shut and there were alot of fbi agents

 

Yet another use for duct tape on your cruise. :D

 

PE

[Cruise Cat]

Why would they be taking pictures.....on there balcony.... at 8 oclock @ night?

 

They have video cameras on the sides of the ship and at the bridge that can see the balconies and they are running all the time.