OT going overboard

Dec 14, 2021 Last reply: 4 years ago 14 Replies

I think I heard on MSNBC that in 2018 25 people fell overboard from cruise ships and in 2019, 29 people did. (And one did a day or two ago off the coast of Mexico.)



This settles it. If I take a cruise, I won't go to Mexico.



"In 2018 and 2019, 26 and 29 people fell overboard from cruise and ferry ships, according to Cruisejunkie.com, which lists cases reported by the news media, including those involving people who jumped. In 2020 and



2021, when far fewer passengers took cruises because of the pandemic, the site recorded three incidents"

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"About 270 people have gone overboard on cruise ships from 2000 to 2016, according to reports on the cruise ship industry."



I know this is small percentage but it still seems amazingly high.


"It is increasingly uncommon for passengers to fall from cruise ships, according to Carolyn Spencer Brown, who has covered the cruise industry for about 25 years, currently as chief content officer of Cruise Media LLC.



?It?s becoming much more uncommon than it was 20 years ago,? she said, citing the ?increasingly sophisticated design specifications? that have prioritized safety on ships.



?They are designed to keep you safe,? she continued. ?You really don?t hear about it very often, and when it happens, typically there are other factors involved.?



In 2010, Congress passed the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act, which required ships be equipped with rails no shorter than 42 inches above the deck, and with alarms and other technology to help signal and find passengers who go overboard." MSNBC implied that not all s hip have that technology.


I have been on a lot of cruise ships dating back to the 90s when that was a popular sales prize. I think you would have to work pretty hard to fall off of one. I wonder how many of these people were thrown overboard or just jumped?

I wonder how many were suicides and how many were accidents. Wonder how much alcohol was involved.

Never wanted to go on a cruise ship -- like watching golf on the TV. I would rather just go fishing. There are some great fly in fishing camps in Canada.

There are several internet articles ripping cruise ships. The luxurious swimming pools that are more crowded than Jones Beach on a hot August day. The 5-star restaurants with the endless lines. The rooms that are photographed in a way that can only be described as optimistic. The shuffle board courts where the rest of the people who aren't lined up trying to get a meal are. The spacious deck promenades almost big enough to fit a deck chair.

That is almost appealing as those senior bus trips. At least you can get off the damn bud and hitchhike.

Ah, nothing like sharing Norovirus with 3500 of your closest friends. Some people love them but I never wanted to try it.

My niece suggested we go on a cruise to Italy. I looked at the itinerary and you had to be on the ship every night before dinner. So you left the country with some of the finest food to go on a ship and eat mediocrity.

Internet article? Are you sure? Shounds a bit like first hand knowledge of the older and wiser type!

:-)

The trophy wife and I were laughing pretty hard.

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one of many...

A lot depends on what cruise line you are on and what cabin you are willing to buy. Cunard is supposed to be pretty nice but stuffy in the British sort of way. We did a week on Holland America (Noordam) and it was pretty nice. If you sail on Carnival, it is like a being at the carnival. Buy the best cabin on the boat and stay out of the crowds as much as possible. I wouldn't dip a toe in the pools or spas. The coolest port we stopped at was Santo Tomas de Castillo in Guatemala. It was just a container port with nothing else around but a make shift straw market but if you took the Guatemala Navy water taxi over to the Best Western and then go out their back gate. There is a trail that goes miles back into the rain forest. After a long hike we had a couple of $5 beers at the hotel and went back into town. I am not sure what 2 beers cost there but the lady couldn't make change and I thought she was going to kiss me when I said keep the change from a $10.

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rest of the ports we stopped on several other cruises were just the typical places (Cozumel, San Juan, St Thomas, St Croix, Georgetown Grand Cayman, Nassau etc.). If you get away from the dock and take a walk you can meet some interesting people but if you just go a quarter mile towards town you see the same people you saw on the boat. Both times we were in Nassau we went to Arawak Cay walking. We met some characters there. The first time I came back with a Bahamas license plate I took off a junked truck and the second time I got an oar some guy in a make shift bar on Arawak came up with for me. (a lean to with a cooler) I bought the bar a round for that.
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We never had interest in going on a cruise. I have been seasick a couple of times on fishing trips, don't like crowds or being confined and being a captive audience.

My brother would go on a cruise every year and I hear stories like this. Last was sister in law having a fight with a woman over pool chairs.

He has not cruised in the past couple of years and said he saved enough money to pay for a whole house generator installation.

Our daughter and her hubby just got back from a cruise . IMO she missed a perfect opportunity to get rid of the overbearing opinionated asshole .

So how did _you_ enjoy the cruise .. ? :-) John T.

My last cruise was on the USS Eversole DD 789 , and it was 50 years ago . Can't say I enjoyed it much , though I did get to see some exotic places and meet some interesting people .

Yeah, but it was all inclusive so nothing extra for meals. Did they make your bed every night? Did you find a chocolate on your pillow?

My parents actually liked those tours. The people on the tour were from the area and a lot like my parents. Dad didn't like driving so they wouldn't have gone anywhere if not for the tours. The tours took them to at least one of the major college bowl games.

My mother and my aunt took one of those bus tours. They really should have never spent more than a couple of hours in each other's company.

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