Last weekend, a passenger on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship fell from the 10th deck but thankfully lived because the crew was quick to help.
On Sunday, a 42-year-old guest went into the water as the cruise ship Mariner of the Seas passed south of the Dominican Republic. The team quickly put out a rescue boat and started looking for her. After about 45 minutes, the woman made it back to the ship safely.
A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman told the reporters that the passenger was found alive and in good health.
Posts on social media by those on board say that passengers helped out by acting as spotters and keeping an eye on where the victim was.
Rumor is that a lady jumped from her balcony pic.twitter.com/TD6bSqJz27
— Matt Kuhn (@matthew_kuhn) June 25, 2023
The Coast Guard said that the traveler was in good health and did not need to be taken to a hospital. The woman was kept in the cruise ship’s medical center and then taken to a hospital in Willemstad so that she could be checked out. The reason for what happened was not made clear.
“The ship and crew immediately reported the incident to local authorities and began searching for the guest. Thankfully, the guest was successfully recovered and was brought on board,” said Royal Caribbean in a statement. “Our care team is now offering assistance and support to them and their traveling party. Out of privacy for the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”
RCL said that the Cruise Lines International Association has found that about 30 percent of people who fall overboard on cruise ships have survived in the past. The business group says that most MOB events are started by passengers.
“The vast majority of cases are either reckless behavior or some form of intentional act,” CLIA SVP for maritime policy Brian Salerno told the New York Times last year. “People don’t just inadvertently fall over the side of a ship.”
Mariner of the Seas kept going on her commercial voyage, and she will be back in Port Canaveral, her home port, next week.
