Latest cruise news

[mickeyd]

What are the odds that copious amounts of liquor and delicious sex on the balcony railing of the ship had a direct affect on these two sailors? Has anyone here been on a cruise and fallen off the ship? If so, has your partner done so at the same time? Pretty long odds that it could happen, I'd say. :

But under the right circumstances, I would reduce the odds to about 2 to 1.

Side note: What is "trigging"? Better proofreading needed?

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- Princess Cruises is investigating how two passengers tumbled off a cruise ship cabin balcony and into the Gulf of Mexico, trigging a four-hour rescue effort.

The 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman fell 50 to 60 feet early Sunday from the woman's cabin. Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Princess Cruises, said it appeared to have been an accident.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/P/PASSENGERS_OVERBOARD?SITE=TXSAE&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

[Nords]

Side note: What is "trigging"? Better proofreading needed?

Yes, that should have been spelled "frigging"...

 

[justin]

The story says they fell early Sunday morning. My guess is they were early risers headed to the sunrise church service at the ship's chapel. Either that, or they were followers of the far eastern traditions, and were practicing their tai chi out on the slippery, seaspray-soaked balcony when they fell. Probably one or the other...

 

[HFWR]

This answers the question "Are some people too dumb to cruise?"...

 

[justin]

Just waiting for sensationalist news headlines: "Cruising... a Killer Vacation?"

 

[Outtahere]

If either of them have any brains ( and I doubt it or they wouldn't have fallen over board) they will sell their story to the highest Enquirer type rag for a tidy little sum.

 

[BarbaraAnne]

If either of them have any brains ( and I doubt it or they wouldn't have fallen over board) they will sell their story to the highest Enquirer type rag for a tidy little sum.

Yes, but first they need to sue Princess Cruiselines because, of course, it's the cruiselines' fault :

I've sailed on the Grand Princess and the way the ship is designed, where the lower decks protrude farther out than the higher ones, it takes a lot of work to fall overboard and not just fall onto a lower level.

 

[Sam]

Amazing. I can't wait to find out how they survived 4+ hours in the sea at night without flotation devices.

 

[bssc]

I am sure that it was one of those freak waves that hit only their balcony. Or a waterspout.

 

[winger]

These people falling overboard is making me rethink one of my exit plans.

If I ever spend all the money, and am close to being forced to go back to work, I was going to leave enough on a credit card to book a "Final Cruise". Near the end of the cruise, go out on the balcony and take a dive. I wasn't worried about drowning. I thought the fall would kill me.

The plan may need some work.......3 people have survived the fall recently.

 

[Lakerat Nomore]

My husband and I were on the Grand Princess last month. We had a balcony on the back and watched the wake every night. It was so quiet that we could have both jumped and no one would have missed us until we got back to Galveston. We talked about the fact that that would be a good ending to a good life if one was so inclined. No funeral expenses, no problems.....

I am sure those two will sue Princess, or sell their story. There is no way they fell over board without having been doing something really risky like walking on the railing, or some type of other activity best left for the interior of the cabin.

 

[linkerbink]

I've been on 5 cruises (another booked for Sept...my only true weakness in life!), and I can't imagine how anyone could "fall" overboard! The railings are so high that unless you are really tall, you need to haul yourself over enough to fall off. Maybe they were trying to recreate the scene famous from "Titanic"?

 

[Moemg]

Even if you could fall over board why would you want to ? Did these people miss Jaws ?

 

[bssc]

Maybe they were playing Pirates and one was forcing the other to walk the plank.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Yes, but first they need to sue Princess Cruiselines because, of course, it's the cruiselines' fault :

Well cruisers may be surprised to find out that they have very few legal rights in international waters on a cruise ship whose home base is in Liberia.

As I recall the US court system has no jurisdiction there.

 

[Caroline]

Maybe the sheer boredom of crusing got to them and they really were trying to end it all.

I took my mother on one of these things and I tell you, I had a foot on the railing a couple of times!!!

 

[justin]

Later news reports indicate the guests in the adjacent cabin heard someone yell "Hey Jessie Mae, hold my beer and watch this!" shortly before this incident occurred.

I can see how someone could fall overboard. When I went on a cruise in the caribbean in May a few years ago, there were times when the waves were probably 20-30 ft. The boat was rocking a lot. When the waves broke against the ship, they would shoot up another 20-30 feet probably. I went out on a lower deck walkway right next to the edge of the boat and I felt like I had to hold onto the railing to avoid the risk of falling over. Add to the mix someone who is drunk, less agile, maybe wearing slick dress shoes or high heels. They stumble, and who knows?

 

[Eagle43]

Y'all have read "Skinny Dip" by Carl Hiaasen? It's a hoot.

http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/skinny_dip/review/

a snippet. . . .
Unfortunately, Chaz was greedy, lazy, self-centered, adulterous, and lacking in both ethics and backbone. When he became nervous that his wife, Joey, had found about his scam, he took her on a cruise to celebrate their second anniversary and then tossed her overboard in the middle of night. He might have gotten away with it too, if she hadn't survived.

Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen begins with Joey alone and naked in the Atlantic Ocean, lucky to survive the fall from the ship, cursing her husband, and trying to figure out why he found it necessary to kill her instead of divorcing her. Despite being a champion swimmer in her college days, she knows her chances of survival in the ocean are slim. After a fortunate encounter with a bale of Jamaican pot to keep her afloat and then being pulled from the water by Mick Stranahan, Joey survives and then wants to get even. . . . and so on...

This writer can't call it a j*b. Hiaasen has too much fun, do ya think?