# Man overboard! Someone else falls off a cruise ship! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 6, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353 "2006-11-06T21:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/1 "2006-11-06T21:09:33Z")
Why not rename it The _Mary Celeste_ Cruise Line and be done with it? > [@](#): > > GALVESTON, Texas (AP) – Staff of a cruise ship spent Sunday morning searching for a 42-year-old passenger who reportedly went overboard. The Carnival Conquest was finishing a seven-day trip through the Caribbean when the man was reported missing. Another passenger reported seeing the man go overboard from a cabin balcony around 11 p.m. Saturday, the Houston Chronicle reported Sunday in its online edition. I could never see going on one of those cruises anyway: they’re entirely staffed by desperate criminals on the lam; you can’t get away from the partying honeymooners and elderly couples; you either catch group flu or the damn ship bursts into flames and/or tips over . . . And now people seem to be falling off them like the decks are greased! Remind me again what the charm of these cruises is? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/2 "2006-11-06T21:20:29Z")
I’ve been on a number of cruises. Nobody’s every fallen off, killed anyone, or gotten a Norovirus, nor have any of those tours tipped over. Other than that, they’ve been pretty nice. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/3 "2006-11-06T21:39:27Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] I’ve been on a number of cruises. Nobody’s every fallen off, killed anyone, or gotten a Norovirus, nor have any of those tours tipped over. Other than that, they’ve been pretty nice. [/QUOTE] So, you were expecting someone to fall off, get killed, contract a Novovirus, or a boat tipping? Signing up for the extreme sports cruises? 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/4 "2006-11-06T21:41:34Z")
As Gilligan’s Island and Titanic have taught me, there’s no point to a cruise if there isn’t a disaster. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/5 "2006-11-06T21:42:29Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] Remind me again what the charm of these cruises is? [/QUOTE] 1. Suicide - no body found 2. Murder - no body found 3. _I forget, do I put “Profit” or “Hi Opal” here?_ ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/6 "2006-11-06T22:29:45Z")
[QUOTE=Shoshana] I’ve been on a number of cruises. Nobody’s every fallen off, killed anyone, or gotten a Norovirus, nor have any of those tours tipped over. Other than that, they’ve been pretty nice. [/QUOTE] They have, however, been almost entirely populated by men in drag on the lam from the mob. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/7 "2006-11-06T23:52:15Z")
Ya know, there’s a cruise in my future, and I didn’t really think about it, but I took a cruise not too terribly long ago, and we were better than 1/2 the way back to Miami and had to turn around to go back to the USVI because someone was having a “Cardiac problem” When they took the bloke off the ship, he was thrice strapped to the stretcher, covered over completely with a sheet, which isn’t that suprising really, but what WAS a little odd were the machine gun toting military police officers on all four corners of the stretcher. That’s not protocol for your typical heart attack victim. Hm. I wonder if I can get a refund… ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/8 "2006-11-07T02:12:05Z")
I worked on a cruise ship for six months of last year. I would never EVER take a cruise as a guest now. All number of reasons for it, but the most pressing would be the shocking environmental issues. Huge, inefficient fuel use, garbage dumped in the sea or burnt, etc. Also social issues, like hiring crew from developing nations, treating them like shit, paying them like shit, and getting away with it. Plus, organised “fun” generally isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/9 "2006-11-07T03:19:10Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] Remind me again what the charm of these cruises is? [/QUOTE] [Towel origami](http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Art-Towel-Origami/dp/0740755633) on your bed every day. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/10 "2006-11-07T03:44:25Z")
The railings are pretty high, I wonder if they’d been drinking? I’ve only been on one, but I had a great time. I never thought I’d like it but I really did. Make sure you diet before you go, because you’ll gain weight. ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/11 "2006-11-07T04:17:40Z")
Aren’t the decks of ships up really, really high? Seems like that would be a nasty fall. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/12 "2006-11-07T14:36:26Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] [Towel origami](http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Art-Towel-Origami/dp/0740755633) on your bed every day. [/QUOTE] That would **so** make it worthwhile to me! ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/13 "2006-11-07T14:53:36Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] Why not rename it The _Mary Celeste_ Cruise Line and be done with it? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Eve] Remind me again what the charm of these cruises is? [/QUOTE] [Horatio Kane] Well, evidently, ‘Carnival’ refers to the celebration in Rio that most widows attend first, after collecting and cashing their late spouse’ insurance check. _sunglasses flip_ [/Horatio Kane] _cue ‘Who’ song from “Who’s Next?”_ ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/14 "2006-11-07T14:56:51Z")
[QUOTE=Runs With Scissors] Aren’t the decks of ships up really, really high? Seems like that would be a nasty fall. [/QUOTE] I didn’t think so. High enough to prevent many accidents. but not so high that one can’t lean over them - or be tossed over them. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/15 "2006-11-07T15:25:21Z")
I just got back from a European cruise. Towel origami every night, and half of the fun was spending the day trying to predict. We had a little pool going. I totally lost, we never did have an octopus. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/16 "2006-11-07T17:21:00Z")
I went on a Caribbean cruise with my parents when I was 15. Fortunately, my parents are not the ‘corny group activity’ type and we spent our on-ship days laying out and drinking. Well they did. I thought it was a neat experience, getting to see four different places in a week. Now I know I want to go back to Key West or Grand Cayman with the friends sometime when we actually have money. And I don’t know how someone _falls_ over the edge - I remember a photo of me and my dad standing at the railing and the railing was hitting my dad’s back, he is about 5’10" or 5’11". It seems like it would have to be a push, jump, or the guy flew across the deck and the force knocked him over the railing. But all ships are different, I guess. And if the guy was taller he would have a different center of gravity. My parents did love the towel origami. My dad left a pair of sunglasses on the bedside table one day and they made some kind of large bird with a towel and put the sunglasses on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/17 "2006-11-07T17:38:29Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] I didn’t think so. High enough to prevent many accidents. but not so high that one can’t lean over them - or be tossed over them. [/QUOTE] I think **RWS** meant the decks are high enough above the surface of the water, that it would be quite a drop once you tumbled over before you hit the water. At least 20-30 feet or so on an average sized ship if memory serves. At the time we took our sole cruise 10-15 years ago, word was someone fell off another ship (and managed to swim a couple of miles to shore.) As the story went (and I seem to recall newspaper corroboration) the genius was intentionally hanging over the rail in order to piss in the ocean. I’m not certain, but I suspect alcohol may have been involved… ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/18 "2006-11-07T17:45:09Z")
It would take some effort to fall off a cruise ship. You’d just have to want to from what I recall. I’ve been on one cruise. It was dubbed “The Midlife Crisis Cruise” because it was several of us who had or were about to turn 50. Seemed logical to us to take a week long cruise and get the whole crisis thing out of our system. It worked. Had a blast! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/19 "2006-11-07T17:56:42Z")
> [@](#): > > but not so high that one can’t lean over them - or be tossed over them. I’ve been on 6 cruises, I think. You’d have to work at it to get over most of the rails. The lowest I’ve seen is a meter high. Perhaps when they haul these folks out of the ocean they should report their BAL. I don’t enjoy the majority of the cruise “activities,” other than live music. My pleasures on a cruise are to get up before dawn and watch the sun rise, get to port and do or see something interesting, eat some local food and have some conversations, shop a little, and return to the ship. I usually lose weight on a cruise because I walk around a lot on the decks, fruit and vegetables are almost always available for extended hours, and I don’t over-order at meals. My last cruise, on Costa, an Italian line: Savona, Italy: Embark after train trip from Firenze Napoli, Italy: Organized tour to Pompeii Palermo, Sicily: Walking around the open air market; looking at architecture, eating gelato Tunis, Tunisia: Organized tour to Carthage and the Bardo Museum (excellent, by the way) Palma de Mallorca: Walking along the waterfront; shopping; dinner on the water Barcelona, Spain: City tour bus to Gaudi’s Sacrada Familia; walking La Rambla; lunch; long walk around the waterfront Marseilles, France: Disembark (we could have continued to Savona); train to Arles for the night Cruises get me places I might not otherwise have time or resources to see, and they provide safety for women travelers. Cruises have gotten us to the Parthenon; the Pyramids at Giza and Egyptian Museum; the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; Ephesus; Tulum; the lava fields of Hawaii; Glacier Bay; hiking on a glacier; snorkling in Kauai. Not to mention all of the towns and cities we’ve visited. These cruises have served as the basis for learning about the world, and to inform us about where we would or wouldn’t like to visit in more depth. I can’t defend their environmental record, which isn’t good; I can say that information about which lines do a better job of it is readily available, and that reusing one’s towels and sheets, and not heaping up one’s plate and discarding most of the food, are all ways that individual travelers can decrease their contribution to pollution. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353/20 "2006-11-07T18:11:06Z")
Nah…not for me anymore, I don’t think. I’ve never been on one but it sounds like they’ve gotten a bit too piratey for my taste. Unless the pirates look like Johnny Depp, in which case I’d volunteer for getting my keel hauled, if you know what I mean. Except he’s a gay pirate, which means he probably wouldn’t have eyes (patched or otherwise) for my keel in the first place. It’s a no-win situation. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-overboard-someone-else-falls-off-a-cruise-ship/379353.md?page=2)