In the latest email newsletter from Cruise News they reported a man had gone missing presumed overboard on a Carnival ship. They then advised the following:
"While falling from a cruise ship is a rare occurrence, a quick review of the Cruise News archives reveals that at least 11 passengers and crew have fallen overboard from a cruise ship since February of 2000. According to the information in our files:
- Males are much more likely to go overboard than females (9 vs. 2)
- Carnival passengers (6 incidents) are more likely to go overboard than passengers from other cruise lines...especially passengers on the Fascination (2 incidents)
- The average age of a passenger who goes overboard is 33 years old
- You are most likely to fall overboard on the last night of your cruise
- For some reason, people from Virginia go overboard more than others (3 incidents)
- Falling overboard does not necessarily mean you will die (3 people have been rescued, one after 18 hours in the water)
- Most people who fall overboard are either drunk or doing silly things (climbing on the railing or between cabin balconies)
So you are warned. I was on the Queen Mary (the original) moored in Long Beach and they had a list in the isolation ward area that listed crew and passengers that had died on the ship - quite a few were overboard although the main reason seems to have been heart attacks (a feature of the age of passengers?)
