Fall Off A Cruise Ship? How?…

This week, the papers have been full of the story of the British woman who fell off a cruise ship.

Fortunately, this tale had a happy ending as, after ten hours in the water, she was successfully rescued unharmed.

This truly is a happy ending for this person but not so happy for many others.

Firstly, the Norwegian Star from which she fell, was en route to Venice and due to the rescue mission, was delayed by several hours and arrived into Venice too late for many passenger’s flight departures. This can be an extremely costly issue for any ATOL protected tour operator as new flights have to be sourced and paid for. These travellers would have spent anxious hours at the airport and maybe missed further connections. It was also probably not much fun for all the crew on Norwegian Star and the coastguards from Croatia who spent many hours looking for her. Anyone due to embark that day in Venice would also have faced delays.

Sadly, we see incidents of falls from hotel balconies most summers and they are usually a result of too much alcohol which seems to blind us of dangers.

It has not yet been disclosed how this woman fell but let me assure you, you cannot just fall from a ship. Railings and balcony heights are amongst many safety regulations in place on cruise ships which are set by the International Maritime Organization and safety inspections are carried out on a very frequent basis.

If you climb on a railing or hang over or sit on the side of a ship, you may fall. Would you do this on the 15th floor of a hotel?

Unfortunately, whatever safety measures are in place, they can and are overridden and usually with tragic results.

If you are concerned about taking a cruise, don’t be. You cannot just fall of a ship.