If you/your wife fall overboad on a cruise ship, will they stop/get you after i jump after her?

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masterlymayhem

Having had to turn a cruise ship around after someone deliberatly jumped overboard i can categorically say yes, if the bridge knew someone had gone overboard they WILL pick them up. Ok, ignoring the fact it will be the morally correct thing to do, we - as in the Officers on the bridge - would have a legal requirement to do so - as would any officer on any bridge if they knew there was a person in distress in the area.
As for not being able to stop quickly thats not really true either...well...depends on what you call quickly but a 82,000t cruise ship can be stopped in less than a mile if they realy had to, from full service speed.
Admittedly if we recieved a report someone may have gone overboard many hours ago me might leave it to the coastgurd if they are near by, but this too is unlikley - we really would go back and start to look for the person - we would have a duty of care to do so :)
And not least, think of the publicity if it came out we knew someone fell overboard and we kept on going without searching for them.....
On my last crusie ship we had 2 fast rescue boats with seperate crews that were tested every week and carried out regular man overboard drills - we really do take it seriously!

sage seeker

What few realize is that if you fall overboard from a moving oceanliner, you probably will not survive - you will get caught up in the 'wake' of the liner ....about the only way you could survive would be to somehow be 'catapulted' beyond the ship's wake.

And yes, if the ship's crew KNOWS there is 'man overboard' they attempt to locate and rescue - usually through contact with the Coast Guard.

Most US to Caribbean cruise ships are never further than about 7 miles out from shore.

Lady Yaz

I asked the very same question (of the Captain, no less) on my first Atlantic crossing on the QE2.

I was told that in the case of "man overboard" the ship will pull a figure-eight maneuver to bring it back to the position where the person fell in. However, this takes quite a few hours and the person could've drifted off wherever by currents. Because of its momentum when a ship is underway, it is not possible to stop it as you would do a car.

TINKERTOY ..... the 1 & only

Yes they will if they know you have gone overboard, but a cruise ship may take more than a mile to stop so you will be a long way from the ship. If you jump, take life vests for you and her so you can stay up and so that the beacon light will flash your location.

ratboy

I don;'t think so. It's not easy to turn a boat the size of a cruise ship around. They probably just dispatch the coast guard or contact the authorities depending on what land the boat is closest to at the time.

Tammi D

The immediate actions for a man overboard are to stop and hold (can't let them trail) the main engines.

kevin k

Did you see"Flags Of Our Fathers"?They were all smiles and chuckles until they realized ,none of the ships were stopping.

Aschwin

It is just as masterlymayhem says; the bridge officers have to stop and attempt a rescue.

If you see somebody fall overboard, shout "man overboard" and try to keep an eye on the person in the water. Have somebody inform the bridge and the officers on the bridge will turn the ship and initiate a rescue operation.

Eileen R

Many others have fallen overboard. If they know immediately they will look, but chances are you aren't going to be around.

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