If you fall overboard whats the best thing to do?

[rade2rising]

well especially if its at night and no one see you tumbling over then what?

 

this is really scary

[MrsPete]

I think this is one of those situations in which prevention is better than cure. Chances of falling overboard accidentally are absolutely zero. You'd have to scale some rather difficult heights to fall overboard.

[cb at sea]

Pray, as you fall....hitting the water from a couple of stories up is like hitting concrete... You'll probably die on contact...just don't "fall" overboard!

[paul929207]

I would think you should start planning for a stint in rehab.

[rade2rising]

well i have never looked at a cruise ship up close and personal but it seems its quite easy to toss someone overboard i think i will just stay inside the ship and never go outside. that would be the best prevention

[sparky-elpaso]

well i have never looked at a cruise ship up close and personal but it seems its quite easy to toss someone overboard i think i will just stay inside the ship and never go outside. that would be the best prevention

 

The average rail / barrier on the deck is 42 to 48 inches high. And why would anyone "toss someone overboard"? The few people that have gone overboard either jumped or were probably drunk and trying to do something like tightrope walk on the rail.

[rade2rising]

well thats good to know sparky but what is the procedure if you fall overboard and disappear. I mean does the cruise line make some type of compensation for the family?

 

anyways i think everyone is right in saying its better not to get in such a situation but you can never know what will happen....

[paul929207]

well thats good to know sparky but what is the procedure if you fall overboard and disappear. I mean does the cruise line make some type of compensation for the family?

 

anyways i think everyone is right in saying its better not to get in such a situation but you can never know what will happen....

I see no reason for the cruise line to provide any compenstion if a passenger falls over board.

[rade2rising]

well i would hope they have CCTV and can monitor the rails 24/7. and if i fall overboard you bet i am going to sue them for the whole ship; if i am still alive.

[paul929207]

well i would hope they have CCTV and can monitor the rails 24/7. and if i fall overboard you bet i am going to sue them for the whole ship; if i am still alive.

Why would you sue? Is stupidity the basis for a suit?

[Sheffie]

Rade, you are leaving in 3 hours; now sure is a late time to be thinking about this.

 

Have a great cruise. Unless you are traveling with a murderer, you will be fine.

[rade2rising]

Rade, you are leaving in 3 hours; now sure is a late time to be thinking about this.

 

Have a great cruise. Unless you are traveling with a murderer, you will be fine.

 

thanks dear and would you believe i havent even packed yet :eek:

[Arwenmark]

well especially if its at night and no one see you tumbling over then what?

 

this is really scary

 

That is a very odd question. First of all you do not FALL overboard unless you are doing something forbidden and stupid.

 

If you do one of those things and find yourself falling, get your feet tight together and cross your arms over your chest and try to hit the water feet first moving your legs slightly forward [assuming you are facing away from the ship] once you enter the water, this will have the tendency to bring you in a curve back up to the surface. once in the water if you are conscious, try to keep your legs tucked up to your chest like a ball and use your arms in a back and forth motion in the water to stay upright and floating. Float on your back when you get too tired. Also IF you have pants on take them off and tie off the legs then holding the waistband, swing in the air to collect air, close it off and hold it, it will act as a flotation device.

 

 

If you were to fall headfirst, lock your hands into one fist with your arms straight out above your head Dive style and try to keep your body as staight as possible as you enter the water. again after entering the water tilt your arms upward a bit more and again it will tend to bring you to the surface in an arc. Other directions still apply.

 

Now with those things said there is no way in Heck you can just fall overboard.

[thinfool]

if i fall overboard you bet i am going to sue them for the whole ship

 

No you're not, read your contract. You need cruise line permission to leave the ship before the cruise is over. Best you could hope for is 15 seconds of fame on CNN. LOL

 

And if you're dead, the cruise line will bill your relatives the $300. fine for a violation of the Jones Act or the PVSA (I can't remember which) ... :D;):rolleyes:

[Sheffie]

thanks dear and would you believe i havent even packed yet :eek:

 

Rade, I was teasing. (I am hope you realized that.)

 

You will be fine. The railings are high. I understand the fear of the unknown, and after they hype that some stories have had, I know many people worry about this. Arwenark has posted some great advice for anyone who finds themself in the sea when they don't want to be.

 

Check out the railings when you first board the ship and she is tied up to the pier.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Oh, and get packing!!!!

[bankerlkd]

To answer your question...

 

If you are alive after hitting the water - Float

 

The alternative is bad.

[kitty9]

If you jump off a ship, you have a 99% chance of not living. Depending on where you jump, you could get sucked under and chopped into fish food by the propellers, you will probably break every bone in your body if you jump from a high deck, if the water is cold you won't survive long and if you're drunk you'll drown.

 

One does not fall from a cruise ship unless you're doing something stupid like standing on furniture on your balcony, trying to get from one balcony to another by walking on the railing or just acting stupid. I'm 5'3" and the railings on ships come up to my "girls", and if you can fall over with the railings being that high, you've got a bigger problem.

[CruisyColin]

Rade, as others have said, it's impossible to fall overboard, you'd have to go out of your way and do something really stupid like climbing the side rails and anyone that does this deserves what they get. If you are so paranoid about it, where a rope around your waist and a clip for the railing. But expect some strange looks. During the day it is rare for attendants not to be watching and at night time (at least on the P&O Pacific Sun) many of the open decks are closed off.

[CruisyColin]

To answer your question...

 

If you are alive after hitting the water - Float

 

The alternative is bad.

 

LMAO - I'll pay that one Keith - incontestable logic at work there :D

[Gablin]

I did read a great novel "Skinny Dip" about a guy who threw his wife overboard from a cruise ship. She lived and managed to swim to an island and get even with him. The author was Carl Hiaasen.

 

I think it would be pretty difficult to toss someone over the rails, but I'm sure that there have been real cases of it.

[GlendaleCruiser]

well especially if its at night and no one see you tumbling over then what?

 

this is really scary

 

I think you should wear your life jacket every moment you are on the ship. Don't forget to make sure your whistle works.

[broberts]

I did read a great novel "Skinny Dip" about a guy who threw his wife overboard from a cruise ship. She lived and managed to swim to an island and get even with him. The author was Carl Hiaasen.

 

I think it would be pretty difficult to toss someone over the rails, but I'm sure that there have been real cases of it.

 

Enjoyed the book. Read it just before boarding my first cruise. Once aboard I realized that the odds of surviving a fall from the Lido are fairly low.

[paul929207]

I did read a great novel "Skinny Dip" about a guy who threw his wife overboard from a cruise ship. She lived and managed to swim to an island and get even with him. The author was Carl Hiaasen.

 

I think it would be pretty difficult to toss someone over the rails, but I'm sure that there have been real cases of it.

I read that. It was a good book.

[silentbob007]

I'd be more worred about the fall than the floating ... but I guess that is just first things first. ;)

 

Most people who "fall" off the ship are either drunk and doing something stupid on the railings or are suicides. The rails are more than adequate. If conditions outside change to make that untrue, outside decks will be closed off.

[MrsPete]

well i have never looked at a cruise ship up close and personal but it seems its quite easy to toss someone overboard

I have seen a cruise ship "up close and personal", and I assure you that the average man would have a hard time tossing another adult overboard. If that adult were conscious and fighting, he'd have no chance. Two men could do it, but not with ease.

 

Since you haven't seen the rails, here are some facts about rails in the public areas:

 

Another poster already said that the rails are around four foot high. That's essentially shoulder height to me. In addition, they "lean inward"; imagine this: You walk up to the rail, fold your arms, and put your chin on your arms. Your body isn't touching the rail at all. You'd have to kick your foot way forward to touch the rail. This makes it very hard to climb. Next, the rails have plexiglass on the "inside" towards the passenger. So it's impossible to get a foothold on the rails. This means that if you were going to climb a rail in a public area, you'd need to be able to pull yourself up to a four-foot rail using only your arms. The average person can't do it -- not without a chair.

 

The next thing to realize is that the ship is designed like a wedding cake; that is, the lower decks have a larger perimeter than the upper decks. This means that IF you managed to catapault yourself off Deck 10, you'd land not in the ocean, but on Deck 9. You'd break bones, and you could easily hit your head on a stair rail or something else hard -- you could die . . . but you wouldn't be swimming.

 

Where you COULD go overboard is from a stateroom balcony. The majority of these balconies (the ones on the side of the ship) are not angled inward; rather, they're upright and flat like a fence. Some ships have plexiglass insets, others don't. The private balcony rails aren't as high as those in the public areas, and since there's a chair right there, it IS possible for an individual to go overboard -- purposefully, not accidentally -- from his own stateroom. A few balconies (in my experience, aft balconies) are angled inward like the rails in public areas; these balconies are "tiered" like a wedding cake, but they sort of "slide on down" towards the ocean (and the propeller), and I think if you went overboard from an aft balcony you'd have a pretty good chance of heading on out towards the deep blue.

 

But seriously, unless you're considering suicide, you're not going overboard.