Coast Guard Searching for Overboard Carnival Employee

[CruisefromNY]

This is quote from a passenger that was on the cruise ship and posted in the comments section of the article written in Florida Today:

 

"I was on the Cruise Ship aqnd spoke with him five minutes before he fell and he was not drunk. he was posing for a picture and went up on the rail and then wind took him and he fell off. The Crew did everything they could."

1/2/2009 9:41:24 AM

[tiger belle]

so tragic and so very sad

[derf5585]

Florida Today is reporting the man may have been a singer in a band that had just finished a performance on the deck, and that he may have been trying to take a photo.

from

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=60714424.blog

[derf5585]

Passengers told FLORIDA TODAY the crew member was a singer with a band that had performed on the top deck of the Carnival Sensation. They said he was trying to take a picture when he went overboard.

 

Laura Martin, a passenger from upstate New York, said she and her three daughters were leaving the bandstand area on the ship when the incident occurred.

 

A group of off-duty crew members had been dancing with other passengers, ringing in the New Year, she said.

 

"They were having fun," she said. "It was very sad."

 

She said she saw a commotion involving several young women on the entertainment crew. She said they yelled down to other crew members, who immediately went into action to try to rescue the man who went overboard.

 

Another passenger, Diego Friedmann of Uruguay, said the crew started throwing life jackets to the man. Three vests were thrown, but the man was not able to reach any of them, he said.

from

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090102/NEWS01/901020317&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

[lt]

This was written in the comments section of the article and was posted just this morning:

 

 

" was on the Cruise Ship aqnd spoke with him five minutes before he fell and he was not drunk. he was posing for a picture and went up on the rail and then wind took him and he fell off. The Crew did everything they could."

1/2/2009 9:41:24 AM

Reply With Quote

[lt]

People are too quick to assume !

 

 

This was written in the comments section of the article and was posted just this morning:

 

 

" was on the Cruise Ship aqnd spoke with him five minutes before he fell and he was not drunk. he was posing for a picture and went up on the rail and then wind took him and he fell off. The Crew did everything they could."

1/2/2009 9:41:24 AM

Reply With Quote

[cruisemom42]

It is a very sad thing for sure. However, IF he did go up on the railing, he was in violation of every shipboard safety procedure that the crew is trained on.

 

There's another thread on the Cruise Questions board discussing various foolish things others have seen passengers do, including sitting on the railing, jumping from deck chair to deck chair near the railing, etc. I suppose this is a tragic reminder that such fooling around is far from harmless....

[beachbum1978]

I was on this ship, and the rumor around the boat was that it was a performer who was trying to take a pic and fell overboard.

It was VERY windy on deck that night...our drinks were blowing over when you set them down on the table.

Apparently we stayed at sea for a good 4 hours or so looking for this man. We stayed up watching the search party until about 1:45 and then went to bed. When I got up at 6:15 (as we should have been close to docking at that time) our room steward told me that we just left that area and that they could not find the man that went overboard. We did not get into Port Canaveral until probably 9:00am....but passengers were not allowed to get off until after 10/10:30.

In my opinion, Carnival Sensation was very poor with communicating to its passengers in terms of what was going on. I realize there is some things they may not want passengers to know, but overall we were left in the dark about everything.

It was definitely a sad way to start the new year.

[COMBOY]

This is quote from a passenger that was on the cruise ship and posted in the comments section of the article written in Florida Today:

 

"I was on the Cruise Ship aqnd spoke with him five minutes before he fell and he was not drunk. he was posing for a picture and went up on the rail and then wind took him and he fell off. The Crew did everything they could."

1/2/2009 9:41:24 AM

 

He "went on the rail" to take a photo. Even in the best situation on a moving ship this is not a wise thing to do let alone on a windy night. This is a tragic event and I feel really bad for the family and the crew who lost this person. Passengers and crew be warned...railings are not to be used to take photos nor anything else. As I recall from my last the cruise during the lifeboat drill passengers are told not to climb nor sit on the ship's railings. Now we know why.

[techmom]

Yes one of the personnel in the production shows is the supervisor of the other singers and dancers in the show.

Entertainment staff is singers and dancers in the shows, all techs such as lighting, sound, etc, there are band members for the shows and then there are the bands that play around the ship in the lounges and on the lido deck. There are supervisory positions amongst them. In reality, the CD and ACD are part of the entertainment staff too. My son was Senior Ent Tech for a while and supervised 4 under him.

[derf5585]

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Coast Guard scoured the sea Friday looking for a cruise ship entertainer who fell overboard while posing for a picture. The ship was on its way to Port Canaveral.

Antonio Matabang has been lost at sea now for more than 36 hours.

from

http://www.wftv.com/news/18401614/detail.html#-

[derf5585]

Antonio Matabang has been lost at sea now for more than 36 hours

from

http://www.wftv.com/news/18401614/detail.html#-

[crazycath]

My prayers are with his family.

 

Cathy

[jaded99]

What a tragedy, around the holidays too. Poor friends+family.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

quoted from the article:

"Eyewitnesses said 25-year-old Antonio Matabang of California was off-duty, standing on a railing for a photo, when he fell an estimated 82 feet into the ocean"

 

What the hell was he thinking? As a crew member on a cruise ship, you'd think he'd known better. What a tragedy that could have so easily been prevented.

[JXR]

This is such a sad tragedy. Thoughts and prayers are with his co-workers and family ...

 

Joanne

[GoinCruisin]

Very sad... my prayers are with him, his family and friends... I was looking at his Myspace page earlier, and he looked like such a happy, fun guy... so young. So sad.

[nealthedeal]

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The Coast Guard scoured the sea Friday looking for a cruise ship entertainer who fell overboard while posing for a picture. The ship was on its way to Port Canaveral.

Antonio Matabang has been lost at sea now for more than 36 hours.

from

http://www.wftv.com/news/18401614/detail.html#-

 

 

Thanks so much very informative! so sad :(

[RAVI360]

so sad.........

[jakieemma]

so foolish...

[jlssings]

Antonio is a dear friend of mine. We met in 2002 while performing in a production of the musical Godspell directed by Jonathon Jimenez for the Youth Cultural Arts Foundation in Bellflower, California.

Antonio , Jonathon and I instantly became the 3 amigos. And would go onto to write produce cheoreograph and star in "A small town christmas" often rehearsing in Jonathons backyard and performing the show in an Local English Pub ....two years later we would go onto to perform the show with a full cast, in a real theatre and selling out every performance.

Antonio and my birthday are a day apart him feb 8th mine feb 9th. One year we passed the torch of celebration at midnite from the 8th to the 9th..... And for this to happen around midnite from the year 08 to 09 is so surreal.

Antonio and I even drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco to audition for American Idol season 4.

Antonio would then land a job dancing for Disney theme parks in southern california and then was hired as the lead singer for carnival cruise lines.

Thank you to all who are sending good energy to Antonio. We PRAY for him and we LOVE him!!!!!

Jules Sanchez

[GoinCruisin]

Antonio is a dear friend of mine. We met in 2002 while performing in a production of the musical Godspell directed by Jonathon Jimenez for the Youth Cultural Arts Foundation in Bellflower, California.

Antonio , Jonathon and I instantly became the 3 amigos. And would go onto to write produce cheoreograph and star in "A small town christmas" often rehearsing in Jonathons backyard and performing the show in an Local English Pub ....two years later we would go onto to perform the show with a full cast, in a real theatre and selling out every performance.

Antonio and my birthday are a day apart him feb 8th mine feb 9th. One year we passed the torch of celebration at midnite from the 8th to the 9th..... And for this to happen around midnite from the year 08 to 09 is so surreal.

Antonio and I even drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco to audition for American Idol season 4.

Antonio would then land a job dancing for Disney theme parks in southern california and then was hired as the lead singer for carnival cruise lines.

Thank you to all who are sending good energy to Antonio. We PRAY for him and we LOVE him!!!!!

Jules Sanchez

 

Jules, thank you for finding Cruise Critic and posting... my thoughts and prayers are going out... I know this is a very hard time for you, all of his friends and family. I've visited his Myspace page and he seems like a very vibrant and fun person, always with a smile... it's such a sad situation, and I pray for the best.

[Umbarger]

That is going to be one sad ship for a while. My prayers are with his friends and family.

[sms30519]

I am so saddened by this news. We were just on the Sensation during Thanksgiving and enjoyed his performance so much in Curves and Far From Over. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all the crew of the Sensation.

[jessemon]

why are you up on a soapbox? who is bashing him? everyone here is saying they hope he is found, and that they hope he is o.k. it is believed he was doing something unsafe for this to happen, and that is what some people have stated. has there ever been one instance where a person was standing by a railing and just fell overboard? nobody is happy he fell, and i dont see why people on this board need to be prayed for as if they have done something terrible.

 

mike

I guess you missed reading a few comments at the begining of this thread.......:rolleyes: