I know this is a crazy ?, but...

[UGAFan0829]

For some reason I keep having these crazy thoughts about what Disney would do if someone were to go overboard. I know it's a crazy thought, but I think about it a lot. I guess I just want to know how they would handle a situation like that. Of course this is asuming that someone would see the person go over and would be able to notify a crew member immediately.
I would really love to take my nieces and nephews on a Disney cruise, but they are small and I have this huge fear of them falling over, even though I know the ship is safe.

 

[Favorite Auntie]

I cringe when people stand near the railings with babes in their arms. But other than that... I have never heard of anyone going overboard, expept that one time a wise guy teen JUMPED overboard while the ship was in a port. I have traveled with small children (from 3 up to 21) and have never really worried about it.

 

[mrp4352]

I was lucky enough to watch a drill on RCL as it was pulling out of St. Thomas last year. Fascinating!! It was one of those, right time/right place things. We had been standing at the back watching the island slip away and visiting with the Environmental Control Officer about the ship and suddenly she was called on the radio "This is a drill! Man Overboard off the Starboard side!" (okay, may have been port side, I'm not remembering for sure). Half a second later, the dummy in a life vest floats by and she starts pointing and calling in his location. Also, all crew members we could see (with or without radios), were pointing in the dummy's direction. Within 3-4 minutes a small craft was being lowered and was zooming out to grab him. Less then ten minutes later, the dummy was relaxing on a deck chair, legs crossed and three medical personel checking him out.

Anyway, the response was immediate and the ECO said that everyone on board is trained to help quickly find the body and assist with the rescue.

 

[Sarangel]

We took a bridge tour once, and the first officer told us that once he had to 'emergency stop' the ship because a passenger saw someone go over the side. It takes about 10 seconds to stop. The 'man overboard' turned out to be the pilot for Nassau (or maybe it was St. John) leaving the ship.

Still, it's nice to know that they can stop so quickly.

 

[Mike_in_FL]

We were on the May 12th Wonder cruise and saw the crew practicing in Nassau. They lowered a lifeboat and rehearsed picking up a person in the water. It was interesting to watch, and it looked like they were training a new "driver", as there was a crew member/instructor standing over the newbie giving instructions as he/she brought the lifeboat back alongside the Wonder.

Mike

 

[maelcu]

We were on the Wonder Feb 13 this year. Our first night around 2:00 am we hear what sounded like a fight ( yes it was loud) on the deck below us. My hubby and I went out on our veranda looked down and there was a man climbing the rail of the ship. The female with him was screaming for help. I went in and called guest services they said they had gotten many calls and help was on the way. This went on for about 15-20 minutes. The guy would climb the rail the female with him would talk him down then he would climb right back up there. I couldn't believe it was taking someone so long to get there. They (crewmember) did show up and everything calmed down. This happened on deck 4 the next day we were walking around and noticed a camera so I guess someone was watching the whole time.

 

[pogopossum]

a friend from church was on cruise about five years ago with dcl and the alarm was sounded that someone was overboard and they turned the ship around, having gone past the spot by about a mile, and went back to initiate a search. no one was found and they chalked it up to a false alarm. but she said that it was quite a disruption.

 

[rsjj]

i recall the plexiglass on the verandah...but are there plexiglass on the rest of the ship, where it's "public access"?

the railings do come pretty high. i think you'd have to do some "climbing" before you may fall over? i was a bit worried with our DSs (who were 2 & 4 at the time), cuz it does "look" open, but with reminders about not climbing on the railings, or even sticking their hands out, trying to look over, etc., they were ok. our DSs wanted to look over to the ocean, like lean over & see the water...so i had to carry them so they can peek out. that was a bit nerving, even though i knew i had a good hold on them, still...i feared "dropping" them.

 

[nfdanceon]

About 5 years ago I was on Carnival 3 day to nassau and freeport. On the way back to port the last night, from what we heard, a man fell off the back of the boat by the dining area. At the time it happened we were at dinner and could feel the boat turning, being first time cruisers we thought it was normal until we went to the top deck and we werent moving. What happens is the boat does an about face to the point where the individual fell off the boat, calls the coast guard and waits for some sort of clearence from them. They were making announcements to ensure that all members of your party were accounted for and announcing names of people who could not be accounted for. It was an adventurous first cruise, lost all power on the ship 3 1/2 hours after leaving port canaveral.