A Royal Caribbean cruise ship guest went overboard from the liner’s 10th deck into the ocean more than 30 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic — but amazingly survived after a dramatic, almost hour-long rescue.
The tumultuous episode, which had other passengers aboard the Mariner of the Seas liner on pins and needles until the 42-year-old lady, a US citizen, was rescued, occurred on Sunday as the ship was its route to the island of Curaçao, according to the US Coast Guard.
According to witnesses, cruise-crew members swiftly deployed a rescue boat to search for the woman, found her, and safely returned her to the ship in about 45 minutes.
“The passenger was recovered alive and reported to be in good health after reportedly falling into the water from the ship’s 10th deck,” US Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad told Insider in a statement on Wednesday.
After the incident, the woman was brought to the cruise ship’s medical center and then transferred to a hospital in Willemstad, Curaçao, according to Castrodad, who added that “no medical evacuation of the passenger was requested by the cruise ship.”
The US Coast Guard, which is investigating the events that led to the passenger going overboard, stated that at about 5:45 p.m. Sunday, agency watchstanders at Sector San Juan got a report that the ship’s crew had retrieved a lady who had gone overboard.
“The cruise ship was transiting approximately 27 nautical miles south of Punta Cana, Dominican Republic when the incident occurred and was enroute to Willemstad, Curacao,” Castrodad stated.
Fellow passengers on the 15-deck cruise liner claimed they watched in dread as they assumed the woman had gone overboard and would not be retrieved.
