Sounds like they should have just used the ship's tranquilizer gun
From something someone posted on my blog a few years back.
Anyway about 12 years ago I was on a Celebrity ship, Solstice I think. Casino closed early because the clientele was older. I'm getting a snack around midnight and there was an announcement "all crew alpha alpha alpha port side. Ship starts a turn at the same time. (Seas were 8-10 feet.)
It took a solid 45 minutes for the ship to make a full circle back. In the meantime, you could see a flashing beacon out there.
And this is crazy: the spotlights were so bright that even from a few miles away there was a red dot. That red dot was actually the reflection from the overboard passenger's bald head.
Alright so we sort of stop a mile away. A skiff (probably 25 ft. long) pops out the side with three guys. It runs to the pink dot. Sits next to it for a minute and starts drifting away. 10-15 minutes later another skiff pops out. It runs out to the pink dot…. And makes its way back.
A buck naked 50-60 year old man is passed out. They put the skiff back in the boat and all the passengers and crew watching disperse.
The next day my team got the full story from the bridge. The guy was there to get married. He got rip roaring drunk and got in a fight. So he strips naked, stands on a rail near the bridge. When someone notices him, he jumps.
The crew deployed a beacon. That is how they knew where to find him. That was the blinking light.
When the first skiff got out there, he refused to get in. A guy reached for him and he punched the crew member breaking his nose.
The second skiff went out with the ship doctor. This is where I thought it sounded odd, but the bridge swore it was true. The ship doctor has a tranquilizer gun at his disposal. They shot the passenger and pulled him into the second skiff.
He got expelled from the ship the next day in Honduras. He was alone. His new wife, and all the family that came for the wedding stayed on the ship.
So who knew that cruise ship doctors carry tranquilizer guns?
The heat, alcohol annd the rolling sea have an effect on the midbrain and people are known to decompinsate on cruises.
The heat, alcohol annd the rolling sea have an effect on the midbrain and people are known to decompinsate on cruises.