If some moron goes overboard when a cruiseliner is going full speed, safely stopping the vessel will put the ship 10 or more miles away from where the clown fell overboard. Turning it and returning to the original spot can be dangerous, and will burn tons of fuel that could leave everyone stranded far from port.
The best response is to call it in to first responders who are equipped to help or to radio smaller, nimbler craft.
....and, of course, according to this piece....the ship's crew did absolutely none of the above.
Her drunkenness was her fault, period. The crew's jaw-dropping negligence means they should fry, period.
I know you mean well but it’s inexcusable that someone should spend two hours in the water while the staff interrogates witnesses. Better to immediately investigate the man-overboard report than to let someone die.
Cruise ships are getting a deservedly bad reputation due to their apparent contempt for the lives of their passengers and their contempt for the lives of people in distress at sea.
You have to go back to 2007 to find a really good story of a cruise ship (Dawn Princess?) going all-out to save the life of a passenger. They helped a little girl off the coast of Mexico with the help of the USS Ronald Reagan.
Ships are not aircraft. The fuel they carry is measured in days enabling them to travel up to 10,000 miles without refueling. The fuel is carried in below waterline tanks which helps maintain stability.
One of the best is the Williamson Turn to get right back on the same course 180 degrees.
Years ago, I worked on a Swedish tanker, 50,000 tons in ballast, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean a mess girl fell overboard around 10 PM totally black. Captain calmly used the “Williamson Turn” and within an hour she luckily was spotted by our search lights. A lifeboat was manned and she was picked up safely without injury, but in shark area sea.