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Ship passengers who fell seek privacy
Yahoo News ^ | March 26, 2007 | Staff

Posted on 03/26/2007 9:40:22 PM PDT by KittyKares

GALVESTON, Texas - A man who fell about 50 feet from a cruise ship was released from the ship's medical center Monday, and a woman who also fell plans to have follow-up testing on land, the cruise line said.

The 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman had only minor injuries after falling into the Gulf of Mexico from a balcony on the Grand Princess ship, said Julie Benson, a spokeswoman for Princess Cruises. They have asked that the circumstances remain private and requested that no personal information be released.

The man planned to continue on the cruise, while the woman planned to disembark Monday in Mexico, Benson said. The rescued passengers were not married, Benson said. She did not know how long they had known each other.

The Grand Princess was about 150 miles off Galveston when friends notified the crew early Sunday that the two had fallen, Benson said.

The captain turned the ship around, and the crew used high-powered spotlights to scan the water and launched rescue boats to find them.

"Just falling 50 feet, you can do some serious damage and basically knock the wind out of you," said Coast Guard swimmer Micah Franklin, who participated in the four-hour rescue. "If you survive that part, then you've got, depending on your swimming ability, how long are you going to be able to survive in the seas."

The waves were swelling up to 6 feet, and the wind was gusting to 30 mph, Franklin told NBC's "Today" show Monday. He said he was impressed that the two survived.

The railing around the cabin balcony is at least 4 feet high and meets all standard safety requirements, she said.

The ship was on its way to Costa Maya, Mexico, Benson said. The Grand Princess was carrying 2,783 passengers on a seven-day tour of the western Caribbean.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cruiseshipfell
In an earlier Drudereport article, it said that the man was found naked in the water. I think we can guess what they were doing when they fell.
1 posted on 03/26/2007 9:40:23 PM PDT by KittyKares
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To: KittyKares

On Fox morning show with Mike and Juliet, they mentioned that the couple were engaging in ahem, what you would think they were doing if found naked :-). Hmm, or perhaps the guy got in the mood to go skinny dipping :-)


2 posted on 03/26/2007 9:51:11 PM PDT by psjones (u)
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To: KittyKares

They almost made it into the mile-under club.


3 posted on 03/26/2007 9:51:49 PM PDT by Rudder
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To: KittyKares
"The rescued passengers were not married, Benson said. She did not know how long they had known each other."


No tell Cruise line.
4 posted on 03/26/2007 9:52:09 PM PDT by headstamp (Nothing lasts forever, Unless it does.)
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To: KittyKares

I would have thought they had had enough privacy 150 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico.


5 posted on 03/26/2007 9:55:00 PM PDT by StockAyatollah
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To: headstamp

On a sad note, it is strange that two people were found in the Gulf of Mexico and another guy was found after eight hours in the Atlantic, but a guy that went missing in Lake Conroe (near Houston) wasn't found until it was too late. What are the odds?


6 posted on 03/26/2007 9:55:01 PM PDT by willyd
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To: KittyKares

Minor question.

If the couple were, um, amorous, how did their friends know they fell overboard?


7 posted on 03/26/2007 9:57:20 PM PDT by IslandJeff (There will be Democrats in heaven, except they'll be too busy organizing the staff)
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To: IslandJeff

They probably fell past several windows... 0.0


8 posted on 03/26/2007 9:59:15 PM PDT by LongElegantLegs (Wake me up when everyone is ready to self-identify as "earthling.")
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To: LongElegantLegs

Post of the Day nominee.


9 posted on 03/26/2007 10:00:16 PM PDT by IslandJeff (There will be Democrats in heaven, except they'll be too busy organizing the staff)
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To: Rudder
"They almost made it into the mile-under club."

VERY funny!

10 posted on 03/26/2007 10:07:43 PM PDT by hypatia
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To: All

Another article said that the railing around the cabin balcony was at least 4 feet high. How in the world were they... situated?


11 posted on 03/26/2007 10:10:49 PM PDT by KittyKares
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To: KittyKares

I guess You Pay Your Money, You Takes Your Chances.


12 posted on 03/26/2007 10:13:29 PM PDT by IslandJeff (There will be Democrats in heaven, except they'll be too busy organizing the staff)
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To: KittyKares
He must have put her up on the railing and then got a little to active.

My stateroom on an Alaska cruise last year.

13 posted on 03/26/2007 10:17:51 PM PDT by razorback-bert (Posted by Time's Man of the Year)
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To: razorback-bert

What a beautiful room! I've heard that the Alaskan cruise is magnificent.


14 posted on 03/26/2007 10:22:09 PM PDT by KittyKares
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To: KittyKares

Well ...... It is called the "Love Boat."


15 posted on 03/26/2007 10:43:38 PM PDT by DakotaRed
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To: LongElegantLegs
They probably fell past several windows... 0.0

lol!

16 posted on 03/26/2007 10:45:50 PM PDT by pax_et_bonum (I will always love you, Flyer.)
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To: Rudder
Speaking of the mile-under club, you do know that the US Navy launched two people by balloon to 114Kft the day before Alan Shepard went up in a Mercury capsule?

Any way, they were "aeronauts" wearing Mercury space suits sitting in an open aluminum frame.

Every thing went well (their record may still stand), but one of them removed his helmet and slipped while getting into the recovery craft.

His body snagged in the parachute lines, catching it before it was able to literally, join that club.

The news of the achievement, and tragedy, sort of got lost in the Shepard trip.

17 posted on 03/26/2007 11:04:19 PM PDT by Calvin Locke
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To: KittyKares

You might say they fell in love.


18 posted on 03/27/2007 2:47:16 AM PDT by Ken H
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