Anonymous - 2-28-2005 at 05:40 PM
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-overboard24feb24,1,7...
By Richard Marosi, Times Staff Writer
February 24, 2005
SAN DIEGO ? In a dramatic rescue at sea, a cruise ship bound for San Diego abruptly changed course Wednesday so crew members could save a man who had
fallen off the 12-deck ship.
As other passengers watched, the 49-year-old man was pulled from the ocean about 100 miles south of Ensenada in Baja California. Police said the fall
appeared to be accidental, and the man suffered no serious injuries.
The passenger, whose name was not disclosed, disembarked in San Diego and took a taxi home, authorities said.
The rescue prompted cheers for the captain and crew from the 900 passengers aboard the boat, said Mimi Weisband, a spokeswoman for Crystal Cruises
Inc.
"To have somebody rescued at sea was certainly dramatic and everybody responded so well," Weisband said.
The incident occurred as the Crystal Harmony was sailing back to Los Angeles after a 10-day cruise to Mexico.
About 6 a.m., while most passengers were asleep, kitchen crew members saw the man falling from an upper deck, Weisband said. A life ring was thrown to
him, and the 50,000-ton ship immediately turned around.
Crew members in a lifeboat pulled the man from the water during the 30-minute rescue.
Passenger rescued after falling from deck of cruise ship
Anonymous - 2-28-2005 at 06:01 PM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20050223-1847-ca-ma...
February 23, 2005
SAN DIEGO ? A cruise ship passenger was rescued after he fell from a deck into the waters off of Mexico, officials said Wednesday.
The luxury vessel Crystal Harmony was about 100 miles south of Ensenada when some crew members smoking on a deck saw the unidentified man fall from
the sixth deck shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday, said Mimi Weisband, spokeswoman for Crystal Cruises.
The sixth deck contains entertainment facilities, including a shopping area, theater, saloon, lounge, casino, sports area and golf driving net,
according to the vessel's plans.
"A few of our galley crew saw a body fall past them and into the water and they immediately advised the bridge and threw a life ring," she said.
"The captain got on the speaker they use to call the rooms," passenger Milton Cole of Beverly Hills said in a telephone conversation from the ship.
"He said, 'This is not a drill. It's Code Oscar.' And subsequently we heard that Code Oscar means man overboard."
A smoke pot was tossed down to mark the spot and the 50,000-ton vessel began to turn around. The ship's tender was lowered and retrieved the man, who
was treated for hypothermia in the ship's medical facilities.
The rescue took about 30 minutes.
The captain later announced the rescue to the 900 other passengers.
"Apparently he was greeted throughout the ship with applause. They did do a wonderful job," Weisband said.
The man apparently boarded in Los Angeles on Feb. 14, when the ship began its 10-day round-trip cruise to the Mexican Riviera.
Weisband did not know his identity.
"We did learn that he was a middle-aged man traveling alone. He was a guest on board," she said.
The man was turned over to harbor police when the ship stopped in San Diego at about 1 p.m. The man was questioned and then released.
"He wasn't arrested," Senior Officer Laura Tosatto said. "He told the officers that he accidentally fell. He appeared to be all fine, healthy and
didn't have any medical problems."