Passenger recalls ‘dystopian’ scene after man died ‘jumping’ overboard of world’s biggest cruise ship
A Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas passenger has spoken out about what it was like when they first realized a man had gone overboard.
On Sunday (May 26) morning, a man went overboard on the world's largest cruise ship and a passenger has since spoken out about the 'dystopian' scenes onboard.
The cruise ship had departed the day before (May 25) from Miami, Florida and was set sail for Roatan in Honduras, expected to arrive on May 27.
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The vessel was around 300 miles from Miami when a man was reported as having gone overboard.
According to the New York Post, passengers said the man had 'jumped' from the 1,200-foot-long cruise.
Videos emerged online of a rescue boat being launched in a bid to find the man, the Royal Caribbean cruise stopped for two hours and the Coast Guard was also called to assist.
A man was later recovered from the sea, the Coast Guard confirming in a statement to the Post: "The cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard. He was pronounced deceased.
"Beyond assisting in the search, the US Coast Guard did not have much involvement in this incident."
However, a passenger has since revealed there was confusion surrounding the results of the rescue mission back on board the ship.
Zachary Normandin was on board the cruise when the man went overboard.
The 31-year-old told The Post he and around 300 of the cruise's up to 7,000 passengers were eating dinner when they were informed the man had been found.
Normandin said: "Everyone in the dining room clapped and we’re like ‘Yeah!' We assumed that the guy was fine."
And guests carried on with their celebrating, unaware the man had actually ended up passing away.
The ship then kept going on its journey, Normandin adding he 'thought' they'd be 'going straight back to Miami' but 'everything just kept on going'.
"I think people we’re just trying not to think about it, maybe, I don’t know," he added, reflecting on people continuing to just 'go about their day' as 'kind of dystopian'.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement: "Our care team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time.
"For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share."
UNILAD has contacted Royal Caribbean for further comment.
Topics: Health, Royal Caribbean, Travel, World News
Poppy Bilderbeck