January 8 2015, a wave swept 22-year-old American tourist
Frank Jade from the deck of Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. Somehow,
none of the 6,360 passengers and 2,394 crew members saw him fall or noticed his
absence. Cruise ships should have detection systems in place for this event,
but the Oasis of the Seas did not. (Royal Caribbean was later censured
for violating the 2010 Cruise Vessel Safety/Security Act.) Frank could only
watch helplessly as his ship sailed away without him. Miraculously, Frank was spotted
by passengers aboard the appropriately named Disney Magic. Tom Parsons, a vacationing fire chief
from Ithaca, threw him life preservers. The Magic lowered a rescue boat to
retrieve him. The cruise ship made an unscheduled stop in Mexico so Frank could
receive medical attention. I don’t suppose many people can say they started a
voyage on one of the cheapest cruise lines and ended it on one of the most
expensive.
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