Very sad news from Celebrity Summit sailing of 24-31 Dec. 2011

[Goya_Essence]

I have just returned from the Celebrity Summit. With much sadness, and a story you may confirm via the Associated Press and the US Coast Guard, a female staff member went overboard on 25 Dec. 2011. It appears to have been a suicide. Associated Press reports that she was 30 years old and a member of the bar staff. A crew member mentioned that her husband did or had worked recently on the Summit as a waiter.

 

Here are the details, offered respectfully, from this passenger's account. The following events occurred on 25 Dec. 2011.

 

I share the following details not to glamorize a very tragic event, but to recount how such an event was handled by Celebrity.

 

Ultimately, my thoughts are with the family of this young woman at this tragic time.

 

Timeline:

12:08 a.m. Captain makes the following call: "This is your Captain speaking. The following annoucement is for the crew only. Oscar! Oscar! Oscar, port side. Passengers are asked to stay clear of all open decks."

 

I happened to be attending Midnight Mass in the Main Theater. Being a public space, the Captain's broadcasts would be heard in this space. Many passengers, having retired to their cabins, did not hear the first or second annoucements from the captain.

 

Not having a naval background, perhaps intuitively, I mentioned to the family that this had to a man overboard call, especially since it was made to all public ship areas at midnight and the request to stay clear of open decks.

 

12:55 The Captain makes the following annoucement: "Earlier this evening we had a person overboard situation. I shall advise you of the details as these become available."

 

In accordance with the Captain's request, I remained clear of the open desks. Standing on my balcony at around 1:15 a.m. I noticed two things: a large, very well-lit ferry boat, not a Coast Guard ship or cruise ship, close to the Summit and a very powerful high beam light (search light) coming from the ship.

 

7:30 a.m. Captain makes a third and final annoucement about the incident: "Last evening a crew member went overboard. The Celebrity Summit, under the orders of the US Coast Guard, assisted with the search for 9 hours. The Summit has been released from the search mission. The missing crew member has not been located."

 

This news came as a shock to those passengers who had not been in public spaces earlier that morning to hear the Captain's first two updates. There appeared to be disclosure of relevant information from the Captain. The cruises proceeded as planned, but a sadness seemed to linger. It wasn't the festive cruise of previous years. I hope the crew had -- and continue to have -- the opportunity to research out to each other and professionals -- for support.

[ehrlichpuppy]

How sad!!!

[dkjretired]

I have just returned from the Celebrity Summit. With much sadness, and a story you may confirm via the Associated Press and the US Coast Guard, a female staff member went overboard on 25 Dec. 2011. It appears to have been a suicide. Associated Press reports that she was 30 years old and a member of the bar staff. A crew member mentioned that her husband did or had worked recently on the Summit as a waiter.

 

Here are the details, offered respectfully, from this passenger's account. The following events occurred on 25 Dec. 2011.

 

I share the following details not to glamorize a very tragic event, but to recount how such an event was handled by Celebrity.

 

Ultimately, my thoughts are with the family of this young woman at this tragic time.

 

Timeline:

12:08 a.m. Captain makes the following call: "This is your Captain speaking. The following annoucement is for the crew only. Oscar! Oscar! Oscar, port side. Passengers are asked to stay clear of all open decks."

 

I happened to be attending Midnight Mass in the Main Theater. Being a public space, the Captain's broadcasts would be heard in this space. Many passengers, having retired to their cabins, did not hear the first or second annoucements from the captain.

 

Not having a naval background, perhaps intuitively, I mentioned to the family that this had to a man overboard call, especially since it was made to all public ship areas at midnight and the request to stay clear of open decks.

 

12:55 The Captain makes the following annoucement: "Earlier this evening we had a person overboard situation. I shall advise you of the details as these become available."

 

In accordance with the Captain's request, I remained clear of the open desks. Standing on my balcony at around 1:15 a.m. I noticed two things: a large, very well-lit ferry boat, not a Coast Guard ship or cruise ship, close to the Summit and a very powerful high beam light (search light) coming from the ship.

 

7:30 a.m. Captain makes a third and final annoucement about the incident: "Last evening a crew member went overboard. The Celebrity Summit, under the orders of the US Coast Guard, assisted with the search for 9 hours. The Summit has been released from the search mission. The missing crew member has not been located."

 

This news came as a shock to those passengers who had not been in public spaces earlier that morning to hear the Captain's first two updates. There appeared to be disclosure of relevant information from the Captain. The cruises proceeded as planned, but a sadness seemed to linger. It wasn't the festive cruise of previous years. I hope the crew had -- and continue to have -- the opportunity to research out to each other and professionals -- for support.

 

Thanks for the info, you might want to check out this thread on the subject from earlier this week. There are some newspaper articles referenced..

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1536485

[runchadrun]

I was on the Serenade of the Seas which was berthed next to the Summit in San Juan and left port before you did. Our captain announced in her usual morning announcements that we were part of a search and rescue operation overnight (but didn't give any more details) so that was probably what you thought was a very large ferry.

[H82seaUgo]

how sad.

[misha1]

Scary and sad no matter what. We also experienced such a situation on The Radiance of the Seas, the crew were incredibly fast in lauching rescue boats and flares (we were in open sea) and the crew member was brought aboard, but sadly did not survive the night.

[SandyR5]

We were also on the Radiance when a crewmember...the art auctioneer, jumped. We were sitting in the dining room, near the window, and saw something go by. Shortly afterwards we heard the "Oscar, Oscar" announcement. Our waiter told us what it meant. Very, very sad. We were really surprised at how quickly he was brought back onboard, but it was too late at that time.

[gelo7]

That's awful.

[M.R.X.]

Very sad. Selfishly, glad that we didn't hear anything about it on Eclipse, it would have really made the vacation sad. Prayers to her family.

[letsgo39]

Very sad. Selfishly, glad that we didn't hear anything about it on Eclipse, it would have really made the vacation sad. Prayers to her family.

 

 

That is selfish,your right.

 

My prayers for all those affected. Tragic.

[dmk]

The same thing happened on our last Constellation cruise...very sad. The crew were understandably extremely upset.

[rodan]

These things happen and 20 years ago on a cruise that started out of Aruba it was 11:30 at night when a tall metal stairwell that was positioned next to the ship for boarding fell over on a crew member and killed him. Very few people saw this because of the time of the accident but it was announced to us all the next morning our first day at sea. This tragic death on the Summit brought that memory back.