Ocean Spirit Posted December 15, 2018 #1 Share Posted December 15, 2018 (edited) Most of us know you simply can't just fall off the ship unless there is foul play or you are doing something stupid like sitting or standing on the railing. However we continue to see passengers going overboard. Do you think there will ever be a significant change in design of the balconies and decks to prevent this occurring. I hate the thought of losing the openness and views you get while at sea. Edited December 15, 2018 by Ocean Spirit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoDidly Posted December 15, 2018 #2 Share Posted December 15, 2018 I'm a firm believer that a person can fall off a cruise ship. I've had the displeasure of experiencing rough seas and feel that it's possible. Several have tried to change my mind on these boards but that's not going to happen. The designs wont change because people fall off ships. The ratio would have to increase quite a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awreaper Posted December 15, 2018 #3 Share Posted December 15, 2018 I can't ever remember an instance where a cruiser was minding their own business walking around the deck and just fell off the boat, even in rough seas. If it became that rough I assume they would not let anyone out on deck. If someone wants to do something stupid or wants to commit suicide they will find a way. 17 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robc1972 Posted December 15, 2018 #4 Share Posted December 15, 2018 47 minutes ago, BoDidly said: I'm a firm believer that a person can fall off a cruise ship. I've had the displeasure of experiencing rough seas and feel that it's possible. Several have tried to change my mind on these boards but that's not going to happen. The designs wont change because people fall off ships. The ratio would have to increase quite a bit. From what I have read in the last day in the news articles about the person that went overboard, every single person going overboard was either an intentional jump or somebody doing something they shouldn't have been doing. All the rails are about chest high on me and I am about 5-10. I would have to work really hard to go over by accident even in rough seas. Short of putting a catch net all around the bottom there isn't anything that can be done to fix stupid and if somebody wants to get overboard on purpose they will. 6 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coevan Posted December 15, 2018 #5 Share Posted December 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Ocean Spirit said: However we continue to see passengers going overboard. It's very small percentage compared to the millions who cruise every year. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine5715 Posted December 15, 2018 #6 Share Posted December 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Ocean Spirit said: Most of us know you simply can't just fall off the ship unless there is foul play or you are doing something stupid like sitting or standing on the railing. However we continue to see passengers going overboard. Do you think there will ever be a significant change in design of the balconies and decks to prevent this occurring. I hate the thought of losing the openness and views you get while at sea. It isn't a ship design issue. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted December 16, 2018 #7 Share Posted December 16, 2018 As others have noted, the railings are above the center of gravity of the majority of people. Even in rough weather, there isn't really any way that you could be "thrown" by either a wave or the ship's motion over the railings. It is not a design failure. Short of putting a MMA type cage up the entire sides of the ship, you are not going to stop people from jumping or being pushed overboard. Even cargo ships, where the decks of tankers are even lower to the water than cruise ships, and where the railings tend to be more just pipes and chains than fixed glass balcony panels, or steel bulwarks, and that tend to proceed in far worse weather than cruise ships, overboards by accident are very rare. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerman2 Posted December 16, 2018 #8 Share Posted December 16, 2018 2 hours ago, awreaper said: I can't ever remember an instance where a cruiser was minding their own business walking around the deck and just fell off the boat, even in rough seas. If it became that rough I assume they would not let anyone out on deck. If someone wants to do something stupid or wants to commit suicide they will find a way. Exactly, why would a person put themselves in rough seas by a railing? Common sense would say stay away from the railing. Unless they are daredevil/risk taker. In that case it's on them ! Down South Under you are in the minority that "think" you can just fall off a ship without some sort of mental instability( jumping) or stupidity happening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazedByCruising Posted December 16, 2018 #9 Share Posted December 16, 2018 19 minutes ago, chengkp75 said: As others have noted, the railings are above the center of gravity of the majority of people. Weird to see what ships looked liked long ago. In the second picture here https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/excluderecent/15-december-2018-crossing-the-north-atlantic-day-5/ it looks as if the railing were some wires not heigher than 1 meter or so. Compared to that, modern ships are like a playpen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoDidly Posted December 16, 2018 #10 Share Posted December 16, 2018 (edited) 10 minutes ago, AmazedByCruising said: Weird to see what ships looked liked long ago. In the second picture here https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/excluderecent/15-december-2018-crossing-the-north-atlantic-day-5/ it looks as if the railing were some wires not heigher than 1 meter or so. Compared to that, modern ships are like a playpen. This one ? Edited December 16, 2018 by BoDidly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazedByCruising Posted December 16, 2018 #11 Share Posted December 16, 2018 5 minutes ago, BoDidly said: This one ? Yep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusin Hogs Posted December 16, 2018 #12 Share Posted December 16, 2018 The newer ships ,Dream ,Magic ,Breeze ,Vista ,Horizon , has deck 5 extended 20-25 ft out from the side of the ship ,So if you are on deck 6 or higher ,, you will meet deck 5 on your way down ,,, Fall from deck 4 or lower , hitting the water will not kill you ,,, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmazedByCruising Posted December 16, 2018 #13 Share Posted December 16, 2018 1 minute ago, Crusin Hogs said: The newer ships ,Dream ,Magic ,Breeze ,Vista ,Horizon , has deck 5 extended 20-25 ft out from the side of the ship ,So if you are on deck 6 or higher ,, you will meet deck 5 on your way down ,,, Fall from deck 4 or lower , hitting the water will not kill you ,,, Ending up in the sea is of course almost a certain death. It's not a swimming pool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coevan Posted December 16, 2018 #14 Share Posted December 16, 2018 (edited) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/features/cruise-overboard-safety-travel-spd/ As this shows going overboard is extremely rare, on all cruise line 5 in 2018 and 17 in 2017. We are talking about millions of cruise passengers I have no idea, why it did not highlight, copy and paste please Edited December 16, 2018 by coevan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klfrodo Posted December 16, 2018 #15 Share Posted December 16, 2018 5 hours ago, Ocean Spirit said: Most of us know you simply can't just fall off the ship unless there is foul play or you are doing something stupid like sitting or standing on the railing. However we continue to see passengers going overboard. Do you think there will ever be a significant change in design of the balconies and decks to prevent this occurring. I hate the thought of losing the openness and views you get while at sea. Let’s hear your proposed ideas or solutions. Everything can be improved on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NHNEV2003 Posted December 16, 2018 #16 Share Posted December 16, 2018 5 hours ago, Ocean Spirit said: Most of us know you simply can't just fall off the ship unless there is foul play or you are doing something stupid like sitting or standing on the railing. However we continue to see passengers going overboard. Do you think there will ever be a significant change in design of the balconies and decks to prevent this occurring. I hate the thought of losing the openness and views you get while at sea. No, and we should not have to. The railings are high enough to keep you on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robc1972 Posted December 16, 2018 #17 Share Posted December 16, 2018 9 minutes ago, klfrodo said: Let’s hear your proposed ideas or solutions. Everything can be improved on. Solution to what? Only solution to people being stupid causing them to fall into the ocean or people jumping overboard into the ocean is to have the cruise ships on land but then they would be called hotels and they wouldn't take us anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseGal999 Posted December 16, 2018 #18 Share Posted December 16, 2018 6 hours ago, Ocean Spirit said: Most of us know you simply can't just fall off the ship unless there is foul play or you are doing something stupid like sitting or standing on the railing. However we continue to see passengers going overboard. Do you think there will ever be a significant change in design of the balconies and decks to prevent this occurring. I hate the thought of losing the openness and views you get while at sea. If someone is going to commit suicide by jumping off of a ship ... there's isn't much that can be done to prevent that. Where's there's a will, there's a way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad1972 Posted December 16, 2018 #19 Share Posted December 16, 2018 6 hours ago, Ocean Spirit said: However we continue to see passengers going overboard. Do you think there will ever be a significant change in design of the balconies and decks to prevent this occurring. I hate the thought of losing the openness and views you get while at sea. Only thing they can do is raise the railing up over your heads and you get to look at your cruise vacation thru inch thick scratched up hazy sun faded plexy glass. LOL. Even on my first cruise, never been on a cruise ship before let alone a large ship at sea for a week. I never had any problems almost or nearly or came close to falling over any of this ships railings. So much so I even went on another cruise and now booked a third. Cruise ship railings are at their required high by what ever statutes regulations say they need to be. As someone else said most everyone that falls over board is either foul play or they are doing something stupid, breaking ship rules, too drunk, or they deliberately jumped over. I have never heard of someone or a family suing a cruise company because they slipped off the top of the railing while showing off to their friends of their awesome balancing skills, Or spouse threw their partner over the railing and later sues because it wasn't high enough to prevent them from throwing their spouse overboard. Maybe i'm wrong but i've never heard a lawsuit like that before. Head Lines. "Wife sues Carnival cruise lines because railings were not high enough to prevent her from throwing her husband overboard." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tapi Posted December 16, 2018 #20 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Even though railings are high enough, the spacing between each rail seems big enough to fit a child. When my kids were younger, I’d be deathly afraid to be out on deck with them. Ships with glass rather than metal railings across make me feel safer, both for me and for the kids. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine5715 Posted December 16, 2018 #21 Share Posted December 16, 2018 1 hour ago, robc1972 said: Solution to what? Only solution to people being stupid causing them to fall into the ocean or people jumping overboard into the ocean is to have the cruise ships on land but then they would be called hotels and they wouldn't take us anywhere. And people kill themselves all the time in hotels.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonit964 Posted December 16, 2018 #22 Share Posted December 16, 2018 7 hours ago, BoDidly said: I'm a firm believer that a person can fall off a cruise ship. I've had the displeasure of experiencing rough seas and feel that it's possible. Several have tried to change my mind on these boards but that's not going to happen. The designs wont change because people fall off ships. The ratio would have to increase quite a bit. It would be interesting to hear your experience. Are you like 7 feet tall and were out on deck standing by the railing and you felt like you would be top heavy and go over? I'm being serious. I just don't understand how one could feel be standing at the railing and feel they were going to be uplifted and go over. I've been out on deck in rough seas many times, standing at the railing, looking at the water and never felt in danger of going over. It would be impossible. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoDidly Posted December 16, 2018 #23 Share Posted December 16, 2018 (edited) 9 minutes ago, tonit964 said: It would be interesting to hear your experience. Are you like 7 feet tall and were out on deck standing by the railing and you felt like you would be top heavy and go over? I'm being serious. I just don't understand how one could feel be standing at the railing and feel they were going to be uplifted and go over. I've been out on deck in rough seas many times, standing at the railing, looking at the water and never felt in danger of going over. It would be impossible. We had a group cruise years back where a member was on the top deck. The wind was high and the seas were rough ,he was walking by what was supposed to be a secured door. Needless to say the door popped open and hit him in his shoulder knocking him to the rail and almost over . But seriously , I really don't need to defend my post or my beliefs . But you did ask nicely . Edited December 16, 2018 by BoDidly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonit964 Posted December 16, 2018 #24 Share Posted December 16, 2018 9 minutes ago, BoDidly said: We had a group cruise years back where a member was on the top deck. The wind was high and the seas were rough ,he was walking by what was supposed to be a secured door. Needless to say the door popped open and hit him in his shoulder knocking him to the rail and almost over . But seriously , I really don't need to defend my post or my beliefs . But you did ask nicely . No need to defend and thank you for answering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolloman Posted December 16, 2018 #25 Share Posted December 16, 2018 15 hours ago, BoDidly said: I'm a firm believer that a person can fall off a cruise ship. I've had the displeasure of experiencing rough seas and feel that it's possible. Several have tried to change my mind on these boards but that's not going to happen. The designs wont change because people fall off ships. The ratio would have to increase quite a bit. I am a firm believer an asteroid can fall to the earth and land on someone. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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