As a veteran employee of cruise ships I will chime in here along with the several good answers already given. Except for the fella who said you have a good chance of being rescued, that is pure bluster my friend, you’re not even close.
I’ve often thought about this dilemma and have reached some conclusions. You are all correct when you say it is impossible to end up in the ocean unless extremely intoxicated, performing stupid stunts or are deliberately thrown overboard. One point that you’ve all missed is that it makes a huge difference where you go over, and when.
Where? Starboard or port side would give you the best chance as you could possibly avoid the aft turbulence. But still, hitting the water at a height of 50′ to 90′ feet or so could kill or stun you depending on how you hit the water.
Even if you hit the water okay, disorientation would be a big problem, it’s hard to tell which end is up as you’ll likely sink 15′ to 20′ feet below the surface – not a great place to be. Falling aft would make it very difficult to stay afloat as the turbulence of the propellers is incredible. Even an olympic swimmer would have a hard time with that.
For the average person, survival aft is highly unlikely, even if someone saw you and reported it, fahgedabowdit. Over the bow, you are 100% done. You’re under the ship and would be drowned even before you got chewed up in the propellers. Now how about when? Any time after dark and you are totally done, no matter which side you go over.
Chance of being rescued at night are not even 5%. Overall your chances of survival are no more than 20% – case closed.
This actually happened to the 18 year old daughter of a family friend when she was on a Mediterranean cruise with friends after finishing school in Melbourne. There was a party that night onboard and a fair bit of skylarking.
The following morning she was reported missing. There was speculation she might have been suicidal and jumped overboard or maybe been thrown overboard by bullies in her group.
The ship was too far gone from the location by this stage and a search showed up nothing. The distraught Australian parents were informed and they flew to Europe to begin a desperate search for her at hospitals bordering the sea etc. By this stage it was several days later and they only hoped to find her body and return home for funeral.
About a week or so later, Police reported a Jane Doe comatose in a German hospital who matched her description. She had been rescued at sea by a passing ship and had been treading water for several hours and found barely conscious.
She had been placed in a coma to recover at the hospital. This amazing girl made a quick recovery and has resumed normal life but still has no memory whatsoever of the incident or how she ended up overboard.
Cruise ships don’t like to advertise it, but this happens All. The. Time. As long as the seas are calm, and someone saw you fall/jump in, there’s not much to be afraid of. Crews aboard the ships are highly trained in rescue operations.
Within a matter of seconds they will have an inflatable raft tossed over the side of the ship in your general vicinity. Not just a life jacket, something that you can crawl on top of and get out of the water.
Within 2 to 3 minutes they will have launched a manned dinghy with a small rescue crew. That dinghy will have very powerful motors attached, capable of traveling much faster than the cruise liner. They will have you pulled out of the water within 5 to 10 minutes.
People in this thread claiming you would probably die if you fell overboard, are speaking from a place of ignorance. Cruise liners are mandated to handle all possible emergencies, and this is one of the scenarios they practice at length.
People dying on your ship due to lack of pre-planning is bad for business. The horror stories we hear about people being trapped in the middle of the ocean are those who got drunk and fell overboard without anybody noticing them. When they are discovered missing several hours later, there is a wide swath of ocean to search.
Bottom line, very few people die from falling overboard on a modern cruise ships. Worldwide, about 20 people find their way into the water every year. Most of them are quickly rescued. Those who don’t make it are generally nonswimmers, or dangerously drunk.
