Cruise Passenger Banned After Climbing Over Rail for Selfie

Published Oct 30, 2019 11:08 PM by The Maritime Executive

A female passenger aboard the cruise ship Allure of the Seas has been banned for life after climbing over a rail to take an extreme selfie. 

In a photo taken by a fellow passenger, the woman can be seen standing on a narrow ledge on the outboard side of a balcony rail, her hands above her head. The bystander thought that she might be intending to go overboard, and he reported the incident to the crew.

"While on my balcony, I saw the woman climb on her railing. It happened so quickly," passenger Peter Blosic told CNN. "Not knowing what her intentions were, I alerted the crew. If I said nothing, and she was going to jump, that would be horrible."

The crew found the woman and removed her from the ship at the next port call in Falmouth, Jamaica. 

"Earlier this week on the Allure of the Seas, a guest was observed recklessly and dangerously posing for a photo by standing on her stateroom balcony railing with the help of her companion," said Royal Caribbean in a statement."Security was notified and the guests were later [disembarked] in Falmouth, Jamaica as a result of their actions and are now banned for life from sailing with Royal Caribbean."

Selfie-related fatalities do occur, and they are often well-publicized: Between October 2011 and November 2017, nearly 260 selfie-related deaths received media coverage, an average of about 37 per year worldwide, according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care. 

In a similar cruise ship incident in January, 27-year-old passenger Nick Naydev jumped off his 11th-deck balcony aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Symphony of the Seas during a port call in Nassau. The stunt was captured on video and posted to Instagram, where the content proved quite popular among viewers. Royal Caribbean described Naydev's action as "stupid and reckless behavior," adding that in addition to banning him and his friends for life, the line would be "exploring legal action." 

On the same day that Naydev posted the video, a teenage passenger from the Royal Caribbean vessel Harmony of the Seas died after falling from the ship onto the pier at Labadee, Haiti. The victim, 16-year-old Laurent Mercer, fell while attempting to climb between two balconies.