22 of the Wildest Things That Happened on a Cruise Ship

Cheating couple overboard!
22 of the Wildest Things That Happened on a Cruise Ship

When it comes to lousy experiences on a cruise ship, people usually complain about some insanely drunk guy doing bad karaoke to “Rock Lobster” or detail the time they got a case of food poisoning so badly they swear they saw God. But those scenarios, while personal hells of their own, are nothing compared to a cheating couple who fell overboard and had nothing but a pair of rolled-up jeans to save them. 

These are the kinds of jaw-dropping, ship-stopping stories Redditors have stepped onto the dock to share. And from the sound of things, they’re very glad to be back on dry land. 

elrangarino . S 9y My friend works on the Disney cruise ship and he fucked Tinkerbell ... 958
EIGofre . 5y Somebody shot at the navigation bridge of the ship from the shore on my last ship, the bullet bounced off and hit my colleague on the hand (no real damage but it scares the hell out of her, ended up going home for a few weeks). While we waited for the local police to come on and investigate and take statements, guests were told we were delaying the departure to take on fresh water. I'm still shocked that never leaked out.
Crusha79 . 5y I was touring a ship for a future event. The ship was about to leave for a 100+ day cruise. I saw alot of old people getting on with oxygen tanks. I asked him what happens if they die on board. Не said it was very common for old people blow their life savings to come spend their last days on this cruise. Не also said they have a fully functional morgue. ... 8.7k
PaPa_ZeuS 6y Wasn't crazy for me but everyone around me it was. One night our ship went into a storm and the swells were causing the ship to rock and forth significantly throwing people and stuff back and forth. Why was this not crazy for me? Well when the staff makes the beds they decide to tuck those sheets tighter than a vice grip and I was to lazy to untuck them so I was sound asleep basically vacuumed sealed to my bed. I was completely unaware the storm even occured until the next day. Suck it storm. ... 11
DukeboxHiro 5y A new guy miscalculated the pool treatment and one of the Jacuzzis ended up with a pH less than 2 (it was discovered before the area opened and that one remained netted for the rest of the day while it was balanced). A wiper/painter stood on a small cupronickel black water pipe to reach higher on the bulkhead. Literal 'oh, shit' moment, from the floor to his knees. If you're pushing 140 revs on the shaft and the ship still won't break 15 knots, check the bulbous bow for whales. ... 1.1k
. 5y A pipe burst and flooded the kitchens. It was a waste pipe so we had to throw everything out and get a sanitation company to meet us at our next port and go out and buy all new inventory. We gave out vouchers for food but if we had been further from port that would have been awful ... 400
D Warden_Ryker . 5y Not a crewman (nor am I a boatswain) but I went on one of those overnight cruises to Bruges and we caught one of the seamen with his pants literally around his ankles as he was balls deep in one of the waitresses. We skidoodled the heckaroo out of there and later found that it was actually a couple who were on the cruise as passengers and were roleplaying, and that we had actually barged into their cabin by accident while drunk. ... 3.4k
Cmn1723 3y Actual former cruise ship employee here. The stupidest thing I've ever seen was probably on one of those weekend booze cruises. There was a group of former cheerleaders who were clearly out of practice and very drunk. They attempted to do a pyramid on the pool deck and 2 out of the 3 ended up in the infirmary. The stupidest thing I've ever done when I was working on ships? I got drunk on Absinthe in St. Petersburg, Russia, and nearly got arrested before I got back to the ship. ... 250
Lacklusterbeverage . 5y I was playing a production show (guitar) was standing on stage with a wireless unit alone to play Purple Rain, and then all of the sudden the house lights came on and the curtains closed. Everyone in the audience looked at me, and I ran off the stage. Turns out a sewage pipe burst backstage and there was shit everywhere. Show was cancelled and the passengers didn't find out why. ... 8.7k
cymbal_king 5y Was a passenger who found out... I was on the Costa Serena in January 2012. Just cruising around the Mediterranean. Woke up one morning and ALL of the crew and wait staff at breakfast we're stone cold and depressed looking. They made us do an extra life boat drill that morning, to all of our confusion. Found out later that day that our sister ship, the Concordia, sank overnight but didn't have many other details. My now wife wasn't on the trip and didn't know the exact name of the ship I was on..and found out before us.
PM_ME_DEEP_QUESTIONS . 5y I'm working on a cruise ship currently. One time we had to turn around to take someone to a hospital, and then there was a fire in the laundry room, and it was also pretty rocky seas.
HearingSword . . 6y The time my gran didnt realise she had booked onto a gay cruise..... ... 61
optoph Зу Saw 2 employees escort a 30-something year old woman from the pool deck back to her cabin while others were scrambling to get some rags. She had peed while lounging on a poolside deck chair, and the huge puddle was streaming into the pool. Her excuse was she did not want to give up the chair. ... 164
toledotouchdown 6y An old piano player joined the ship after touring with bands for the last 30 years. Не told me he was excited to have a regular job where he will be able to be around for more of his grandkids events. Well, first night aboard he drinks like a fish, falls down the stairs and busts up his face. Не was kicked off the ship the following day ... 6
TheFotty . 5y My sister worked on one for a few years, people did eventually find out, but they use code words over the PA system for various events that can happen. A guy got into a fight with his family and jumped. The ship circled back and used spotlights from their stage shows to look in the water. They could hear screaming briefly but the guy was never spotted. These were shark waters as well, so he either drowned or was eaten, or a bit of both.
too-tsunami 5y I worked on a cruise ship for three years! I've got a lot of these kinds of stories, but here's my favorite one: Our ship officers got a call from a ship of a completely different cruise line, off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico. They found one of our passengers floating in the ocean. Не wasn't even near the shore at all, just floating in open water. Не was alive & perfectly fine. They reviewed the security footage, & in the middle of the night this guy was drunk on Deck 5, & could be seen holding his
Petrucch . Зу Worked for Royal Caribbean for 7 years, was based out of Shanghai at the time and saw a guest put a lit cigarette in a garbage can. You can guess what happend 30 seconds later. Luckily there was a fire extinguisher near by ... 190
myjobisawesome в 5y Water pipe burst in a store room and soaked ALL of the spare toilet paper. This was on day 2 of a 14 day voyage to Antarctica. The cabin stewards had to swap around rolls of paper between low use and high use guest cabins and it came right down the wire. None of the guests found out or realized. Now toilet paper is hidden in every cabin instead of a centralized location. ... 28.3k
Mr_Happy_80 . 5y All of the computer systems run on Windows 7, including all of the automation in the machinery space, security system, fire detection system etc.. When Windows updates it will restart the computers, as it does with a normal desktop, unfortunately it can also take out every computer at the same time and we're flying blind until it finishes. People may be more worried to hear that there is a hole in the hull yet they're actually fairly common occurances in older ships and easily plugged. Fires happen occasionally. The most terrifying was a crankcase explosion. The fire suppression
PrincePeasant. 1 1y Was hired for a month-long musical engagement (onboard). After leaving port, was ordered to go to an particular area on the ship (a few minutes after we disembarked) and conduct life boat training, for the passengers (without myself having any training). ... 177
loveallmyrolls . 6y Not really crazy. But I was on the Disney Cruise ship for the first time ever and I have my fav stuffed animal (Oddball from 102 Dalmations) They call us out of our rooms to do the whole safety talk and they decide to go into detail about how fast you would die if the ship sunk. And I'm over here crying cuz I don't wanna die. Then they send us off to Disney shows and food. ... 13
DaniSeeh 5y One time I was on a cruise, and a few cabins down a man and woman who were cheating on their wife and husband, respectively, got super drunk and fell over the edge of their balcony. From really high up. It was at night too. The whole cruise ship stopped once it was reported and it took like an entire day to search for them. Apparently the man had his jeans or something because he had inflated them somehow and they were floating holding them. They reported that they were stung by multiple jelly fish and were super
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