Courthouse News Service published a shocking article today entitled A Caribbean Cruise From Hell.
The article involves the story of the disappearance of a young woman from Tennessee, 21 year old A’riel Marion, and the cruise lines outrageous mistreatment of her mother, Vera Marion, during a cruise aboard Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas.
Last September, A’riel Marion fell overboard around 9:30 EST. She first struck another passenger who was on a lower balcony, and then fell into the sea. The incident was promptly reportedly through the vessel’s 911 system but the cruise ship 
refused to stop notwithstanding the eye witness account and CCTV images which documented the overboard.
The mother’s lawsuit alleges that Royal Caribbean did not notify the U.S. Coast Guard of the overboard situation until approximately 11:30 EST, approximately two hours after the crew first received report of the emergency. In the interim, Mrs. Marion was interrogated, confined to a cabin under the supervision of cruise lines guards, and not permitted to communicate with her family back home. There are lots of things that the cruise line did which are inexcusable.
You can read the lawsuit allegations here.
We wrote a series of articles about the disturbing story. Royal Caribbean falsely reported that it “immediately” reported the overboard to the Coast Guard, but in truth it delayed for 2 hours. You can read our articles here:
Passenger Missing From The Allure of the Seas Cruise Ship
Delay, Deny, Deceive & Defend: Royal Caribbean Shows How Not to Respond to an Overboard Passenger