A young crew member went overboard from the cruise ship Jewel of the Seas on April 30, while the vessel was off the coast of Greece. According to the Greek media, a search was underway by the ship and the Coast Guard in an attempt to locate the missing crew member. A lifeboat and two Coast Guard vessels were involved in the search, and a Coast Guard aircraft was deployed in the area. Unfortunately the crew member was not located.

We received the following message from a crew member, as a screenshot of a post that was circulating on the social media regarding this terrible incident.

“One of the crew member on 30th April late night jumped over board on Jewel of the seas. He is from Poland an electrician a 26year old guy. His body still not found till 1st evening they came to know he was missing. We had a Charlie drill an did a cabin search no news. And found his sea pass on Deck 12. That's how they came to know on the camera.”

Crew Center has also received the audio recording from the captain’s announcement updating the crew about the attempt to locate the missing crew member.

“During yesterday's search, I know it was a difficult time for many of us, I’m sorry to share with you that after a thorough investigation it appears that our college Kristoff has gone overboard. Local authorities has been informed about this. His family has been contacted, and they will be supported by our care team." said the captain, adding that Royal Caribbean provides Employee Assistance Program. The captain asked the crew for one-minute silence and prayer in honor of Kristoff.

During these difficult times Royal Caribbean has been supportive of the crew and followed the rules established by the authorities. At the beginning of the lockdown, we receive many messages from Royal Caribbean crew members saying that the company is doing a great job. Many of these messages we shared on the social media. As the time went by the crew was placed in isolation in guest cabins on all Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises ships. The crew complied with all the rules and regulations and completed the quarantine. During this time Royal Caribbean make sure the crew were kept entertained and well taken care of by offering many activities, additional tv channels, bingo etc.

However, In the past few days, we received several messages from the crew saying they are tired, stressed and all they want is to go back home. Its been already two months since the lockdown, and some of them can't bear the uncertainty. They say that the company has informed them many times about the charter flights but at the end they were all canceled. Many of the crew support Royal Caribbean saying they will stick with the company, however, after such a long period their families are worried about them, and they need to be home with their loved ones during these difficult times.

These are stressful times for the crew who are still on the ships and we hope that the company will go above and beyond, as the crew always does, and send them home as soon as possible.