Man Overboard: It's Not Easy to Do

NEW YORK — How hard is it to fall off a cruise ship? "It is so hard to fall overboard that when someone does go over the side, it's either because, sadly, it's a suicide attempt or it's because they're being incredibly foolish," said Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of the Web site CruiseCritic.com.

Yet three people have gone overboard from cruise ships in the past two weeks. Michael Mankamyer, 35, went over a Carnival Glory ship off Florida's coast on March 16 and was rescued eight hours later. He said that he had been drinking and that "alcohol took over with my medication."

Last weekend, a 22-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman went overboard from the Grand Princess. They were found four hours later 150 miles off Galveston, Texas. Neither was seriously injured, and they asked the cruise line to keep their names and the circumstances that led to the fall private....