ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE RESCUES 12 PEOPLE FROM MAKSHIFT RAFT

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship saved approximately 12 people from a deteriorating makeshift raft in the Caribbean Sea on Sunday evening, September 28, after weather conditions forced the vessel off its initially planned route.

The Enchantment of the Seas was traveling from Tampa, Florida, to Costa Maya, Mexico, when it diverted course to avoid Hurricane Humberto and Tropical Storm Imelda. The unplanned route change proved fortuitous, positioning the ship to spot the group in distress.

Passenger footage shared on social media captured the dramatic moment as the cruise ship approached the raft, which appeared to be "starting to fall apart" according to reports from Cruise News Today. The ship's crew deployed a rescue craft to retrieve the individuals, who were immediately provided with drinking water once aboard.

Following standard maritime protocol, cruise lines typically transfer rescued individuals to appropriate authorities upon reaching port.

A Pattern of Heroism

This marks the second high-profile rescue by Royal Caribbean vessels in recent months. In February, the company's Brilliance of the Seas rescued 11 people from a small boat adrift in the Gulf of Mexico between Cuba and Mexico during a seven-night cruise departing from New Orleans.

Randle Roper, CEO of LGBT+ vacation company VACAYA and a passenger on that February voyage, described the emotional experience to CNN. "The captain calls me immediately as the charterer of the ship to let me know that they are going to turn around and investigate, and that's exactly what they did," Roper said.

Roper recalled watching the refugees "waving that white flag of distress" as the ship approached, with passengers gathering on deck to witness the rescue. "They had determined from a distance that there were 10 or more people on the boat. They could also see that they were clearly in distress," he explained. "The refugees on the boat were literally bailing out the water out of the boat, so their boat had clearly become stricken, and they were just adrift [at] sea and taking on water."

Despite being "pretty malnourished and exhausted," Roper said the rescued individuals were "in great spirits" after reaching the safety of the cruise ship.

"I can only imagine the fear that they must have been feeling to be out in the open Gulf with no other vessels around," Roper added.

These incidents underscore the critical role commercial vessels play in maritime rescue operations, often serving as the difference between life and death for those in peril at sea.