Officials at Royal Caribbean say it has permanently banned a 27-year-old passenger after a stunt caught on cellphone video and shared widely via social media.
According to the cruise line, Nick Naydev could still face legal challenges related to the footage posted to Instagram on Friday.
He can be seen jumping from the 11th deck of the ship, falling a distance of about 120 feet to the water below.
In a reply to the post, he alluded to alcohol consumption as a reason for his reckless act, as reported by USA Today.
“I was still drunk from the previous night,” Naydev wrote. “When I woke up I just decided to jump.”
The jump made him feel “more alive” than ever, he wrote, but said he “could barely walk for 3 days” after hitting the water.
The corporate statement called Naydev’s behavior “stupid and reckless,” noting that both he and the group traveling with him and cheering him on “have been banned from ever sailing with us again.”
Following the incident, the passengers banned from the ship were stranded in the Bahamas until they could arrange for a different mode of transportation.
Royal Caribbean added that it will be “exploring legal action” against Naydev, who wrote that responding police officers opted against pressing charges.
He said cops “actually laughed at the video” when they saw it at the time.
Reports indicate a teen passenger on a Royal Caribbean ship died last week when he fell during an attempt to climb between two balconies.
[Featured images: Instagram, video screenshots]
