Recent High School Graduate Falls Off Carnival Cruise Ship

Florida Key West The Coast Guard is searching for an 18-year-old believed to have gone overboard from the Carnival Fantasy in the Gulf of Mexico. Bruce Okrepki just graduated high school and was on the ship with 35 of his classmates.

by The Associated Press

Published: Mon, May 25, 2009 - 12:57 pm CST Last Updated: Mon, May 25, 2009 - 3:21 pm CST

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The Coast Guard is searching for a man
believed to have gone overboard from a cruise ship in the Gulf of
Mexico.
The Coast Guard say 18-year-old Bruce Okrepki reportedly went
overboard from the Carnival Fantasy at about 9:45 p.m. Sunday,
about 150 miles southwest of Tampa.
O'Krepki is from Hammond, La., where The Daily Star newspaper
reported Monday that he was a recent graduate of St. Thomas Aquinas
High School. He was with about 35 classmates on the ship.
A search plane, helicopter and Coast Guard cutter were sent out
to search.
The ship had left New Orleans and was en route to Key West.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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goneisland2 Says:

Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 9:51 am

I would not let a kid of mine go on such a cruise, or go to an island, such as Aruba, unless I went along as a chaperone. Too often the chaperones are too busy having a good time of their own. Look what happened to that young lady a couple of years ago down in Aruba. Where were the chaperones?

Why do the senior trips have to be bigger and better than the previous ones? It is the parents’ fault. They are afraid to say “no” to their children.

My daughters are in their 40’s and 30’s and there were no such trips—no one ever thought of such trips then.

When we lived in Nashville TN one of my daughter’s groups went to Opryland Amusement Park.

I didn’t know that a parent could sign a permission slip to let the child drink aboard the cruise ship—- that makes it even a worse idea.

4thekids35 Says:

Thu, May 28, 2009 at 12:41 am

was this sponsored by the parents or the school? did no adults go w/ them? Our teacher let us do whatever we wanted on our trip though and said he wouldn’t tell on us if we didn’t tell on him. these trips are a bad idea unless you’re going w/ your kid!

Surf Says:

Mon, May 25, 2009 at 10:30 pm

Carnival of course Bob…follow the money

mustuknow Says:

Mon, May 25, 2009 at 8:00 pm

The sad part about it is that cruises for Senior Trips are becoming more and more the norm than going to Panama City or Destin or Daytona. Parents can sign a waiver for their kids to drink on board the ship and most feel they are safe because they are not driving or in the car with someone else who has been drinking. As a parent I could never put my child on a cruise and sign him a get drunk free card. Do not get me wrong, I know kids will be kids and kids are going to try things, Lord knows I did more than my share and it is only by the Grace of God and a little Luck that I am here today. I have a 19 y/o son and I have always told him that I did not condone it, was not going to enable him to drink but IF HE CHOSE TO THEN HE HAD BETTER BE RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO CALL ME TO COME GET HIM!!! My theory is if they think they are man enough to drink then they should be man enough to make the responsible choice to make sure someone is responsible for them !!!! U Know Designated Driver…