Coast Guard searching for man who fell from cruise ship off Florida coast

The man was captured falling overboard at 4am on Monday. Photo / 123rf

The US Coast Guard is scouring the coast of Florida for a man who fell overboard during his first cruise while his wife fundraises $33,000 for a funeral.

A search for the 35-year-old began on Tuesday according to a report from the US Coast Guard, around 300km east of Jacksonville, Florida.

He was reported missing late on Monday afternoon. Security footage on board the ship captured the man around 4am on Monday morning as he “leaned over the railing of his stateroom balcony and dropped into the water”.

Officials are yet to formally name the man, but Jennilyn Michelle Blosser told WTKR, a Virginia news outlet, she was his wife and the man was Ronnie Lee Peale Jr. It was allegedly his first cruise, and he had loved his time on board.

“He loved the cruise life being able to drink, gamble, and socialise put him in his happy place,” she said.

Despite the ongoing search, Blosser has created a GoFundMe campaign titled ‘Funeral expenses for Ronnie Peale Jr’, which has raised US$825 of a US$20,000 target.

Blosser claims they took the cruise trip to celebrate her birthday.

“This was Ronnie’s first cruise and thankfully he had a great time and made plenty of friends,” she said.

“I never could of imagine something like this could happen. Devastated to say the least,” she added.

The 5-night Carnival Magic cruise departed Norfolk, Virginia, on May 25, and sailed around the Bahamas before returning to Norfolk.

It was released by the US Coast Guard after a search for the man and allowed to return to port in Norfolk.

Fellow passengers reportedly heard Carnival staff asking for Peale to make himself known to the crew over the intercom several times on Monday.

In November 2022, one man made global headlines for surviving 15 hours at sea after falling off a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico.

The unnamed 28-year-old man had been aboard the Carnival Valor, celebrating the start of the trip with his sister at one of the ship’s bars.