Man jumps from world's largest cruise ship for Instagram fame

A "stupid and reckless" passenger has been banned from Royal Caribbean for life, after he filmed himself jumping off the side of one of the cruise line's megaships.

Nick Naydev found internet fame after he posted the video on Instagram, which showed him leaping from the 11th deck of Symphony of the Seas – the world's largest cruise ship.

The ship was docked in Nassau, Bahamas, at the time.

As you'd expect, it's since gone viral, with thousands viewing the clip and commenting.
Naydev, from Vancouver, Washington, has since be banned for life from the line and could also face legal action.

"This was stupid and reckless behavior, and he and his companions have been banned from ever sailing with us again," Royal Caribbean said in a statement to USA Today. "We are exploring legal action."

In the video, Naydev can be seen climbing onto the railing of a cabin balcony while his friends laugh in the background and then leaps into the water more than 30 metres below.

It seems the stunt required a bit of liquid courage – Naydev told his Instagram followers he was drunk at the time.

"I was still drunk from the previous night," he wrote in the comments. "When I woke up I just decided to jump."

While Naydev wrote that he had "never felt more alive", he also admitted being in a lot of pain after the incident.

"My feet were actually fine. It was my neck and tailbone that hurt," he wrote in the comments. "Could barely walk for 3 days and could barely sleep from the pain. I'm good now."

He said he was picked up from the water by a small boat that happened to be in the area and was taken to shore. When he arrived, he was met by security officials who told him he was being kicked off the ship – and his travel buddies were too.

In the short Instagram clip, the passenger can be seen laughing with friends before leaping into the water more than 30 metre below. Photo / Instagram, naydev91

Local police were called, but didn't press charges, according to Naydev.

"When the cops showed up they were super chil (sic) and actually laughed at the video," he wrote on Instagram.

Naydev and his friends then had to make their own way home from the Bahamas.

He told Yahoo Lifestyle he had attempted the jump for viral fame.

"He's jumped from those kind of heights before, and we didn't really care about the consequences with the cruise company," he said. "We just wanted to get a video of it and make it go viral."

Just yesterday, it was reported that a 16-year-old boy died after falling from the eighth deck of Royal Caribbean's sister ship, Harmony of the Seas.

Many commenters on Naydev's post brought the tragedy up, calling him an "idiot" and saying he was "lucky to be alive".

According to USA Today, more than a dozen cruise passengers die every year jumping or falling from cruise ships.