Royal Caribbean cruise incident: Father of man who jumped off ship believes son 'still alive' a week later

The father of the 20-year-old passenger who jumped from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship a week ago in what has been described as a ‘drunken, impulsive act’, believes his son is still alive. Francel Parker, father of missing Levion Parker, shared with the Daily Sun that he holds onto hope, believing his son, whom he described as a skilled diver, is still alive in the waters off the Bahamas.

He told the outlet: “As soon as he went off the side, I prayed over him. I was confident the prayers I said over my son were heard. I stand on the word of God. I believe he is alive.”

This comes as the US Coast Guard called off its search for the North Port man a day earlier on Wednesday (April 3). Levion allegedly jumped off the 18-story Liberty of the Seas around 4am in front of his helpless dad and younger brother after getting into an argument with his father, according to the New York Post.

Francel also denied any altercation with Levion despite reports of an argument, insisting that his son was not trying to take his own life. He said Levion is a skilled diver who works on a commercial fishing boat, and he wants to know how his underage son was given alcohol on the four-day cruise to Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island.

He told the paper: “We don’t drink... I’d like to know how my son was served so much alcohol.” Another passenger onboard the cruise who witnessed Levion’s heart-stopping jump said Francel was “fussing at him for being drunk.”

The cruise ship was just hours from returning to Fort Lauderdale after a four-day cruise when dad Francel caught up with Levion and brother Seth, 18, emerging from a hot tub at around 3.30am in the morning.

Fellow passenger Bryan Sims told the Daily Mail: “His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess. When we got to them, he said to his dad, 'I'll fix this right now.” And he jumped out the window in front of us all. It was literally eight to 10 feet in front of me.

“It was one of the sliding windows by the soft serve ice cream machine. The ship was moving pretty fast cause it was during the night, and we were traveling a long distance. We were screaming and his dad was calling everyone to stop the ship.”

The 1,100 foot ship was slammed to a halt and crew members immediately began looking for the missing passenger. Most of the 4,000 passengers on board only became aware of the tragedy when the captain broke the news the following morning.

It is unclear how Levion would have been 'drunk' as the minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean ships on voyages from North America or the Caribbean is 21. Social media posts of Levion show a popular and athletic young man who loved hunting and fishing, and played football for North Port High School before he graduated in 2022.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said: “The ship's crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard. Our Care Team is providing support and assistance to the guest's family during this difficult time. For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.”