Royal Caribbean cruises: Man, 20, jumped to death from Liberty of the Seas cruise ship balcony in front of family after telling father 'I'll fix this right now'

A 20-year-old man jumped overboard from a cruise ship balcony in front of his family shortly after 4am on Thursday 28 March. The 18-story Royal Caribbean Liberty of the Seas ship was sailing between Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when the man jumped off one of the decks.

According to onlookers, his father and brother watched helplessly as he leaped over the side. The New York Times reported that some passengers had said it appeared to be an impulsive, spur-of-the-moment decision. 

Police in Broward County in Florida identified the man as Levion Parker 20 from North Port in Florida yesterday (Wednesday 10 April). Police identified the man after the US Coast Guard abandoned its search in the waters off the Bahamas.

The Daily Mail reported that the man threw himself overboard from the 11th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise during a drunken argument with his dad. The cruise ship was just hours from returning to Fort Lauderdale after a four-day cruise when dad Francel Parker caught up with Levion and brother Seth, 18, emerging from a hot tub at around 3.30am in the morning.

The paper reports that fellow passenger Bryan Sims said: “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.”