Man kicked off cruise after flicking cigarette butt off the side
The daughter of a Perth man sent home from a P&O cruise says he was removed from the ship for flicking a cigarette overboard and left to pay his own way back to WA without due regard for his health.
Mark O'Keefe, 57, and his wife Debra left for Bali on a 10-day cruise with the company on June 6 from Fremantle.
His daughter Courtney O'Keefe commented that her father was spotted flicking a cigarette overboard by a P&O security officer.
"He had maybe two drags because the weather was horrendous - he butted it out, and without thinking, he flicked it," daughter Courtney said.
"He instantly regretting it and apologised."
The officer warned him to return to his cabin, and was told if he did so there would be no further repercussions, Courtney said.
But the next morning Courtney received a panicked phone call from her mother letting her know of her father's removal from the cruise.
"He had a letter in the room ordering him to a meeting," she said.
"The captain said 'you're off' - no letting my dad apologise, no option of cutting him off at the bar, no giving him a fine. Nothing."
According to Courtney, her father was disembarked on an island, where he boarded a small aircraft which took him to Denpasar.
Courtney alleges her father was then left to find his own way home from Bali.
"My dad is 58 in a few weeks - he's ex-army, SAS, with cancer and cholesterol problems - and my mum handles all his medication," she said.
"My mum couldn't leave with him, because they scrimped and saved every penny for this holiday, so they couldn't afford the two tickets home."
Mark paid for a flight back to Denpasar, a hotel in the city and a flight to return to Perth.
P&O confirmed the incident happened but would not comment on the specifics of it because of privacy reasons.
P&O spokesman David Jones said it would have been no surprise if a passenger was kicked off a ship for flicking a cigarette overboard.
"The issue of fire safety on board is of highest priority," he said.
"The mandatory passenger safety muster on embarkation includes an explicit warning about the dangers associated with disposing of cigarettes over the side.
"A lighted cigarette can be drawn into the ship posing a serious risk to the ship and the safety of passengers and crew."
P&O's "safety muster" is a compulsory briefing given to all passengers, which covers the code of conduct and emergency procedures of a vessel.
The P&O website notes that smoking is permitted in designated areas on board, but states serious penalties for those who "inconvenience or jeopardise the safety or enjoyment of any guest" via smoking.
"The captain has the right to confine or put you ashore," it says. "P&O Cruises accepts no liability for this serious action or for any loss incurred - including repatriation expenses - and no refunds are available."
Courtney said that, while she understood her father had made a mistake, P&O failed to exercise a proper duty of care when forcing him to disembark.
"No care was taken getting my dad home once he was off the ship," she said,
"I called them almost hourly, and kept getting the response 'we don't know where he is'."
Jones said procedures were typically in place to look after passengers left ashore.
"When it happens, travel arrangements are made for a disembarked guest at their cost and these arrangements are followed through by our port agents and care team," he said.
Courtney said this was not the case.
"I wouldn't be in the state that I am if they had taken proper care of my dad," she said.
"The two people I've spoken to have been from the customer service, and they refuse to speak to me anymore.
"They've hung up on me twice."
Courtney's correspondence with P&O includes incredulous questions regarding the company apparently not knowing who the captain of the ship would be and suggestions she would hold it responsible if anything adverse happened to her father.
It is understood Mark has now returned to Perth, while his wife Debra refuses to leave her room until the cruise docks on Sunday.
"They haven't been apart in 35 years," O'Keefe said.
"My mum is heartbroken."
What’s your take on the situation? Do you think it’s an overreaction from P&O, or should Mark have paid more attention to the rules?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Written by Hannah Barry. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz.
Related links:
5 things you MUST do to avoid seasickness on a cruise
10 things you must never do in a cruise cabin
P&O’s first cruise around New Zealand