Running a cruise line looks as if shooting fish in a barrel. Ships are essentially a closed environment where operators have a captive audience to rake in revenue from. Nonetheless, one passenger decided to reject that social contract and took a leap off a Royal Caribbean vessel on Sunday. The ship had just finished a seven-day cruise and arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico. While disembarking in port, the person allegedly jumped overboard to avoid reporting $14,600 to customs. Royal Caribbean also claims he owed over $16,000.
Jey Gonzalez-Diaz boarded the Rhapsody of the Seas in San Juan. The ship went on a seven-day voyage across the Caribbean, visiting the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, Antigua and Barbados. The whole lot seemed advantageous until he jumped over the side. Based on NBC News, he was pulled out of the water by two passersby on jet skis after which detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Officers then found $14,600 in his backpack. The agency claims that Gonzalez-Diaz stated he was afraid the money in his backpack could be taxed. That is not the case. You are legally required to report large sums of currency being brought into the country, however it’s not taxed.
The passenger can have tried to dump the debt on his brother in prison
Gonzalez-Diaz was charged with failing to report the transport of monetary instruments over $10,000 from outside the US, but that is perhaps just the beginning of his legal troubles. Royal Caribbean alleged in a criminal criticism that the passenger owed $16,710.24. The cruise line also claims that debt “was almost exclusively associated to Casino and Gaming expenses.” In one other twist, Royal Caribbean stated that the passenger was registered under the name Jeremy Diaz. Based on USA Today, one other guest mentioned that Jeremy was the passenger’s brother. Jeremy Gonzalez-Diaz wasn’t on board, but serving time in federal prison.
Besides the 29-year-old Rhapsody of the Seas, Royal Caribbean famously operates the world’s largest cruise ship, the Star of the Seas. The vessel entered service last month and is roughly thrice the dimensions of Rhapsody. Star is the second vessel within the behemoth Icon-class. It cost roughly $4.6 billion to construct Icon and Star. Royal Caribbean has plans to construct two more Icon-class vessels so that they cannot have people jumping overboard with $16,000 in debt.
This Article First Appeared At www.jalopnik.com
