Florida Agenda

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The family of an Irish passenger who committed suicide this month during the Atlantis Events gay cruise is seeking answers about the man’s death.

Kenneth John Gemmell, 30, took his own life Feb. 3 on the “Allure of the Seas” cruise ship off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico. Gemmell, a flight attendant for UAE Airlines stationed in Dubai, was a native of Bailieborough, County Cavan, Ireland.

The Irish Independent newspaper reported this week that Gemmell’s family is “desperately trying” to understand what transpired two weeks ago during those fateful early morning hours.

“They particularly would like to hear from the person who witnessed him going overboard. The family has said they want nothing more than to understand what drove their son, who had just turned 30 last Tuesday,” noted the Examiner.com.

The seven-day cruise left Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, Jan. 29, and was heading for Cancun before returning to Fort Lauderdale.

Although Gemmell’s family insists the man “was not a suicide risk,” a spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited told reporters that the ship’s closed circuit video “clearly” shows “the guest went overboard intentionally.” Gemmell was one of more than 4,500 passengers on board the “Allure of the Seas” as it sailed round-trip from Florida to Mexico, and back again.

“He was alone on the balcony in his stateroom on Deck 11 when he stepped on top of the balcony table in order to jump over the balcony railing,” the spokeswoman said. “The footage is consistent with
an eyewitness report from another guest,” she added.

The “Allure” cruise was chartered by Atlantis Events, the self-described “largest company in the world dedicated to creating unique vacations for the gay and
lesbian community.”

Gemmell’s father, James, told the Irish Independent that “Kenneth was not a suicide risk. He went out on a holiday and was very happy. We just don’t understand what happened.”

The body of their son—who celebrated his 30th birthday during the first days of the “Allure” cruise—has not been recovered. James Gemmell and his wife, Colette, say they fear something “untoward” may have transpired during the cruise. Those fears were exacerbated by reports that their son had “exchanged words” with a crewmember—possibly a bartender—on the evening before his death, and that the crewman in questioned failed to re-board after having disembarked in Cozumel. The cruise line disputed this version of events, claiming they are not “aware” of an altercation between Gemmell and one of the crew. The spokeswoman for the company also said there were no unaccounted crewmembers following the stop in Cozumel.

South Florida law enforcement agencies as well as the Mexican and U.S. coast guards were alerted by ship’s officers when Gemmell’s absence was confirmed. “The ship made multiple public announcements and began a complete search of the ship, in efforts to locate the guest,” said a statement from Royal Caribbean. “When the guest did not respond to the pages and was not found onboard, the captain alerted the local authorities of the situation,” the statement read.

By BOB KECSKEMETY

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – A tragic note was struck last week just days after the departure of the Atlantis Events’ “Allure of the Seas” gay cruise, when Kenneth Gemmell of the United Kingdom leapt off the cruise ship in an apparent suicide during the early morning hours of Friday, Feb. 5. Gemmell’s death occurred while the vessel was heading back to Fort Lauderdale after spending the day near Cozumel, Mexico.

The “Allure of the Seas,” which is marketed as the world’s largest cruise ship, is operated by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and chartered for the Caribbean/Mexican Riviera cruise by Atlantis Events. The sailing departed Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 29 with a scheduled return date of Feb. 5.

Paul Cote and Matty Miles were passengers on the “Allure.” The two host a daily gay Internet radio talk program, “The Paul and Matty Show,” on www.QNation.fm, and had been invited by Atlantis Events to broadcast their show live from the cruise.

They say that they were awakened early Friday morning when an “all-call announcement” broadcast another passenger’s name. When the person called didn’t respond,  the muster alarm sounded, and all passengers were ordered to assemble at their  respective muster stations for an emergency head count. The announcement intimated that the ship’s crew believed that someone had fallen overboard.

“They had reviewed the video footage from the surveillance cameras and someone had, in fact, fallen off the ship,” Cote said. “During this time, we sat there for an hour-and-a-half as they searched the rooms looking for the missing person. Then we were allowed back in rooms.”

The “Allure’s” closed-circuit footage showed the 30-year-old British passenger as he went over the balcony railing from his Deck 11 stateroom. The ship’s Global Positioning System (GPS) marked the vessel’s location and both the US and Mexican coast guards were alerted.

On Twitter, user @DarienneLake tweeted: “there was an announcement for someone to contact services at 6:30 a.m., then at 7 a.m. we went to muster stations to be accounted,” adding that “at 9 a.m. we were allowed back to our rooms. They have search boats looking for glitter in the water. Currently in Cozumel.”

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines released the following statement: “A guest on-board the ship saw the man fall overboard at 12:10 p.m. (7:10 a.m. local time) on Friday. The ship made multiple public announcements and began a complete search of the ship, in efforts to locate the guest. When the guest did not respond to the pages and was not found on-board, the captain alerted the local authorities of the situation.”
Cote says that in spite of the best efforts of the captain and crew, “It did put a damper on the experience for the [passengers],” he recalled. “It was the biggest day on the ship. It was their White Party that night and everybody was getting ready and wanted to have a good time. We had been in Cozumel all day and when the ship started moving again, one of the staffers had apparently said to some people that they did, in fact,  find a suicide note that said ‘If you  couldn’t find love on a ship, then you  couldn’t find love anywhere’ and that he, in fact, jumped off the balcony.”

Cote explained that he and Miles had been scheduled to interview the “Allure’s” cruise director for their show, but that the topic of Gemmell’s suicide was off limits. They were also supposed to interview the disc  jockey who performed at the last event aboard ship during which Gemmell was  seen, but the deejay would not return  their calls.

“The captain announced that he had been a captain for 22 years,” said Cote “and that something like this had never happened  to him before. He was devastated. It was literally like the ship had gone down
with him.”

Kenneth Gemmell