Cruise ship pianist rescued nine hours after falling overboard: 'I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO DIE'

A Royal Caribbean crew member was rescued about nine hours after falling overboard off Southern California, after a pair of local fishermen spotted him in the Pacific. Sean Norton and Grant Garrett told KCBS that they were fishing for marlin near Catalina Island when the boat’s captain noticed a person floating. They helped lift the man from the water; the only words he said were, “Thank you. I thought I was going to die.” Lifeguards responded after an emergency maritime call and said the ship’s employee later told them he was a pianist aboard Ovation of the Seas, a 14-deck ship returning from Ensenada to Long Beach. Investigators are reviewing how he went overboard.