Royal Caribbean Defends Itself in Honeymooner´s Disappearance

Royal Caribbean International shot down allegations of wrongdoing by the family of George Smith IV, the honeymooner who disappeared aboard the Brilliance of the Seas in July.

In a strongly worded 11-page document, the cruise line gives its own version of the chronology of events leading up to and following Smith´s disappearance.

It includes an extensive rebuttal of cover-up allegations raised by Smith´s wife, Jennifer Hagel Smith, who has claimed she was treated harshly and abandoned in Turkey by the ship´s staff following an investigation by local officials.

The report states that Hagel Smith was found sleeping in a corridor shortly after 4:30 a.m. the night of her husband´s disappearance. The cruise line said she was taken back to her stateroom in a wheelchair by two security guards and a female supervisor. Her husband was not in the room, and “nothing appeared amiss,” the report states.

The report also says that Hagel Smith told ship officers that her husband “may have slept elsewhere” and that he had done so “at least one other night” during the cruise.

The report concludes by expressing sympathy for the family but commending the ship´s officers and crew for “responding to this tragedy carefully, compassionately and professionally.”

Smith´s disappearance has attracted a great deal of media attention, and a Congressional subcommittee hearing convened by Republican Representative for Connecticut Christopher Shays, the Smiths´ Congressman, was held last month on the topic of cruise passenger safety.