Man kicked off dream P&O cruise after throwing cigarette overboard



A man was allegedly removed from a dream cruise holiday with his wife after flicking a cigarette butt into the sea.

Mark O'Keefe, 57, was on a 10-day P&O cruise to Bali with Debra when he threw the cigarette overboard without thinking.

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The couple, from Perth, Australia, had saved up for the holiday for a year.

He was asked to leave the ship and his daughter Courtney claims he was forced to make his own way home from Bali.

Speaking to WA Today, she said: "He had maybe two drags because the weather was horrendous - he butted it out, and without thinking, he flicked it.

"He instantly regretting it and apologised."

Mr O'Keefe was allegedly asked to return to his cabin and told that if he did so there would be no further repercussions.

However, the next morning Courtney received a panicked call from her mother that her father had been removed from the ship.

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."

Courtney has since complained to P&O after saying her father was left on an island where he boarded a small plane to Denpasar and was then forced to find his own way home from Bali.

P&O spokesman David Jones told the Daily Mail that "fire safety on board the boat is of highest priority".

He added: "The mandatory passenger safety muster on embarkation includes an explicit warning about the dangers associated with disposing of cigarettes over the side.

"This is because of the risk of the cigarette being drawn back into the ship and starting a fire."



Couple Misses Cruise Ship
Couple Misses Cruise Ship


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