Body found in search for man who went overboard on cruise out of Galveston

GALVESTON, TX (KTRK) -- The Carnival Triumph is now on its way back to Galveston, and should arrive by 11am Thursday.

For the thousands of passengers, the past 24 hours have been anything but routine. Around 9pm Tuesday, the ship notified those on board that a passenger went overboard.

Nena Robinson, who is currently on the cruise ship with her husband, called us Wednesday afternoon.

"About nine o'clock, right as the show was ending, they came on the intercom and said 'Bravo! Bravo Starboard side,'" recalled Robinson. "We learned later that it meant someone had gone over."

Passengers say at that point, the ship turned around and headed back to Mexico to aide in the search and rescue. Passenger Sean Dorsey shared nighttime photos he took in the midst of the search with Eyewitness News.

"We turned to go back to Mexico, and we would turn and go back toward the Gulf and then we'd turn and go toward Mexico, apparently all night," said Robinson.

Authorities confirmed the man went overbroad through the ship's onboard cameras, but no other details have been released. By morning, the body of the passenger, a 54-year-old man, was found.

Robinson sent us daytime photos from on board the ship, where she says you can clearly see the railing came toward the chest level of most adults.

In the meantime, the captain of the Triumph issued a letter to all passengers on the ship.

"All of us are deeply saddened by the loss of our guest and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family and traveling companions. We ask that you join us in keeping them in your thoughts and prayers," read a portion of the statement.

The ship is scheduled to return to Galveston by 11a.m., three hours later than planned. And Robinson says she's ready to get home.

"My husband says he's ready to book the next one but I don't know," she said. "We have to think about that."