Cruise Passenger Jumps Ship to Dodge Casino Debt

Most cruise passengers wait for the gangway to disembark, but one man aboard Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas chose a far more dramatic exit. Facing a staggering casino bill, he leapt overboard in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on September 7.

Investigators said Jey Gonzalez-Diaz, traveling under the alias Jeremy Diaz, owed $16,710.24, mainly from gambling losses. During routine inspections by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), he jumped ship - apparently hoping to escape undetected by testing the vessel’s “man overboard” protocols.

Instead of disappearing into the ocean, he was quickly pulled from the water by a passing jet skier who treated the incident as an impromptu rescue mission.

Once ashore, CBP located Gonzalez-Diaz near Puerto Rico’s Capitol Building. He had $14,600 in cash, two phones, and five different identification documents.

One ID tied him to a prior federal detention record under the name Jeremy Omar Gonzalez-Diaz. He insisted this belonged to his brother, though investigators weren’t convinced.

When questioned, Gonzalez-Diaz denied trying to avoid his gambling tab. Instead, he claimed he jumped because he “did not want to report the currency” in his possession, fearing a tax penalty.

That explanation didn’t spare him from legal trouble. He has been charged with failing to comply with federal monetary reporting rules - an offense that could lead to up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

For now, he has been released on bail, though it’s unclear if his casino chips helped cover the cost.