Father whose son, 20, jumped off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in front of his horrified family savages staff as he demands to know how his underage son was so drunk

A father whose drunk son jumped off a cruise ship in front of his horrified family demanded to know how his underage son became so intoxicated.

Francel Parker, whose son Levion Parker, 20, is still missing after going overboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship on April 4, wants to know how his son managed to get so drunk.

‘We don’t drink. I’d like to know how my son was served so much alcohol,’ Francel told Florida outlet The Daily Sun.

The minimum age to consume alcohol on Royal Caribbean ships on voyages from North America or the Caribbean is 21. MailOnline has contacted Royal Caribbean for comment. 

Levion reportedly jumped off the 11th deck of the 18-storey Liberty of the Seas cruise ship around 4am last Thursday in front of his horrified father and younger brother. 

Francel said his son has a passion for deep sea fishing (pictured with one of his catches) and was a skilled diver. He said he works on a commercial fishing boat in Florida 

The 154,000 ton Royal Caribbean ship was sailing with more than 4,000 passengers on a four-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale to the Dominican Republic and back

Levion Parker, 20, was a high school footballer and popular sportsman from North Port, Florida

The cruise ship Liberty of the Seas was just hours from returning to Fort Lauderdale after a four-day cruise to Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when dad Francel Parker caught up with Levion and brother Seth, 18, emerging from a hot tub at around 3.30am in the morning.

‘His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess,’ fellow passenger Bryan Sims said. ‘When we got to them, he said to his dad, “I’ll fix this right now.” And he jumped out the window in front of us all.’ 

Francel said that he has been holding out hope that his son is still alive. 

‘As soon as he went off the side, I prayed over him. I was confident the prayers I said over my son were heard. I stand on the word of God. I believe he is alive,’ he told the Daily Sun, adding that his son is a skilled diver. 

Social media posts show Levion as a popular and athletic young man who loves hunting and fishing, and played football for North Port High School before he graduated in 2022.

Sims said Levion and his brother had been chatting happily in the hot tub on the 11th deck of the 154,000 ton liner just moments before the horrific incident on April 4.

‘I had hung out with him and his brother in the hot tub until 3.30am,’ Sims told the NY Post. He said he had been sitting next to Levion and talked to him about his work on yachts and other types of boats in Florida.

Sims said that after he went to the restroom around 4am, he was walking from the front of the ship to the back elevators to go down to his room.

Near the back of the ship on the pool deck, Sims said he noticed Levion, his brother Seth and Francel. 

‘They were walking in my direction and his dad had his arm around him and they were talking,’ Sims said.

‘When they got right in front of me as we were passing each other, he pulled himself away from his dad and said ‘I’ll fix this for you right now’, and that’s when he jumped out of the window.’

The cruise ship Liberty of the Seas was just hours from returning to Fort Lauderdale after a four-day cruise to Cuba and the Bahamas’ Grand Inagua Island when dad Francel Parker caught up with Levion (pictured) and brother Seth, 18

Levion reportedly jumped off the 11th deck of the 18-storey Liberty of the Seas cruise ship around 4am last Thursday in front of his horrified father and younger brother

Dad Francel, pictured left, with wife Rosemary, and sons Levion and Seth, runs an air conditioning company and was on board as a guest of wholesaler Tropic Supply 

The Deck 11 ‘Whirlpool’ hot tub was still packed with revelers in the early hours of April 4   

Passenger Bryan Sims was among the last people to speak to Levion and was less than 10 feet away when the young man jumped in front of his horrified father

Levion with a catch from a night time fishing expedition 

Sims said the ship was moving ‘pretty fast’ at the time and that Francel was screaming for people to stop the ship.

The worried father said he flung six life rings off the ship in the hopes of saving his son.

The massive 18-storey ship only managed to come to a stop about a mile after Levion went overboard, which took 20 minutes. Smaller boats were launched to search for the 20-year-old to no avail.

Levion’s father owns an air conditioning business in Port Charlotte, Florida, and the family was aboard as guests of Florida-based air conditioning wholesalers Tropic Supply.

It had invited dozens of their contractors along for the trip to mark the company’s 50th anniversary.

Francel took his two sons on the trip with him, giving Levion a four-day holiday from his work on a commercial fishing boat in Florida. 

The boat has docked in the Dominican Republic the previous day and was 57 miles off the coast of the Bahamas Grand Inagua when the alarm was raised.

Levion had been with his brother Seth and chatting to other guests in a hot tub on the 11th deck until 3.30am on the final night of the four-day cruise

‘We chatted about different things, and he told me that he worked on yachts and other types of boats in Florida,’ passenger Bryan Sims told Dailymail.com

The 11th deck boasts an array of whirlpools, swimming pools and a ‘Splashaway Bar’

‘His dad was fussing at him for being drunk, I guess,’ fellow passenger Bryan Sims said, ‘When we got to them, he said to his dad, ‘I’ll fix this right now.’ And he jumped out the window in front of us all’

Social media pictures portray a happy and sporty young man who loves deep sea fishing

The 1,100 foot ship was slammed into brought to a halt and crew members immediately began looking for the missing passenger. 

The ship resumed its journey just before 9am when the US Coast Guard cutter Seneca arrived at the spot.

The layout for the back of 11th deck shows the whirlpool at the top right where Levion was bathing before throwing himself from a window next to the Splashaway Bay 

‘I was on the ship and when the coast guard arrived and we got underway I couldn’t help think how they must be feeling they were leaving their son behind,’ added Linda Meissner Nuffe.

The young man is thought to have been staying with his family on deck 10, a flight below the whirlpools and hot tubs of deck 11.

Nuffe, who was staying in the cabin next door, woke to find a lock on the door of the family’s cabin and a crew member standing guard outside.

‘I saw a person go in that cabin on day one,’ she said. ‘I thought it was a teen or he could have been 20. 

‘My daughter and I were telling him how I sometimes put my deco on other doors the last night to confuse people. He laughed.

‘He was quiet and polite, not someone who seemed like a raging alcoholic like the press seems to be saying.

‘We never heard a noise out of that cabin, no partying, no arguing, no slamming doors. I looked over our balcony at theirs after I saw the lock, there was nothing but chairs there.’

More than 400 passengers are known to have fallen overboard from cruise liners in the past 30 years according to watchdog cruisejunkie.com.

A study by Cruise Lines International Association found that only 28 percent of those who fell overboard between 2009 and 2019 came out alive.

The search by the US Coast Guard has since been suspended, a spokesperson for the US Coast Guard 7th District Public Affairs Team confirmed.

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson said: ‘Our hearts go out to the family, and we continue to offer them our support and assistance during this difficult time. 

‘Our policies strictly prohibit guests under the age of 21 from being served alcohol onboard.’

In a previous comment, a spokesperson for the company said: ‘The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue effort alongside the US Coast Guard. 

‘Our Care Team is providing support and assistance to the guest’s family during this difficult time. 

‘For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.’