Levion Parker's dad believes 20 year-old son is alive after jumping off Royal ... trends now
The father of a 20 year-old man missing since he jumped off the 11th deck of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship a week ago believes his son is still alive.
Francel Parker insists his son Levion, 20, survived because he's a master diver who works on a commercial fishing boat. The stricken dad says his son also had multiple life rings thrown at him.
Francel told the Daily Sun: '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.'
US Coast Guard officials called off their search for Levion on Tuesday, five days after he jumped from the 11th deck of Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas at 3:30am.
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
Levion Parker, 20, was a high school footballer and popular sportsman from North Port, Florida
Levion is said to have made the leap after a booze-fueled argument with his dad in the hot tub while the Liberty of the Seas was off the Bahamas. He was on vacation with his dad, brother Seth, 18, and mother Rosemary.
Francel, who runs an AC business in Port Charlotte, Florida, has also slammed Royal Caribbean for serving his son booze, telling the Daily Sun: 'We don't drink. I'd like to know how my son was served so much alcohol.'
The minimum age for drinking on Royal Caribbean cruises departing from the US and the Caribbean is 21.
The cruise ship Liberty of the Seas was just hours from returning to Fort Lauderdale after a four-day cruise when dad Francel 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.'
The ship was ordered to stop after Levion jumped nearly 200 feet from the 11th deck of the 15-deck ship while it was 57 miles off Grand Inagua at 4am on April 4
The Deck 11 'Whirlpool' hot tub was still packed with revelers in the early hours of April 4
Little over 100 yards away are the sliding windows of the Splashaway that Levion jumped through before falling nearly 200 feet into the sea
Social media posts show a popular and athletic young man who loved 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.
'It was standing room only. He sat right beside me the whole time.
'We chatted about different things, and he told me that he worked on yachts and other types of boats in Florida.
'I would say around 3.30 to 3.45am him and his brother left the hot tub. I just assumed they were headed to bed.
'Everyone had left the hot tub by 4am and went their separate ways.
'I got out, went to the restroom, dried off, put my shirt on and was walking from the front of the ship to the back elevators to go down to my room.
'When I got near the back of the ship on the pool deck I noticed him his brother and dad coming out of the sliding doors there near the elevators.
'They were walking in my direction and his dad had his arm around him and they were talking.
The 11th deck boasts an array of whirlpools, swimming pools and a 'Splashaway Bar'
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
Social media pictures portray a happy and sporty young man who loved deep sea fishing
'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
'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'
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
'When they got
