A young couple tumbled at least 15 metres off their cruise ship and into the Gulf of Mexico, but were successfully rescued.

The incident aboard the Grand Princess, operated by Princess Cruiselines, happened early Sunday after the vessel had been at sea for barely a day. The vessel was about 240 kilometres off the coast of Galveston, Texas.

Their friends inside their cabin heard the screams of the 20-somethings.

A message over the ship's intercom indicated to the nearly 2,800 other people on board that something was wrong.

"We looked to one side of the ship and saw a life preserver with blinking light on it," said passenger Kevin Shaw.

While the U.S. Coast Guard dispatched a jet and a helicopter to search for the two, the cruise ship's own staff were able to find them using boats equipped with high-powered spotlights. One was rescued at 5:30 a.m. CDT, the other at 6 a.m..

Both were in relatively good condition, having suffered only minor injuries.

"They appear to be in satisfactory condition and we hope that no further medical attention will be needed," said Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Princess Cruises.

The cruise line didn't know how they fell overboard, other than it was an accident, she said.

Benson said the two have the option of remaining on board the ship for the full voyage or leaving when it reaches Costa Maya, Mexico. The ship is on a seven-day tour of the western Caribbean.

Previous incidents

There have been about 67 such incidents in the cruise business in the past 12 years. One occurred a week ago, when Michael Mankamyer jumped 20 metres into the Atlantic Ocean after a night of partying.

"It was very frightening. I was sitting there thinking, 'what is going to happen to me now?'," he said.

The U.S. Coast Guard managed to rescue him about 50 kilometres off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Tim Sears spent 17 hours in the Gulf of Mexico, tumbling in after having too many drinks.

"I hadn't seen any ships in a couple of hours and decided I wasn't goint to make it," he recalled.

A passing cargo ship rescued him.

Those stories are the good-news ones. Of the 67 known incidents, only 10 people have been rescued.

With a report from CTV's Denelle Balfour and files from the Associated Press