yes these are old, but still very funny.
A mate of mine was telling me years ago that him and a group of mates on a mini cruise from Newcastle to Amsterdam carried out a similar stunt. They went up to the customer services desk and said they had lost one of their party and could they ask him to meet them. His name was "Netto Van-Driver"
Apparently when the announcement went out, all the English on board burst out laughing, realising immediately that it was a prank