Image credit: PA

A woman whose daughter is working on Costa Cruise Lines' stricken Allegra also had a son aboard the Costa Concordia when it sank. It's all "an unlucky coincidence," she said today.

"These things in life happen," Jayne Thomas of  England told the BBC. "It's just a situation in life that you have to deal with. They've gone on luxury cruise liners.  They could have gone on an airplane and there could have been a disaster."

Her daughter Rebecca Thomas, 19, is a dancer on board the Allegra, which became adrift Monday in the Indian Ocean after a fire in the engine room rendered the ship powerless. It's now being towed - along with its more than 1,000 passengers and crew - and is expected to reach the Seychelles Thursday.

Her son James Thomas, 23, was a dancer on the Concordia in January when the ship hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio and capsized. Twenty-five people were killed and 11 are still missing.

James Thomas told The Associated Press today that although he still loved cruising, he didn't plan to work on a ship again.

"I was just recently offered another contract with a different company," he said. "I got all excited about it and then looked on YouTube at a picture of the sea from that ship and I just went 'No. No chance.'"

Jayne Thomas, who's been on both ships to visit her children, said she would board one again to see them though she'd be a little nervous.

"The last visits we've had, you  just feel completely safe," she said. "The huge monstrosities in the water and they do make you feel very safe."