2 Carnival cruise guests on Florida ships drown at new resort, police say

Vinod Sreeharsha, Miami Herald on Aug 18, 2025

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MIAMI — Two passengers on separate Carnival cruise ships died over the weekend after drowning incidents at Celebration Key, the company’s private resort in the Bahamas that opened in July.

One was a 79-year-old male and the other a 74-year-old female, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement issued Saturday. Both were American.

As of Sunday evening, their identities weren’t released. One was sailing with family on Carnival’s Mardi Gras ship; the other, also with family, was on Carnival Elation, the Doral-based cruise company said in a statement. The company didn’t specify which person was on which ship.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the guests and their families and our Care Team is providing assistance,” Carnival said in the statement.

Bahamian police based in Nassau said they were alerted to an incident at Celebration Key before noon Friday.

“Officers on duty at that location responded and discovered an unresponsive 79-year-old male on board a commercial vessel, they said. “According to the initial report, the male became unresponsive while snorkeling at a beach. A lifeguard assisted him from the water, and CPR was administered.”

A few hours later, shortly after 2:30 p.m., officers discovered an unresponsive 74-year-old woman on board a separate commercial vessel, the Royal Bahamas Police said.

“The initial report suggested that the female became unresponsive while swimming in a pool. A lifeguard assisted her out of the water, and CPR was administered, but to no avail.”

The Carnival Mardi Gras had departed its home port of Port Canaveral, near Orlando, on Aug. 10 for a six-day round-trip cruise to the Eastern Caribbean, according to Cruise Mapper.

At 9 a.m. Aug, 15, the ship reached Celebration Key, on the southern side of Grand Bahama island and about 17 miles northeast of Freeport.

After returning to Port Canaveral on Aug. 16, the ship left that same afternoon on a seven-day cruise. It’s now on its way to Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos.

Carnival Elation left Jacksonville on Aug. 14 for a four-day round-trip tour to the Bahamas. The ship arrived in Celebration Key in the early afternoon of Aug. 15 and is scheduled to return to Jacksonville on Aug. 18.

Carnival confirmed the information from Royal Bahamas Police about the two drowning deaths.

“Our lifeguards and medical team responded to two separate water emergency incidents at Celebration Key on Friday,” the cruise company said in a statement. “Sadly, both guests have passed away.”

The Royal Bahamian Police said autopsies will be done to help determine cause of death, and that the investigation will continue.