Weekly Cruise News Recap for August 3

Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas crew member stabs coworker and then jumps overboard.

The 35 year old man from South Africa stabbed his 28 year old South African female coworker before jumping overboard into the ocean. The ship was in the waters off the coast of San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. The ship immediately went into the protocol for a man overboard, turning the ship around and deploying boats to rescue the man in the water, but he was recovered dead. The woman survived the stabbing and is in critical care. The reason for the attack is unknown and the Bahamas police are investigating.

FBI is investigating a death on the Carnival Dream.

The bureau’s Houston office is looking into an incident that happened on July 23 aboard the Carnival Dream. No details or insights were shared as this is an ongoing investigation. The FBI stated that this routine protocol ensures transparency and does not automatically imply suspicious circumstances.

NCL announces their new waterpark on Great Stirrup Cay.

Coming in the summer of 2026, the Great Tides Waterpark will be a big addition to NCL's private island. The park will feature 19 waterslides, a dynamic river, a jet kart water track, and more. Great Stirrup Cay is getting new attractions in stages as their Great Life Lagoon and Horizon Park areas will be available to guests later this year. NCL is also launching a sweepstakes promotion giving away 250 cruises to Great Stirrup Cay.

Guest falls over the side of the infinity pool on the Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas.

The guest was leaning over the glass side of the infinity pool when he suddenly lost his balance and flipped over the side completely. The infinity pool on the Icon of the Seas is on the aft or back of the ship and overlooks the ocean. The incident was caught on camera. Luckily for the man, there is a service walkway below and the infinity pool where he landed. Royal Caribbean confined the man to his room for the duration of the cruise.

Tsunami warnings force NCL Pride of America to depart port early leaving passengers stranded.

After the 8.8 earthquake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula several tsunami warnings went out for coastal cities in the Pacific. The NCL Pride of America was visiting Hilo on the big island of Hawaii when the Coast Guard issued an order for them to depart 2.5 hours ahead of schedule so the ship could be in the safer open waters for the tsunami. Passengers and crew members were still out on shore excursions and many could not make it back to the ship on time. Those left behind had to seek higher ground for the tsunami in a high school gym shelter for the night. The ship came back the next day to retrieve those had to leave behind.

Israeli cruise ship is blocked by anti-war protestors in the Greek Isles.

Anti-war demonstrators have protested and blocked the Israeli cruise ship the Crown Iris at several of it's ports of call. First in Greece’s Cycladic island of Syros, then eastern Greek island of Rhodes, and again in the Greek island of Crete at the port of Agios Nikolaos. Over a 150 demonstrators are protesting the war in Gaza and are flying the Palestinian flag, chanting “Free, free Palestine”. Passengers disembarked on their tours for the Rhodes and Crete, but stayed on the ship for their stop in Syros. A few protestors have been detained.

Holland America is returning their behind-the scenes tours.

The cruise line is once again offering behind-the-scenes ship tours that will take guests into areas of the ship that usually only crew are allowed in. These tours are available on many cruise lines, but Holland America stopped offering them during the pandemic. Most other cruise lines have started the tours again but Holland America was one of the last to do so.

Passenger on the Carnival Legend gets Medevac during the tsunami warning.

A 71 year old woman was having a “cardiac event" and needed to get immediate medical attention while the ship was 120 miles off the coast of Washington. The woman was air lifted off by helicopter and taken to Astoria, Oregon. This was all happening while the tsunami warning was in effect. The Carnival Legend was heading to San Francisco, California.

Celebrity Constellation loses power and drifts for hours.

The Celebrity Constellation debarked on an 11 night, one-way voyage from Ravenna to Rome on Monday, July 28, 2025. The ship encountered a technical malfunction and lost power for about two hours off the coast of southern Italy. With a power failure there are no lights, no air conditioning, only cold food can be served, and no flushing toilets. Power was restored and the ship continued on. There is no information on what caused the power failure.