2
Credit: DisneyAn emergency alarm blared on one Disney Cruise Line ship last night amid reports of a passenger going overboard.
The Disney Cruise Line has entertained diehard Disney fans and cruise enthusiasts for decades. However, just like Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort, it hasn’t operated entirely without issues.
Today, the Disney Cruise Line includes the Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy, Disney Wish, and Disney Treasure – not to mention the Disney Destiny and the Disney Adventure, plus a Japanese version around the corner.
But in 2025 alone, its ships have received criticism from passengers who claim that they’ve encountered bed bugs in their staterooms, as well as recurrent plumbing issues and sewage backups.
Inclement weather has also posed issues in the past. Earlier this month, Hurricane Erin forced an itinerary change for the Disney Treasure. Similarly, the Disney Fantasy rerouted its Western Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral due to Hurricane Beryl in the summer of 2024, while Hurricane Dorian wreaked havoc on itineraries in 2019.
Even political issues have interfered with Disney Cruise Line voyages. In 2024, civil unrest in New Caledonia caused Disney to reroute some trips that were supposed to visit Nouméa. Disney has since confirmed the end of its Australia and New Zealand voyages (for now, at least), which means it’ll likely skip New Caledonia for the foreseeable future.
Reports of Man Overboard on Disney Cruise Line
Ultimately, these are familiar challenges for a major cruise line. However, few scenarios are as serious as a passenger going overboard — the very fear that arose on the Disney Wish last night.
A passenger took to Reddit to share their account.
“We’re on the Wish now, about an hour after leaving Nassau they sounded the man overboard alarm and started throwing life preservers over the port side and started turning around,” they wrote. “Not sure if anyone has heard anything but we have a port side balcony and didn’t see anyone in the water.”
Another account shared via DISBoards claimed that the “man overboard” call was issued at around 8 p.m. while around 15 miles away from Nassau. They confirmed that the ship reportedly turned around and sent rescue boats to search the area.
Fortunately, it seems like it was a false alarm.
Later updates confirmed that all crew and passengers were accounted for.
One passenger claimed that all guests were called to their muster stations by the captain for a census. “Everyone is accounted for and we were just dismissed,” they wrote. “Thank god.”
While one family was apparently not accounted for during the census, their last name and stateroom number were announced repeatedly until they were located after roughly 30 minutes. “I don’t foresee them being popular for the rest of the trip.”
However, a guest claimed that the ship was still stopped north of Nassau, with some kind of disturbance unfolding at sea. “There are life boats out with the search light from the ship,” they wrote. “Hopefully it’s just debris but there were two RCL ships leaving Nassau ahead of us so if there was someone spotted it could have been from there.”
Have you ever experienced an issue on the Disney Cruise Line?