carnival cruise line passenger death

FBI investigating 'suspicious death' of woman on Carnival cruise ship

The unidentified female was pronounced dead on the ship of unknown causes.

The FBI is investigating a "suspicious death" of a female passenger aboard a Carnival cruise ship while it was en route to the Bahamas .

The incident occurred on Carnival's Sunshine during its Feb. 27 voyage from the United States to Nassau, Bahamas, when medical staff and other crew members aboard the ship were made aware of an unresponsive passenger and life-saving measures were immediately attempted, according to a statement from the FBI's field office in Columbia, South Carolina.

MORE: Fisherman missing after going overboard while hooking 'huge' tuna on fishing trip

Despite the crew's best efforts, the unidentified female passenger was pronounced dead on the ship of currently unknown causes, though Carnival released a subsequent statement indicating that they believe the passenger died of natural causes.

"While we continue to cooperate with authorities, all indications pertaining to the death of a guest on board Carnival Sunshine suggest that it was a natural death due to a medical condition," Carnival said in the statement released on Tuesday. "We will defer to the FBI on any specific details which may possibly be released at a later date as we fully respect the investigative process, but our initial emergency medical response was appropriate and it appears that this was indeed a medical situation that sadly resulted in the death of a guest."

This incident remains under investigation by the FBI.

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"The FBI investigates certain crimes on the high seas, as well as suspicious deaths of U.S. persons," the FBI said. "As such, FBI Evidence Response Team (ERT) members responded to process the passenger's room once the ship returned to the Charleston port on March 4."

MORE: 9-year-old boy missing after falling off pontoon boat, being hit by propeller

The "suspicious death" was isolated, according to the FBI, and there was no threat to any other passengers before or after the passenger was found deceased.

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Carnival passenger dies after contracting Covid, the 1st death since cruises resumed in June

A Carnival Cruise Line passenger died after contracting Covid-19, the company confirmed Tuesday. It is the first reported death since cruises resumed in June in the Caribbean and United States.

According to the cruise liner, the victim was traveling on a Carnival Vista ship that departed from Galveston, Texas, on July 31 for Belize.

The passenger received medical care on the ship and was later evacuated from Belize, the company said, adding that the passenger "almost certainly did not contract" the coronavirus on the ship.

"We are very sorry to hear about the death of a guest who sailed on Carnival Vista," Carnival said in a statement. "We have continued to provide support to her family and are not going to add to their sadness by commenting further."

The Belize Tourism Board said after becoming ill, the passenger was allowed to disembark the ship to receive urgent care in the country. The passenger was evacuated back to the United States via air ambulance, the board said in a press release .

The passenger's family could not immediately be reached on Tuesday. According to The New York Times , the passenger was a 77-year-old woman from Oklahoma who died on Aug. 14.

News of the death comes weeks after it was reported that 27 people aboard the ship had contracted Covid-19 . The Belize Tourism Board said after the Carnival Vista arrived in the country, the ship reported that 26 crew members and one passenger had tested positive for the virus. All of the people infected had been vaccinated, the board said in a press release .

The ship was carrying nearly 3,000 guests and 1,441 crew when it arrived in Belize.

Texas is one of several states that bans businesses from requiring a "vaccine passport", or proof a person has been vaccinated . Carnival said Tuesday that since it started sailing again in July, more than 95 percent of guests have been vaccinated.

The cruise liner recently updated its Covid-19 policy and implemented a mask mandate on Aug. 7 for passengers in elevators and in designated indoor entertainment areas, retail shops and in the casino. It also began requiring that fully vaccinated guests provide a negative coronavirus test prior to boarding.

Minyvonne Burke is a senior breaking news reporter for NBC News.

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FBI investigating suspicious death of passenger onboard Carnival cruise ship

Female passenger was found unresponsive during the ship’s 27 february cruise to nassau, bahamas, article bookmarked.

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The FBI is investigating the suspicious death of a female passenger onboard the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship, the agency announced.

The passenger was found unresponsive during the ship’s 27 February cruise to Nassau , Bahamas , according to the FBI field office in Columbia, South Carolina.

Despite medical staff and crew members performing life-saving measures, the woman was pronounced dead on the ship.

Both the deceased passenger and her husband were taken off the ship in the Bahamas, where an autopsy will take place.

“The FBI joined Carnival Sunshine upon its return to Charleston on Saturday to conduct an investigation into the death of a guest. Both the deceased and her husband were debarked in Nassau and Bahamian authorities have already investigated the circumstances and are conducting an autopsy. We are fully cooperating,” Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson Matt Lupoli told The Independent in a statement.

“This is a matter for authorities in The Bahamas and Charleston and we have no further comments.”

“We are fully cooperating. This is a matter for authorities in the Bahamas and Charleston and we have no further comments.”

Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team conducted a search of the passenger’s room when the ship returned to its home port of Charleston, South Carolina, on 4 March.

The FBI investigates suspicious deaths of US nationals as well as “certain crimes on the high seas.” The death remains under investigation.

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Watch CBS News

FBI investigating "suspicious" death of a woman on a Carnival cruise ship

By Gina Martinez

Updated on: March 6, 2023 / 7:24 PM EST / CBS News

The FBI is investigating the "suspicious" death of a woman aboard a Carnival cruise ship traveling from Charleston, South Carolina, to Nassau, Bahamas, last month.

On Feb. 27, Carnival's Sunshine crew members and medical staff responded to an unresponsive female passenger, the FBI Columbia field office said in a news release. Despite their best efforts, the woman was pronounced dead on the ship, the release said. 

The incident was isolated and posed no threats to other passengers, according to the FBI.

When the ship returned to Charleston on March 4, FBI officials searched the dead passenger's room for evidence, according to the news release.  

The FBI said it investigates suspicious deaths of U.S. citizens as well as "certain crimes on the high seas." Officials have not disclosed the identity of the passenger or the cause of death and said the incident remains under investigation. 

Carnival said they are "fully cooperating" with the investigation and that the incident is being handled by authorities in the Bahamas and in Charleston. 

"Both the deceased and her husband were debarked in Nassau and Bahamian authorities have already investigated the circumstances and are conducting an autopsy," the cruise line said in a statement to CBS News. 

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Cruise Passenger Dies From Covid, Testing Industry Plans

The passenger and 26 crew members aboard the Carnival Vista tested positive for the coronavirus and the passenger later died. The company says its protocols successfully stopped further spread.

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By Ceylan Yeginsu

As the highly contagious Delta variant surges across the world, the health and safety protocols established for cruise ships are being put to the test. Over two weeks in late July and early August, 27 coronavirus infections were identified aboard the Carnival Vista cruise ship sailing out of Galveston, Texas.

One of those infected, a passenger, later died.

It was the highest number of cases aboard a ship reported since June, when cruises restarted in the Caribbean and United States, and the first death.

The passenger and 26 crew members were immediately isolated after testing positive for the virus. Contact tracing and further testing was conducted, with no new cases reported by Aug. 11, when the ship arrived at the port of Belize City on the northeastern coast of Central America, Carnival said.

Though the ship sailed out of Texas, which bans businesses from requiring vaccinations , more than 96 percent of passengers were vaccinated and all but one crew member was fully vaccinated, according to the Belize tourism board.

Most infected crew members were either asymptomatic or experienced mild symptoms of the virus, but Marilyn Tackett, a 77-year-old passenger from Oklahoma, was admitted to the hospital in Belize and put on a ventilator after experiencing respiratory complications. Days later, she was evacuated to a hospital in Tulsa where she received treatment, but on Aug. 14 her condition worsened, and she died, according to a statement issued by her family on a crowdfunding page set up to help pay for her care.

Ms. Tackett’s family declined to comment on the incident.

“We are very sorry to hear about the death of a guest who sailed on Carnival Vista,” the Carnival Cruise Line said in a statement. The cruise line said that it was highly unlikely Ms. Tackett contracted the coronavirus aboard the ship, which left Galveston on July 31, and that she had received expert medical care onboard before being evacuated.

The cruise line did not test vaccinated passengers before they embarked for the cruise.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new advisory, warning people with increased risk for severe illness from Covid-19 to avoid travel on cruise ships, irrespective of their vaccination status.

Carnival is not the only cruise line to have seen an uptick in cases. Earlier this month, Royal Caribbean had six guests test positive onboard its Adventure of the Seas ship.

The companies have responded to the recent increase in cases by introducing pre-departure testing requirements for all passengers. Carnival also added a mask mandate on Aug. 7 for all vaccinated and unvaccinated guests in indoor areas and banned smoking in the casino.

“The protocols are designed to flex up and adapt,” said Chris Chiames, the chief communications officer for Carnival Cruise Line, in a telephone interview. “That’s what they’ve done here in the context of their desire to mitigate and minimize the threat of Covid, which is everywhere, unfortunately, and it’s going to remain everywhere for a long time.”

“We never suggested our ships would be Covid free,” he continued. “But we designed our protocols to meet and exceed the guidelines of the C.D.C. and we will continue to be vigilant while continuing to focus on giving our guests a great vacation.”

Michael Bayley, the chief executive officer of Royal Caribbean, said the cruise line was typically seeing one or two positive cases out of more than 1,000 guests a week per ship. More than 90 percent of passengers are vaccinated, he said, and because of preboarding testing requirements two to 10 guests are prevented from boarding ships each week because they test positive.

But, Mr. Bayley said in a candid Facebook post addressing the current coronavirus situation, “Testing captures status at a point of time and if the guest is incubating infection, then the test will miss it.” The vaccinated guests who test positive typically are asymptomatic, he said in the post.

Some cruise lines say passengers have canceled amid concerns about the risks of the Delta variant, but many sailings are fully booked through the rest of year because of pent-up demand.

Many cruise enthusiasts with upcoming trips believe that cruise ships are one of the safest ways to travel during the pandemic because of the high percentage of vaccinated passengers and crew, added testing requirements and stringent health and safety measures enforced on board.

“It’s very comforting boarding a cruise ship knowing that most people are vaccinated and everyone is tested,” said Aidan Alexander, 62, an avid cruiser from Florida who has eight sailings booked through 2022. “When you get on a plane or stay in a hotel you don’t know anyone’s vaccination or Covid status and that makes it very difficult to relax and unwind.”

John Ioannidis, an epidemiology professor at Stanford University, disputes that notion. In an airport, on a plane or in a hotel, he said, “you only get exposed for a few hours, whereas on a cruise ship you could get exposed for many days and weeks. It’s a kind of cumulative exposure.”

But he said the health and safety protocols implemented by cruise companies will likely avert the major disasters and deaths that were seen in the initial stages of the pandemic last year.

“I think that it’s fair to say that it’s likely that the outbreaks will not be left to grow to the same extent as they did in the outbreaks in the first wave of the pandemic,” he said.

Christina Perez, 56, a passenger who was on board the Carnival Vista when the virus cases were identified earlier this month, said the cruise line dealt with the situation well and she felt safe throughout her trip.

“It was still an amazing vacation. The crew took great care of us and kept us informed and managed to contain the situation very quickly,” Ms. Perez said in a telephone interview.

“I think it’s getting risker to travel now with the new variants, even on cruises, but at least if there is an outbreak on a cruise ship there is a plan and you know you’ll be taken care of,” she said.

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook . And sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to receive expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places list for 2021 .

Ceylan Yeginsu is a London-based reporter. She joined The Times in 2013, and was previously a correspondent in Turkey covering politics, the migrant crisis, the Kurdish conflict, and the rise of Islamic State extremism in Syria and the region. More about Ceylan Yeginsu

The FBI is investigating the fall of the Carnival cruise passenger who is missing after going overboard on his first cruise: report

• The FBI is investigating the fall of a Carnival cruise passenger who fell overboard on his first cruise, per Fox News Digital.
• 35-year-old Ronnie Lee Peale Jr. was returning to Virginia from the Bahamas at the time of the incident on Monday.

The United States Coast Guard said late on Wednesday that it has suspended search efforts for Peale.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating the fall of a Carnival cruise passenger who fell overboard on his first cruise, Fox News Digital reported on Wednesday.

The passenger, 35-year-old Ronnie Lee Peale Jr., was on a Carnival cruise ship returning to Virginia from the Bahamas at the time of the incident.

He was reported missing by his fiancée late Monday afternoon, the cruise ship operator told Insider's Natalie Musumeci and Hannah Towey on Tuesday.

It was his first-ever cruise, his fiancée Jennilyn Michelle Blosser told WTKR.

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Insider could not reach the FBI via phone outside regular business hours. A spokesperson for the federal agency's Norfolk field office told Fox the FBI is the lead investigating agency for the incident.

"The FBI typically has jurisdiction to investigate incidents on the high seas and works closely with our partners in law enforcement and in the cruising industry to collect the evidence and facts of cases," the spokesperson told the media outlet.

"The decision to suspend the active search efforts pending further development is never one we take lightly. We offer our most sincere condolences to Mr. Peale's family and friends," the US Coast Guard said in a statement.

Peale Jr. "loved the cruise life," Blosser told WTKR . "Being able to drink, gamble, and socialize put him in his happy place."

Carnival Cruise said in a statement to Insider on Tuesday that a review of close-circuit security video footage showed Peale Jr. "leaned over the railing of his stateroom balcony and dropped into the water at approximately 4:10 am early Monday morning."

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FBI investigating 'suspicious' death of Carnival Sunshine cruise ship passenger

Carnival cruise line says deceased woman, husband taken off ship in nassau, bahamas.

Carnival cruise ship rescues 5 migrants in small vessel floating toward Florida

Crew members aboard the Carnival Celebration cruise ship spotted five people in distress on a small vessel about 29 miles northwest of Cuba on Monday. (Mark Stachowski/LOCAL NEWS X /TMX)

The FBI says it is investigating the "suspicious death" of a female passenger onboard the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship during a sailing to the Bahamas. 

The Columbia field office says the woman, who has not been publicly identified, died during the Sunshine’s Feb. 27 voyage operating out of Charleston, South Carolina. 

"Medical staff and other crew members of Carnival’s Sunshine were made aware of the passenger being unresponsive and immediately attempted life-saving measures," the FBI said. "Despite their efforts, the passenger was pronounced deceased on the ship. 

When the ship returned to Charleston on March 4, the FBI "responded to process the passenger’s room." 

CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE WARNS THAT UNRULY SPRING BREAK PASSENGERS COULD FACE $500 FINES  

The Carnival Sunshine cruise ship is seen in New York City in September 2017. The FBI announced that it is investigating a "suspicious death" onboard the ship during a Feb. 27, 2023 sailing. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)

"This incident was isolated and there was no threat to any other passengers before or after the passenger was found deceased," the FBI also said. 

CRUISE INDUSTRY POISED TO MAKE STRONG COMEBACK IN 2023  

Carnival Cruise Line told FOX Business that it is fully cooperating with the FBI’s investigation. 

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS      

Carnival Cruise Line tells FOX Business that it is cooperating in the FBI's investigation. Shown above is theCarnival Valor cruise ship setting sail from the Port of New Orleans in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 3, 2022. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)

  "Both the deceased and her husband were debarked in Nassau and Bahamian authorities have already investigated the circumstances and are conducting an autopsy," the company said in a statement. 

The death on the 3,000-capacity ship comes as Carnival has warned that unruly spring break passengers could face $500 fines. 

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FBI Investigating 'Suspicious Death' of Female Passenger on Carnival Cruise Ship

The woman was found unresponsive and medical staff were unable to revive her

The death of a woman onboard a Carnival cruise ship in the Bahamas is being investigated by the FBI.

Medical staff and crew members of Carnival's Sunshine vessel attempted to revive the woman after she was found unresponsive, the FBI Columbia field office said in a statement . She was pronounced dead onboard the ship.

The passenger's "suspicious death" occurred during a voyage to Nassau on Feb. 27.

FBI officials said the incident was isolated and there was "no threat to any other passengers before or after the passenger was found deceased."

An FBI Evidence Response Team processed the passenger's room after the ship returned to the Charleston port on March 4. The FBI said it investigates "certain crimes on the high seas, as well as suspicious deaths of U.S. persons."

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE' s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

A Carnival Cruise Line spokesperson told PEOPLE the company was "fully cooperating" and it was a "matter for authorities in the Bahamas and Charleston."

"The FBI joined Carnival Sunshine upon its return to Charleston on Saturday to conduct an investigation into the death of a guest," the spokesperson said. "Both the deceased and her husband were debarked in Nassau and Bahamian authorities have already investigated the circumstances and are conducting an autopsy. We are fully cooperating. This is a matter for authorities in The Bahamas and Charleston and we have no further comments."

The FBI said the death remains under investigation and no other details could be provided at this time.

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Carnival passenger dies after contracting Covid, the 1st death since cruises resumed in June

A Carnival Cruise Line passenger died after contracting Covid-19, the company confirmed Tuesday. It is the first reported death since cruises resumed in June in the Caribbean and United States.

According to the cruise liner, the victim was traveling on a Carnival Vista ship that departed from Galveston, Texas, on July 31 for Belize.

The passenger received medical care on the ship and was later evacuated from Belize, the company said, adding that the passenger "almost certainly did not contract" the coronavirus on the ship.

"We are very sorry to hear about the death of a guest who sailed on Carnival Vista," Carnival said in a statement. "We have continued to provide support to her family and are not going to add to their sadness by commenting further."

The Belize Tourism Board said after becoming ill, the passenger was allowed to disembark the ship to receive urgent care in the country. The passenger was evacuated back to the United States via air ambulance, the board said in a press release .

The passenger's family could not immediately be reached on Tuesday. According to The New York Times , the passenger was a 77-year-old woman from Oklahoma who died on Aug. 14.

News of the death comes weeks after it was reported that 27 people aboard the ship had contracted Covid-19 . The Belize Tourism Board said after the Carnival Vista arrived in the country, the ship reported that 26 crew members and one passenger had tested positive for the virus. All of the people infected had been vaccinated, the board said in a press release .

The ship was carrying nearly 3,000 guests and 1,441 crew when it arrived in Belize.

Texas is one of several states that bans businesses from requiring a "vaccine passport", or proof a person has been vaccinated . Carnival said Tuesday that since it started sailing again in July, more than 95 percent of guests have been vaccinated.

The cruise liner recently updated its Covid-19 policy and implemented a mask mandate on Aug. 7 for passengers in elevators and in designated indoor entertainment areas, retail shops and in the casino. It also began requiring that fully vaccinated guests provide a negative coronavirus test prior to boarding.

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Carnival cruise ship rescues 25 people stranded off the coast of Mexico

A Carnival Cruise Line ship responded to a call from the U.S. Coast Guard and rescued 25 people stranded in a small boat off the coast of Mexico, the company announced Saturday.

The 2,984-passenger Carnival Radiance had left Long Beach, California, on Friday and was heading toward Ensenada Mexico for a three-day sailing when the cruise ship's officers were informed by the Coast Guard "about a distress call involving a small vessel," a news release said.

The ship immediately routed toward the location of the vessel, provided by the USCG, and "quickly" rescued all 25 people on board, including three children, the company said.

The U.S. Coast Guard did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

The rescued group was welcomed onto the cruise ship and given food, water, and medical assistance. Carnival coordinated with the Coast Guard to hand off the group.

Learn more: Best travel insurance

The incident did not disrupt the Carnival Radiance's schedule, the company announced.

A roller coaster in the ocean: What Carnival Cruise Line's BOLT ride is like

Another Carnival ship rescued a group of 28 Cuban nationals stuck at sea as it was sailing the Caribbean and saw people signaling for help in late April. The cruise ship was headed from Tampa, Florida, to Roatan in Honduras at the time. Also last month, a Celebrity Cruises ship sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to multiple destinations in the Caribbean rescued a small vessel adrift between Mexico and Cuba.

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at [email protected]

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Breaking news, family’s $15k carnival cruise vacation canceled just 2 days prior, without their knowledge, after sharing booking number on facebook.

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A Kentucky family’s $15,000 Carnival Cruise vacation they had been planning for a year was canceled just two days before the ship was set to sail after they accidentally shared their booking number online in a case of identity theft.

Tiffany Banks was devastated to learn that her trip aboard the Carnival Celebration ship with her husband and their four kids was canceled without her knowledge the day before the family was going to fly to Florida to leave on the boat.

Banks said in a series of TikTok videos that she had no idea their vacation, for which they had already paid in full, was trashed until she got an email about off-ship excursion cancellations and called to investigate.

A Carnival customer service representative told her that she had canceled her $12,000 reservation for the ship’s largest room — the Excel Presidential Suite — through the online system.

The mom and nurse practitioner said she went into “a full-blown panic” and she and her four kids were all in tears.

“We have nearly $15,000 tied up in for this vacation including excursions. The room itself was I think $12,000 or $13,000, and then we’ve got a few grand tied up in excursions, and actually with almost $2,000 for flights,” she said in a May 12 TikTok video.

Banks said she never canceled the trip and wondered if it was a system glitch.

Carnival said the room they had booked was now reserved by another customer and offered the family two interior rooms — the cheapest on the ship — instead, but the mom did not feel it was an adequate replacement.

Carnival also refused to offer a full refund as its cancellation policy states that no money will be returned within 15 days of the cruise date.

The family flew to Miami and tried to board the ship anyway, hoping for a last-minute solution, but were unable to get on and the ship sailed off without them, Banks said in a teary follow-up video.

They instead stayed at an Airbnb in the Sunshine State, hoping to make the best of their change of plans while the mom shared frustrating updates on TikTok.

In one clip, she responded to “haters” who accused her of hiding things or not sharing the full story.

“I’m an open book. I talk too much. I give out too much information — that’s just me naturally,” she said in remarks that would become an ironic prediction of what was to come in the saga.

A few days later, Carnival called Banks back with an explanation of how her long-awaited cruise trip was canned.

The cruise line told Banks that she was the “victim of a form of identity theft” but that there was no security breach on Carnival’s part, according to a recording of the call she shared on TikTok.

Banks and her husband accidentally shared their cruise booking reference number when posting a screenshot of an email with the countdown to their vacation on Facebook a few weeks out, according to the clip.

The same day they posted the booking number on Facebook, someone created an online Carnival account and added the number to their profile.

Then, 48 hours before the cruise sail date, the person canceled the family’s entire cabin booking, the Carnival rep told Banks in the recording.

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Banks said Carnival told her that it believes the IP address of the person who canceled was in British Columbia but it was unable to get an identity of the fraudster.

The company offered her future cruise credit for $10,404 contingent on the mom posting on social media “something to the effect of Carnival has now resolved the issue.”

But Banks said she wasn’t interested and questioned the ease with which someone was able to take over her booking with no verification process.

“We’re not sailing with Carnival ever again,” she said.

The Post reached out to Carnival but did not immediately receive a response.

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Passenger dies after jumping off world’s largest cruise ship as it sets sail from Florida

A passenger has died after jumping overboard from the world ’s largest cruise ship after it set sail from Florida .

The male passenger, who has not been identified, reportedly jumped, according to the New York Post , from the 20-deck high Icon of the Seas after it left a Florida port on Sunday to embark on a seven-day cruise around the Caribbean , first stopping in Honduras.

The Coast Guard , who said they did not have much involvement in the incident beyond assisting in the search for the man, told the New York Post that “the cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man, and brought him back aboard”.

The man has since been “pronounced deceased,” the Coast Guard added.

The world’s largest cruise experience was approximately 300 miles away from PortMiami, and around 30 to 40 miles north of Santa Lucia, Cuba, at the time of the incident, which occurred in the morning, according to Cruise Hive.

The Royal Caribbean, which operates the Icon of the Seas along with other groundbreakingly large cruise ships, told the outlet in a statement that their ship’s crew immediately notified the Coast Guard in the US and “launched a search and rescue operation”.

“Our care team is actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time,” the cruise company added. “For the privacy of the guest and their family, we have no additional details to share.“

The ship, which holds way over 5,000 guests and only made its maiden voyage in January of this year, had embarked on the cruise on Saturday, but after the incident on Sunday, the cruise halted and stayed put for around two hours while the search continued, the outlet said.

According to CruiseMapper tracking data, the Icon of the Seas is due to reach the port of Costa Maya, Mexico by noon on Tuesday.

The incident comes over a month after a similar tragedy on another Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Liberty of the Seas when a 20-year-old man identified as Levion Parker is thought to have gone overboard during a trip around the Bahamas.

The cruise line immediately launched a search and rescue mission along with the US Coast Guard, but it was suspended after five days due to not being able to find him.

However, the cruise company has also witnessed some successful rescues in recent months, such as being able to recover a passenger who fell overboard from the Symphony of the Seas back in October.

The cruise, which had just left Barcelona at the time, said the guest was successfully brought back on board after falling shortly after it left the port.

The Independent has contacted Royal Caribbean for comment.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.

The Independent is the world’s most free-thinking news brand, providing global news, commentary and analysis for the independently-minded. We have grown a huge, global readership of independently minded individuals, who value our trusted voice and commitment to positive change. Our mission, making change happen, has never been as important as it is today.

P&O Cruises to retire its brand in Australia, fold operations into Carnival Cruise Line

P&O Cruises Australia has announced its fleet will soon be sailing to its final berth, ceasing its operations in 2025 after more than 90 years on the water.

The Australian travel brand will fold its operations into parent company Carnival Cruise Line from March 2025.

P&O's Pacific Encounter and Pacific Adventure ships and workforce will be rebranded and transferred to the Carnival Cruise Line fleet, while the Pacific Explorer, previously known as the Dawn Princess, will be retired.

Passengers set to cruise in 2024 will not be affected, while customers who had cruises booked on the Pacific Explorer after March 2, 2025 will have the option of a refund or credit for Carnival with extra onboard spending money.

It is the end of an era for the popular brand, which first sailed from Sydney on December 23, 1932, on a seven-day itinerary calling at Brisbane and Norfolk Island.

The company's first permanent ship in Australia, the Fairstar — heavily promoted as "the fun ship" — was part of the fleet for nine years until 1997.

P&O Cruises Australia issued its surprise notice to customers on Tuesday.

"As a result, all itineraries on Pacific Explorer scheduled to sail after 2nd March 2025 are being cancelled," it said.

"If you are booked on one of these itineraries you will be contacted by guest services in the coming days with refund details.

"We are all immensely proud of P&O Cruises Australia's 90-year heritage of dedicated operations in the region, and Carnival Cruise Line are honoured to carry forward its storied legacy and continue to deliver the same onboard experiences and itineraries."

Crews on the Pacific Explorer were expected to be redeployed to other ships, but a small number of workers in the P&O Australia head office would lose their jobs, a spokeswoman said.

Acting P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Australia lead Peter Little will be retained under the new title of country manager.

Carnival Cruise chief executive Josh Weinstein hailed P&O Cruises as a storied brand with an amazing team and lauded its accomplishments in Australia and the broader region.

"However, given the strategic reality of the South Pacific's small population and significantly higher operating and regulatory costs, we're adjusting our approach," he said.

The Carnival brand will see its fleet boosted by eight ships after also acquiring vessels from sister line Costa Cruises and ordering new ships to come into operation in 2027 and 2028.

Under the changes, Carnival will continue to be the largest cruise operator in the region with 19 ships, representing almost 60 per cent of the market.

The P&O ships will have technology upgrades, including an ordering app and loyalty program, but will retain the "familiar feel and much of the same experiences" for Australian guests, Carnival Cruise Line president Christine Duffy said.

Who owns P&O Cruises?

P&O Cruises is owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. 

Carnival Corporation & plc owns a number of different brands including Carnival Cruise Line and Princess Cruises.

What does P&O stand for?

The initials P and O stand for "Peninsular and Oriental", an abbreviation of The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.

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