Two Cruisers Drown at Carnival’s New Port in The Bahamas, Celebration Key

Two cruise passengers drowned yesterday at Carnival Cruise Line’s new port in The Bahamas, Celebration Key.

Two Carnival cruise ships were at Celebration Key yesterday, Carnival Elation and Mardi Gras. One passenger from each ship passed away while visiting the port.

The first was a 79-year-old American man who drowned while snorkeling at Celebration Key.

Police said that the incident happened at approximately 1 pm yesterday and the matter remains under active investigation. At the time of press, no other information was available about his death.

In addition, a woman in her 70s also drowned at the new port yesterday. It is reported that a 74-year-old American woman drown in a swimming pool (lagoon as Carnival calls them) at the port.

Carnival Cruise Line sent the following statement to Cruise Fever about the tragedies:

“Our lifeguards and medical team responded to two separate water emergency incidents at Celebration Key on Friday — one in the lagoon and one at the beach. Sadly, both guests have passed away.

“One guest was sailing with family on Mardi Gras and one guest was sailing with family on Carnival Elation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the guests and their families and our Care Team is providing assistance.“

Celebration Key opened last month as a private port for Carnival cruise ships to visit. The port is located on Grand Bahama Island and is around a 40 minute drive from Freeport.

Cruise Fever will continue to monitor this sad news from Celebration Key and we will provide more information when it becomes available.

The team at Cruise Fever sends our thoughts and prayers to the families and friends of these two cruisers.