It’s time to dig into the week’s top cruise headlines from Cruise Hive, your go-to source for cruise and port call news and developments.
In our recap edition this week, we’ll tell you about a lifeboat that fell from a Carnival Cruise Line ship during an unmanned test, Princess Cruises streamlining its vacation insurance policies, and Royal Caribbean unveiling a Duckie Carousel onboard its new-build Legend of the Seas.
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Man Escapes Injury After Fall Into Nassau Harbor
A man walking near Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Encore while the ship was docked at the Port of Nassau took an unexpected dip in the harbor.
The unidentified male guest was not injured, and it was not clear whether he was a guest on the ship.
Norwegian Encore was making an unscheduled call at Nassau when the incident happened on November 16, 2025. The ship was originally scheduled to call at Great Stirrup Cay that day, but heavy seas in the area caused a revision to the itinerary.
Videos posted on social media show the man holding onto a life ring in the water between the ship and the pier. It isn’t clear how he landed in the water — whether he was on the gangway and slipped, or fell from the pier.
Within minutes, crew members helped the guest onto the pier with a ladder. Norwegian Encore was sailing a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise that left PortMiami on November 15, 2025.
Compensation Offered as Cruise Ends 8 Hours Late
Propulsion problems on Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Horizon caused the ship to arrive back at her homeport, PortMiami, 8 hours later than scheduled on November 16, 2025. That meant plenty of travel headaches for guests booked on homeward-bound flights following debarkation.
Cruise line President Christine Duffy sent an email to every guest, apologizing for the delay and providing some compensation.
The ship had been sailing an 8-night Southern Caribbean cruise when it developed propulsion issues that caused sailing speeds to be lowered. Carnival Horizon had departed PortMiami on November 8, 2025.
The cruise line offered up to $200 per person to cover non-refundable air fare costs and/or change fees. Guests seeking reimbursement will have to send their cost receipts to the cruise line by email and wait a few weeks to receive payment.
Carnival Horizon’s next cruise, which departed on November 16, 2025, left PortMiami later than expected, so the cruise line provided pro-rated, one-day refunds of each guest’s cruise fare plus any packages they had purchased.
Court Filing Adds to Mystery in Teen’s Shipboard Death
A court filing appears to provide some new information in the case of an 18-year-old’s death on Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Horizon on November 7, 2025.
Anna Kepner was discovered dead in her cabin, hidden under the bed, during the ship’s 6-night Western Caribbean cruise that departed from PortMiami. An investigation is underway, and no cause of death has been revealed.
But in a legal motion filed on November 17, 2025, Kepner’s stepmother, Shauntel Hudson, sought to postpone a court hearing involving her ex-husband, apparently related to child custody, due to the likelihood that a criminal case would be filed against one of the family’s minor children.
It appears that those criminal charges could be tied to Kepner’s death. The name and age of the minor child — a step-sibling to Kepner, have not been disclosed, but the action taken by Hudson was based on information from FBI investigators.
Kepner, a Florida resident and cheerleader, was found in her stateroom by a cabin steward.
Cruise Line Issues Mobility Scooter Reminders
Carnival Cruise Line sent letters to guests booked on two upcoming voyages reminding them of the line’s mobility scooter rules.
Those who received the notices are sailing on Carnival Liberty’s 14-night sailing to Panama and the Caribbean from New Orleans, and Carnival Venezia’s 14-night Southern Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral. Both cruises depart on November 30, 2025.
The cruise line has not revealed why guests booked only on these two departures were selected to receive the reminders.
Carnival Cruise Line has several scooter regulations regarding size, storage, and general etiquette. Among them is, for instance, that scooters have to be under 21 inches wide to fit through the door of a standard cabin. Guests with wider scooters must book a fully accessible stateroom or rent a smaller scooter.
And for safety reasons, scooters are not allowed to be stored in hallways or left unattended anywhere on the ship. The cruise line’s reminder also urges guests to notify the line if they intend to bring a scooter onboard.
Those who do will be asked to fill out a mobility questionnaire, so that the line can make sure appropriate staterooms have been booked.
Lifeboat Falls From Ship During Unmanned Test
Imagine the surprise on the faces of Carnival Dream guests when one of the ship’s lifeboats broke loose from the vessel and went crashing into the water during a port call in Cozumel, Mexico.
That was the scene as the Carnival Cruise Line ship made her final port call on a 6-night Western Caribbean cruise roundtrip from Galveston, Texas. The incident, in which no injuries were reported, happened on November 19, 2025.
It was Lifeboat 3, stored on the ship’s starboard side, that fell. Turns out that the crew was holding an unmanned test that involved lowering the vessel, a practice that is not uncommon while ships are docked at a port of call.
Fortunately, the lifeboat did not damage Carnival Dream’s hull when it fell, but did sustain significant damage, including a big crack along the boat’s stern. That meant the lifeboat would be unusable during an actual emergency.
It raised questions about whether the 3,646-guest ship could sail without it, since all cruise ships are required to have enough lifeboats to accommodate everyone on board.
However, apparently there were enough lifeboats left on the ship to hold all souls, since Carnival Dream returned to Galveston on schedule and was due to operate her next sailing, an 8-night Bahamas cruise departing on November 21, 2025.
Princess Cruises Streamlines Insurance Plans
Princess Cruises’ guests will say goodbye to the line’s Standard Princess Vacation Protection (PVP) plan as of December 9, 2025. But all is not lost: the line will still offer its Platinum PVP, although it is a more expensive plan.
The Standard PVP is typically 9% of the cruise cost, while the Platinum version is 12%. Guests who are booked to sail and have already purchased the standard plan are unaffected, and the standard plan will continue to be offered through December 8, 2025.
The cruise line’s goal is to simplify insurance choices and expand coverage. With Platinum PVP, guests receive an insurance policy that covers things like lost luggage, emergency evacuation, and trip delay costs, for instance, as well as a cancellation waiver.
The waiver enables guests to cancel a cruise for non-covered reasons, but is priced separately, starting at 10% of the cruise fare for voyages costing up to $5,000 per person.
Also being altered is the line’s At-Ease Waiver, which will be renamed Cancellation Protection. It enables guests to get a refund on items such as a cruisetour segment or a hotel accommodation booked as part of a Cruise Plus package.
Duckie Carousel to Debut on Legend of the Seas
The cruise industry’s cruising-duck phenomenon, whereby guests hide small rubber ducks around a ship for others to find, is reaching a new level onboard Royal Caribbean’s new-build, Legend of the Seas, due to launch in July 2026.
The third in the Icon class, Legend of the Seas will feature a “Duckie-Go-Round” carousel in the family-oriented Surfside neighborhood. Will it be for adults as well as children? Still unknown, but a rendering of the carousel shows brightly colored ducks wearing vacation-style clothing.
Royal Caribbean is inviting cruisers to help name the ducks. On social media, the line presented a pink duckie and asked people to vote for either Dolly, Sally, Polly, or Lulu. Dolly won out, with more than 50% of the votes.
Rides on the carousel will be free. This is not the first time that carousels have been added to Royal Caribbean ships as an entertainment feature. They debuted with the Oasis class, however, Legend of the Seas is the first to focus on ducks.
More Cruise Headlines
\Why stop now? Cruise Hive has plenty more news and features for you, including coverage of Norwegian Cruise Line adding an Elton John tribute show to one ship’s entertainment roster, Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Equinox getting delayed in Lisbon due to a port strike, and Carnival Cruise Line making its new non-alcoholic drinks package available for sale on voyages departing in early 2026.
Also, read Cruise Hive writer Catie Kovelman’s onboard review of the brand new Star Princess, and find out why some hair dryers are being confiscated aboard a Disney Cruise Line ship.
