Key Aspects:
- Five cruise guests were arrested in Nassau after fighting in the cruise port area on Monday, June 8.
- The fight escalated at the police station, with property damage and multiple officers injured.
- No confirmation is available about which of the six ships in port that day the guests had sailed on.
Five American cruise ship guests have been arrested in Nassau, Bahamas, after they were involved in a brawl that not only started at the cruise port, but continued once the guests were at the police station. Three local officers were injured and damage was done to the station in the incident.
According to The Nassau Guardian, the fight happened late Monday afternoon, June 8, 2026. Three men and two women were involved, fighting at the port at roughly 4:45 p.m. Authorities arrived quickly and all five were arrested.
Once arriving at the police station, however, the five suspects then resisted the officers, attempted to flee, and caused damage to the station when officers tried to search them.
“One female suspect allegedly threw a chair through a southern glass door, causing it to shatter. A male suspect then allegedly kicked out the remaining glass and attempted to escape, but was immediately subdued by officers,” police said.
“As a result of the confrontation at the police station, several officers’ uniforms were damaged and four officers sustained various injuries. Two officers were reportedly struck about the body, while another suffered a laceration to the mouth. The fourth officer sustained a serious injury to his left shoulder and was transported to the hospital by ambulance for medical treatment.”
The five suspects also had minor injuries and were treated by emergency personnel.
Which Cruise Guests Were Involved?
No information of the identities of the suspects has been released, other than the fact that they are American citizens, two are men, and three are women.
It is not known which cruise ship the guests had sailed on to reach Nassau, and not even whether or not they were all on the same vessel or if the altercation began because of some conflict inside the cruise terminal area.
Six different ships from four different cruise lines were in Nassau on Monday: Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas; Carnival Cruise Line’s Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration; Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Fantasy; and Princess Cruises’ Caribbean Princess.
Together, the six ships could have brought more than 30,000 cruise guests to the capital of the Bahamas, depending on how full each ship happened to be for their individual sailings.
Oasis of the Seas is on a 7-night sailing that departed New Jersey on Friday, June 5, while Allure of the Seas is on a 6-night Western Caribbean itinerary that left Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, June 8. Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration are both on 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruises that left Port Canaveral on Saturday and Miami on Sunday, respectively.
Caribbean Princess also sailed from Port Canaveral for a 7-night cruise on Sunday, the same day Disney Fantasy also left the central Florida homeport but for a 3-night weekend Bahamas cruise.
Charges Pending
Just because cruise passengers are guests in a different country does not mean they are free from the consequences of their actions, which includes being held accountable to all local laws.
Five different charges are now being processed against the detained cruise passengers. While each individual may face separate charges or severity levels depending on their personal involvement, the charges include assaulting a police officer, fighting in a public space, resisting arrest, disorderly behavior in a police station, and malicious damage.
Cruise Hive has previously reported on incidents when travelers are subject to local laws, such as in April 2024 when a Royal Caribbean guest was arrested in Grand Turk for having ammunition in his luggage.
Depending on the severity of the infraction, cruise guests might only receive warnings. For example, camouflage clothing is illegal in the Bahamas and several other popular cruise destinations, but guests are often just escorted back to their ships to change rather than facing arrest for that violation.
