Key Aspects:
- An overboard situation from Disney Wish at around 8 p.m. on August 26, 2025, turned out to be a false alarm.
- The Disney cruise ship turned around and launched a search and rescue mission.
- Cruise Hive will update when more is known about the status of the rescue and any potential changes to the 4-night Bahamas itinerary.
UPDATE:
Since the original report, it has now been confirmed that the overboard was a false alarm. A full rescue operation was launched, including the ship’s rescue boats, following a sighting of a large piece of debris in the water. As a precaution, the ship’s captain initiated a mandatory count of all passengers and crew. Thankfully, everyone was accounted for.
ORIGINAL:
The second man overboard situation of the summer is currently unfolding for Disney Cruise Line.
On June 29, 2025, a young girl fell overboard from Disney Dream, followed by her father who jumped in to rescue her. Thankfully, the pair was quickly saved.
Tonight, on August 26, 2025, the man overboard alarm has been sounded once again – this time onboard Disney Wish.
The 4,000-guest ship was en route from Nassau, Bahamas, to Castaway Cay (which is Disney’s original private island) when the man overboard announcement was made at approximately 8 p.m. ship time.
“Departed Nassau around 5:30 pm heading towards Castaway Cay. MOB called just before 8 pm. We have turned around. It is dark, so not much to see,” one guest reported.
“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,” another current passenger verified.
Cruise ship tracking data confirmed that the Wish-class flagship has turned around and come to a stop about 15 miles north of Nassau.
This is still a developing situation, and it is currently unknown who went overboard and what circumstances may have led to their fall.
Cruise Hive has reached out to Disney Cruise Line for comment and will update our readers when more information is known.
The Search is On
The 1,555 crew members working onboard Disney Wish quickly launched emergency protocols, likely following a similar process as what unfolded onboard Disney Dream and allowed for the successful rescue of the father and daughter earlier this summer.
As reported by current passengers, life preservers were thrown overboard, presumably in the area where the person landed.
This helps the person stay afloat until the cruise ship can turn around and come back for them, and also can make them easier to find again.
Per witnesses, at least two rescue boats have been launched, while pictures show a spotlight scanning the water from overhead.
“Two boats were launched, the smaller boat was just recovered with just the crew. The second boat, a life boat, is still in the water. Water is fairly smooth,” one guest updated just before 9 p.m. EST.
At around 9:45 p.m. EST, another passenger informed the cruising community that guests have been called to their muster stations for a headcount and likely to check if any witnesses may have useful information for the search.
“Update: they are calling a mandatory meeting at assembly stations to account for all guests on board,” the cruiser shared.
Read Also: What Happens If You Jump Off a Cruise Ship?
We can only hope that the person who went overboard will be found and rescued safely, and Disney Cruise Line is surely doing everything in its power to achieve that outcome.
Disney’s crew members will most likely continue searching until they find the missing person, or until first responders from the US Coast Guard take over.
At this time, it’s unclear how the remainder of the current 4-night Bahamas cruise, which embarked from Port Canaveral on August 25, may be impacted.
The second and final port call of the voyage is on Castaway Cay and is scheduled for tomorrow, August 27.
The DCL ship is only around 60 nautical miles from Castaway Cay, which is a pretty short distance for a cruise ship sailing at normal speeds, but all will depend on how long it takes for this unfortunate situation to resolve.
