Carnival Cruise Line to the rescue! The crew members onboard Carnival Paradise are heroes after rescuing five refugees from a small raft in the middle of a 6-night Western Caribbean voyage. 

After visiting Key West, Florida, the previous day, the Fantasy-class vessel was making her way to Montego Bay, Jamaica, on May 14, 2025,  when a small, makeshift craft was spotted in distress off the coast of Cuba.

It’s unclear what exactly went wrong for the group and how long they may have been stranded – but the raft-type boat was clearly too crowded to be operating safely.

Members of the 920-strong crew quickly sprung into action and boarded a lifeboat to rendezvous with the raft, which held approximately 15 refugees. 

Five members of the stranded group were brought onboard the 2,124-guest ship, while the remaining ten stayed behind. The crew members still left the remaining men with food, water, and fuel and notified the US Coast Guard about the situation. 

“The Carnival Paradise team rescued five people south of Cabo San Antonio, Cuba on Wednesday after the ship’s officers spotted a small boat in distress. The five people who requested rescue were part of a larger group on board the small boat,” a Carnival spokesperson told Cruise Hive in a statement. 

 “The other occupants did not wish to join the ship but were given food and water by the ship’s team. The United States Coast Guard was notified, and a transfer will be coordinated. After completing the rescue, Carnival Paradise continued to its scheduled destination, Montego Bay, Jamaica,” the statement continued.

As is standard protocol in these situations, the rescued people were provided with food, water, and medical attention. 

While they will be provided with lodging and care, the refugees do not simply get to join the cruise for free.

Worth Reading: Newest Carnival Ship Rescues Kayakers Stranded at Sea

Instead, they will be tended to until they can be safely transported back to their home country – with the transfer likely taking place at one of the upcoming ports of call or on the next turnaround day in Tampa, Florida, on May 18, 2025. 

Cruise tracking data shows that Carnival Paradise arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on time on May 15, 2025, and has one final call for this sailing at George Town Harbour, Grand Cayman, on May 16, 2025. 

A History of Heroism

Even if cruise ships didn’t have a moral obligation to help distressed vessels they stumble upon at sea, Carnival Cruise Line would still be eager to offer aid – and has done so many times in the past. 

Cruise Hive Boards: Carnival Paradise Saves the Day

As far back as 2019, Carnival Paradise specifically made headlines for stopping to aid a sailor who was stuck on a sinking boat about 13 miles north of Cozumel, Mexico. 

In July of 2022, Carnival Paradise once again came to the aid of a small boat in distress while sailing off the coast of Cuba – which really gives the present rescue a sense of déjà vu.

Crew spotted at least 20 people drifting listlessly on an overcrowded rowboat – which appeared to have sustained some damage. 

In this case, all of the refugees were brought onboard and offered food, water, and medical aid. 

“In accordance with maritime law, we have taken them aboard our vessel and have notified all of the appropriate authorities,” the ship’s captain said at the time.

More recently, history repeated itself once again. In April of last year, the 1998-launched ship again stumbled upon 27 Cuban nationals who were adrift at sea and in need of assistance. 

The bridge team noticed an overcrowded boat in distress while en route to Roatan, Honduras, during the first full day of a 5-night sailing. 

Once again, all of the refugees were rescued and brought onboard without any impact to the voyage for paying passengers.

It’s raining, it’s pouring, it’s happening inside the cruise ship?

This is exactly what passengers experienced earlier this week when the 110,000 gross-ton Carnival Conquest was hit by severe weather.

The 1,000-mile-long atmospheric river, which has brought downpours to numerous southern states and multiple tornado threats, moved towards Florida and the Bahamas earlier this week.

Miami actually broke its daily rainfall record after getting 4.35 inches of rain on May 12, surpassing the previous record set in 1943. Throughout the day, there were numerous flash floods that affected low-lying areas in Miami-Dade County.

Despite this, Carnival Conquest departed from Miami on May 12, making its way to Carnival’s private island, Half Moon Cay — however, this put the ship directly in the path of the bad weather.

Debbie Smith, a current guest on this vessel, uploaded a video showing the severity of the storm while onboard.

“We left our door open on the balcony last night, because this is what it did all night,” Smith said, sharing her excitement about the weather, adding, “This is crazy — a storm at sea, but I love it.”

According to her video, the storm had started the night before and had not shown any sign of letting up. In an initial update from Smith, she shared that there was water running everywhere inside the ship, and deck 9 had flooded.

You can take a look at the video here:

She later posted a photo of the flooding in one of the dining rooms, also sharing that her balcony was flooding, nearly reaching her room.

Additionally, all of the vents on the 9th floor had to be closed, and deck 7 also became flooded.

Other passengers shared their experience on the flooding on Carnival Conquest, saying that the crew quickly stepped in to clean up the flooding and that no major damages were reported.

There were no reported delays caused by the weather, allowing for the itinerary to go on as originally planned.

The cruise line has yet to share more information, but it is likely that all outdoor activities were cancelled and the pool areas closed for the duration of the bad weather and flooding.

While the ship experienced the harsh weather while departing on Monday and while at sea on Tuesday, when it arrived in Half Moon Cay on Wednesday, May 14, it was finally sunny.

Read Also: When Is the Best Time to Cruise to the Bahamas?

The rest of the itinerary included a stop in Nassau on May 15 before disembarking in Miami on May 16.

While Carnival Conquest is an older ship, having been built in 2002, it has not previously had issues with flooding. However, Florida and the Bahamas are notorious for their extreme storms, so flooding on cruise ships in this region is not unheard of.

The Bad Weather is to Blame Again

Carnival Conquest now joins a list of vessels that have had flooding issues recently as the result of some less-than-ideal East Coast storm systems.

In late March, the 5,362-passenger Carnival Celebration was departing from PortMiami when a storm forced it to delay.

After waiting for 30 minutes, the vessel began to exit the port only to be hit even harder by a downpour of rain, causing the sail away party to be cancelled and the pool areas to flood.

Thankfully, most cruise lines are aware of the weather in this region and do their best to avoid it for the passenger’s comfort and safety.

Bad weather causing flooding is not unheard of on cruises, but it does not happen often.

It is, however, the rainy season in the Bahamas — and while not every ship will encounter storms as bad as the ones Carnival Conquest or Carnival Celebration hit, some are bound to encounter heavy rain.

You know what they say, when it rains, it pours, just hopeful not inside of the cruise ship you are on.