Two Carnival Cruise Ship Passenger Deaths Reported at Celebration Key in the Bahamas

Celebration Key is the Carnival Cruise Line's private resort in the Bahamas.

The island has more than 30 venues, including dining and for cocktails, and it's heavily promoted on the cruise ship line's website.

However, now two different tragedies have resulted on the same day at Celebration Key.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force gave details of the deaths in an August 16 press release. Both of the victims were American nationals, according to that press release, although their names have not been released.

CBS News confirmed that both were Carnival Cruise ship passengers on Caribbean trips with their families. They were sailing on the Mardi Gras and Carnival Elation ships. CBS described Celebration Key as "a private resort on Grand Bahama Island that only Carnival cruise passengers can use."

The press release announced that police are investigating “drowning incidents.”

"The two drowning incidents occurred at Celebration Cay on Friday, Aug. 15, 2025," police wrote.

In the first incident, shortly before noon, “police were alerted to an incident at Celebration Cay. Officers on duty at that location responded and discovered an unresponsive 79-year-old male on board a commercial vessel," the news release says.

The man “became unresponsive while snorkeling at a beach. A lifeguard assisted him from the water, and CPR was administered, but to no avail. As a result, the male who is reported to be an American national was pronounced deceased by a medical doctor," the release adds.

Then, shortly after 2:30 p.m., officers “discovered an unresponsive 74-year-old female on board a separate commercial vessel. The initial report suggests that the female became unresponsive while swimming in a pool," the release says.

"A lifeguard assisted her out of the water, and CPR was administered, but to no avail. As a result, the female who was reported to be an American national was pronounced deceased by a medical doctor," the release adds.

An autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death.