Disney Cruise Line: Disney Magic Investigates Possible Man Overboard On Saturday Night
Just a couple days ago, the Disney Fantasy had to deal with mechanical failure and it caused the sailing to miss a stop at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. Now, there is another incident with a Disney Cruise Line ship that happened on another sailing. On Saturday night, the Disney Magic was investigating a possible man overboard and it caused a bit of mass confusion.
The Disney Magic had set sail from Port Canaveral on Thursday afternoon for a 3-night cruise to the Bahamas, and it was scheduled to return home on Sunday morning. All seemed to be going fine until Saturday evening when a series of tweets began showcasing something a bit anxiety-inducing.
On Disney Magic cruise. Man reported overboard. All guests reporting to emergency check in.
— Adam Neal (@TCPalmAdamNeal) February 7, 2016
The Disney Cruise Line Blog reported that all that is known at this time is that there was a potential man overboard on Saturday night as a confirmation from Disney Cruise Line was never given. It was confirmed by a number of passengers though, that all onboard were required to emergency stations late on Saturday evening.
Upon boarding each sailing on Disney Cruise Line, there is a mandatory safety meeting before setting sail. All passengers must attend the meeting and know of their emergency meeting locations and procedures.
Adam Neal is the managing editor for the TC Palm, and he was tweeting out updates on Saturday evening. At one point, Neal said that the cruise director of the Disney Magic did say there was a “possible man overboard” all guests needed to be on deck at their emergency stations.
Around 9 p.m., there was an odd notification that came through all speakers on the Disney Magic. Around 10 p.m., there was the announcement that there was a possible man overboard. Around 10:30 p.m., all passengers were requested to report to the deck, and by 11 p.m., it seemed as if all were on deck.
Update: Disney Magic announces everyone could go back to rooms following deck count after 30 min. No update on man. pic.twitter.com/vGKtahp7W2
— Adam Neal (@TCPalmAdamNeal) February 7, 2016
Marine Traffic, which documents and tracks the routes of cruise ships did show that around 9:47 p.m. EST on Saturday night. It then appeared to turn around just west of Freeport and resumed its normal course back to Port Canaveral around 11:30 p.m. EST or almost two full hours later.
Neal continued on saying that many of the passengers on deck were discussing the possibility of a man going overboard, but there was never any more word from Cast Members. The Disney Magic did arrive in Port Canaveral on Sunday morning, but it was a bit late.
Upon disembarkation on Sunday, there was no further word on the situation from Saturday night.
Disney Magic cruise update: No official word on possible man overboard Saturday when we disembarked Sunday. Workers didn’t seem to know.
— Adam Neal (@TCPalmAdamNeal) February 7, 2016
The Disney Cruise Line Blog still does not have further information on whether or not the “possible man overboard” was a false alarm, if everyone was accounted for, or what. As of Sunday evening, the next sailing on the Disney Magic had left Port Canaveral as scheduled.
A little over a year ago, the Disney Magic was involved in a similar situation, but they ended up being the rescuers instead of the subject of possible controversy. A passenger had gone overboard from a Royal Caribbean ship called the Oasis of the Seas, and that ship didn’t seem to notice.
Saturday night, the passenger onboard the Disney Magic had to feel a bit frightened and confused by the possibility of a man overboard, but it’s still not known what actually happened. Disney Cruise Line has still not released a statement regarding the situation, but hopefully more will be known soon.
[Image via Disney]
