Two U.S. tourists drowned last week in separate incidents at Carnival Cruise Line’s new Bahamas resort, authorities said. Both were passengers on Carnival cruise ships that had sailed to the Caribbean, the company confirmed to CBS News on Sunday.
They died Friday while swimming at Celebration Key, a private resort on Grand Bahama Island that only Carnival cruise passengers can use, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Carnival. Police said in a news release that officers on duty responded to the first drowning before noon local time, and the second shortly after 2:30 p.m., according to the release. The circumstances around each death are under investigation.
In the first incident, officers were alerted to a 79-year-old man who was unresponsive on board a commercial ship at the resort. Police said an initial report suggested the man lost consciousness while snorkeling at a beach, and a lifeguard pulled him from the water to administer CPR. The man, reported to be an American national, was ultimately pronounced dead by a doctor, according to police.
Officers later found a 74-year-old woman unresponsive on board a separate commercial ship. The initial police report in that incident suggested that the woman, also reported to be American, lost consciousness while swimming in a pool. Similar to the first case, police said a lifeguard pulled her from the water and attempted CPR before she was also pronounced dead.
Neither police nor Carnival identified the passengers by name. A Carnival spokesperson told CBS News in a statement that the passengers had sailed to Grand Bahama on the company’s Mardi Gras and Carnival Elation cruise liners, and both were traveling with their families.
“Our lifeguards and medical team responded to two separate emergency incidents at Celebration Key on Friday — one in the lagoon and one at the beach. Sadly, both guests have passed away,” the spokesperson said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the guests and their families and our Care Team is providing assistance.”
Bahamas police said autopsies will be performed to help determine each tourist’s exact cause of death, as investigations into the incidents remain ongoing.
Carnival opened Celebration Key — a $600 million resort compound on Grand Bahama Island that features numerous restaurants, pools, live music venues, a retail hub and amusement park-style activities — in July. The resort is situated beside a pier where two of the cruise line’s largest ships can dock at the same time, allowing passengers exclusive access to the area, according to the company.