A woman went overboard from the Royal Caribbean ship the Explorer of the Seas during the first day of The 80s Cruise, a nostalgia cruise featuring musical acts such as Squeeze, Adam Ant, Tiffany and Men at Work.
Multiple sources aboard Explorer of the Seas confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that a search operation involving several ships was conducted after a woman went overboard around 11 p.m. on March 3. It is unclear what caused the incident. Sources say the Explorer of the Seas continued on with its planned journey with the U.S. Coast Guard taking over the search operation.
THR communicated with one passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, about what happened. “[The incident] happened around 11 p.m. Squeeze was the band playing last night. There was an announcement over the PA saying someone went overboard so the ship was going to stop and turn around to try and locate the person.”
The passenger added, “[The] ship was stopped for a few hours. Safety boats were deployed with floodlights to illuminate the surrounding area. Another cruise ship nearby had its floodlights on searching as well. My wife spoke with some people on one of the decks saying they heard that it was a woman and it was caught on camera. Can’t confirm though. Eventually the ship powered up and off we went. This morning a PA announcement said that the US Coast Guard had taken over the search. We arrived at Nassau, Bahamas a few hours behind schedule. No excursions were canceled. Haven’t heard anything since.”
In a thread, X user Casey Markee tweeted, “Currently on the #RCL Explorer of the Seas for the #80scruise. Unfortunately, we have a “woman overboard’ situation and boats have been deployed. We are currently 80+ miles from Miami at 11pm PST. Not good.”
In a followup tweet, Markee tweeted, “It looks like the woman “jumped” from the balcony of her 8th floor room after an argument with her partner. This is our 15th cruise, and the first time we’ve actually experienced this.”
Additionally, an X user named Alan Smith tweeted, “Person overboard on Royal Carribean Explorer of the Seas. On the 80s Cruise. Just saw a great show by Squeeze, then it was announced a person is overboard. Ship is stopped and searching. Other nearby ships helping.”
THR has reached out to Royal Caribbean and the promoters of The 80s Cruise for comment.
The 80s cruise is a nostalgia-laced cruise experience that celebrates the music and culture of the 1980s. The 2025 lineup for the cruise includes the famed musical acts Squeeze, Adam Ant, Tiffany, Christopher Cross, Sheila E., Men At Work, Andy Bell (one half of Erasure), Warrant, Dokken, FireHouse, Information Society, Kurtis Blow, Honeymoon Suite, Faster Pussycat, T’Pau, Naked Eyes, Musical Youth, Sunset Blvd. and The Reflexx.
The cruise is set to feature over 50 concerts and fans and guests can also interact with their idols. The 2024 edition of the cruise featured Wang Chung, Air Supply, Soft Cell, The English Beat, Debbie Gibson, The Escape Club and 38 Special.
The 7-day roundtrip cruise sets off from Miami and calls at Nassau, San Juan and Puerto Plata.
Katherine Turman contributed to this report.