A 22-year-old’s life changed forever after she went on an excursion from a Carnival ship.
Hannah Smith was vacationing on the Carnival Celebration after her recent graduation from Miles College, where she received summa cum laude honors. Hannah and a friend booked Carnival’s Pearl Island Beach excursion which included a catamaran ferry to and from the resort as part of their vacation.
The excursion is advertised as a tropical getaway where you can “relax on pristine white-sand beaches, swim in turquoise waters, and enjoy exclusive amenities during your four-hour island getaway.” The excursion ended up being anything but that.
After ferrying to the island, the excursion supervisor led Hannah and her friend to a private oceanfront cabana having already given them free drinks earlier. The cabana was secluded from the rest of the guests on the island and was given free of charge. The “complimentary” services continued, as Hannah and her friend were given copious amounts of drinks and encouraged to smoke marijuana provided by the bartenders, according to the lawsuit filed by The Brais Law Firm. The free drinks included “liter pours” of alcohol directly into the woman’s mouth. The lawsuit alleges Hannah had blood alcohol content of .359 to .447, more than 5 times the legal limit to drive. Furthermore, the drinks were allegedly spiked with a date rape drug.
The excursion ended and Hannah and her friend reboarded the catamaran ferry. Hannah had to use the restroom and asked the ferry’s staff where the restroom was. She was told on different occasions that “the ocean is your toilet” and to “use the water.” Hannah waited at least 30 minutes until the ferry returned to Nassau to go in the water.
In her grossly impaired state, Hannah went into the water, as she was told, while the ferry was disembarking passengers. Little did she know the danger she was in. The ferry’s captain did not tie the boat to the dock while passengers disembarked and instead periodically used the ship’s engine to keep the boat by the dock, an egregious safety failure.
While in the water, the captain engaged one of the engines and Hannah was sucked into the ferry’s propeller. Hannah suffered catastrophic injuries to both of her legs and nearly lost her life, losing 60% of her blood. She was rushed to a hospital in Nassau, Bahamas and later transferred to Miami, Florida in critical condition.
Hannah’s damages are significant. She lost both of her legs. Her left leg was amputated below the knee at the scene, and her right was ultimately removed through a full hip disarticulation after multiple failed attempts to save it. She spent more than two months in intensive care undergoing 25 surgeries and fighting through hemorrhagic shock, kidney injury, and multiple infections.
Beyond the physical toll, Hannah faces a lifetime of consequences. She will live with permanent disability, disfigurement, chronic pain, the need for prosthetics, and ongoing psychological treatment for the trauma she endured. She has had to relocate from Tennessee to Fort Lauderdale to continue her medical care, and her father and stepmother uprooted their lives to become her full time caregivers.
The negligence outlined in the lawsuit against the ferry operator, Sun Cay, the island operator, Pearl Island, and Carnival is clear. Their employees served Hannah dangerous amounts of alcohol, allegedly spiked her drinks with a date rape drug, and pushed marijuana on her throughout the day. Then, in the impaired state they created, they instructed her to relieve herself in the ocean while the ferry’s captain kept the engines running and the boat untied from the dock. Hannah’s injuries are a direct result of the reckless and unsafe practices of these operators, and Carnival’s decision to keep selling this recklessly operated excursion despite years of warnings.
Have you been on Carnival’s Pearl Island Beach Excursion? If so, we would like to hear from you. You can contact Cruise Law News confidentially.
Carnival had ample warning of the unsafe conditions of the excursion, according to the lawsuit. TripAdvisor and Google reviews dating back to 2023 describe the unsafe conditions on the boat. Reviews describe the ferry using its engines during disembarkation instead of being tied up and the excessively strong drinks that the bartenders served. Social media posts going back to 2018 show the overserving of alcohol. Carnival had a duty to protect its passengers and should have known it was selling an excursion that had a clear history of being dangerous.
Hannah has endured the worst of her journey, and her doctors say she has a good prognosis moving forward. Despite that, she still faces a lifetime of prosthetics, physical therapy, and the daily challenges that come with rebuilding her life after losing both legs at 22. If you would like to support Hannah, please consider donating to her GoFundMe.
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