Video: Father jumps off Disney cruise ship after daughter topples from deck
A father has jumped off a Disney cruise liner, after his young daughter fell overboard.
The girl fell from the fourth deck of the Disney Dream on Sunday afternoon (29 June 2025), prompting her father to leap into the ocean to save her, as horrified onlookers watched. The incident occurred as the ship, which has 14 decks and a capacity of 4,000 passengers, was returning from a four-night voyage around the Bahamas to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Witnesses quoted in media reports said the girl had been perched on a railing for a photo when she toppled overboard. The cruise ship quickly launched a rescue operation.
“The ship was moving quickly, so quickly, it’s crazy how quickly the people became tiny dots in the sea, and then you lost sight of them,” Laura Amador told CBS News. “The captain slowed the ship and turned it around, and then they deployed a tender ship with people on it to go get them, and we saw them rescue the dad and daughter.”
Footage posted on social media showed the father treading water while clinging to his daughter for approximately 10 minutes before they were rescued by crew members aboard a small yellow boat. A man overboard emergency alert, coded “Mr MOB,” was sounded over the ship’s intercom, prompting immediate action.
“The crew aboard the Disney Dream swiftly rescued two guests from the water,” a Disney Cruise Line spokesperson said. “We commend our crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes. We are committed to the safety and well-being of our guests, and this incident highlights the effectiveness of our safety protocols.”
Passenger Gar Frantz described the moment to NBC News: “We watched it, you could see two little things…it was crazy, it was horrific.” Another passenger, Gail Merrick, recalled: “We came to find out that it was a child and then the father had gone in after the child, so we were watching with bated breath basically waiting for what would happen.”
James Tackett, another eyewitness, said that “everyone cheered” when it was announced that both the father and daughter had been safely brought back onboard. His mother, Brenda Tackett, added: “The Disney Cruise Line staff were phenomenal, the crew, everybody was on it. You could tell they’ve practised this, hopefully have never used it before, but they were great. The whole thing was maybe 10, 15 minutes, and they safely got back on board.”
The ship returned to port in Florida as scheduled.
Though cruise ships are equipped with real-time overboard detection systems, such rescues are rarely successful. A Cruise Lines International Association report from 2019 found that 25 people fell overboard from cruise ships that year, with only nine successfully rescued.
