Royal Caribbean crew member allegedly stabbed fellow employee, jumped overboard
A Royal Caribbean International crew member went overboard from the Icon of the Seas ship after allegedly stabbing a fellow employee.
The South African man, 35, stabbed a South African woman, 28, “multiple times” around 7:30 p.m. on July 24, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.
“Following the incident, the male reportedly fled from the scene and jumped into the water,” police said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “He was retrieved unresponsive and pronounced dead by onboard medical staff.” Police did not name the crew members.
"Our onboard security team responded to an incident involving two crew members in a personal dispute,” the cruise line’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, told Paste BN in an emailed statement. “One of the crew members was injured, was attended to by the onboard medical team, and she is now in stable condition. Unfortunately, the other crew member is deceased after he went overboard and was recovered in a search and rescue operation."
The Royal Bahamas Police Force is investigating and an autopsy has been scheduled, authorities said. Icon is currently sailing a week-long Eastern Caribbean cruise that departed on July 19, according to CruiseMapper.
The incident is not the only one of its kind in recent years. A Norwegian Cruise Line employee was arrested for allegedly stabbing multiple people onboard during an Alaska cruise in May 2024.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for Paste BN based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.