Disney Magic accidents and incidents

03 September 2021Coast Guard Medevacs

On the evening of September 3, 2021, a male passenger suffering an injury was medevaced from the ship navigating in the English Channel (off Tynemouth England's coast).

For the emergency rescue was dispatched a rescue boat. RNLI Tynemouth Station was contacted at 8:55 PM London time (21:55 UTC) to assist the cruise medevac. The patient (suffering from shoulder dislocation after falling onboard) was treated by the Infirmary's physician.

The lifeboat transported the passenger to Tynemouth Harbour, from where he was ambulanced to North Tyneside General Hospital.

The ship operated a 2-day "Staycation" itinerary (cruise to nowhere roundtrip from Newcastle upon Tyne) for UK nationals only. Curiously, this was Disney Magic's first voyage following the COVID pause.

28 July 2021Coast Guard Medevacs

In the morning of July 28, 2021 (at ~7:30 am/London time/6:30 UTC), a male crew was medevaced from the ship navigating in the Irish Sea, off Wales' coast. The incident occurred during a 3-day/2-night Staycation (cruise-to-nowhere, July 27-30) roundtrip from Liverpool England.

The ship's Captain contacted HMCG (UK's Coast Guard, Caernarfon Sector in Wales) requesting an urgent medical evacuation for a crew who needed treatment at a land-based facility. For the operation, HMCG dispatched a helicopter from the UK SAR base at Caernarfon (Gwynedd, Wales) to intersect the cruise liner at sea.

The helicopter crew was first winched onto Disney Magic, remained for ~20 min onboard, then the patient was loaded on the helicopter and flown to a hospital in Rhyl (Denbighshire, Wales).

May 2020Other Incidents

(crew repatriation) In early-May 2020, to Disney Magic were transferred crew from Disney Fantasy and Disney Dream, then Magic started a Transatlantic voyage to Europe, arriving in Port Dover (England) on May 19.

DCL-Disney Cruise Line planned to repatriate the crew from the UK via commercial (not charter) flights. All the European crew were repatriated. The Filipinos were scheduled for flights departing May 24 and onwards, but DCL canceled these flights and the crew remained onboard. The cruise ship was passenger-free (since March 14, when DCL suspended operations due to the global Coronavirus pandemic), meaning that the Filipinos didn't leave the ship for ~2,5 months.

April 2018Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) In April 2018, a 10-year-old male passenger was sexually molested on the ship by a male crew. In Port Canaveral, the police arrested the 24-year-old man (working on the liner as Youth Counselor). He was charged with "sexual assault of a child" - specifically, two counts of lewd and lascivious battery on children under 16.

The man (Oliver Lovatt, from Manchester, England UK) allegedly sexually molested the minor boy at the ship's kids-only complex located midship-aft on Deck 5 (Disney's Oceaneer Club, an indoor lounge for kids 3-12 yo). According to the police arrest report, as part of a game, the man blindfolded and spun the boy around several times, after which "fondled the victim’s penis outside of the clothing". The molestation was recorded by the lounge's CCTV cameras. The crew confessed to the police officers about fondling the child onboard. Oliver Lovatt's criminal trial was scheduled for 2019 (October 28).

06 May 2017Crew / Passenger Deaths

On May 6, 2017, a male passenger died ashore while the ship was docked in Basseterre (St Kitts Island). The accident occurred during a diving excursion. The ship was on 7-day Southern Caribbean cruise (itinerary April 30 – May 7) roundtrip from homeport San Juan Puerto Rico.

18 December 2015Crew / Passenger Crimes

(sexual) On December 18, 2015, a 31-year-old male crew was arrested for the alleged molestation of an 11-year-old female passenger. While still on the ship, the girl told her parents that the man (of Honduran origin) fondled her 3 times. After confessing to the crime, he was charged with 3 counts of “lewd and lascivious molestation of a minor”. The incident occurred during 5-day Florida Bahamas cruise (itinerary Dec 18 – 23) from homeport Miami to Key West, Nassau, Castaway Cay (Disney private island).

08 January 2015Boat Rescue

(overboard) On January 8, 2015, a Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas passenger (Frank Jade) fell overboard. The man was later spotted floating in open sea by the crew on MS Disney Magic (navigating on the same itinerary route). The Disney ship stopped, lowered a boat and saved the man. When the ship docked at Punta Langosta (call port Cozumel Mexico), the Oasis ship passenger was transferred to a hospital ashore.

02 December 2014Propulsion / Power Loss

On December 2, 2014, the vessel experienced power loss for ~10 min, during which time it drifted without propulsion. The incident occurred at ~6 pm when the ship was en-route to port call Cozumel Mexico and off Cuba’s northern coast. Unofficial sources reported black smoke coming from the fore part of the vessel, right before the power failure.

20 August 2012Crew / Passenger Crimes

On August 20, 2012, the UK’s Mirror news media published online pictures of a male crew doing lines of cocaine in his cabin during break time. The report (based on an interview with a whistle-blower / former Disney employee) stated that sniffing coke is a common practice on board MS Disney Dream, along with the casual sex and excessive drinking parties in crew cabins – “almost every night”.

The former crew claimed they bought the cocaine for GBP 15 / USD 25 a gram, which is ~1/4 of the street price in the UK. He also stated that the local drug was of better quality (4 times stronger).

Note: Under maritime law, crew members have to be tested for drugs every week. Since the cocaine stays in the system only for 3-4 days, if a crew member knows when the tests will be conducted, he/she will never be tested positive. The Disney cruise company responded it will conduct an investigation on the crew’s claims.

04 December 2011Propulsion / Power Loss

On December 4, 2011, the ship suffered a power outage. The incident occurred at ~4 pm and lasted for ~10 min. During that time, there was a total blackout (no electricity) and no propulsion (the vessel drifted). After the electricity was restored, it took ~1,5 hours before the propulsion system was operational again. The incident resulted in a late arrival in next call port Philipsburg (St Maarten).

19 November 2009Crew / Passenger Deaths

On November 19, 2009, when the ship was docked in call port Cozumel Mexico, 2 passengers were killed and 3 others were hospitalized after their jeeps crashed. The accident occurred at ~2:30 pm, near San Gervasio (Mayan ruins site), where their 2 rented Wrangler jeeps collided. One of the crashed vehicles were reported speeding at ~80 mph / 130 kph at the time of the collision.

08 March 2008Propulsion / Power Loss

On March 8, 2008, the vessel experienced propulsion problems, affecting its cruising speed. The incident resulted in late call ports arrivals. As compensation, all passengers received US$100 per cabin in onboard credit.

May 2007Other Incidents

Starting in May 2007, this was the first Disney ship operating on Mediterranean cruise itineraries leaving from homeport Barcelona Spain. After Summer 2007 season and the Transatlantic repositioning crossing, the ship returned to its Caribbean / USA homeport Port Canaveral (Orlando) Florida.

14 February 2007Fire Accident

On February 14, 2007, during the “Pirates of the Caribbean” themed fireworks show (Disney Cruise Line's signature deck party event), a misfire caused a small fire in the vessel’s rear (near the French specialty restaurant “Palo” on Deck 12). The incident started with one of the fireworks hitting the ship's aft-starboard side. The next firework misfired and hit the deck area next to Palo restaurant, starting the fire. The fire sprinkler system activated. No injuries were reported.

November 2002Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

In November 2002, the ship reported two consecutive Norovirus outbreaks (gastrointestinal illness) infected a total of 275 passengers and crew (Nov 16 to 23) and on the next voyage (Nov 23 to 30) a total of 164 passengers and 23 crew. All sick suffered from Norovirus symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea) and were quarantined to their cabins for 48 hours. The following 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise from Orlando (Nov 30 departure) was officially canceled for the ship's thorough cleaning and sanitation of all cabins and facilities.

14 March 2002Fire Accident

On March 14, 2002, the vessel experienced a smokestack fire accident at ~5 am. The fire was extinguished after ~1 hour. Via the PA system, all passengers wearing life jackets were assembled at the muster stations. No injuries were reported. The incident caused ~1,5 hours late arrival in the next call port. As compensation, all passengers received US$100 per cabin in onboard credit.