Carnival Faces Lawsuit After 22-Year-Old Loses Both Legs in Nassau Shore Excursion Accident

Hannah Smith graduated summa cum laude from Miles College. She booked a Carnival cruise to celebrate. She was 22 years old, and her whole life was ahead of her.

On May 12, 2025, during a shore excursion in Nassau, Bahamas, Hannah was pulled into the propellers of a ferry boat. She lost both of her legs. She spent more than two months in intensive care. She underwent 25 surgeries. She nearly died.

She is now suing Carnival Corporation, the tour operator, and the island management company — and the details of what allegedly happened that day are deeply disturbing.

The Excursion That Changed Everything

Hannah and a friend had booked the Pearl Island Beach Club excursion through Carnival — a trip advertised as a four-hour tropical getaway featuring pristine white-sand beaches, turquoise water, and exclusive island amenities. It is still listed on Carnival’s website today, rated 2.8 out of 5 stars.

According to the lawsuit filed by The Brais Law Firm, what actually happened on that excursion bears little resemblance to the marketing.

Upon arriving at Pearl Island, Hannah and her companion were singled out and escorted to a private cabana by an excursion supervisor, separated from the general group of guests. There, they were offered complimentary drinks from the very beginning. As the day continued, the drinks kept coming — copious amounts, served in what the lawsuit describes as “liter pours” directly into the young women’s mouths.

The lawsuit alleges the drinks were not only excessive but were spiked with a date rape drug. It further alleges that marijuana was offered and encouraged by bartenders throughout the excursion. By the time the day was over, Hannah’s blood alcohol content had reached between 0.359 and 0.447 — more than five times Florida’s legal limit to drive.

What Happened at the Ferry

As the excursion concluded and guests reboarded the catamaran ferry to return to Nassau, Hannah needed to use the restroom. She asked the ferry staff. According to the lawsuit, she was told — on more than one occasion — that “the ocean is your toilet” and to simply go in the water.

She waited approximately 30 minutes. When the ferry arrived back at Nassau and passengers began disembarking, she went into the water as she had been instructed.

What she did not know — and had no way of knowing in her severely impaired state — was that the ferry’s captain had not tied the boat to the dock. Rather than securing the vessel during disembarkation, the captain was periodically using the ship’s engine to hold it in position against the dock.

While Hannah was in the water, the engine engaged. She was pulled into the propeller.

Her left leg was amputated below the knee at the scene. Her right leg, despite multiple surgical attempts to save it, was ultimately removed through a full hip disarticulation. She lost 60% of her blood. She was rushed to a Nassau hospital in critical condition and later airlifted to Miami for further treatment. She spent more than two months in intensive care, fighting through hemorrhagic shock, acute kidney injury, and multiple infections across 25 separate surgeries.

A Lifetime of Consequences

Hannah is now 23 years old. She has relocated from Tennessee to Fort Lauderdale to remain close to her ongoing medical care. Her father and stepmother have uprooted their own lives to become her full-time caregivers.

The road ahead involves permanent disability and disfigurement, the need for prosthetics for the rest of her life, chronic pain management, and long-term psychological treatment for the trauma she experienced. Her medical team has said her prognosis is positive — but rebuilding a life after losing both legs at 22 is a journey that will never truly end.

A GoFundMe has been established to support Hannah and her family.

The Lawsuit: Who Is Being Sued and Why

The legal action names three parties: Sun Cay, the ferry operator; Pearl Investment Management Group, which operates Pearl Island; and Carnival Corporation, which sold the excursion to Hannah and continues to sell it to other passengers.

A complementary lawsuit was also filed by Hannah’s travel companion, Brooklyn Pitre, on May 11, 2026.

Hannah’s legal team argues that Carnival bears responsibility because it marketed the Pearl Island excursion as a vetted, safe experience for its passengers — and because the cruise line had ample warning that the excursion was neither safe nor properly operated. The lawsuit points to TripAdvisor and Google reviews dating back to 2023 that describe the ferry’s unsafe disembarkation practices, including its habit of using engines rather than docking lines to hold the boat in place. Social media posts going back as far as 2018 describe the pattern of excessive alcohol service.

Despite this documented history, the excursion remained on sale through Carnival’s platform.

Carnival’s standard contractual position is that all shore excursions are operated by independent local companies, and that the cruise line bears no legal responsibility for any injuries that occur during activities ashore. That position has been stated publicly and is outlined on Carnival’s website. Carnival has asked the court to dismiss the case on those grounds. That request was denied.

Peter Rebmann of Pearl Investment Management Group also attempted to have the suit dismissed, arguing that a Bahamian business is not subject to Florida court jurisdiction. That argument was also rejected by the court.

Carnival has not addressed the specific allegations in the lawsuit but has publicly wished Hannah “strength and healing.”

A Warning That Was There for Anyone to See

The heart of Hannah’s legal argument against Carnival is not simply that the excursion went wrong. It is that Carnival continued selling an excursion it had reason to know was dangerous — for years — to passengers who had every reason to trust that the products being sold through the cruise line’s own platform had been properly evaluated.

Whether the courts ultimately agree with that argument will be determined through the legal process. But the question it raises — how much responsibility does a cruise line bear for the safety of the experiences it sells? — is one the entire industry is watching.

For Hannah Smith, the answer to that question matters in ways that go far beyond a courtroom.