From whales to weed: bizarre mishaps that have plagued cruise ships

A database of cruise ships records a series of unusual episodes that have turned vacation voyages into headlines. In 2024 the MSC Meraviglia docked at Port Brooklyn with a 43-foot whale draped over its bow following an impact at sea. Earlier, the Norwegian Sun struck an iceberg off Alaska in 2022, prompting jokes about a "Titanic 2.0."

Wildlife encounters have also occurred, such as a polar bear attacking a guard near a Hapag-Lloyd Cruises vessel in Svalbard, leading to the animal being shot. Piracy made news in 2009 when MSC Melody was targeted off Somalia, with passengers throwing deck chairs at the attackers. Ship-to-ship collisions have happened too, notably Carnival Glory ramming Carnival Legend in Cozumel in 2019. More recently, two travelers on Norwegian Joy were accused of smuggling 158 pounds of marijuana in vacuum-sealed bags, and a drunken passenger named Nick Naydev was banned for leaping from a balcony on Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas in 2019.