Celebrity Beyond accidents and incidents

19 July 2025Propulsion / Power Loss

On July 19, 2025, the ship's Master (Captain Kyriakos Matragkas) announced via the PA system that the next departure from PortMiami (July 20th) will be postponed by a full day due to technical difficulties/malfunction. The technical (diesel engine generator or propulsion system) issue affecting the cruising speed occurred off Cuba, while the ship was en route from Jamaica back to Florida.

CruiseMapper's satellite AIS tracking showed Celebrity Beyond's speed varying between 16-19 knots, which is significantly below the normal 22 knots.

On social media posts, some passengers suggested an engine failure, others reported an aft Azipod (thruster) malfunction, but these were not confirmed by Celebrity Cruises.

Originally scheduled to leave from PortMiami's Terminal C on July 20th (at 4:00 PM), the next voyage was deferred until July 21st, with 3200+ passengers on the current cruise experiencing an additional sea day before Miami.

As compensation, Celebrity Cruises offered OBC/onboard credit equivalent to one day’s cruise fare. All pre-paid shore packages (internet, beverage, dining) were likewise refunded for the lost day. To assist with travel adjustments, the company provided up to USD 250 per stateroom for Sunday (July 20th) overnight accommodation in Miami.

The accident occurred at the end of the 7-day "Grand Cayman, Mexico, Jamaica and Perfect Day Cruise" (itinerary July 13-20, roundtrip from Miami, Florida USA) visiting the Bahamas (Little Stirrup Cay/CocoCay/Jul 14), Mexico (Cozumel/Jul 16), Grand Cayman Island (George Town Harbour/Jul 17) and Jamaica (Falmouth/Jul 18).

The delay also shortened the originally scheduled 7-night Eastern Caribbean itinerary (July 20-27) to a 6-night itinerary (July 21-27) with the cancellation of the call to Nassau.

The next voyage (7-day "St Maarten, St Thomas and Bahamas Cruise"/Jul 20-27) was scheduled to visit the Bahamas (Nassau/Jul 21/canceled), St Thomas Island USVI (Charlotte Amalie/Jul 23) and St Maarten Island (Philipsburg/Jul 24).

29 August 2023Boat Rescue

On August 29, 2023, the scheduled call at Port Catania (Sicily Italy) was canceled as the ship changed course to assist an ongoing Italian Coastguard operation. As a result, 200+ migrants stranded on a disabled boat off Sicily were successfully rescued.

The Coastguard (Guardia Costiera) transferred the migrants to Celebrity Beyond. They were transported to Santorini Greece (the next scheduled stop) and offloaded in Port Fira/Thira.

The incident occurred at the beginning of the 12-day "Italy, Turkey and Greek Islands Cruise" (itinerary Aug 28 - Sep 8, roundtrip from Civitavecchia-Rome) with call ports in Sicily (Catania/Aug 29, canceled), Greece (Santorini Island/Aug 31, Mykonos Island/Sep 1), Turkey (Istanbul/Sep 2-3/overnight, and Kusadasi-Ephesus/Sep 4), Greece (Piraeus-Athens/Sep 5) and Italy (Naples/Sep 7).

07 January 2023Boat Rescue

On January 7, 2023, while en route from Mexico back to Florida, the ship rescued 19 Cuban refugees sailing towards the USA on a makeshift boat. Spotted in the Florida Straits, the small boat was in distress and the ship changed course to provide assistance. The rescue operation took ~2 hours. The migrants were embarked and provided with food and medical attention. The USCG was also notified.

The incident occurred at the end of the 5-day "Mexico Cruise" (itinerary Jan 3-8, roundtrip from Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale) visiting Cozumel (Jan 5) and Costa Maya (Jan 6).

Four Cuban migrants floating on a similar boat were rescued by Celebrity Beyond on January 2nd, during the previous voyage. This incident occurred at the end of the 7-day "New Year's Cruise" (Western Caribbean roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale/itinerary December 26 - Jan 3) visiting Nassau (Dec 27), Grand Cayman (Dec 29), Isla Roatan, Honduras (Dec 30) and Mexico's Costa Maya (Dec 31) and Cozumel (Jan 1).