If you ever doubted the magic of a Disney cruise, just ask Shannon Lindholm what happened on June 29th.
As the Disney Dream made its way back to Fort Lauderdale after a multi-day cruise in the Bahamas, passengers were swept into a different kind of story, one of swift action, collective hope, and a rescue nothing short of heroic.
Houston mom Shannon Lindholm was enjoying the trip with her husband and two children when she heard something strange over the ship’s PA system: “Mr. MOB port-side.” It didn’t take long for her tech-savvy daughter to grab an iPad and decode the message. “She said, ‘Oh my God, Mom. That means man overboard,’” Lindholm recalls.
And then it all happened so fast.
“Staff members were moving fast, so we knew it was serious,” she says. Looking out the window, Lindholm and her daughter saw a rescue boat launch from the fourth-floor deck, exactly where other guests in a cruise Facebook group said a young girl had fallen overboard.
The girl’s father had leapt into the ocean after her.
Lindholm didn’t witness the fall or the jump, but what she did see was unforgettable.
“We could see the little girl was in one of the crew members’ arms,” she says. “The dad was giving a huge thumbs up, signing to everybody that was watching from the upper decks.”
In five minutes flat, the father and daughter were back on board.
“People were crying and praying and gathering with their family,” Lindholm shares. “And then the relief everyone felt when they got on board was really incredible.”
Cheers erupted from the decks. A woman who appeared to be the girl’s mother was brought over, visibly shaken but flooded with relief.
“I saw the mom’s face of terror when she was waiting… and I saw her face of relief when they brought them on board,” Lindholm says. “My thoughts and prayers are just with her… I can’t imagine what those 10 minutes were like for her.”
Disney Cruise Line later confirmed the rescue: “We commend our crew members for their exceptional skills and prompt actions, which ensured the safe return of both guests to the ship within minutes.”
Lindholm, now on her sixth cruise, says the whole ordeal lasted no more than 15 minutes. “Before most people could even realize what was happening, the situation was over,” she says.
She added, “It’s not something you could just stumble and fall over. I’ve always felt extremely safe with my children walking around.”
It was a vacation they’ll never forget, for reasons they never expected.
A miracle times two, made possible by a crew that proved Disney Dream isn’t just the name of the ship.
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