Hannah Smith, a 22-year-old Miles College graduate who had just finished summa cum laude in Fairfield, Alabama, has filed a lawsuit after a May 12, 2025 shore excursion in the Bahamas ended in the loss of both her legs. The case turns a celebratory trip on the Carnival Celebration into a high-stakes liability fight over what happened when passengers were leaving a catamaran after the Pearl Island Beach Escape with Lunch.

Smith was on the cruise to celebrate her graduation with her friend Brooklyn Pitre, and the lawsuit now places Carnival Cruise Line, along with the excursion operators, at the center of a catastrophic injury case. The excursion was advertised and sold through Carnival’s onboard platform and website, and payment was processed directly by the cruise line, facts that could matter as the claims move forward.

What happened next was swift and violent. The vessel had returned to Nassau and was alongside a pier when passengers began disembarking. Smith entered the water during that process and was pulled into a spinning propeller, suffering injuries that led to the amputation of both legs. Emergency responders took her to a hospital in Nassau, where she underwent multiple surgeries before being airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital in Miami for more specialized care.

By then, the medical toll had become enormous. Smith underwent more than 30 surgical procedures, including three successive amputations of her right leg that ended in a hip disarticulation. Her lawyers say the legal claims are expected to focus on Carnival’s oversight of third-party excursion providers and on vicarious liability, while also targeting the excursion operators for unsafe vessel operations during disembarkation.

The lawsuit also introduces a sharper allegation that could weigh heavily in any courtroom fight: it says excursion employees overserved Smith alcohol and marijuana before she boarded the return catamaran to Nassau, and that a crew member told her she could use the water near the vessel’s dive platform as a restroom. That version of events, if proven, could complicate the question of who had control over the scene and who had a duty to stop it.

Attorney Keith S. Brais said Smith was “a bright, accomplished young woman celebrating a tremendous academic milestone” when she suffered the injuries, and said his team is committed to pursuing justice and holding accountable those responsible for the sequence of unsafe decisions. The next step is the lawsuit itself: a court fight over responsibility that begins with one young graduate’s trip and could end up testing how far a cruise line’s duty extends once passengers step off the ship and onto an excursion it sold.