Key Aspects:
- US Coast Guardsmen facilitated two medical evacuations from Carnival ships in one day.
- The evacuations were from Carnival Jubilee and Carnival Valor on March 20, 2026.
- Videos of both medevacs were posted on social media.
It was a busy day on March 20, 2026, for US Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans, thanks to at-sea medical evacuations required from not one, but two, Carnival Cruise Line ships — Carnival Jubilee and Carnival Valor.
Both were captured on video by the Coast Guard and show the dramatic rescues, with one happening at night. The rescues were posted on Facebook.
“#bravozulu to our shipmates over at Air Station New Orleans on a job well done!” states the social media post from US Coast Guard Heartland.
Carnival Jubilee was the first to call the Coast Guard for assistance during the afternoon, when a 53-year-old man had a medical emergency that called for more than the ship’s onboard medical team could provide.
The 5,374-guest ship, third in the line’s Excel class, was returning to her homeport at Galveston, Texas, when the emergency erupted. The ship was operating a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise, and guests were enjoying a final sea day before arriving back at the Lone Star State.
As reported by Cruise Hive at the time, Carnival Jubilee altered her course in an effort to make the evacuation as smooth as possible for the Coast Guard. In fact, satellite tracking showed that the ship diverted significantly from her planned route.
Sometimes, weather and wave activity can play a role in how far a cruise ship might divert to facilitate a helicopter rescue. It is not known whether the ill man was a guest or crew member; the ship carries 1,735 crew members.
After contacting the New Orleans station, an MH-60 helicopter arrived and evacuated the man, who can be seen in the video being hoisted aboard the aircraft.
A Riveting Nighttime Evacuation From Carnival Valor
The second incident happened after dark that day, when a 27-year-old man needed to be evacuated from Carnival Valor.
Carnival Valor, a 2,980-guest ship, is based at New Orleans and departed the port on March 16 for a 5-night Western Caribbean cruise. Like Carnival Jubilee, the ship was spending a day at sea when the emergency happened.
Carnival Valor had called at Progreso and Cozumel, Mexico, earlier in the cruise. It is also not known whether the evacuated man was a guest or a crew member.
Although the evacuation happened after dark, viewers of the video can see the patient being hoisted onto the helicopter strapped into what appears to be a stretcher.
In both cases, the evacuated men were taken to University Medical Center in New Orleans. Their medical conditions are unknown.
Medical evacuations are not uncommon, although they don’t happen frequently either. In an earlier case, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Venezia experienced a medical emergency in September 2025.
The ship had just departed from New York and was about 30 miles off the coast of Atlantic City, New Jersey, when the Coast Guard was called to evacuate a guest. This was also a nighttime event, happening at around 10 p.m.
No details about the nature of the emergency were revealed. As was the case with Carnival Jubilee, Carnival Valor altered her route, turning back toward the coast so that the evacuation could happen as quickly as possible.
