Man jumps from Carnival Mardi Gras cruise ship

PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. - The Carnival Mardi Gras used powerful spotlights to search for a man in the water, early Saturday morning. One passenger says she saw a pair of terrified men running to tell officers that they saw a man jump. "I was there when the young men were running, and I told them 'Stop running, you're gonna fall,' and they said a man just jumped. They were on their balcony, and they thought it was a dolphin," said Tarlisa Carroll Hankerson.

After confirming what happened, disembarking passengers say the cruise officials made an announcement. "Lee the cruise director, great cruise director, by the way, he said that we had a confirmed man overboard, they were able to confirm it," said passenger Howard Howell.

Passengers say after they heard the announcement, the ship circled the area for more than an hour in a desperate search to find the man. "The ship turned around to go back to look for the person," said passenger Dominique Rice, "so we were delayed this morning."

Carnival says the Mardi Gras will be heading out Saturday on its next scheduled voyage to the western Caribbean. The cruise line says it's turned the search over to the US Coast Guard. It says its care team is supporting the man's family. Passengers say it's a tragedy. "We're on our honeymoon," Howell said, "and you don't think something like what would happen on your honeymoon, like I wasn't able to get back to sleep after I heard it."