Key Aspects:

A routine border exit check at the Bremerhaven cruise terminal in Germany led to the arrest of a cruise ship crew member.

The man was subject to two different arrest warrants by two German courts.

The warrants included robbery-related theft and a probation violation following an assault conviction.

A routine departure check at a German cruise terminal resulted in a passenger ship crew member being arrested by federal police.

The 26-year-old man was detained moments before he was set to board an unidentified cruise ship as an employee of the ship.

According to a statement from Bundespolizei, officers detained the man at around 2 p.m. on January 4, 2026, at the Columbus Cruise Terminal in Bremerhaven, where he had reported for a departure check.

During the routine identity check, officers ran the man’s personal details through a law enforcement database, revealing he had been wanted for several weeks by the District Court of Augsburg and the District Court of Nördlingen and was the subject of two separate arrest warrants.

One of the warrants was issued in relation to a robbery-related theft charge. A second was due to violating probation following an earlier assault conviction.

Authorities did not disclose further details about the underlying cases or when the offenses occurred.

The man was transferred to the Bremerhaven state police and was scheduled to appear before a judge on January 5.

Disney Departs Bremerhaven

This isn’t the first time German police have nabbed criminals with outstanding warrants while at port. In September 2025, two crew members working for Disney Adventure were apprehended during similar boarding checks. The men were wanted for drunk driving and fraud.

German police did not identify the cruise ship the newly detained man was attempting to board on January 4, stating only that it was scheduled to sail to the Bahamas. However, one high-profile vessel departed from Bremerhaven that day: the Disney Adventure.

Disney Adventure in BremerhavenDisney Adventure in BremerhavenDisney Adventure in Bremerhaven (Photo Credit: Eckardt)

Officially delivered to Disney Cruise Line on December 16, 2025, following construction at Meyer Werft Wismar in Germany, its Bremerhaven departure marked the beginning of a long repositioning voyage as Disney Adventure makes it way to its new homeport in Singapore.

The 208,000-gross-ton vessel – the largest in Disney Cruise Line’s fleet – is sailing a transatlantic crossing with a scheduled stop in Freeport, Bahamas, before continuing to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for a brief media sailing and a chance for American journalists to see Disney’s newest ship.

According to industry sources, the ship is expected to arrive in the Port of Canaveral late on January 14 or early January 15, 2026.

Following its Florida call and press preview sailing, Disney Adventure is expected to transition through the Panama Canal and make another preview stop in Los Angeles before crossing the Pacific en route to Asia.

Reports say Disney Adventure will stop in Tokyo before arriving at its homeport in Singapore, where it will sail from the Marina Bay Cruise Centre beginning March 10, 2026. 

Its maiden season will feature 3- and 4-night itineraries and officially kick off Disney Cruise Line’s first long-term deployment in Asia.

The roughly 6,700-passenger ship is expected to remain homeported in the region for at least 5 years.

TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 3 is also offering a transatlantic getaway to the Caribbean from Bremerhaven in January, although it doesn’t depart until January 7, 2026, and will not call in the Bahamas.