Bomb Threat Prompts Lockdown at San Diego Cruise Terminal

Anyone at San Diego’s cruise terminal on Monday morning got a stressful start to the day.

The B Street Cruise Terminal was put into lockdown after an employee received what Harbor Police described as an unspecified bomb threat. For a while, passengers were left waiting, Disney Wonder couldn’t begin letting guests off the ship, and the whole area was treated like a real emergency.

The good news is that the scare didn’t last long. After a full search, authorities said the terminal was safe and operations were allowed to continue.

Black electric bicycle on the San Diego waterfront with Emerald Princess docked beside the B Street Cruise Terminal in the background. — San Diego B Street Cruise Terminal

What Happened at the Terminal

According to local reports, the lockdown began at around 7 a.m. on March 30 after a terminal employee received the threat.

San Diego Harbor Police moved quickly. Officers shut down the area and brought in Explosive Detection Canine Units to search the terminal out of caution.

A security guard in a white uniform shirt wearing a blue safety vest with yellow reflective stripes. The vest has the word "SECURITY" printed on it, but the middle letters are missing or obscured, reading "SECU RITY." A cruise ship and metal gangway are visible in the background, suggesting a port or boarding area.

About two hours later, the terminal was cleared and passengers were allowed to move again. Police haven’t released extra details about where the threat came from.

Disney Wonder Was the Only Ship Caught Up in It

At the time of the lockdown, Disney Wonder was the only cruise ship in port.

That meant the ship took the hit from the delay. Passengers were not allowed to disembark while police carried out the search, which is hardly the kind of welcome anyone wants after getting back from a cruise.

Disney Wonder had just returned to San Diego from a 3-night sailing to Ensenada. The ship was then due to head back out later the same day on a 4-night Baja itinerary with calls in Catalina Island and Ensenada.

Side view of the Disney Wonder at sea under a clear blue sky — Photo Credit: Disney Cruise Line

The Delay Looks Like It Was Short-Lived

Even though the situation sounded serious, the disruption appears to have been fairly limited.

The terminal was reopened at around 9 a.m., so the biggest effect seems to have been a delayed debarkation rather than a canceled sailing or a major itinerary shake-up.

That’s a big difference. A port lockdown can easily spiral into missed boarding windows, traffic chaos, and late departures. This time, it looks like the all-clear came soon enough to keep things from getting much worse.

Still, for guests standing by with luggage, or waiting to begin their vacation, it must have felt like a very long morning.

These Threats Are Rare, But Ports Take Them Seriously

Bomb threats at cruise ports aren’t common, but they’re also not unheard of.

PortMiami dealt with an unfounded bomb threat in March 2025 that caused delays and traffic problems. In August 2025, P&O Cruises’ Ventura was caught up in a bomb hoax in Southampton that forced an evacuation during embarkation.

So while many of these scares turn out to be false alarms, they still create real problems. They slow down port operations, tie up emergency teams, and rattle passengers before a cruise has even started.

That’s also why authorities don’t brush them aside. A fake threat can still trigger a full security response, and people who knowingly make false bomb threats can face criminal penalties.

A Scary Start, But a Better Ending

For San Diego cruise passengers, this could have turned into a much messier day.

Instead, the terminal was searched, cleared, and reopened within a couple of hours, with Disney Wonder able to continue normal operations after the delay.

That won’t make the morning feel any less unsettling for the people who were stuck waiting, but it does mean this ended as a scare rather than something far worse.