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| Date |
Ship |
2013 |
Incident |
| March 31 | Carnival Freedom | News Channel 5 reports passengers aboard a Carnival Cruise ship were stuck onboard hours after they were scheduled to debark Sunday. The cruise ship docked at Pier 19 in Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale, but passengers weren't allowed to leave. One of the passengers onboard said they were supposed to check out around 8:30 Sunday morning, but they were still stuck on the ship by noon. According to a spokeswoman from Port Everglades, the sequester is to blame. She released the following statement: "The Customs and Immigration process for debarking guests has taken quite a bit longer than normal. It is our understanding that more than one cruise line at Port Everglades is experiencing similar circumstances. We do not anticipate any impact to the ship's itinerary for the next voyage which will depart later today. We regret the inconvenience our guests have experienced during today's debark and clearance process." | Delayed debarkation |
| March 21 | Carnival Sunshine | The Insurance Journal reports the ship, which is in dry dock being refurbished and renamed after sailing as Carnival Destiny, has canceled its first two Europe cruises. It will return to service on May 5. The cruise line is making significant investments to enhance its backup systems and the scope of hotel services that can run on emergency power, and further improve each ship’s fire prevention, detection and suppression systems. | Cruise cancelations |
| March 21 | Carnival Triumph | Various media report the ship, which was crippled by an engine fire in the Gulf of Mexico last month leaving 4,200 people stranded for five days, will be out of service longer than initially expected, Carnival Cruise Lines announced. The ship is now set to return to service June 3, meaning an additional 10 cruises from Galveston, Texas, will be canceled. Guests on the affected voyages will receive a full refund, reimbursement for non-refundable transportation costs and a 25 percent discount on a future four- to five-day cruise. | Additional cancelations |
| March 18 | Carnival Miracle | As noted below (March 16th), the ship was one that skipped Grand Turk. The following was sent by a passenger: I debarked the Carnival Miracle on March 16th and just wanted to send an update regarding an event onboard. There was a Noro-virus outbreak onboard the Carnival Miracle. In discussing with the crew they confirmed at least 2% of the ship's population were in quarantine. We were one of the last ships to stop at Grand Turk before they canceled this port of call to all other cruise ships. Apparently the Margaritaville at Grand Turk was serving tainted frozen drinks which caused many passengers to get sick. When we left the ship in New York on March 16th the next sailing was delayed 3 hours while they decontaminated and sanitized the entire ship. | Illness / Delayed departure |
| March 16 | Carnival Legend | Tampa Bay Times reports the ship arrived on schedule today, however when the vessel heads out a few hours later as planned for another seven-day cruise, it will do so with a schedule change. Because of the propulsion issues, Costa Maya will replace a port of call at Grand Cayman to keep the ship on schedule, the cruise line said Saturday. | Propulsion problems / Changed itinerary |
| March 14 | Carnival Elation | Chicago Tribune reports over the weekend last, the ship had to get a tugboat escort down the Mississippi River because of steering problems. | Mechanical (steering) problems |
| March 14 | Carnival Legend | From a reader:The ship is disabled and stuck in Costa Maya on March13, 2013. UPDATE: I spoke with them last night about how this might effect the itinerary because my daughter is on the ship. They told me they did not know anything about an alteration in the cruise schedule and would only tell me the ship was moving. I called the ship to try to speak with my daughter today and while I did not reach her, the ship officer confirmed to me that they were in Costa Maya and not Belize yesterday. Her boyfriend called Carnival this morning as well and they denied the ship was in Costa Maya and called it a rumor. I can understand a mechanical issue that needs to be addressed although this seems to be a big problem with this company. I cannot tolerate flat out lying and misinformation which they are providing about the Legend. Not sure how to approach this but thought this would be of interest to you. UPDATE: Daughter contacted her boyfriend. Currently they are moving. Not clear if they made it into port today. Scheduled to be in Grand Cayman tomorrow but the cruise line has told them there is bad weather and they may go to Belize instead. She says ship is moving much slower than first part of the week. The cruise line told boyfriend this AM that there was no confirmation that the Legend had been in Costa Maya and he should not be spreading rumors. UPDATE: The cruise line has now confirmed to CNN that the ship is having technical difficulties that are affecting its sailing speed. Because of the problems, Carnival said it had canceled a scheduled stop in Grand Cayman and the ship will make its trek back to it's scheduled ending destination in Tampa, Florida. Passengers say the Captain has said he can not guarantee they will arrive in Tampa on schedule. |
Propulsion problems |
| March 14 | Carnival Dream | CNN reports passengers contacted CNN, telling stories of power outages and overflowing toilets, all while docked in port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, in the eastern Caribbean. Carnival, in a statement, said the ship never lost power, "but there were periodic interruptions to elevators and toilets for a few hours last night. However, at this time all hotel systems are functioning normally and have been functional since approximately 12:30 a.m." The ship has full power, but remains at dock while personnel work on "the technical issue," the company said. The ship was on a seven-day cruise. It was scheduled to leave port around 5 p.m. ET Wednesday. The U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday it was notified that the ship was experiencing generator issues. The vessel's emergency generator -- which powers propulsion for the ship -- has failed, Coast Guard Petty Officer Mark Barney said. Gregg Stark, who is traveling with his wife and two young children, told CNN, "There's human waste all over the floor in some of the bathrooms and they're overflowing -- and in the state rooms. The elevators have not been working. They've been turning them on and off, on and off." An announcement over the ship's public address system said the crew was trying to fix the problem and was working on the generators, according to Stark. A few hours later, another announcement was made, saying the problem was worse than originally believed. UPDATE:The Guardian reports a spokesman for the company said that the ship had a "technical issue", involving a malfunction of the ship's backup emergency diesel generator. Thousands of passengers, who were on the last leg of a seven-day cruise, would be compensated and flown home from St Maarten, it said. The ship has been forced to cancel the ship's next voyage, scheduled for 16 March, as engineers were still working on the generator. | Generator problems - Stuck in port |
| March 13 | Carnival Destiny | On October 21, 2012, Carnival said a woman had jumped overboard. The matter is now before a court. Courthouse News reports got her so drunk she fell overboard, and eyewitnesses reported it, the captain refused to turn around the ship for 90 minutes, then refused to airlift her to hospital to treat her fractured bones, a woman claims in court. Sarah Alexandra Badley Kirby sued Carnival Corp. and four people, including two doctors, in Federal Court. She claims a bartender at one of the ship's bars got her smashed on Long Island iced teas, which he "kept pushing on the plaintiff." Kirby says she became "extremely intoxicated," then "returned to her cabin with her friend Rebecca." The complaint continues: "At approximately 12:10 am, the plaintiff stepped out to the cabin balcony to get some air. As she was holding on to the balcony's wooden banister, the plaintiff lost her grip and balance, slipped off the ground and fell overboard into the ocean. As she fell from the balcony, which was seven stories high (approximately 100 feet), the plaintiff fell onto a life raft, and after hitting the life raft, fell 5 more stories into the water. As a result, plaintiff suffered severe injuries, including: fractured orbital bones, lung contusions, hypothermia, fractured ribs, dissection of the carotid artery, heart arrhythmia, broken optical shelves, blood clots in her eyes, arms, and legs, as well as extreme hematomas all over her body. "The plaintiff fell in the water without a life jacket or a life preserver. After a few minutes, the cruise ship speed away, until it disappeared in the horizon, leaving the plaintiff alone in the middle of the ocean." Kirby says she swam to exhaustion, then floated face-up, swallowing and coughing up water from the waves that "would crash into her face." She "believed that her death was imminent," from drowning or sharks. "Rebecca, the plaintiff's friend, immediately noticed that the plaintiff had fallen overboard," the complaint states. "Moreover, people in different parts of the ship either saw and/or heard the plaintiff fall into the ocean. "Both Rebecca and the other passengers who witnessed the fall, immediately notified several Carnival staff members that the plaintiff had fallen overboard. Rebecca and the plaintiff's fiancé repeatedly demanded the cruise ship staff to stop the ship. Their request, however, was summarily denied. Instead, the cruise ship staff explained that they were not going to stop the vessel, until they first searched the ship. The cruise ship staff also explained that they were 'following standard procedure.' "Rebecca and the plaintiff's fiancé were then escorted to the Captain's quarters and/or offices. There, over the next 90 minutes (while the ship was still moving) they were questioned by the ship's security staff and the ship's officers regarding the incident. Rebecca and the plaintiff's fiancé repeated their story several times, and again demanded several times that the ship be stopped immediately. Once again, however, their request was denied, and the ship's officers insisted they were not going to stop the vessel until they first searched the ship. "At approximately 1:45 a.m., while the ship was still moving (and the plaintiff had been in the water for over one hour and thirty minutes), the ship's officers notified all passengers via intercom that they were going to turn around the ship to find the plaintiff." The crew found her after she had spent nearly two hours in the ocean. But "rather than treating her severe injuries, the Carnival doctors' treatment of the plaintiff was primarily limited to giving her pain medication," Kirby says. She claims Carnival refused to airlift her to a hospital, but diverted the cruise to Key West, where "doctors explained that they did not have the equipment to handle the severe trauma that plaintiff had suffered. They also stated that the plaintiff should have been air evacuated from the cruise ship directly to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami." Kirby says she began receiving medical treatment 16 hours after she fell off the boat and was in the hospital for three weeks. | Lawsuit for fall overboard |
| March 6 | Sensation | Courthouse News Service reports a 17-year-old girl who was strip searched, including a cavity check, on a Carnival cruise ship after dropping what looked like marijuana may seek punitive damages, a federal judge ruled. In 2011, J.G. was a 17-year-old passenger on the Carnival cruise ship Sensation, when she dropped a container of what appeared to one of the ship's security officers to be marijuana. The chief security officer ordered a search of J.G.'s cabin for any other illegal substances, during which a female security officer strip searched J.G. and made her remove her underwear and tampon. It is unclear whether the female security officer was expressly directed by anyone to perform the alleged strip search. U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenbaum upheld J.G.'s claim for punitive damages on Monday, finding that Carnival gave the court no way to "evaluate the level of discretion that Carnival has granted to its security employees in conducting searches of or otherwise dealing with passengers who possess illegal drugs onboard ship." An employer may only be held liable for punitive damages based on an employee's actions if the employee was working in a managerial capacity. Carnival argued that the searching officers were front-line employees without managerial authority, but "the fact that these officers 'follow directives and protocol from their supervisors,' does not necessarily mean that they could not also possess the discretion to ultimately determine Carnival's strip search policy," Rosenbaum said. Carnival does not have an affirmative policy authorizing or prohibiting strip searches. However, "arguing that the lack of an affirmative strip-search policy means strip searches are not authorized requires drawing an inference in favor of defendant - something that is improper on a motion for summary judgment," the judge found. | Damages for strip search |
| March 1 | Elation | The Florida Times Union reports a Jacksonville man on a cruise died Tuesday during a stop in Cozumel Mexico. The 50 year old man was swept away by an undercurrent and drowned, State Rep. Mia Jones of Jacksonville said. Jones, a friend of the man, said he drowned during a port excursion. His body was recovered and will be returned to Jacksonville. | Pax death ashore on shore excursion |
| February 27 | Carnival Miracle | Cruise Critic reports an 18-year-old died while at sea onboard Carnival Miracle 's February 18 sailing. Multiple reports assert the cause of death was alcohol poisoning. Carnival Cruise Lines confirmed the man's death. "We can confirm that an 18-year-old male guest passed away in his cabin at approximately 3 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26 during an eight-day voyage of the Carnival Miracle, which ended later that morning in New York," spokesman Vance Gulliksen said. "The cause of death has not been determined… We extend our deepest sympathies to the young man's family and loved ones during this very difficult time." The Troy Record identifies the man as Seth Younes, a senior at Saratoga Springs High School. Cruise Critic member TRESE, who claimed to be married to Younes' cousin but was not onboard Miracle, said alcohol was involved in his death. | Death onboard (18 year old) |
| February 22 | Carnival Miracle |
The US Coast Guard reports a bomb threat emailed to a Port Canaveral, Fla.,-based Victory Casino Cruises boat caused a temporary port closure and delayed passenger boarding and departure of the Carnival Miracle cruise ship Feb. 21. After learning of the bomb threat about 5 p.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville in Atlantic Beach immediately established a safety zone using boat crews from Station Port Canaveral and stopped all boating traffic in the port. Additionally, the crew of the Miracle was directed not to board crew or passengers due to the cruise ship’s proximity, roughly 1 mile, to the casino boat. After the Port Canaveral Police conducted multiple sweeps of the vessel and found no sign of explosive devices, Capt. Tom Allan, captain of the port, secured the safety zone and reopened the port to boating traffic. The FBI is investigating the source of the threat. | Bomb threat - delay |
| February 18 | Carnival Triumph | Cruise Law News reports a newspaper in the Bahamas is reporting that a team of of detectives from Nassau to Galveston, Texas yesterday to investigate an alleged sexual assault that occurred on a Carnival cruise ship. Here's what the Bahamian newspaper is reporting: While the Bahamas Maritime Authority is leading the investigation into what caused the fire, detectives from the Royal Bahamas Police Force are also investigating a sexual offence claim, Assistant Commissioner of Police Anthony Ferguson said yesterday. “We send some officers to Texas to head up the investigation. The ship is a Bahamian Flag Ship so wherever something happens we have to tend it. The officers went over there this morning and should be back sometime tomorrow. They are investigating a sexual offence matter that happened on the cruise. We should have some more information tomorrow on the matter.” | Sexual assault investigation |
| February 10 | Carnival Triumph | AL.Com reports more than 4,000 people are stuck in the Gulf of Mexico after a fire stopped the vessel's propulsion. The fire was contained to the engine room by the ship's automatic extinguishing system, but it appears to have damaged the ship's power supply. No injuries were reported in the fire. A tug boat has been dispatched to the cruise liner, which was stopped in its tracks 150 miles off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The ship's technical crew is assessing damage and trying to restore power, according to officials. In the meantime, the ship is operating on power from an emergency generator. The U.S. Coast Guard has been advised of the situation. Guests will be given a full refund. The ship was finishing up a four-day cruise that left Galveston, Tex. on Thursday. It was supposed to leave Galveston again Monday with a new batch of guests, but the trip has been cancelled, according to the company. UPDATE Feb 12:CNN reports the first of two tugboats that will tow the ship to Mobile, Alabama, arrived on Monday evening. The ship should arrive in the Gulf city some time Thursday (turned out to be late that night). Not being able to sail, though, is just one of the problems. Issues with running water, scarce electricity and more contributed to headaches big and small, according to passengers and their loved ones. Toby Barlow's wife Ann told him there was "sewage running down the walls and floors" with passengers being asked to defecate in bags and urinate in showers due to a lack of functioning toilets. Food lines ran 3½ hours long and some, like herself, slept outside to keep cool. "Elderly and handicap(ped people) are struggling," she texted her husband. "The smells are gross." All cruises canceled through April 13. This video may be of interest. | Fire - Dead in the water |
| January 27 | Carnival Triumph | From a letter sent to passengers: On her current cruise, the ship experienced a technical problem with the ship's propulsion system that is only affecting her maximum cruising speed. All other safety systems and hotel services are functioning normally. Consequently, she will be delayed arriving tomorrow and is now expected to be alongside at approximately 12:00 PM (noon) -- approximately 6 hours late. | Propulsion problems |
| January 24 | Carnival Destiny | Cruise Critic reports the ship has altered the itinerary of its five-day cruise, which departed Miami on January 21, due to technical problems with its stern thrusters. Rather than call on Grand Turk and Half Moon Cay as originally scheduled, the ship will instead stop in Key West and Freeport, Bahamas. Neither of the original ports has the tug boats needed to assist the ship in the absence of its stern thrusters. The repair work on the stern thruster is already underway and is expected to be completed before the start of the next cruise scheduled for January 26. | Propulsion problems |
| January 23 | Carnival Victory | Cruise Law News reports a lawsuit was filed last week alleging that Carnival served a young woman two margaritas, a Mojito and three double vodka drinks. Weighing only 118 pounds, the passenger was visibly intoxicated but the Carnival bartenders kept pouring drinks to the woman and her friends, one of whom was so drunk that she vomited on her. Carnival crew members and officers were observed openly fraternizing and drinking alcohol with women in the ship's bar and disco club. The lawsuit alleges after the woman was intoxicated, two upper level Carnival ship employees, both large men, physically pinned down the wrists of the petite, small framed woman and took turns raping her. One Carnival employee sodomized her. The lawsuit states that the two men humiliated the woman and laughed at her when she resisted and protested. The theory of liability against Carnival is that the cruise line routinely over-serves alcohol to its passengers in order to increase profits and it does not maintain an adequate level of security to protect women on its cruise ships. While Carnival encourages excessive alcohol consumption, it does not enforce its alleged "zero tolerance" policy against crew - guest fraternization. In addition to the negligence allegations, the lawsuit asserts that the cruise lines is vicariously and strictly liable for the criminal conduct of its employees. | Sexual assault - lawsuit filed |
| January 20 | Carnival Victory | From a passenger: I wanted to let you know that my husband and I sailed on the Carnival Victory January 13th out of Puerto Rico. We were supposed to depart Sunday evening at 10 pm but the Captain came on and said due to scheduled maintenance taking longer than expected, we would be leaving late but would still arrive in St Thomas at 7 am the next morning, on schedule. About half an hour later he came on and said the same thing. The next morning we awoke still in Puerto Rico, and were then told there was an issue with the propulsion system that only affected maximum cruising speed but all other systems continued to operate normally. We departed Puerto Rico at partial power and were told were would arrive in St. Thomas by 2 pm. We finally arrived a few minutes before 5. We all received a letter as well (unfortunately I did not think to keep it) which is eerily similar to the letter you have posted regarding the Triumph's January 27th trip. All passengers were issued a 50.00 credit per person. Thankfully our propulsion issue was fixed in St. Thomas and the rest of the cruise continued as scheduled, but I was disappointed in how Carnival handled the situation. They had to be aware of the propulsion issue the first evening and instead chose to tell passengers it was scheduled maintenance. | Propulsion problems |
| January 19 | Carnival Fascination | First Coast News reports security guards at the cruise terminal at Jacksonville were turning cruise passengers out of the parking lot this afternoon and directing them to places in town to kill some time. The ship was on its way back from dry-dock in the Bahamas when it encountered adverse weather conditions throughout the night. The ship was scheduled to arrive at 6:00 p.m., but boarding was pushed back to 8 p.m. Saturday. The cruise ship is to leave port at around 11:00 p.m., seven hours behind its original schedule. | Delayed departure |
| January 11 | Carnival Splendor | Cruise Critic reports the ship's January 13 cruise out of Los Angeles has been delayed a full day because of longer than anticipated repairs to the ship's propulsion shafts. Passengers will receive compensation for the inconvenience. According to the company, "On the previous cruise, the Carnival Splendor required necessary repairs on the seals of the ship's propulsion shafts as a result of damage caused by underwater fishing nets… Unfortunately, the repairs are taking longer than expected and the ship will need to remain in Puerto Vallarta until this afternoon." The originally scheduled six-night cruise will be shortened by one day and the port call to Puerto Vallarta has been canceled. The new itinerary will be: Los Angeles departure (4:30 p.m.), day at sea, two days in Cabo San Lucas; day at sea; return to Los Angeles (9 a.m.). Affected cruisers will receive a one-day prorated refund of the cruise fare, $50 per person onboard credit, refund of the difference in government fees and taxes, gratuity adjustment, refund for shore excursions purchased for Puerto Vallarta and up to $200 reimbursement for fees related to air changes. Passengers may also cancel if they wish for a full refund or may switch to another sail date. | Itinerary change (one day canceled) |
| January 9 | Carnival Cruise Lines | Travel Weekly reports Carnival is forgoing some port calls in Belize through the end of 2013 for two ships because the port has become too congested, Carnival said. “Although we have a confirmed berth in Belize, local officials accepted calls for additional ships. Consequently, their tender capacity is not able to effectively handle the increased volume of guests without creating long delays and limiting your time ashore,” Carnival said in a letter to customers. “Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to come to an acceptable agreement with Belize Port Authority regarding this situation. The Carnival Glory and the Carnival Legend, two ships that had scheduled calls in Belize this year, instead will call in Costa Maya, Mexico, for 10 departures. | Canceled port calls |
| Date |
Ship |
2012 |
Incident |
| December 13 | Carnival Magic | From a passenger: Our ship docked in Nassau today. We were instructed to be back on the ship by 4:30pm and sail away at 5:00. As 4:30 rolled by, the names of three passengers were being called every 5 min ( I say they called them at least 4 times). Of course, no one showed up. As we pulled away from the pier, we noticed some people running toward us. The NCL Jewel was docked next to us so for a while we thought that they were on that ship. Turns out they were on the Magic with us! It was a family of three... They had a young child! After listening to them scream for help from our cove balcony, one of our neighbors called the pursuer desk and needless to say, they were stuck in Nassau until they could get a flight back to Houston to meet the ship on Sunday. I haven't heard anything since we have returned... I guess next time they need to watch the clock!!! | "Missed the boat" |
| December 12 | Carnival Sensation | Orlando Sentinel reports testimony is under way in Orlando federal court in the case against a Casselberry man accused of gang raping a 15-year-old girl in the cabin of a Carnival cruise ship earlier this year. Casey Dickerson, 32, and his wife were passengers on board the Carnival Sensation, which departed from Port Canaveral on Aug. 16. Authorities said the couple were given a second cabin after complaining about an issue with the first room, but kept both cabins. The victim told the FBI she and another teenage friend went to Dickerson's cabin with several boys in the early hours of Aug. 19. There, authorities said, Dickerson and the boys held the girl down and took turns having sex with her. Bitter about Dwight Howard's departure? Click here for some payback! Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg told jurors during his opening statement Wednesday that Dickerson and the boys told each other to "switch" as they assaulted her. As the teenager was attacked, her friend was held in the bathroom by one of the boys, authorities said. The victim was treated on the cruise ship for injuries, authorities said. The boys told the FBI that Dickerson gave the victim and her teenage friend alcohol, and that the girl was so inebriated she could not resist the sexual attacks. Dickerson faces two charges, including statutory rape. Defense attorney F. Wesley "Buck" Blankner Jr. told jurors that Dickerson does not dispute he had sex with the 15-year-old. But the attorney said evidence will not indicate the sex was against the girl's will. | Court Case: Gang rape of teen |
| December 11 | Carnival Breeze | From a passenger: A woman passenger fell off the pier while the Breeze was docked in St. Thomas. It was pouring rain and she evidently walked right off the pier and fell between the ship and the pier at midships. Her son went to the gangway to get help from security and they brought two rope ladders. She got up and climbed the ladder and was taken to the ships infirmary in a wheelchair. She appeared to have suffered cuts and bruises to her hand and head, and later someone said they had heard she had broken her arm. | Fall off pier |
| December 2 | Carnival Glory | From a passenger: Informed of propulsion issues on way to Roatan Wed nite, with service tech enroute to try and repair. If repair fails, ship will skip Grand Cayman to return to Miami on Sunday. The repair was successful. | Propulsion problems |
| November 25 | Carnival Liberty | The US Coast Guard reports the ship had a loss of electrical power. | Loss of electrical power |
| November 14 | Carnival Glory | The US Coast Guard reports the ship experienced "material failure". | Material failure |
| October 21 | Carnival Destiny | From a passenger: A female either jumped or fell overboard last night, she was rescued. Ship is making an unscheduled stop in Key West today to drop her off. WSVN News confirmed the report -- the woman is 29 year old and jumped off the ship near the Bahamas. She is now getting treatment at a Key West hospital. | Pax overboard - rescued alive |
| October 9 | Carnival Dream | The Florida Times-Union reports a 46 year old \woman who falsely claimed there was a bomb on the ship was sentenced this week to 12 months in federal prison. She pleaded guilty in July to federal charges of providing false information involving a bomb report to law enforcement. According to court documents, Wilson called the sheriff's office in Jacksonville on May 10, 2010 to report the presence of a female terrorist carrying a bomb on a cruise ship sailing toward Jacksonville's port. She claimed the terrorist intended to explode the bomb prior to the cruise ship reaching the port. The threat prompted a ship-wide search of the ship. No explosives were found. | Sentenced for bomb hoax |
| October 7 | Carnival Dream | On Friday this past week an announcement was made around noontime that there was to be a medical airlift of a crew member from the Carnival Dream near the AFT pool area and that people needed to leave the area for their safety. What was observed by many though (not by myself though as the actual evac site was out of my line of vision) was that not one but TWO people were airlifted. Much gossip was had as to the medical condition of the people. It was reported to me by a second party who was with her aunt in the infirmary at the same time was that one crew member had suffered smoke inhalation and the other crew member was wrapped up from burns. Fire?? No other mention or explanation was made to the guests. | ?Crew members injured? |
| October 1 | Carnival Paradise | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship sustained a partial loss of propulsion as the vessel was maneuvering in preparation to berth in the Port of Tampa, Florida. An excitation breaker for the starboard azipod tripped offline causing a loss of electrical service to the azipod. Vessel retained partial maneuverability with port azipod until breaker for starboard azipod was reset. Technical representative confirmed he tripped excitation breaker caused the power loss that resulted in the azipod going offline. Technical representative remained on vessel during follow-on voyage. During outbound transit (within hours of the first loss of propulsion), excitation breaker tripped again causing a second loss of propulsion Technical representative troubleshot the system and determined faulty transceiver caused the breaker to trip; the transceiver was replaced. |
Propulsion problems |
| September 25 | Carnival Imagination | The Seattle Times reports that when Antonia Giannasca called Carnival Cruise Lines this year to book a vacation to Mexico for her extended family, the sales representative assured her that she had all the travel documents necessary to board the ship. Under the U.S. government's "closed loop" rules for cruises, her 3- and 11-year-old sons needed only their birth certificates. She and her husband were required to bring a valid ID and a birth certificate. Her mother, Vittoria, a naturalized citizen born in Italy who would be celebrating her 71st birthday during the voyage, needed her naturalization form and an ID, the representative told her. Passports wouldn't be required. But those assurances gave way to a sinking feeling as they tried to board the Carnival Imagination in Miami. When Giannasca's mother arrived at the dock with the family on June 18, a Carnival representative examined her paperwork and shook her head. "Uh-oh," the agent said. "This is the wrong form." Vittoria Giannasca should have brought a naturalization form with a raised seal, a little detail that the Carnival sales agent apparently had failed to mention. An emotional confrontation between family members and cruise line employees followed, with Carnival offering to let the passengers find the required form and board the ship in Key West, Fla., for an extra $1,500 — money they didn't have. They missed their cruise. Giannasca, a restaurant server in Boynton Beach, Fla., says that her family was traumatized by the lost vacation and by Carnival's treatment. The cruise was to be their first, and she and her husband had saved for nearly a year for the special event. But being denied boarding wasn't the worst part. When they asked Carnival to refund the $3,275 they'd spent on the cruise, the company turned them down flat, she says. "We sincerely regret any misunderstanding regarding acceptable forms of travel documentation," Carnival said in a form letter. "While I wish I had better news, we can't respond favorably to your request for compensation." | Denied boarding |
| September 7 | Carnival Corporation (dba "Carnival Ports") |
A reader alerted us of a lawsuit against Carnival Corporation (dba Carnival Ports) that included allegations of what some would consider "dirty tricks." For those who are interested in the details, see the attached Amended Complaint in Case No. 11-21318 CA25 (in particular, see pages 3 - 5; paragraphs 13-16) and the Jury Verdict in the case. Some may find this interesting to read. | Some would label these dirty tricks |
| August 31 | Carnival Paradise | The US Coast Guard reports the ship experienced a "material failure" | Material failure |
| August 28 | Carnival Fascination | USA Today reports the U.S. Coast Guard is searching for a 31-year-old man who authorities say jumped from the ship. Officials say a security guard saw the man leap into the water from a 10th floor deck early Tuesday. Officials say he fell about 87-feet into the water. Crewmembers aboard the cruise ship reported the incident to the Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville command center at 2:09 a.m. Tuesday. The Coast Guard says has three ships, a motor life boat and a helicopter are currently searching the waters off Ponce De Leon for the man. UPDATE: Cruise Critic reports the man, US Army Sergeant Ronald Kemp, was intoxicated and had entered a crew-only area of the ship. There he was confronted by a female crewmember, who told him to leave. A physical confrontation ensued, during which time a security officer pepper sprayed Kemp, who then fled. Security gave chase, and Kemp ran up to the Verandah deck, one deck above the Lido deck. In order to evade security, he jumped over the railing, falling one level and landing on the Lido, and then continued to flee before grabbing a life ring and leaping overboard. The cruise line would not respond to Cruise Critic's inquiries. | Pax overboard |
| August 27 | Carnival Breeze | Cruise Critic reports wind gusts of up to 70 miles per hour pulled the ship from its moorings early Sunday evening during embarkation in Venice. No one was injured and the ship was undamaged. Just over an hour later, the ship was able to re-dock with the assistance of tug boats and embarkation resumed. Cruise Critic first learned of the incident from member jetskier who posted that a friend on shore witnessed the ship pull away and watched it be pulled back into port. Breeze's cruise director explained: The ship was embarking passengers for an 11-night Mediterranean sailing. The ship overnighted in Venice as scheduled and departed on Monday on time. | Blown from mooring |
| August 22 | Carnival Sensation | The Orlando Sentinel reports federal prosecutors said a Casselberry man participated in the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl while onboard a Carnival cruise ship last weekend. Casey Dickerson, 31, was arrested on a federal sex charge Monday after an FBI investigation accused him and several teenage boys of having forcible sex with the girl in a cabin on Sunday. A judge deemed Dickerson a danger to the community and ordered he be held at the Orange County Jail until his trial. The other boys, identified only by their initials, admitted to having sex with the girl but have not been charged. Federal prosecutors must seek permission from the Attorney General in order to file charges against juveniles. A U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman said Wednesday her agency is continuing to review the case. FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier said that even during vacations, parents must keep safety in mind and be aware of their surroundings. Children who are unsupervised are prime targets for victimization, he said. "Whether at a sporting event, theme park, or a on a cruise, you need to be aware that there are hundreds of people from all walks of life participating in the related activity," Couvertier said. "This could include thieves, con men, and even child predators." According to a criminal complaint, Dickerson and his wife were on the cruise that left from Port Canaveral on Aug. 16. The couple was given a second cabin after complaining about a noise issue with their first room, according to the complaint, but was allowed to keep both cabins. The teenage victim told an FBI agent that she and another friend, also 15, went to Dickerson's cabin with him and four other boys. Once in the cabin, the girl said, Dickerson and the boys held her down and took turns having sex with her, according to the complaint. At the same time, the victim's teenage friend was being held in the bathroom by one of the boys. As Dickerson and the others sexually assaulted the victim, they told each other to "switch," so that they would change positions. The girl said someone knocked on the door while she was being attacked and one of the boys answered it. The girl said she was on the floor of the cabin, wearing only a bra, and after the person who knocked at the door left, Dickerson and the boys continued their sexual attacks, the complaint says. Eventually, one of the suspected attackers dressed the girl and her teenage friend was allowed out of the bathroom. The girl received medical treatment on the ship for her injuries. The FBI also questioned the boys allegedly involved in the attack. The boys told agents Dickerson gave alcohol to the victim and her friend, and that the victim was inebriated to the point that she could not resist the attacks. UPDATE: Business Insider reports the 31-year-old man accused of raping a teenage girl claims he was drunk at the time and while he had sex with other women aboard the ship, he isn't sure the teenage girl was one of them. He was arrested Monday after a 15-year-old girl claimed he and a group of four teenage boys held her down and took turns having sex with her, telling each other to "switch" when it was time for a new man to sexually assault her. The boys, who have not been named, reportedly told the FBI Dickerson plied the girl with alcohol until she was "inebriated to the point that she could not resist the attacks." | Gang rape of minor |
| August 21 | Carnival Glory | CTV News reports a cruise ship that stopped in Halifax about two weeks ago is the suspected source of an outbreak that shut down two restaurants on the waterfront this week. It turns out at least 200 people on the ship reported feeling ill, and restaurant and business owners in downtown Halifax are now asking why they weren’t notified of the outbreak. Lisa Drader-Murphy owns a clothing store in Bishop’s Landing. She developed norovirus-like symptoms Sunday; about a week after her store manager fell ill. “We had had an incident, or a day in our store where many cruise ship passengers had come through and told our staff there was a Norwalk outbreak on their cruise ship,” says Drader-Murphy. The Carnival Glory docked in Halifax on Aug. 9 and it appears it may have carried more than just passengers to the waterfront. Two waterfront restaurants, The Bicycle Thief and Ristorante a Mano, had to close after at least 26 staff and customers became ill with what also appears to be the norovirus. | Cruise brings illness onshore |
| August 11 | Carnival Freedom | Go Jamaica reports the police are seeking the assistance of the public in locating an American who has been missing since Thursday. The Ocho Rios Police say 50-year-old Fredrick Lauritzen disembarked a cruise ship and has not been seen or heard from since. | Pax missing ashore |
| July 5 | Carnival Dream | From a passenger: I was appalled at the lack of attention given to the Muster drill on board this ship. We did not have to take our lifejackets to the drill. To me this is a huge mistake. Also at the Muster area on D4 we couldn't see the screen or hear what was being said. The attitude towards the muster area really concern me. | Muster drill |
| June 20 | Carnival Breeze | Travel Agent Central reports a fan belt inside an AC unit in a crew area overheated and started generating smoke. There was not an actual fire and no smoke entered guest areas; the ship's crew responded immediately and all is well. Earlier, TravelAgentCentral.com had reported on an announcement by the cruise director and then the ship's captain about the situation. Here's that earlier report, based on what both individuals told the passengers onboard. Shortly after 8 a.m. Eastern time, or 2 p.m. ship's time, crew members from Alpha team, a special fire squadron onboard the new ship, Carnival Breeze, were summoned via the ship's public address system to a forward portion of the crew area on Deck O. Firescreen doors in the forward section of the ship closed as a precaution after smoke was discovered in the crew area, which caused an alarm to sound on the bridge. The Captain had explained to guests that the alarm had indicated the possibility of a fire in the forward crew area. He said that when the fire team arrived they found a rubber belt within the electrical system smoking. He said the team "extinguished it immediately" and the "ship is now continuing on as normal" and also told guests that the fire doors in the forward part of the ship would reopen soon. The ship is on a 12-night Mediterranean cruise roundtrip from Barcelona. | Smoke but no fire |
| June 4 | Carnival Glory | Cruise Critic reports due to adverse weather conditions enroute to Boston, the arrival on Sunday (June 3) will be delayed until about 10:00PM and boarding will start shortly thereafter. Check-in is still scheduled between 8:30 PM – 11:30 PM. Passengers will receive a $50 per person onboard credit. The ship is scheduled to depart on Monday morning at 11:00 AM. (The ship actually left at 12:40PM) | Delayed arrival & departure / Itinerary change |
| May 22 | Carnival Cruise Lines | WPBF-TV reports Lillian Hensley is still shaky over what was supposed to be a fun cruise with her family on a five-day Carnival cruise to Jamaica. Her disabled daughter Christine requires nightly dialysis. Hensley said she got clearance from Carnival to bring on board a portable dialysis machine. Shortly after checking in Saturday, Hensley said she got a call from the ship's staff saying they couldn't find their luggage or the dialysis machine. "I said, 'My daughter cannot live without the dialysis,'" said Hensley. "They said, 'Well, then, get off the ship. You've got to get off the ship.' I said, 'I'm not leaving without her equipment and her supplies.'" In a statement, Carnival said there was some question at the time that the dialysis machine made it on board. "Given that it is imperative that Ms. Hensley have her dialysis equipment in order to sail, it was decided it would be in her best interest that she disembark the vessel," the statement read. "I said, 'Without everything? You're giving me like a death sentence for my daughter,'" said Hensley. But she said Carnival staff called security and escorted the family off the ship. Hensley and her family were stranded in Miami without a ride back to Boynton Beach as the ship set sail with the dialysis machine and their luggage. Carnival subsequently apologized. | Evicted |
| May 22 | Carnival Sensation | The US Coast Guard reports the ship experienced a fire. | Fire |
| May 9 | Carnival Magic | Channel 2 Houston reports Dr. Jack Kruse, a neurosurgeon from Nashville, went on the ship on Sunday to give a speech about his unique diet plan. Instead, he ended up as a bio-terrorism suspect. "They blew up the room looking for things. They went through my bags," said Kruse. "I had no idea what I was being accused of. They went out of their way not to tell me. When I tell you this was a scene out of (the TV show) '24,' that's exactly what it was like." The investigation began after a threatening tweet was sent from a Twitter account that uses Kruse's name. It mentioned him having a vial of a disease for a "bio hack" on the ship. Someone notified Carnival. The cruise line called the FBI, prompting agents and Port of Galveston police to board the ship. Kruse was questioned and taken off of the ship. "It was beyond me how one tweet could cause this kind of trouble," he said. Investigators discovered that the tweet didn't come from Kruse. Instead, it came from a parody account that uses his name. Kruse said Carnival sent out a letter to passengers on Monday saying the FBI confirmed the threatening message didn't come from him. But Carnival said he was taken off the ship because the investigation was still ongoing and the cruise line takes all security threats seriously. | Passenger evicted |
| April 23 | Carnival Victory | A report fron St. Kitts and Nevis say two American citizens on board the ship on Friday were arrested after the ship’s security and the local Customs Department carried out a search of a cabin in which a quantity of vegetable material suspected to be cannabis was found. Lena Lugar and Chad Brown both of Richmond, Virginia in the United States were held by police and taken before the Magistrate in Sandy Point where they both pleaded guilty. They were each fined EC$800.00 (approximately US$300) forthwith or 30 days in prison. The fines were paid and they were transported back to the ship. | Drug bust |
| April 17 | Carnival Spirit | MSNBC reports a passenger jumped overboard yesterday into the Pacific Ocean and was quickly rescued by the ship's crew. In a statement provided to Cruise Critic, Carnival said witnesses saw a 28-year-old man jumping off the ship as it steamed for Hawaii on the fourth day of a 15-night cruise. Search-and-rescue operations were initiated and the passenger was located and brought back on board, where he received treatment at Spirit's medical center. | Man overboard - Rescued alive |
| April 9 | Carnival Pride | From a passenger: We were in Grand Turk on Wednesday April 4, 2012. There was a diving accident. Rumor was that a 17 year old drowned. Ship was delayed an hour as cruise medical staff was onsite. At least one family member stayed behind on the island with the injured diver. Cruise Law News reports the death occured on a ship-sponsored shore excursion. It also cites a police report that mentions two recent snorkeling deaths on the island, including a 80 year old tourist and and a 62 year old described as a cruise passenger. | Death ashore |
| April 4 | Carnival Sensation | Huffington Post reports ateenage girl is suing Carnival Cruise Lines in Miami's federal court, accusing employees of having conducted an aggressive strip and cavity search when she was an underaged passenger on board a cruise last year. "J.G.", then 17, says security staff forced her to strip, urinate, remove a tampon, and have her genitals examined last April while under suspicion of marijuana possession. The incident occurred after the Carnival Sensation out of Cape Canaveral made a stop in the Bahamas on April 27. When J.G., her mother, and a 15-year-old friend returned to the boat, a security employee sharing their elevator claimed to have found a small baggie filled with "green leaves" in the group's wake. Mayank Thapa and two other Carnival employees approached J.G. in her cabin and began interrogating her. The suit states that J.G. was not informed of her rights, nor told that her mother could be present. [Read the court complaint at Courthouse News, via Miami New Times.] With an employee blocking the door, the girls said they feared for their safety. Thapa and the agents reportedly threatened J.G. repeatedly, saying if she confessed, her interrogation would stop and she could continue her cruise. J.G. then admitted the bag was hers. But even after confessing, she says, the agents continued demanding to know "where the rest of it was," searching her cabin and purse. The guards then told J.G., to remove her underwear and lift her dress, forcing her into the restroom and watching while she urinated. She was then told to remove a tampon and her "genital cavity was inspected visually" by a female Carnival employee, though the two male employees were present to watch. With nothing found in or on her person, J.G. was then turned over to the Bahamian police, who placed her in an adult holding cell until the next day. There, J.G. alleges, she was assaulted. Seeking unspecified damages over $75,000, the lawsuit filed in March alleges counts of negligence, fraud and misrepresentation, assault, sexual harassment, battery, emotional distress, breach of contract, and punitive damages. Carnival Corporation PR Manager Vance Gulliksen told HuffPost Miami in an emailed statement that the teen's allegation are "patently false," "obviously" made in retaliation for Carnival having removed the girl and her mother from the cruise before the voyage in Nassau was over. Guilliksen said Carnival does not normally comment on pending litigation, but felt "compelled to do so given the far-fetched claims." | Sexual assault |
| March 31 | Carnival Triumph | Bloomberg News reports cruise line officials are meeting with attorneys this morning and scrambling to ensure the ship can sail from Galveston as planned today. On Friday, a U.S. judge ordered the cruise ship held in Galveston as part a $10 million lawsuit filed by the family of a German tourist who died aboard the Costa Concordia. “The court finds that the conditions for an attachment of defendants’ joint and collective property within this district, mainly the MS Carnival Triumph, appear to exist upon an admiralty and maritime claim,” U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner of Galveston said in the warrant. The ship would be allowed to unload passengers and cargo and move between berths within the port until a “prompt hearing” can be scheduled, at which “the plaintiff shall be required to show why the attachment and garnishment should not be vacated,” according to the order. The ship was scheduled to sail today for a five-day cruise to Yucatan and Cozumel. The case is Kai Stumpf v. Carnival plc, 3:12-cv-00099, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Galveston). Update: The ship was subsequently released following an agreement between the two parties. | Ship detained |
| March 26 | Carnival Glory | From a passenger: The ship's Western Carribean cruise that left Miami on March 18th had a missed port at Costa Maya on March 21st. They blamed it on high winds and waves. We were given a $10.50 credit for missing a port. | Missed port |
| February 27 | Carnival Magic | MSNBC reports from Galveston that a crew member fell off the ship Saturday night. The ship was off the coast of Galveston when the accident happened at about 10:35 p.m. The U.S. Coast Guard were called to rescue the man from the water. But before USCG could arrive the cruise ship's crew had already launched a rescue boat and pulled the man from the water. He was in the water for less than 45 minutes. The cruise line says the man was working on the deck when he slipped over the railing. The Coast Guard said the man is OK. | Passenger Overboard - rescued (work accident)
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| February 24 | Carnival Splendor | Gadling reports twenty two cruise passengers were robbed at gunpoint yesterday on a ship-sponsored shore excursion. The incident happened in Puerto Vallarta, when passengers who came ashore were held at gunpoint and were "stripped of cameras, watches and other valuables they had with them," reports Informador. No one was harmed, but calls for increased security went out and the shore excursion, a seemingly harmless nature walk, was canceled pending investigation. "Carnival also apologized to the passengers for the "unfortunate and disturbing event" and said it is working with passengers to reimburse them for lost valuables and assist with lost passports or other forms of identification," said CruiseCritic. | Pax robbed ashore |
| February 16 | Elation | From a reader: My sister is on this ship. As of this moment (6:10 PM) departure is delayed. A tanker spilled oil on a great deal of passengers luggage. My sister has yet to receive her luggage. They still haven't done the muster drill. Picture attached. Update: The ship left port about 1:45 am. Some passengers that were notified in the early stages of the evening were given luggage to cover them for the trip. Others were sent to their rooms with their belongings in plastic yellow bags. Passengers had to declare values on what was lost. They are to report to Guest Services today to see what the cruise line will do. Carnival Statement: Feb. 17, 2012 – 9:30 am EST: Yesterday afternoon at the Port of New Orleans, an oil collection truck that was removing discarded oil from the Carnival Elation experienced a spill on the pier which resulted in the soiling of several pieces of luggage that were in cages waiting to be loaded onto the ship. The spill was limited to the pier and none went into the water. Impacted guests were notified and Carnival will be providing reimbursement for damaged luggage and belongings. The ship departed New Orleans this morning at 1:40 a.m. and is en route to Cozumel where it is scheduled to call on Saturday |
Delayed departure / fuel spill |
| February 14 | Fantasy | The Royal Gazette reports in spite of pleas for leniency, two female cruise passengers women were each sentenced to six years in jail yesterday after trying to smuggle drugs into Bermuda. In both cases, lawyers had argued that financial desperation alone drove the pair to try and bring in 2.7kg of cannabis resin aboard the the ship on October 8. Justice Greaves retorted that “crybaby stories should not get them off easy”. The pair were apprehended after US Customs, acting on information received, detained two other women from the ship before it left port at Charleston, South Carolina. The other would-be smugglers had a total of 2.7kg of cannabis resin. US officers determined they were part of a smuggling ring but by the time the two arrested in Bermudal were identified by their associates, the vessel had sailed. According to Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Cindy Clarke, Bermuda law enforcement apprehended the pair in their shared cabin shortly after the ship arrived at King’s Wharf, Dockyard. They had a total of nine packages containing just over four kg of cannabis resin, or hashish, which is normally sold locally in half-gram twists at $50 each. The drugs had a total street value of $406,550. The women had each been offered $5,000 to bring the drugs to Bermuda. | Drug bust |
| February 14 | Carnival Triumph | From a passenger: On Monday the 6th of February around 9:15 AM or so, we were docked at Progresso, Mexico. The onboard PA speaker blared “Bravo,Bravo Starboard” 2 times in succession. We didn’t have a clue. A few minutes later, we heard an electric motor whine from coming from below our balcony. I went out to our balcony and looked down and it was lowering a lifeboat to the water. I thought that odd and started looking around. At that point, I saw a body floating in the water lifeless. The boat went out and picked up the body. I don’t know if it was lifeless or unconscious but it was a good 5-10 minutes before they got to the body. Nothing was ever said by any of the crew if it was a practice or what but the body looked real. When we left for our excursion a short time later, there were about 12 crew hanging around the medical area close to where we got off of the ship. Attached is the only picture I took of this event. I have zoomed in very close on the pic to determine if it is a real person or dummy. It looks to me like it is a real person. From a reader: It looks like the rescue dummies we use in the fire service. Note the uniform color of the legs and the fact both legs are straight out, floating. A real person’s leg if unresponsive, would likely hang down into the water. It also looks like the life jacket is strapped to the back, thereby allowing the manikin or dummy to float like it is. |
Not a person overboard -- just a dummy as part of a drill |
| February 9 | Sensation | ABC in Orlando reports the ship set sail late after 10 - 20 cabins were flooded while it was docked in Port Canaveral. One account is that a water pipe break Thursday afternoon at the port caused the flooding. However, several passengerse refused to sail because the cleanup crew told them it was raw sewage and they had to bathe immediately after they cleaned the rooms -- those passengers were given a full refund. A Carnival spokesperson said it was not sewage but just water from a swimming pool that was overfilled and caused the burst pipe problem. Passengers who had their cabins flooded and who agreed to continue were moved to other cabins. The problem has since been resolved and the ship left for the Bahamas. The ship was supposed to leave in the afternoon, but didn't set sail until 9:25 p.m. due to the break, which required officials to load additional provisions and fresh water. The ship is sailing on a three-day cruise to Nassau and is scheduled to return to Port Canaveral on Sunday. | Delayed departure - burst pipes |
| January 29 | Carnival Legend | A poster at Cruise Critic writes: Received an e-mail posted at 8:55am from Carnival. The message stated that she "experienced a technical overnight with the starboard Azipod" and would arrive at 11:00am. We are at a hotel that provides shuttle service to the port. The shuttle driver reported that the Legend was arriving as he pulled up to the port at 10:05am. Carnival is moving check-in to 2:30 to 6:00pm with estimated departure at 8:00pm. They are also posting a $15 per person OBC to cover lunch expenses. | Late arrival / departure |
| January 28 | Fantasy | MSNBC reports authorities are investigating the death of a passenger who fell from an upper deck to a lower deck while the cruise ship was docked in the Bahamas. The 26-year-old victim, whose identity was not released, fell from one of the upper levels of the ship's atrium to the lobby level late Friday night. Because of the delay due to the investigation a scheduled visit to Freeport was canceled. The shipwas sailing on a five-day Bahamas cruise that departed Charleston, S.C., on Wednesday and is scheduled to return to Charleston on Monday. | Pax death |
| January 22 | Carnival Magic & Carnival Triumph | Cruise Critic reports dense fog in the port of Galveston has caused delays for two Carnival cruise ships this weekend. Carnival Triumph's departure from the Texas port was delayed by several hours on Saturday, however the ship is still sailing its five-night Western Caribbean cruise as scheduled and no itinerary changes were necessary. Because the fog has not yet lifted, the port is now closed and will remain so until conditions improve. Carnival has informed us that Carnival Magic's arrival will be delayed until the port is reopened. (Update: 1:10 p.m. EST, Galveston's port has reopened and Carnival Magic has arrived. The ship is expected to depart later this afternoon. No itinerary changes have been made.) From a passenger: The Carnival Magic's departure scheduled for 4pm Jan 22nd was postponed to 8pm, but dense fog prevented the departure at that time. At 3am on the 23rd the ship was able to leave. Captain made up about 9 hours of the 11 hour delay so the first stop in Montego bay Jamaica was from 11-7 instead of the originally planned 9-6. | Delays as a result of fog |
| January 17 | Carnival Legend | The US Coast Guard reports the ship experienced problems with "material failure." | Material failure |
| January 15 | Carnival Liberty | From a passenger: On Sunday, January 8th I was suddenly awaken by the ship listing to the port side, in the middle of the Carribean Ocean, with no land to be seen. The cruise director came over the loud speaker and said they were having a technical issue and not to worry. I have been on many cruises, all Carnival, and when your belongings start sliding off higher ground and glasses and dishes start smashing on the floor, there is definitely something wrong. I have never been so scared in my life thinking the ship was going over. From another passenger: We (14 of us) just returned from a 7 day cruise on the Carnival Liberty. First day at sea at approximately 8:25 am we had an "incident' in which the boat took a sharp turn and listed enough that items, such as glasses, flew off the desk in the rooms shattering, plates and glasses slid off the tables in the dining room breaking and spilling and the pools lost lots of water. That water flooded the stairwells and flowed into the hallways. Very scary. However, does not even compare to what happened to the Costa Concordia! Liberty's comments: We had a technical problem. Rumor has it that a problem with the computer told the ship to "avoid a crash" causing it to turn sharply which caused the tipping. |
Severe list |
| January 7 | Carnival Destiny | The US Coast Guard reports the ship experienced problems with "material failure." | Material failure |
| Date |
Ship |
2011 |
Incident |
| December 27 | Carnival Fascination | News 4 Jacksonville reports a woman is facing fatal charges in connection with a bomb treat made on a cruise ship set to arrive in Jacksonville. Linda Wilson, 44, is charged with reporting false information/hoax to law enforcement officials regarding a bomb aboard the Carnival Fascination in May 2010. According to the indictment, Wilson called the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to say a bomb was going to explode when the ship arrived at he JAXPORT cruise terminal. Wilson was arrested on a federal warrant by local law enforcement and was scheduled for an initial court appearance Tuesday. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of up to 5 years in prison. | Bomb threat |
| December 19 | Carnival Cruise Lines | The Peoria Journal Star reports an Arkansas woman pleaded guilty Monday to making a bomb threat to a cruise ship in early June. She pleaded to one count of making a false bomb threat and faces up to 10 years in prison. The woman called Carnival Cruise Lines and told an operator there was a bomb on a ship headed to Cozumel, Mexico. Two ships, each with 3,000 people aboard, were notified immediately. No bomb was found, but police did obtain the phone number of the cellphone used to make the call as well as identify which cell tower was used. Within a day, authorities tracked her down, who initially denied making a threat. Later, she said she called Carnival and made a threat because she was angry a man she was living with in Little Rock took a cruise with some of his stepchildren but without her. | Bomb threat |
| December 15 | Carnival Splendor | From a passenger: 12/11/11 sailing - Mexican Riviera - Cabin 1306: Wild, out-of-control alcohol-fueled domestic fight - starts at 9PM, escalates to most certainly a felony assault (or worse) by 3AM. All kinds of yelling, screaming, howling. bjects (victim?) thrown against the walls. Finally security responds; victim has blood streaming from her, multiple wounds; others report seeing multiple pools of blood in the room. Around 3:45 AM, Carnival removes the "guests" and immediately starts the process of cleaning the room up, starting with the blood. NO attempt whatsoever to preserve the scene or the evidence. Staff members will not discuss what happened other than "it's under control" and "he won't be a problem". Rumor is that the offender was removed from the ship in Puerto Vallarta. |
Ugly scene - Pax on pax assault |
| December 11 | Carnival Magic | From a reader: Heard from some friends who just returned on the Carnival Magic sailing departing on 12/04/2011. The ship returned back to Galveston about 3 hours after sailing to debark a sick or injured guest. I was able to confirm by checking the Galveston cruise/port camera. The ship was in port already at 9:28 pm. Then on Friday 12/09/2011, there was a report of a person who went overboard. Not sure of the exact time but I received a text at 8:25pm stating that the ship was conducting an emergency procedure in response. | Delayed / ?Person overboard? |
| December 3 | Carnival Inspiration | From a passenger: Everyone on the ship which returned this morning was talking about a man who jumped leaving a note behind. His name was called over the loud speaker numerous times. The first I heard of it and as I continued to hear it the story stayed the same without embellishment. His wife died recently but he took the cruise anyway and then did this. | Person overboard |
| November 22 | Carnival Liberty | Sun-Sentinel reports a shipboard employee has been charged with engaging in sexual acts with a minor, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern United States said in a release Tuesday. According to the criminal complaint filed, Kert Clyde Jordan, 35 of Grenada engaged in a sexual acts with a 14-year old while she was on vacation with her family aboard the Carnival Liberty. Jordan – a waiter on the ship – allegedly engaged in sexual acts in the bathroom with the victim while the ship was sailing in international waters on November 4 and 5, according to the release. | Child sexual assault |
| November 17 | Carnival Magic | The Examiner reports the ship took an unexpected shore stop Wednesday and Thursday to make emergency repairs to the new ship. “We are experiencing a technical problem with one of our stern thrusters, side propellers on the aft that help the ship move sideways,” said Magic Captain Giovanni Cutugno. In order to have sufficient time to complete the necessary repairs, the ship’s scheduled visit to Costa Maya and one day at sea were replaced with an overnight call in Progreso, Mexico. | Propulsion problems |
| November 17 | Carnival Magic | Cruise Critic reports a maitre d' was assaulted Tuesday evening by one of the ship's dining room waiters. In a statement provided to Cruise Critic, Carnival said that "another employee witnessed the assault and held the dining room waiter until shipboard security arrived. The maitre d' is recovering and is expected to be back at work in the next day or two." The attack occurred in the main dining room during the late-seating dinner. The dining room waiter, who was not identified, has been fired. Who has been named is the victim. A post on the Cruise Critic message boards identified the injured staffer as Ken Byrnes, who goes by the moniker "The Singing Maitre D'." A passenger reports on Facebook, "Senior Maitre D' Ken Byrne was attacked by a disgruntled waiter with a heavy iron bar" ... He was struck on the back of the head twice nearly knocking him unconscious." | Crew on crew assault |
| November 15 | Carnival Dream | News 5 Belize reports eleven passengers were involved in a collision at the junction of the Boom Road and the bridge. The most seriously injured was fifty four year old U.S. national David Heim, who was taken by stretcher to Belize Medical Associates. Another U.S. national, Yvonne Thompson, who was carrying a toddler, was lucky to escape with only abrasions to her hand. Catherine Casimiro, the owner of the van they were travelling in, was returning to Belize City with eight American adults and three children when her taxi and a Toyota driven by thirty eight year old Chen Jian Chang collided. Travelling in Chang’s vehicle were Wing Hida Zhang and Senbo Wu. Wu was injured and taken to a hospital by BERT ambulance. | Pax injured ashore |
| November 5 | Inspiration | From a passenger: Just returned from Carnival Inspiration supposed itinerary Tampa-Grand Cayman-Cozumel-Tampa 10/31-11/5/11 Our Grand Cayman visit was cancelled due to a medical emergency and we diverted to Cozumel where we arrived 1:30am EST on Wednesday. The passenger was offloaded and “rumor” was that he had suffered a heart attack and expired in Cozumel. On Friday (sea day) we were diverted to within 90 miles off the coast of Key West for ANOTHER medical evacuation via US Coast Guard Helicopter at 3:45pm EST. In total we experienced two “Bright Star” pages. From another passenger: We booked 31OCT to 5NOV 2011: Itinerary was Grand Cayman on 2 NOV and Cozumel 3 NOV. 31OCT – Ship departs Tampa at 4PM, 1 NOV Ship changed course early evening of 1 NOV to Cozumel to discharge seriously ill passenger. Later in the cruise it was rumored this passenger died, 2 NOV Arrived Cozumel 1:30am 2 NOV, 2 NOV At this time, another passenger also left the ship ill in the early AM hours, 2 NOV Ship departs Cozumel early evening heading south for Costa Maya, 3 NOV Ship arrived Mahahual-Coasta Maya on morning of 3 NOV, 4 NOV Day at Sea – Late morning announcement we change course and head for Key West to rendezvous with a Coast Guard Helicopter so that a third passenger could be medivac from ship, 4 NOV CG Helicopter arrives at about 3:30pm on 4 NOV, passenger taken off the deck of the ship in a basket, 5 NOV 8am ship arrives Port Tampa. Can’t seem to find ANYTHING on these events in the news, yet all of the crew we spoke to and many of the passengers never experienced any like this. | Itinerary change |
| November 5 | Fantasy | Cruise Critic UK reports tidal conditions are forcing a delay of that ship on Monday into Jacksonville. The ship will arrive at 10 a.m. and boarding for the next cruise will take place from 1:30 - 5 p.m. No itinerary changes are anticipated. | Delayed debarkation & embarkation |
| November 5 | Carnival Pride | Cruise Critic UK reports bad weather is forcing the ship to delay its arrival into Baltimore after a Bahamas and Florida cruise. The late debarkation will mean the ship will set sail on its next cruise a day late, forcing an itinerary change. Because the captain has had to reduce cruising speed to accommodate the weather conditions, the ship cannot dock until Sunday evening. Passengers onboard the current cruise will be allowed to debark Sunday from 8 - 10 p.m. or Monday from 7 - 9 a.m., essentially giving travelers an extra day onboard. Embarkation for the November 6 Bermuda cruise will now take place on November 7 from 9 a.m. to noon. The ship was scheduled to arrive in King's Wharf, Bermuda, at 1 p.m. on Tuesday and spend two nights in port. The revised itinerary has the ship arriving Wednesday at 1 p.m. and departing Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Passengers on the impacted sailing will receive a one-day, pro-rated refund of their cruise fare (within the next two weeks); gratuities will be adjusted to account for the missed day; and any pre-purchased shore excursions for Tuesday will be refunded. | Delayed debarkation & embarkation |
| October 31 | Carnival Legend | From a passenger: We were onboard the ship from Oct 23-30, 2011. A female passenger was killed in Cozumel on Wednesday October 26, 2011 from a scooter accident. Only thing that we know is that she was 48. The ship left approximately 1.5 hours late. An ambulance delivered a passenger with her arm in a sling. Also some luggage was removed from the ship. That is pretty much all we knew about it.
Our itinerary was changed due to weather we didn’t get to go to Grand Caymens, Isla Roattan. They took us to Progresso instead which was no comparison. We did spend from Thursday evening until Sunday morning at sea. Another passenger reports the woman was run over by a vehicle on the island and died--unknown if alcohol was involved. They also report "on our stop to Progresso earlier in the week (which was not an originally intended port but substituted in because of the weather) a passenger was bitten by an animal (monkey or lemur type animal) and was not allowed to return to the ship due to potential disease transmittance. Finally, we heard a Bright Star page (medical emergency) over the intercom and were later informed by a staff member it was in regards to a crew member who was badly burned in the kitchen. All in all...very eventful cruise." And another passenger wrote: Very sad to report there was a fatality in Cozumel.....confirmed by ship doctor directly to me.
We all watched as time for departure came and went --from our balcony we could see a lot of ship crew & Mexican authority..many times I saw the cell phones pass between officers..then saw a packed suit case. We thought we leaving someone behind. Someone called down how many are we waiting for the dock worker went one finger then 3 fingers. Later then we saw a a big medical van pull up really close to the dock. another van with one man 2 woman-- one of the woman was visable hurt shoulder.. then it seems a lot of paper was flying....... that night after the show I saw the ship doc and said i was so glad we didn't leave anyone hurt in a forgin country with a hurricane coming....He looked at me sadly and said thanks, it was an older couple married a long time and the wife passed on the island. (did not say how but all the rumors was a scooter) He was not leaving them there when there was a good possibility they would not be able to get home soon. Another crew member told us " it was the worst kind of accident"t |
Death ashore & Itinerary change |
| October 29 | Fascination | From a passenger: I have just returned from Key West/Bahamas. I was told by another passenger that the very *Operation "Very-Nice-Name" in the Imagination Dining Room* I heard called on Tuesday Night (during the Captain's Dinner) was code for the medical emergency which resulted in a passenger death. I heard it was most likely a brain aneurysm as there significant bleeding from the nose and mouth. This was an eventful cruise as another passenger was apparently arrested, but I did not hear the charges. On Tuesday night, our ship was met by a boat with a blue flashing light. When we reached the port in Key West, an ambulance made its way down the dock to our ship. From another passenger: I was onboard the ship the night of the death—in fact sitting at the table next to the lady that passed away. The onboard page was a “Operation Bright Star” in the Imagination Dining Room. It was a poor response though from the doctor and nurse on the ship. It took them about 10 minutes to get the doctor and nurse there with the AED’s. There were no AED’s, automatic defibs, anywhere in the dining halls. Although it would not have mattered in this case due to the nature of her passing away, it could have for somebody that had a cardiac emergency. | Death & an arrest |
| October 26 | Carnival Triumph | From a passenger: We were aboard the Carnival Triumph from Oct 15-20, 2011 on the Western Caribbean cruise to Progresso and Cozumel. We were interviewed by the ship's security staff on Oct 18th about an incident that reportedly happened in the cabin next to ours. We reported hearing loud voices and banging on the walls. We were told that 'something very bad had happened" but could not get any more info from the security staff. The room was closed with red tape stating "no admittance, forensic eviidence". We talked to the occupants of the cabin on the other side of the closed cabin and they were told again something "very bad happened" and that someone was stabbed. We have been unable to find out any other info. It was a very troublesome experience and we would like to know what happened. From another passenger: I was also on this ship where the stabbing occurred. My cabin was just down the hall from it. The following day there was an ambulance with a gurney ready sitting on the pier at Progreso, Mexico but they were waiting until everyone had debarked to go ashore. We saw the security detail and the "forensic evidence" tape, but never found out what had happened. We never saw either the man or woman again after Progreso. And from another: My Husband and I Took the Cruise from Galveston on the 15 to the 20th as well and when we docked back in Galveston we witnessed what looked to be 2 bodys being put into the back of a white van. They where coved with carnival Towels. We had heard rumor that something happened just don't know. My sister who was also on board was a few rooms down from the room that was taped off said there was alot of security and the captain outside the room at one point then the next thing they knew the room was taped and everyone was very hush mouthed about it.. It kinda creeps me out.. | Onboard crime? |
| October 19 | Carnival Conquest | FROM a passenger: The ship missed the port of Grand Cayman. Georgetownport was closed due to dangerous swells. Ship was moved to another port around the island from Georgetown. Also port was closed. Ship departed without port call. | Missed port |
| October 17 | Fantasy | WCIV-TV News reports the ship arrived in Charleston roughly an hour behind schedule on Monday. Carnival officials say it was due to a technical problem. The problem, officials said, affected the ship's sailing speed. A spokesman with the cruise line said the problem has since been repaired. The ship was due to arrive in Charleston on Monday at around 8 a.m. instead, it reached port on return from a 5-day cruise to the Bahamas at around 9 a.m. | "Technical problem" |
| October 15 | Carnival Dream | Florida Today reports the FBI picked up the investigation of a dead newborn found on a cruise ship that returned to Port Canaveral on Saturday. On Wednesday, a Carnival Dream employee discovered the deceased newborn in a guest cabin. The cruise line informed authorities in St. Maarten about the incident and the baby's mother, a 20-year-old female guest traveling on board was detained pending further investigation. The FBI said the baby's mother is a US passenger. "No one has been charged we are still working on getting facts and gathering any available evidence," said FBI Special Agent Dave Couvertier. The baby's mother has not returned to the US, according to the FBI. | Newborn death |
| October 10 | Fascination | First Coast News reports the ship was unable to return to its port in Jacksonville Monday morning to offload current passengers and pick up new ones. The ship finally docked around 1 p.m. Those who got off the ship said it was a rough ride. "The winds were 80-90 mph. It was just rough. The waves were bad. Everybody was throwing up," said Robin Hayes of North Carolina. Lines of people formed Monday afternoon with passengers trying to board and start their vacation. Those passengers were a little concerned about the future. "We're delayed. It's chaotic. It's an experience. You really don't know what is out there in the ocean. Some of the people who just got off the cruise said it was the worst cruise of their life and we are headed out into the storm. It's kind of scary," said Renetta Albea, from Tennessee. The cruise is expected to leave port after 8 tonight. | Late debarkation/ embarkation |
| October 10 | Sensation and Disney Dream Disney Cruise Line |
USA Today reports both ships were scheduled to leave Port Canaveral Sunday night, but chose to overnight at the dock instead of risk the weather. The Sensation departed this morning at 8 a.m. without incident; Disney Dream delayed its Sunday evening departure until 4:30 a.m. Monday when the weather had calmed. The line said the ship will visit all its planned ports, but in a different order before returning as scheduled. | Delayed departure |
| September 28 | Imagination | From a passenger: We cruised on the cruise that left Miami on Sept 26, 2011. When we woke up on Wednesday morning, Sept 28, 2011 the toilets would not flush. When I called the front desk they said they were experiencing mechanical issues and were working to solve them. At 10 am the captain announced that the toilets in all of the front and mid ship were out of order and there were 3 public toilets in the rear ship that were available to use that worked. We went ashore in Mexico at 1pm and when we returned to the ship at 7pm the toilets on the entire ship were all working. |
Plumbing problems |
| September 27 | Carnival Victory | Tribune Weekly Chronicle reports Sunday morning, during a random inspection of passengers arriving from St. Christopher – Nevis, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a passenger who was attempting to transport cocaine into the United States inside his back pack. His brother was also arrested on conspiracy charges. CBP Officers arrested a 27-year-old U.S. citizen after finding approximately 1,694 grams of cocaine inside a back pack that he was carrying. CBP Officers arrested Carl Peterkin, a 27-year-old U.S. citizen, after finding approximately 1,694 grams of cocaine inside a back pack that he was carrying. His brother, Mr. Steven Peterkin, 23, was also arrested on conspiracy charges. The custody of both passengers was transferred to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation. | Drug bust |
| September 26 | Carnival Fascination | From a passenger: Several friends and I were booked on the ship departing from Jacksonville on September 22 at 4:00 p.m.. After receiving our security clearances, we were informed that there had been a departure time change due to the fact that the previous cruise docked at a later time than normal. Unfortunately that initial delay caused tidal problems for our scheduled departure time. We eventually left Jacksonville at 9:30 p.m. However, this departure change also affected changes in our itinerary as Friday’s Port Call (Freeport, Bahamas) was swapped with Sunday’s Day at Sea. | Delayed departure |
| September 25 | Carnival Conquest | KHOU-TV reports authorities were searching for a man who jumped off a Carnival cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico, officials said. The 39-year-old man, identified as Clint Wayne Markham from Forney, was seen jumping off the Carnival Conquest on Friday around 6:30 p.m., shortly after the ship left Cozumel, according to a statement from Carnival. Officials said the company alerted authorities and returned to the ship to where the man was last seen to begin searching for him. The cruise ship was later released from the search while Mexican authorities continued to look for him. “We’re sorry to say that at this time, the missing guest has not been located. However, the Mexican navy remains on site and continues with the search,” wrote the ship’s captain, Antonio Sammartano, in a letter given to passengers. An unconfirmed source says the guy was drunk and got into an argument with his female companion. Allegedly he said, “If I jump do you think they’ll look for me?” | Pax overboard |
| September 24 | Carnival Victory | From a passenger: I was on the Carnival Victory that left out of San Juan on 9/18/11. We failed to stop in St. Maarten on 9/24. Even though Tropical Storm Ophelia was 400 miles away and the weather was beautiful, the captain thought that it was unsafe to dock because the swells were expected to increase during the course of the day making it unsafe for passengers who would be returning to the ship later in the day. | Skipped port |
| September 19 | Fantasy | The Royal Gazette reports a 79-year-old passenger died on Sunday after slipping into an unresponsive state while snorkelling off the West End (Bermuda). The victim was part of a tour group and swimming approximately a mile offshore at the time of the incident. Police said the man was taken ashore and attended to by EMTs, but pronounced dead by a physician at 12.55pm. The circumstances are not considered suspicious, but an autopsy is expected. A tour boat operator yesterday called the incident a tragedy, but said he hadn't heard the details of what happened. | Death on shore excursion |
| September 10 | Carnival Destiny Carnival Cruise Lines |
The Sun Sentinel reports that the #10 Lifeboat was found to be not in it's stowed position and damaged on the Port Bow. #10 Lifeboat was found with the L/B Davit arms extended and the navigational lashings still secured. It was determined that an unkown party had attempted to launch the #10 Lifeboat without properly releasing the lashings. The #10 Lifeboat sustained damage to the port bow where the lashing is connected to the vessel hull. Damaged consisted of a hole in the vessel's fiberglass hull above the waterline. Hole is approximately 65cm X 75cm. #10 Lifeboat was offloaded in Port of Miami and will be towed to Ft. Lauderdale for repairs. Class has attended and issued a Short Term SOLAS Passenger Ship Safety Certificate, valid from 10SEP11 until 09OCT11. Passenger count has been reduced from 4470 to 4320 to account for the missing lifeboat. | Lifeboat damaged |
| August 25 | Victory | USA Today reports about 300 passengers were left behind in San Juan Sunday when approaching Hurricane Irene forced the ship to depart the island early. But unlike Royal Caribbean, which faced a similar problem, Carnival put all the passengers up in hotels and offered to fly them to the next port. In both cases, the cruise lines learned early Sunday afternoon that due to the approaching storm, harbor traffic would be limited. Two ships, Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas and Carnival's Victory, were scheduled to start seven-day cruises that evening, and officials decided to leave early. Serenade of the Seas left at 5:30 p.m., three hours early. Victory left at 6 p.m., four hours early. Carnival provided hotel rooms for two nights to all the guests left behind, and offered to fly them to the next port, Barbados, on Wednesday. About half of the passengers took them up on the offer. Most of the others didn't have a passport and couldn't continue because the next port was in a foreign country. Although cruise lines urge passengers to bring passports, they are not required for sailing from Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. | 300 pax left ashore |
| August 19 | Ecstasy | From a passenger: A man on our cruise ship drowned yesterday while on a shore excursion in Cozumel. I know he was with a group of 8, but the other 7 took a break to go shopping. They didn't know about his death until their cards were flagged upon reboarding. He was 32, and he died while snorkeling. |
Death ashore |
| July 27 | Carnival Fantasy & Imagination | Associated Press reports the U.S. Coast Guard is investigating how two cruise ships bumped into each other in the Port of Key West. Officials say the Carnival Imagination was already berthed and the Carnival Fantasy was in the process of mooring Tuesday morning when the vessels struck stern to stern. Both vessels sustained minor cosmetic damage. The Coast Guard says no injuries, pollution or structural damage occurred during the collision. In accordance with Coast Guard policy, ship personnel in safety-sensitive positions were being tested for drug and alcohol use. A Carnival Cruise Lines statement confirmed the incident. The company reports that the Carnival Fantasy was on a six-day cruise from Charleston, S.C., and the Carnival Imagination was on a four-day cruise from Miami. | Bump - Collision |
| July 26 | Carnival Legend | From a passenger: On Sunday, July 17, 2011, we were sailing out of Tampa. About three hours after departure, we noticed the ship had stopped. The cruise director informed everybody that a crew member was injured and we were standing by for the coast guard to retrieve him. About a half hour later, the ship turned around and started back to Tampa. The cruise director informed us we had to meet the coast guard closer to port, and it would take a half hour. After we met the coast guard and the crew member was transferred, we were back under way. Fortunately we were able to make our ports on time, but we never heard anything more on the injured crew member. | Return to port |
| July 26 | Carnival Imagination | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship collided with the CARNIVAL IMAGINATION while the vessel was attempting to moor. As the CARNIVAL FANTASY passed by the CARNIVAL IMAGINATION, which was already moored, the starboard aft corner tip of the # 9 deck on both vessels made contact causing minimal cosmetic damage to both vessels. The Safety Officer, who was positioned on deck #4, was in charge of providing clearance measurements during mooring evolutions and had failed to account for the additional distance deck # 9 protruded from the vessel when he provided his measurement to the MASTER. | Collision |
| July 6 | Carnival Dream | A poster at Cruise Critic reports the itinerary for the July 9th cruise has changed from a Western itinerary to an Eastern. Carnival is saying the Dream has a propulsion problem and cannot make the ports on the Western itinerary. Apparently they gave notification of the change only 5 days in advance and are offering a $100 onboard credit as compensation. | Propulsion problems |
| July 6 | Carnival Freedom | From a passenger: We were on board the Carnival Freedom on 6/18 to 6/26. On the 3rd evening there was a report of a "gold star" on level 2. we learned the next day that apparently a man cruising with his wife and 2 kids had commited suicide. There were reports they took his body off in St Thomas and the family remained on the ship. As we came into port in Fort Lauderdale there were several vans with teams of people who came aboard. The vans all read "crime scene investigation" | ?Suicide? |
| June 27 | Carnival Freedom | The Sun Sentinel reports a blackout due to generator failure. The cause was investigated and found to be due to sediments and/or other materials in the fuel oil. Corrective actions were as follows: Fuel oil filters were cleaned, fuel oil purifers were started and chemical treatment was added to the both service tanks. Vessel resumed transit and arrived in Port Everglades under her own propulsion and with no other complications. | Propulsion & generator problems |
| June 6 | Imagination | News Net 5 reports a West Chester, Ohio, man on a cruise in the Bahamas has been reported missing after an excursion from Paradise Island on a Jet Ski. The 32 year old was last seen when he drove off on a Jet Ski he hired from a vendor on Cabbage Beach around 2.30 p.m. on Saturday, according to The (Nassau) Tribune. Police told the Tribune that he arrived in Nassau on the Carnival Imagination Ship at around 10:45 a.m. on Saturday, and was reported missing at 10.30 p.m. His jet ski was subsequently found late Sunday off the coast of Nassau, about an hour away from Paradise Island. (See also Nassau Tribune) | Pax missing ashore |
| May 26 | Carnival Cruise Lines | Miami New Times reports the family of the 14-year-old Carnival cruise ship passenger killed last year in a highly publicized shootout in St. Thomas is suing the line. The parents of Liz Marie Perez Chaparro of Puerto Rico filed the lawsuit this week, alleging Carnival should have known the violence was likely. Chaparro was struck by a bullet as she and her family were leaving Coki Point beach, a popular tourist area, in an open-air safari taxi. News accounts at the time said she was the unintended victim of a gang-related shootout in the area. | Lawsuit |
| May 14 | Carnival Conquest | From a reader: The ship will be a couple of hours late getting in to Galveston, TX tomorrow because about an hour and a half after they left Cozumel, MX a passenger had a heart attack and the captain turned the ship around and returned to Cozumel. |
Delayed arrival |
| May 8 | Carnival Sensation | WFTV reports a 27 year old female cruise passenger was killed and another seriously injured in a jet ski crash in the Bahamas. The cruise line said the jet skis were independently rented. The ship left from Port Canaveral on Thursday and returned today. | Pax death ashore |
| April 21 | Carnival Victory | USA Today reports a 22-year-old resident of St. Thomas charged with killing a Carnival cruise ship passenger last summer (see July 13, 2010) has been convicted of murder. The man was found guilty on two counts of murder related to the much-publicized incident, which took place on July 12, 2010. The cruiser, 14-year-old Liz Marie Perez Chaparro of Puerto Rico, was struck by a bullet as she and her family were leaving Coki Point beach, a popular tourist area, in an open-air safari taxi. News accounts at the time said she was the unintended victim of a gang-related shootout in the area. Also killed during the incident was a local man, Shaheel Joseph, 18. He was shot in the back of the head and died in the street. Another cruise ship passenger sustained a minor injury during the shootout, the Associated Press reported at the time. | Found guilty |
| April 7 | Carnival Splendor | From a passenger: I was on the ship, which departed from the port of Long Beach, CA March 27, 2011 on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera.
The ship sailed, uneventfully, and my roommate and I went to dinner. After dinner, we were both tired, took a walk and returned to our stateroom. We noticed part of the ship, stern end, was blocked by the water doors being closed on deck 1. People were talking about someone "being sick and taken care of" and noticed crew members walking towards the closed area with a portable fan.
In the stateroom, my roommate turned on the tv, and asked me if we were supposed to be "going back", I looked at the map to note that the ship appeared to be returning to Long Beach. As I was standing by the door, I heard the captain on the PA system announcing that "a passenger has died, and we are returning to LB to disembark the pax and family." I thought that odd, since it should not be announced that someone had expired over the public address system! I did not stay up to watch when we returned to port, and my roommate stated that she stayed up and read for a while, not looking out the window.
The next day, the captain announced that "a 12 y/o male had broken his leg, been successfully taken off the ship with his family, and was resting comfortably in the hospital." Additionally, he stated, that since we had such a long delay, we would be unable to make Cabo San Lucas as scheduled, where we were to spend two days. Instead, we would reach it one day later and only spend one day. The itinerary had already been changed, excluding Mazatlan and spending two days in Cabo.
Being the veteran of many Mexican Riviera cruises, I know that Cabo was usually the last stop, on Friday, then the ship would be in port in LA the next morning. In my opinion, the ship still could have reached Cabo, albeit later in the day, and still been able to disembark pax, to spend the much anticipated time there, as promised. I believe that the cruise line did not wish to pay berthing and tender fees for two days in Cabo, due to the lost revenue in fuel, necessitated by the return to port for the "injured/deceased" passenger, whatever one choses to believe.
Personally, I did not care about missing the extra day in Cabo, since I cruise to Mexico for the ship, not the ports. However, many pax were upset, as were crew, who had reserved rooms, and planned to spend the night in Cabo. |
Itinerary change |
| April 7 | Elation | WKRG - TV (Mobile) reports the U.S. Attorney's office in Mobile has arrested a19 year old man for abusing a minor. The incident happened in international waters onboard the ship. FBI agents arrested the man without incident. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama will prosecute this matter, which was investigated by the FBI, Mobile Division. | Sexual assault of minor |
| March 31 | Carnival Pride |
The Orlando Sentinel reports the ship — which was stopped in Port Canaveral for a day-long port call during a seven-day cruise from Baltimore, Md. — was pulled from its moorings by a strong gust about 5:45 p.m. Spokesman Vance Gulliksen said crew and some guests were aboard the Pride when it was pulled from the port, but no one was injured and the ship was later returned to the dock. The cruise line said it had notified "appropriate authorities" of the incident. Late Wednesday, the ship was still at port and it was not clear when it would depart, Carnival said in a statement. | Blown from moorings |
| March 15 | Carnival Miracle | Media in Curacao report a 47 year old Filipino male crew member went missing between Aruba and Curacao. A search was conducted but the man was not found. | Crew member missing/ overboard |
| February 27 | Carnival Conquest | The ship is arriving late into Galveston this morning after fog closed the ship channel for the second weekend in a row. The ship is late arriving this morning, a Carnival Cruise Lines spokesman said. It will presumably depart in the late afternoon or evening. | Delayed departure |
| February 25 | Ecstasy | USA Today reports for the second straight week the ship has been delayed from sailing out of Galveston due to heavy fog and near zero visibility. It was scheduled to sail yesterday afternoon but due to the fog remained docked at the cruise terminal overnight and departed at 10 AM this morning. As a result, Carnival said the ship's four-day cruise to Cozumel was abbreviated to a three-day cruise to Cozumel. Carnival said passengers on the sailing have the option to debark the ship and receive a full refund or for those who opt to sail on the modified three-day cruise, receive a 25% refund of their cruise fare and a 25% discount towards a future two- to five-day Carnival cruise. | Delayed departure |
| February 24 | Carnival Splendor | Carnival Cruise Lines dropped today’s visit following the shooting of two men in a hotel parking lot on Tuesday. The victims were not tourists, according to the Associated Press, which reported they were shot and killed inside their vehicle when they stopped at a staff entrance to the hotel. Carnival Splendor will spend an extra day at Cabo San Lucas during its week-long Mexican Riviera cruise from Long Beach. The ship just re-entered service after three months for repairs to a disabling engine room fire. Carnival Cruise Lines said it is gathering information on the incident in Mazatlán. ‘Until we are able to obtain all of the facts and fully assess the situation, no decision has been made regarding future calls,’ the company said in statement. | Dropped port call - change itinerary |
| February 21 | Carnival Freedom | ABC News (Nightline) has a story tonight about a rape of a 14 year old female passenger by a crew member in 2009. According to the story, after having trouble falling asleep one night during their 2009 Carnival cruise, the teenage girl said she left her parents' cabin and went alone to an upper deck of the ship to write in her journal. It was there, she said, that Heri Krispiyanto, a 30-year-old Carnival cruise line employee from Indonesia who waited on the family during meals, found her and then raped her. "He pulled me into an employee-only room," she said. "I asked him what he was doing and he told me that he was going to take care of me. "He raped me, I kept saying, 'No,' but he didn't care," she said of the alleged rape. "He told me not to tell my parents, and he just unlocked the door and let me go." After it was over, she said she was shaken and afraid as she returned to her parents' cabin, but she didn't tell them what had happened. "It's hard to say it," she said through tears. "My dad's birthday was the next day. It's too hard to say." Having no idea what had happened to their daughter, Darla and Enoch continued to enjoy their vacation, as the girl said she lived with the nightmare in secret. "At that point, I just really wanted to die," she said. "I was angry about that, that had happened to me. We're supposed to be on vacation. We're not supposed to have to worry about somebody trying to murder us or rape us." Even after returning home to Oklahoma, she kept the incident a secret from her parents for the next three months until she became severely depressed. "I had some thoughts about suicide," she said. "So I decided to tell my mom because I needed help." | Sexual assault of minor |
| February 21 | Carnival Conquest & Ecstasy | KHOU TV reports thousands of passengers were frustrated after being stuck at the Port of Galveston for days waiting to board three cruise ships, but their toiling ended as the final ship left the port Monday around noon. One Royal Caribbean and two Carnival cruise ships, the Ecstasy and the Conquest, came into the port Saturday, but had to remain in a holding pattern until the fog cleared. Customers said even when the ships docked, they were still unable to board and were forced to wait in limbo. Angry customers called their experience a nightmare and said the cruise lines did not offer much sympathy, provisions or information about their trips. Some passengers stayed at hotels in the area, while others slept on air mattresses at the Galveston Convention Center. Passengers were allowed to board the ships early Monday morning and the Conquest finally departed shortly before 9 a.m. The Ecstasy left around noon. Carnival said the weather was beyond their control and issued the following statement: The ship has been delayed due to severe fog and near zero visibility at the Port of Galveston. The ship was not able to enter the Port of Galveston from its previous cruise until yesterday afternoon, approximately one day later than scheduled because of the severe fog. It has been waiting for the fog to clear to depart on its next voyage. Because of its delayed arrival and subsequent delayed departure, Carnival Ecstasy will now sail on a modified three-day cruise with no port calls and will return on Thursday, Feb. 24 (originally, the ship was scheduled to sail on a five-day cruise to Cozumel and Progreso operating Saturday to Thursday). Guests have the option of canceling and receiving a full refund, a 25 percent discount off a future two- to five-day voyage and a $45 per person meal allowance. Guests who opt to sail on the modified three-day cruise will receive a 50 percent refund of their cruise fare, a 50 percent discount on a future two- to five-day cruise, and $45 per person meal allowance in the form of a shipboard credit. | Delayed departure |
| February 16 | Carnival Glory | From a passenger: I was on the ship from 1/29 - 2/6 2011. On the last day at sea, word spread quickly that someone had been punched in the ship's Club O2 teen club on Feb 4th sometime in the evening. The next day, I was in Club O2 (I'm 16), and I talked to the kid who was punched. He said he was sitting in the club when a drunk man wandered in and sat next to him. The drunk man made comments about how the kid was looking at him, and he "just started slapping me," said the kid. The night after it happened (the 5th) (the same night I was talking the kid who got slapped), the same drunk guy was reportedly following the kid around. Security was called by the Club O2 director, and that's the last I heard. | Physical assault of minor |
| January 23 | Carnival Conquest | From a passenger: On ship Jan 16-23rd. Guy started shaking and dropped to ground. They called security and performed cpr for about 10 minutes.... the guy never came to. Word is he was 46...and suffered a massive heart attack. Was there with wife and kids. Supposedly put him in morgue until we got back to USA. | Passenger death |
| January 17 | Carnival Triumph | 7 News Belize reports the ship has cancelled a call on Belize tomorrow - reportedly because satisfactory tender arrangements cannot be worked out. That's after some upheaval in the local tenders association which saw former point man Stanley Longsworth resign on Friday. Today we received a release saying that Jason Marin is the new designate for the association. That group issued a lengthy release today explaining that what Longsworth called the moving of the goalposts continues - despite an intervention by the Prime Minister late last week. The PM had gotten confirmation from senior Carnival Executives that the arrangement with the local tenders would stand until October 21st. But according to the association, on Friday January 14th, they were told that only vessels with passenger capacity of 150 and more will be required to service Carnival ships that arrive this week. That later increased to tenders with a capacity of 200 passengers. Today's release, says, quote: "The Association continues to be misled….by the continuous changing and adjusting of requests for the Tendering needs, making the Association have doubts about Carnival's intentions to have a working relationship with the local boat operators." In fact the release goes a step further, it says that the local operators are, quote "being deliberately railroaded" to ensure that a deal between them and Carnival will not be attainable. They add that they are unclear as to "who is making the calls on behalf of Carnival and what their exact needs are." To try and find a way forward, meetings were held this morning with the Tourism Board and the Ministry of Tourism and there are reports that a delegation will be travelling to Miami on Friday to speak directly with Carnival executives. The Prime Minister previously made such a trip a week ago and the agreement reportedly reached has been apparently breached by Carnival. | Missed port / Carnival's predatory behaviour |
| January 15 | Carnival Dream | From a reader: We just got off the Carnival Dream and we missed two ports, Roatan and Costa Maya. Roatan became another sea day but Costa Maya turned to Cozumel for a second time. Carnival really stepped up to the plate though. First of all it could not be helped, it was very windy and they tried to get into port at Roatan for quite some time. We ALL got 20% off a future cruise. Wasn't that nice of them? | Missed port |
| January 13 | Carnival Splendor | Fox TV reports the ship, which made headlines when it caught fire and kept thousands of passengers adrift at sea for several days in November, was towed to the San Francisco port for repair. The ship will spend about four weeks on the city's southern waterfront. It's scheduled to re-enter service on Feb. 20. | Move to dry dock |
| January 13 | Elation | The Press Register reports the ship is scheduled to arrive on time in Mobile Saturday, despite a technical problem that has slowed the ship’s speed. A problem with the ship’s propulsion system forced the ship to cancel one of its scheduled stops in Calica. The Elation was able to stop in Cozumel. The ship is currently on a five-day cruise that departed Mobile on Monday. Pax were refunded port charges for the missed port and offered a 20% discount on a future cruise. | Propulsion problems |
| January 7 | Carnival Pride | From a passenger: I was a passenger on the 1/2/11 sailing. On day 5 we were scheduled to dock in Freeport, but we missed it due to high winds. According to fellow passengers and our cruise director Kirk (who woke us up in our cabin on the intercom), the captain attempted several times to dock. | Missed port call |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2010 |
Incident |
| 13.12.10 | Inspiration | Fox News in Tampa reports inclement weather has delayed the ship from docking in Tampa. -- it was due to return to Tampa at 8 a.m. Monday.Although the port remains open, Coast Guard Petty Officer Rob Simpson said seven ships, including the Inspiration, have chosen to anchor 13 to 15 miles offshore. Given rough seas and gusty winds, safe passage under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge was of particular concern, The ship departed Thursday on a regularly scheduled four-night voyage. A five-night sailing,was scheduled to commence today at 4 p.m., but at about that time the cruise line announced that the ship would not sail until tomorrow at the earliest. | Delayed arrival |
| 20.11.10 | Carnival Destiny | From a reader: I’ve been a long time follower of your site. You are doing an outstanding job! I just returned home from a five day cruise on the Carnival Destiny, and I had a very “eventful” cruise. Firstly, on the first night of the cruise (November 15th - en route from Miami to Nassau), there was a drunken man in an inside cabin on deck 2 that apparently tried to jump from the ship. He apparently had been having mental issues and allegedly flew into a rage with some crew members onboard. He had to be restrained and confined to his cabin with a security person to guard the door. According to a crew member, he and his family were removed from the ship the following day while docked in Nassau. Secondly, on the last “Sea Day” of the voyage (from Grand Turk en route back to Miami), an “Operation Brightstar” was called out over the PA system in an “aft storeroom” on deck 0. No further information was given concerning fate of the person. While I personally feel that these incidents are in fact no fault of Carnival, I think that passengers should receive more follow-up information regarding such events that happen. Many passengers that saw the ambulance and/or heard the Brightstar announcement were left puzzled and concerned. After the Brightstar announcement, I had to re-assure an elderly woman that everything was fine, and to remain calm.Carnival should have at least given an “all clear” status update informing pax and crew that the situation was under control. They obviously did not do this. These incidents did not affect my cruise, and I would definitely cruise with Carnival again. | Attempted jump overboard |
| 20.11.10 | Carnival Liberty | From a passenger: I just got off 7 day Liberty trip. It was a blast...but not for everyone. On Tuesday we landed at St. Thomas and found out a 36 yr old woman died "with suspicious bruises on face." I have video of the FBI leaving the ship with evidence. The incident was subsequently reported by 7 News, Miami: A cruise ship has returned to South Florida after a tragedy at sea. The Carnival Liberty ship was headed to St. Thomas when one passenger discovered a 36-year-old woman unconscious in her cabin. The victim received medical attention on the cruise ship, but she was pronounced dead two hours later. The FBI continues to investigate the victim's death and awaits her autopsy report. "It could be a possible homicide. It could be some other factor in the death of this individual, but we're still investigating this case at this time," said Harry Rodriguez of the FBI in San Juan. |
Pax death |
| 18.11.10 | Carnival Triumph | The Sun Sentinel reports there was a discharge of oil from the shaft seal of the forward bow thruster. The thruster was secured to stop the leak and tagged OOC until repairs could be made. Approximately one gallon of hydraulic oil was discharged into the water and dispersed naturally. | Environmental - Oil discharge |
| 8.11.10 | Carnival Splendor | The Daily Breeze reports a seven-day Mexican Riviera cruise was sidelined today when an engine room caught fire in Mexico. The ship left Port of Long Beach on Sunday with 3,299 guests and 1,167 crew members. A fire was detected in the aft engine room at 6 a.m. Guests were told to move from their cabins to the Lido Deck, which is on the upper level and has outdoor space, she said. The ship was operating on emergency generators. The fire was extinguished by 9 a.m. but a reflash occurred. Smoke remains in the area and crew members were working on restarting one of the vessel's main generators in the forward engine room. Two guests and a crew member suffered panic attacks, but no one was physically injured. The ship is located approximately 55 miles west of Punta San Jacinto, Mexico. Sea conditions are calm and skies are clear. UPDATE: John Heald's blog reports: "given the ship’s speed and current position, we have decided to take the vessel to San Diego where it is expected to arrive late Thursday. Additionally, we are in the process of making all the necessary hotel and flight arrangements for our guests. If the ship is unable to maintain sufficient speed under tow, it is possible that we could revert to the previous plan and dock in Ensenada. Last night, the ship’s engineers were able to restore toilet service to most cabins and all public bathrooms, as well as cold running water. Currently several key hotel systems, including air conditioning, hot food service and telephones, are not available. The ship’s crew continues to actively work to restore other services. Guests are able to move about the ship and food and beverage service, along with some shipboard programming, including children’s activities and entertainment, are being provided." Update: The ship arrived in San Diego Friday at 8:30 AM. According to an article in Travel Weekly, "it was surprising that the fire disabled the ship’s electrical systems to such a degree. On most oceangoing large ships — but above all on a cruise ship, which has multiple generators — having one of [the generators] totally destroyed by fire or anything else should not affect its services in the least."There is a lot of redundancy there. This seems like a very poor design ... When just a switchboard is burned or damaged and even the main propulsion cannot work.... It should not happen. Imagine if the weather was really bad, with 100-foot waves and that ship in the middle of the ocean with no propulsive power." NOTE: The ship will return to service January 16, 2011. Make that February 20, 2011 | Fire |
| 5.11.10 | Carnival Liberty | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship's #5 Diesel Generator was stopped due to an increase of exhaust gas on both banks and overload on both TT/CC. Diesel Generator #1was shut down by automation due to oil mist in the crankcase, cooling water was leaking from the turbocharger and cylinder heads on both banks. Diesel Generator #5 was repaired and back in service on 6 November. Diesel Generator #1 was repaired and back in operation 0n 11 November. | Generator problems |
| 26.10.10 | Carnival Dream & Carnival Liberty | The New York Post reports the four ships were delayed on arrival in St. Thomas on Tuesday because some harbor employees did not show up for work. The ships circled outside Charlotte Amalie harbor for as long as two and a half hours while the cruise lines and officials worked out a temporary solution. Missing from duty were crews manning boats used by harbor pilots to guide ships safely to port. Under the temporary agreement, the pilots were taken aboard the cruise ships to do their job instead of using their vessels. Shops and restaurants along Charlotte Amalie's waterfront said the delay cut into their business. "It hurt us quite a bit. There's no people. It definitely hurt our lunch business," said Dean Flowback, a chef at the Shipwreck Tavern. Flowback said on a busy cruise ship day his kitchen typically sells 300 lunches. On Tuesday, he said, they sold less than 100 meals. Subsequent reports indicate the employees not showing up for work was part of a "sick out" -- the day was the first five-ship day of the 2010-11 cruise season in St. Thomas. | Delayed docking |
| 22.10.10 | Carnival Conquest | CBS News reports a 67-year-old woman received a $125,000 settlement in a lawsuit involving an injury sustained while on a cruise. In April, she got on the ship, which sailed to the Grand Cayman Island. Passengers need to board a tender boat to get to the dock. They are operated by another company. As the woman exited the tender, she fell. Her leg was caught between the boat and the dock. As she says, "The boat fell away from the dock and it was an open place, and I could see the water as my leg went down ... It has made me have nightmares about falling into this void that I can't get out of and drowning. When they said, it's just bruised, just walk it off, I thought maybe I could walk it off." But she couldn't. Her lower leg, her tibia, was fractured. She spent the rest of the cruise in a wheelchair. Upon returning home, she required bolts and pins and plates in her leg. | Lawsuit |
| 22.10.10 | Carnival Destiny | The Sun Sentinel reports while along side in Nassau and during pre-departure tests of the propulsion motors, the starboard propulsion motor (PM2) would not respond to increases of RPM. The fault was followed by a trip of the PM2. During trouble-shooting, it was discovered that the encoder interface board that relays commands to and from the control system for speed measuring during operation became faulty, rendering the motor unresponsive. The encoder interface board was replaced with a backup which was also faulty. The vessel proceeded to Miami using only the port propulsion motor (PM1). While in Miami, a technician came on board and conducted further tests. A repair was unsuccessfully attempted using the two faulty boards to make one working board. A spare was located on a sister ship in Orlando and was dispatched to Miami. Upon the board replacement, the PM2 responded properly to control system commands. Vessel was cleared for departure by USCG and the respective Class Society. | Propulsion problems |
| 18.10.10 | Carnival Glory | A reader writes: My parents just returned Saturday on the Carnival Glory. My mom has been telling me stories of all the sick passengers and crew. I also saw a posting on the Carnival forums. She said almost everyone they spoke with had family members sick. Crew staffing was way down. She said the line at the infirmary was long, and they were giving free iv’s, anti-nausea, and were quarantining people to their rooms. Very interested to see how the cruise headed out this week goes – I am sure the boarding passengers are not aware. | Illness? |
| 13.10.10 | Carnival Splendor | John Heald's Blog reports a crew member was seen jumping overboard at 1AM. A search was undertaken, but he was not found. | Crew member overboard |
| 9.10.10 | Carnival Sensation | The Sun Sentinel reports while the ship was moored at cruise terminal #27 in Nassau Bahamas, two U.S. citizen passengers intentionally jumped off the SENSATION into the water from the 9th deck. Both passengers were recovered safely and evaluated by the ships medical crew prior to being sent to the local hospital for treatment of minor injuries. Both passengers admitted to the ships medical staff that they were drinking alcohol prior to the incident. Both passengers were discharged from the vessel as a result of the incident. | Two pax jump overboard while in port |
| 30.9.10 | Carnival Freedom | The Orlando Sentinel reports a bartender charged with having sex with a 14-year-old girl who was vacationing with her parents was sentenced to just over three years in federal prison Thursday. The 30 year old man pleaded guilty in June to one count of sexual abuse. In addition to the prison time, he was ordered to pay about $4,360 in restitution. Court records said the teenager, identified as "T.W.," was aboard the Carnival Freedom, which left from the Port of Fort Lauderdale in April 2009. While on the cruise, T.W. and her parents became acquainted with Krispiyanto. T.W. told investigators she was alone on the upper deck of the ship one night when Krispiyanto walked up behind her, grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby employee-only room and closed the door, court records said. Krispiyanto had sex with the girl, and then told her to leave, his plea agreement said. T.W. reported the incident to her mother in August, and it was then reported to the FBI. He was indicted in Orlando federal court in May. | Sentenced for sexual assault of minor |
| 4.9.10 | Carnival Spirit | The ship was cited for violating Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in September. On September 4 the ship's effluent exceeded the allowable level of zinc. |
Water pollution |
| 1.9.10 | Carnival Glory | The Chronicle Herald reports a crewman today was arrested and charged with smuggling child pornography into the country when he debarked in Halifax. The assistant room steward allegedly had child pornography on a laptop computer. Canada Border Services Agency officers were inspecting crew members getting off the ship at Pier 22 when they nabbed the 26-year-old. He was arraigned in Halifax provincial court late in the afternoon on a Customs Act charge. Judge Bill Digby remanded Putra to the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Dartmouth until Friday, when he'll back in court. This is the second cruise ship employee to be charged with having child pornography so far this year in Halifax. In May, a Filipino who was an assistant waiter on the Costa Atlantica was sentenced to four months in jail for possession and importation (see May 13 below). | Child pornography siezed |
| 21.8.10 | Carnival Spirit | The ship was cited for two violations of Alaska Wastewater Quality Standards in August. On August 21 the ship's effluent exceeded the allowable level of ammonia and copper.. | Water pollution |
| 20.8.10 | Carnival Dream | From a passenger: I just wanted to let you know of an accident that happened on the Carnival Dream on 8/20/2010. When we woke up in the morning everyone had received a letter stating that the ship had to change course toward Puerto Rico to medevac a passenger on the ship. None of the crew members were willing to give any reason for the passenger being air lifted off of the ship, but people who were there when it happened (approximately 2 AM) said that the passenger was quite intoxicated after leaving the night club and fell from Deck 11 to the Lido deck. | Over-intoxicated passenger |
| 15.8.10 | Carnival Dream | From a passenger: We were on the Carnival Dream sailing 08/07 to 08/14 and heard that a brawl broke out in the dance club around 3:00 a.m. on the morning of the 12th. We heard from passengers and a bartender that the brawl started over a song. It involved so many young people (men and women) that the security on board was unable to handle everyone and had to call in assistance from wait staff and other crew members. The fight spilled over into the art gallery located next door and apparently a $10K painting was ruined with blood spatter. Flat screen tvs were smashed and there was a lot of damage done. We heard that people on the ground were getting kicked in the head by men and women and that one person needed to be revived because he was hurt so badly. We also heard that the crowd spilled out of the dance club and that innocent people were getting punched in the face as they were walking by. The next morning in Costa Maya there were a bunch of people (10 people) sitting by the side of the ship with all of their luggage as they were kicked off the ship and their relatives were shipped off to Mexican jails. Carnival needs to learn a lesson here and not serve alcohol after a certain time and perhaps shut down the 18+ dance club before 3:00 a.m. Nothing good can come of drunk teenagers at 3:00 in the morning. (See Florida Today for the media report of the incident.) | Brawl |
| 7.8.10 | Carnival Spirit | The Sun Sentinel reports that at around 1620, the ship was underway at 105 revolutions per minute when the port azipod automatically made an unexpected 50 degree attack angle change. The commanded rudder angle was 10 degrees. This was while the ship was in auto pilot. The pod was taken offline by the Chief Engineer and then operated by manual steering thereafter with a different steering pump. The ship will take on a service tech in Seattle to correct the issue. | Propulsion problem |
| 25.7.10 | Carnival Liberty | A poster at Cruise Critic reports while pulling into Half Moon Cay a man went overboard. Speculation there was a couple fighting badly in the casino last night and he jumped. Felt like forever to get him but we think we saw movement after they got him on the lifeboat. A subsequent post gives more details: So here is what I know. I was walking down the hall to my room when I heard "bravo bravo starboard side". Within seconds I got to my door and could here the other people in our party out on the deck with raised voices. I ran outside to find that they saw the man actually fall below. They had heard people start to scream and they looked over the balcony to see him falling from what they could tell right around the lifeboats. He stayed submerged for what felt like was 30 seconds or so. Someone did manage to throw out a ring and it appeared he had it but we later realized he didn't. I think he tried swimming and fighting the ocean for awhile...and he completely went out of sight...he then reappeared floating on his back. The crew did an excellent job...but it was very scary. When the lifeboat finally reached him they struggled to get him on the lifeboat but they got him in. When the lifeboat came around and we could see inside they were not performing CPR so we assumed he was awake. We have heard around the ship that he is alive. Somebody on the ship said it was a band member who got into an argument in the casino....not sure about all the details. The whole ordeal probably took about five to ten minutes. Whatever the reason ..I hope he is okay. | Crew member overboard - Rescued alive |
| 13.7.10 | Fantasy | From a passenger: On July 9, 2010 in the afternoon while still docked in freeport, bahamas, my husband and I heard a frantic voice over the intercom system announce "Bright star sports deck" ... later on that night the captain announced there had been an unfortunate accident and a crew member died. The captain said his name was Adam but i could not understand his last name. I tried to ask the our waiter and a few other crew members but they wouldn't tell us what happened... wish i knew more information!! | Crew death |
| 13.7.10 | Imagination | The Sun Sentinel reports as the Vessel was at sea transiting from Key West to Cozumel when they had an electrical fire in the Elevator Machinery Room. The fire was extinguished immediately using 10 CO2 portable extinguishers. The origin of the fire was the Harmonic Filter of elevator #17. The result of the fire was damage to the elevator control equipment including all wires, fire detection, and Satellite TV cables. Two passenger elevators and one crew elevator were left inoperable. | Fire |
| 13.7.10 | Carnival Victory | CBS News reports a 14-year-old girl was killed late Monday morning at a stop in St Thomas, Virgin Islands, when the tourist-packed safari bus on which she was riding was caught in the crossfire between what is believed to be warring gangs. One of the gunmen was also was killed, and another is on the loose. The shooting has caused the cruise line to cancel all tours to the popular Coki Beach area. Carnival said a second unidentified passenger was also sustained "minor injuries". | Pax killed ashore |
| 11.7.10 | Carnival Legend | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship lost of propulsion on port azipod while the vessel was inbound to Port of Tampa. Crew determined cause of azipod failure was a faulty circuit breaker that tripped. Circuit breaker was replaced, vessel attended and cleared by classification society. | Propulsion problems |
| 1.7.10 | Fascination | USA Today reports lost power Wednesday for several hours and was adrift at sea. Carnival says the ship, which sails out of Jacksonville, Fla., had a "technical malfunction" while on the last leg of a five-day voyage that began on Saturday. Power was restored after several hours and the ship resumed travel to Jacksonville. The ship will arrive at Jacksonville today around 10 a.m., roughly three hours behind schedule. The line says the delay would have been shorter if not for tidal conditions. Embarkation for the ship's next voyage, a four-day cruise to the Bahamas, will be delayed until 1:30 p.m. today, the line says. The voyage is expected to depart on time at approximately 4 p.m., the line says. | Engine porblems |
| 16.6.10 | Carnival Freedom | From a reader: The ship has missed her port callis in Victoria BC for 3 weeks in a row. The "official" cause is high winds. Odd, in that Oosterdam an identical Holland America vessel has been are able to handle the winds and dock, as do all the other vessels calling into Victoria. 64 port calls this year, 3 misses and all Carnival Spirit. Local press coverage is very bad, and may discourage locals from sailing Carnival if they are that poor at ship handling. Editors note: Given the stop in Victoria is in order to comply with US cabotage laws, it is curious whether the cruise line has been able to have the US waive the $300 per passenger fine for not stopping at a foreign port. | Skipped port calls |
| 31.5.10 | Carnival Freedom | The Orlando Sentinel reportsa bartender accused of raping a 14-year-old girl who was vacationing with her parents will make an appearance in Orlando federal court this week. Hery Krispiyanto, 30, will be arraigned Wednesday on a count of sex abuse of a minor. He was indicted last week. Court records said the teenager was aboard the ship, which left from the Port of Fort Lauderdale in April 2009. While on the cruise, the girl and her parents became acquainted with Krispiyanto. She said Krispiyanto was nice to her and commented that she did not look 1; she told investigators she was alone on the upper deck of the ship one night when Krispiyanto walked up behind her, grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby employee-only room and closed the door. He began to touch her inappropriately, and she repeatedly told him to stop; she tried to fight him, but Krispiyanto raped her, the criminal complaint said. The girl reported the incident to her mother in August, and it was then reported to the FBI. When an FBI agent questioned Krispiyanto in April, he first denied the incident, records said. But he subsequently confessed to having sex with the mionor aboard the cruise ship in a pantry area. NOTE: From October 2007 through October 2008 Carnival Cruise Lines reported to the FBI 93 sex related incidents -- in a significant proportion of these incidents the victim was a minor. | Sexual Assault of Minor |
| 1.5.10 | Carnival Pride | The Freeport Tribune reports police in Grand Bahama are investigating the apparent drowning of a 71 year old woman who was snorkeling at Deadman's Reef yesterday. According to reports, the victim - a woman from Baltimore, Maryland - arrived in Grand Bahama onboard the Carnival Pride cruise ship.She was among a group of visitors who went on a snorkeling trip at Deadman's Reef. A passenger writes: I'm not sure if Carnival will release this to the press ... several details of the Carnival-recommended excursion were outstanding in the lack of safety or precaution. Carol (the 71 year old woman) and her husband Harry, were on a snorkeling excursion with us. This was to be a 2.5 hour 'moderate activity' snorkeling excursion. In the Carnival description of moderate activity, it describes walking for periods of time or stairs, etc. We drove out (around 9:15) on a boat ~ 45 minutes from the ship with 50-75 people (very rough estimate). We later found out that some of the people there were from another excursion that was supposed to go out an hour before ours, which had been canceled due to ocean conditions (Carnival confirmed that there were excursions canceled due to weather conditions). When we went in the water (off-shore in an exposed area of the sea over a coral reef), we were quickly swept up away from the boat in a strong current, and the waves were extremely rough ---- even we (strong swimmers in our 20's) were struggling to swim against the current and keep from getting cut on the coral. ' Even for us, this quickly exceeded 'moderate activity', and we found ourselves exhausted from the short time we were in the ocean. After we got back to the boat (after only a few minutes), we noticed several other people were coming on board cut and bleeding (no medical attention or bandages were given). Within a few minutes of getting back on board, Carol was pulled from the water, unconscious and not breathing (we were told that it was a fellow passenger that first noticed her floating in the water, although others said she may have been yelling for help before). When the crew (5 or 6 young men) pulled her on board, they yelled for anyone with CPR training, and fellow passengers lept to try an revive her. The crew did not touch her for CPR or any other rescue breathing during the whole time. When Carol was not immediately revived, they hurriedly called for everyone left in the water to come back in - this took over a half of an hour to get everyone in from so far out - at one time all but one of the crew members had to go in the water to pull the last few out so that we could leave for shore. When we finally were able to move, we continued to shore. By now, alternate breathers had to be used, and at no time, even when we were moving, and no one else knew CPR, did the crew help try to revive Carol. There was also no working ship to shore radio or communication at all. About an hour into the ordeal, a fellow passenger was able to get cell reception and alerted the ship. My estimate is that CPR was done on her for an hour and a half to two hours. We did not reach shore until ~12:30, at which time medics were able to give her oxygen and compression. She was taken to a local hospital. Later that afternoon, we learned that she was not revived. We feel that, although Carnival makes no guarantee on the safety of these excursions, that they have an obligation to offer a certain level of screening and oversight, as they are directly recommending them. We were outraged at several obvious points that are taken for granted, but were in obvious deficiency in this case: 1) That the excursion is described accurately (level of activity, value, quality); 2) That the crew is adequately trained to deal with common emergency issues (cuts, loss of consciousness, heart attacks, breathing, etc) - IE - be CPR trained, offer basic lifeguard services (water activities), etc; 3) That the transportation is safe and equipped to handle emergencies (shore radio, life vests, adequate crew-to-passenger ratio, etc); 4) That the excursion will be canceled when conditions are unsafe - the safety of the passengers should ALWAYS come before the bottom line. Carnival should be responsible for ensuring this! See news story here. | Death on shore excursion |
| 26.4.10 | Elation | According to 760 AM radio, a spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Lines said an unidentified man died on board the ship during a three-day excursion to Ensenada. The man reportedly died of natural causes. The Elation pulled into San Diego at about 7 a.m. Monday, but passengers were not allowed to leave the ship for about three hours during an investigation. Another cruise set to disembark Monday was expected to leave on schedule. | Delayed disembarkation |
| 26.4.10 | Carnival Liberty | Froma reader: On January 9, 2010 my wife and I began a cruise on the Carnival Liberty from Miami. On the first morning at sea we were notified that the plumbing on our deck required that the water be shut off that day for an eight hour period. This was repeated two days later. I contacted Customer Service and supervisor Creg Szabo expressing concern for possible toxicity once water was restored because of my immune system as a cancer survivor and our ages in the late sixties. I showed him the attached photos we took of the water in our sink and toilet. He offered no solutions. I have written Carnival Cruise Lines asking why this problem couldn't have been fixed in port or during the night hours. I also asked why bottled water was not offered for personal hygiene and why qualified personnel did not ascertain the origin of the problem and communicate such to passengers. My request was denied. On February 22 Susan Cohn of their Guest Care office sent a nonsensical letter beginning with "Designing memorable trips is the heart of our business...Great food and service...will create wonderful memories..." She apologized "...that you felt let down." I have since contacted Affordable Tours through whom we booked the cruise, The Florida Division of Consumer Services, The US Public Health Service, and The Federal Maritime Commission. None has any regulatory authority over the cruise line industry. My advice: avoid Carnival Cruise Lines and understand that once at sea you're on your own. In retrospect, I think I should have screamed like hell at the Customer Service counter as some passengers were doing to get attention for their problems. | Sanitary water issues |
| 22.4.10 | Ecstasy | KBTX reports earlier today (April 21), at approximately 12.55 pm U.S. central time, the ship was forced to perform a maneuver to avoid an object in the water which resulted in the ship briefly listing to the port side. The object was a large buoy which was adrift and mostly submerged thereby preventing it from being detected by the ship's radar. The Carnival Ecstasy was on the final leg of a five-day cruise that departed Galveston on Saturday, April 17 with stops in Cozumel and Progreso, Mexico. According to a passenger, "The ship was shuddering. Just shake shake shake and that's when all the dishes were coming out. It was a mess, it looked like a food fight and that's when everybody jumped up screaming and running trying to get outside ... We thought we were going over. We really thought the whole ship was going to be tipped over ... They had to close down stores, all the glass went flying and it broke the glass on the outside of the liquor store." She said the ship was tilted for 10 minutes, enough to empty the pool. "People were crawled all over everybody and screaming and it was horrible and we finally got out to hang on the side of the balcony railing because it was tipped so much, if you didn't, you'd be sliding back into the restaurant." Subsequent reports indicate 60 passengers were treated for minor injuries after the ship listed 12 degrees. | Severe list |
| 21.4.10 | Carnival Legend | From a reader: On Wednesday the 21st when we were just about to leave Cozumel, a man jumped overboard. He was rescued and then taken into custody by the Mexican police. This was observed by many and I have a picture of the police boat. Later in the week we were told by a crew member that the man's new bride (the couple were on their honeymoon) was found in their stateroom beaten and unconcious. We were all very startled by the events. | Pax overboard (rescued) |
| 5.4.10 | Carnival Conquest | The Galveston Daily News reports passengers waited more than five hours Easter Sunday to get off the ship that already had been delayed making port by eight hours because of fog. Passengers blamed a lack of customs and immigration screeners at the terminal for the massive delay. The Conquest was due back in the Port of Galveston on Sunday morning after a seven-day cruise to Key West and the Bahamas. A thick fog bank delayed the ship’s arrival, and it didn’t make port until about 4 p.m. Once at the dock, though, the delays continued, One passenger said it was about 8:45 p.m. she and her family were able to get off the ship, only to stand in one of seven lines set up for customs and immigration screening. Port of Galveston police said that instead of letting everyone off the ship in groups, as is the normal procedure, Carnival cruise officials let everyone off at the same time. That overwhelmed the system. Meanwhile, passengers who were supposed to board the ship at 1 p.m. for a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean also were forced to wait, with little information as to when, or if, they would leave Galveston for their vacations. The ship finally departed at 1:30 AM on April 6. | Delayed embarkation &
debarkation |
| 31.3.10 | Sensation | The Nassau Guardian reports the ship canceled its port call to Grand Bahama island yesterday because of weather conditions. A deadly tornado reportly set down on the island. | Canceled port call |
| 28.3.10 | Sensation | Florida Today reports the ship has been detained four miles offshore while authorities investigate a bomb threat. The bomb threat was reported about 4 or 4:30 this morning. The Coast Guard is prohibiting the cruise liner from entering Port Canaveral until security searches and assessments are conducted. WESH-TV subsequently reported that shortly before 10AM the FBI confirmed there was no evidence of anything criminal at that time and that the situation was probably a miscommunication between two people (the bomb threat was reported to the ship by a guest who claims another guest made the threat). The ship arrived in port at approximately 11AM. | Bomb scare |
| 11.3.10 | Ecstasy | The Galveston Daily News reports the ship was unable to dock today because of dense fog, The four day cruise is likely to be delayed until 12:30 PM tomorrow and will become a cruise to nowhere (dropping the scheduled port call at Cozumel). | Cruise delayed by fog |
| 10.3.10 | Carnival Dream |
From a reader: Ship made multiple attempts at docking in Roatan, Honduras on March 9th, but was unable to dock due to high winds and ultimately left the harbor to spend a day at sea. | Skipped port call |
| 8.3.10 | Paradise | The Press Telegram reports A 30-year-old cruise ship passenger who allegedly broke into the vessel's medical center and stole morphine and other drugs is set to be arraigned before a Los Angeles federal magistrate this morning. The manis charged with burglary involving controlled substances and possession of a controlled substance. He was held in the brig until the ship docked in Long Beach where he was interviewed and arrested by FBI agents, court records show. According to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent in support of the federal felony charges, a search of his cabin hours after the Valentine's Day break-in uncovered numerous syringes of the highly controlled painkillers morphine and Dilaudid, and hundreds of Percocet tablets. | Theft of drugs from infirmary |
| 2.3.10 | Carnival Dream | A passenger writes that a man died while in port in St. Thomas. He choked in the dining room during the early seating for dinner. Apparently he suffered a heart attack while choking and died on board the ship. The captain announced that we would have a delayed departure from St. Thomas as there has been a "serious medical emergency" and the man and his family were removed from the ship. | Delayed departure |
| 19.2.10 | Ecstasy | Fox News Houston reports the FBI is investigating what they call a mysterious death on the high seas. A 32-year-old woman was found dead in her stateroom - she was on the cruise with her boyfriend. The cause of death is unknown. Her body will be turned over to the medical examiner when the ship docks in Galveston tomorrow (Saturday). UPDATE: Police News reports February 20th that the death has been ruled a homicide; that the woman was beaten to death and the prime suspect is the man she married while onboard the ship. However the Galveston Daily News reports February 22nd that here was no evidence of trauma and that the cause of death will be determined pending a toxicology report, which can take from two to three weeks. UPDATE: The Galveston Daily News reports on April 28th that the woman died of a drug overdose. A toxicology report released Wednesday revealed the woman's blood-alcohol level was .27, more than three times the driving legal limit of .08. The report also said she had cocaine, promethazine and THC in her system. | Death onboard |
| 18.2.10 | Carnival Splendor | At around 7:00 AM, ship's time, as we were coming into
Mazatlan, and I was in the shower, the ship made a hard turn that
caused the ship to list sharply. The Splendor turned so hard that
I had to hold on to the shower walls to stay upright and our cabin's
cabinet drawers fell open and the closet doors slammed open and shut.
Shortly after the event, I ventured into the hallways and found the
forward elevators flooded with water running down the shafts. The
Aft Lido Dining area under the Rotisserie also had several inches of
water flooding the area. We turned so hard the pools and hot tubs
had spilled thousands of gallons of water into the ship.
That evening after we departed port the Captain came on the P.A. system
and explained that we were going through heavy rain and rough seas that
morning and that the ship's radar had missed some small yachts in front
of the Splendor, and that last minute they spotted the boats by eye and
had turned sharply to avoid a collision. He said he made the
announcement because many passenger thought the heavy rains had flooded
the ship and that they felt the Splendor was not seaworthy. |
Sharp turn causes flooding |
| 15.2.10 | Carnival Victory | The Daily Herald reports the ship cancelled its call at Sint Maarten on February 13th because of sea conditions. It attempted to berth alongside the pier but the ground swells proved to be too strong to allow safe berthing. Cruise passengers had to spend another day at sea. | Cancelled port call |
| 14.2.10 | Carnival Legend | USA Today reports the ship experienced mechanical probelms causing a seven hour delayed arrival (and disembarkation/embarkation) at Tampa. While the cruise line allowed passengers to make free phone calls to change travel arrangements from Tampa, it did not permit free access to computers, charging sign on fees of $3.95 and pay-as-you-go minute charges of 75 cents - no exceptions. Guests speculated whether an unusual incident that happened as the ship left its last port in Roatan, Honduras on Friday might have contributed to the problem. As the Legend pulled away from the island, it suddenly and momentarily listed to starboard. The ship recovered quickly, and no one thought much about it at the time, though some speculated the sudden pitch of the Legend while leaving Roatan may actually have been caused by the ship touching the channel wall as she made her way to the open sea. February 16: The ship is in Cozumel today (rather than tomorrow; Grand Cayman appears to have been dropped from the itinerary), a port call not on the original itinerary. The change is a conseqeunce of propulsion problems emerging on the last cruise. According to USA Today, the problems only effect the ship's speed -- all other system are functioning properly. | Mechanical problems |
| 7.2.10 | Carnival Legend | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship was conducting manuevering drills prior to docking at the berth when it experienced problems with its port azipod. The Azipod would not work correctly and required repair upon berthing in port. | Propulsion problems |
| 6.2.10 | Carnival Freedom | The Sun Sentinel reports the USCG Sector Miami received report that a fire was started in crew cabin 2-505. The fire did not spread to any other cabin and was contained to a rain jacket on the deck inside the cabin. Watch personnel responded to a smoke detector alarm and extinguished the fire using a wet towel. Sector Miami's Investigating Officer responded and found that the fire was caused by two intoxicated crew members celebrating the birth of a child in which a rain jacket was accidentally caught on fire. Neither of the crewmember involved remember the incident or the fire The vessel sustained no smoke or structural damage to the cabin or surrounding spaces nor was the structural fire protection damaged impeding its effectiveness. The vessel has an Alcohol policy in place in which the Master, Staff Captain and Security Officer followed. Alcohol testing was conducted per the policy and both crewmembers were over the limit for "off-duty". The off-duty limit is blood alcohol level, one crewmember blew on the 1st test and on second test and the second crewmember blew a blood alcohol level. Both members were removed from their cabin and relieved of all duties. Both members work under the Shore Excursion department and are not involved in the direct safety of the passengers onboard the vessel. The master of the vessel is recommending to the company that both members be terminated due to the nature of the incident. | Fire |
| 3.2.10 | Imagination | From a passenger: a passenger from our ship died while parasailing in Cozumel. We got no details other than the statement that a passenger had been in an 'unfortunate accident' while in Cozumel. The ship pulled out of port about an hour late in order to complete paperwork related to the accident, according to the cruise announcement. Another reader sent a URL for a story about the victim. He also said the victim's harness failed and he dropped approx 250 ft. to the water and died. | Death on shore |
| 21.1.10 | Carnival Dream | John Heald's blog says the ship missed its port call at Costa Maya because of high winds. Those same winds were responsible for Carnival Glory cancelling her call at Mahogany Bay and going to the old pier at Isla Roatan instead. | Missed port call |
| 28.1.10 | Ecstasy | Posters at Cruise Critic indicate that as the ship was docking at Galveston it hit the elevated gangway used to embark & disembark guests. There wasn't much damage to the ship other than scraped paint, but several window panels fell out of gangway. The $1.8 million structure is out of commission for 30 days or more for repairs. The Galveston County Daily News subsequently carried a story. | Collision with pier |
| 28.1.10 | Carnival Miracle | SKN Vibes reports the ship collided with the pier at Port Zante (St. Kitts) around 11:00 a.m. Upon arriving on the scene, there was no permitted entry into the arrival hall, but the cruise ship had a visible blackened dent on the right side. It was confirmed that both the cruise ship and the port facility were damaged during this morning’s berthing. “According to information received, while the ship was berthing a gust of wind thrust the ship to hit one of the dolphins and it subsequently hit a one of the fenders on the pier. The dolphin and fender were damaged and the ship also sustained damages.” The ship will remain in St. Kitts overnight for repairs and depart for Fort Lauderdale tomorrow morning. It will arrive Sunday in Fort Lauderdale four hours later than usual, arriving at noon. | Collision with
pier |
| 26.1.10 | Carnival Destiny | Cruise Critic reports the cancelingof two of the ship's sailings -- and will modify three others -- to allow the ship to dry-dock for repairs to its propulsion system. The dry-dock will take place February 13 through 20. Canceled: A five-night sailing, departing on February 13 and a four-night sailing, departing on February 18, will be canceled. Note: A brand-new, two-night cruise to Nassau has been created, departing on February 20. Modified: A five-night cruise on January 30 will now visit Cozumel and Costa Maya instead of Ocho Rios and Grand Cayman, a four-night cruise on February 4 will visit Cozumel and skip a scheduled call in Key West, and a five-night sailing, departing February 8, will include stops in Freeport (rather than Grand Turk), Nassau and Half Moon Cay. | Itinerary changes &
cancelations |
| 21.1.10 | Fantasy | The Press Register reports today's departure was delayed because of heavy fog in the Port of Mobile and surrounding areas. The ship will get under way as soon as fog lifts sufficiently to tow the ship to the Gulf of Mexico -- it could be later tonight, and it could be in the morning. Update from Passenger: We were able to get undeway about 11 PM as the fog broke somewhat. Arrived three hours late in Cozumel two days later, but extended stay by two hours to make up. On the way back, 200 miles from Mobile, passenger with illness along with family members evacuated by helicopter from ship to hospital in Mobile. The previous cruise by the way was two-three hours late arriving back in Mobile and this caused a massive traffice jam for miles at the terminal parking, and delayed the attempted departure by two hours, which was then further delayed due to fog as previously mentioned. The City of Mobile (who handles the parking deck/terminal) is not well equipped to handle traffice at the cruise terminal when situations such as this occur, as the parking garage can only barely hold one ship's worth of vehicles. Returning cruise did arrive back in Mobile on time. | Fog delay |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2009 |
Incident |
| 18.12.09 | Carnival Pride | From a reader: I was aboard the Carnival Pride on the 12/13 sailing out of Baltimore. We missed our call at Freeport on Friday, December 18 due to high winds and rough seas. |
Missed port |
| 17.12.09 | Carnival Spendor | The ship collided with the pier at Puerto Vallarta (see here for pics for damage to pier). According to a statement from Carnival, Yesterday morning, at approximately 7:40 a.m., while the Carnival Splendor was maneuvering in the Puerto Vallarta harbor, the ship’s stern struck the tender pier causing some damage to its stern and to that pier. All appropriate authorities were notified. The Carnival Splendor remained docked in Puerto Vallarta overnight while the repairs were completed. Unfortunately because of the delayed departure from Puerto Vallarta, today’s scheduled call at Matazlan has been cancelled. The vessel is now expected to depart Puerto Vallarta this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. and will proceed to its next scheduled port of call, Cabo San Lucas, tomorrow. | Collision with pier |
| 14.12.09 | Carnival Fantasy | The ship was unable to dock in Mobile today to disembark cruise passengers from a four-night cruise and embark new guests on a five-night sailing. The ship will now arrive, at the earliest, tomorrow morning. Those booked on the upcoming cruise (now four nights rather than five) may cancel for a future cruise credit in the amount of the fare paid. Those sailing will receive a one-day prorated refund of the fare paid, and a $20 per-person onboard credit as a refund of the government fees for the port of Calica, which has been canceled. UPDATE: The ship arrived and departed Tuesday morning. | Delayed departure / itinerary change |
| 14.12.09 | Carnival Conquest |
KHOU-TV News reports the ship, stranded since Sunday by fog, left Galveston this afternoon. The planned stop at Roatan has been canceled. FROM A READER: Carnival Conquest sailed at about 2:20 Monday afternoon, but the fog quickly closed back in. Because the Conquest did not let their passengers off, they could go at a moment's notice. From another reader: We also missed our port of call at Freeport, Bahamas and were only refunded the port taxes as an on-board ship credit $20. We later arrived in Key West to a driving rain which caused street flooding and made even getting back to the ship by trolley an adventure. All the shore package tours were cancelled so all there was left to do was sit in the bars and try to stay dry. The water in the bathroom at the Hogs Breath Saloon was knee deep. | Delayed departure / Canceled port call |
| 14.12.09 | Inspiration | Bay News 9 reports heavy fog prevented at least seven ships in the Gulf of Mexico from entering the Port of Tampa, including Inspiration (the only cruise ship). The ships are waiting for the Tampa Bay pilot boats to guide the boats into the port. The Coast Guard said there are two issues: the narrow inlet into Tampa Bay under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and also the channel that leads into the port, which is also narrow and requires a pilot for guidance. A fog advisory is in effect for the Bay area until 4 p.m. Carnival doesn't believe the ship will dock until at least 2:30 p.m. It was supposed to arrive about 6 a.m. |
Delayed embarkation / disembarkation |
| 10.12.09 | Carnival Dream | The Examiner reports guests were disappointed yesterday when the ship had to skip San Juan. It seems the ship was too big to dock at the available berths in the port. The available piers, built years ago, were not meant to handle a ship of the 130,0000 ton Dream's size. Upset passengers aboard the ship said, "Wouldn't you think the cruise line would have checked this out before their first call at the port?" The problem seems to be that a gigantic sculpture built several years ago, partially funded by rival line Royal Caribbean, prevented the ship from docking. The dove-shaped sculpture, located at the entrance to the pier actually blocks the docking of newer, larger ships. | Canceled port call |
| 25.11.09 | Carnival Splendor |
Posters at Cruise Critic say the Carnival ship bumped the RCI ship while maneuvering in Puerto Vallarta, denting the front of Radiance of the Seas. | Collision - "Bump" |
| 19.11.09 | Carnival Liberty | From a passenger: 3 hours after leaving port in San Juan, the ship had to turn around to return due to a passenger being "very sick". It was reported later, "through the grapevine" that the passenger had been having serious breathing issues...possible heart attack. Due to the return to San Juan, the stop at Grand Turk on 11/19 had to be canceled. Being a passenger, I was a little disappointed about missing Grand Turk, but was thankful that Carnival cares about individual passengers and their health. | Canceled port call |
| 18.11.09 | Carnival Destiny |
The Sun Sentinel reports while vessel was inbound to the Port of Grand Turk, the primary motor unit (PMU) 1 tripped due to malfunction in the cycle converter (CC) 1 drive switch board causing the vessel to lose the port side engine. | Loss of engine |
| 18.11.09 | Carnival Legend | From a passenger: We have just returned from a Disney Cruise. On our day in Cozumel, Nov 18th, five Disney employees, celebrating the end of their contracts from Animal Kingdom, rented a dune buggy or Jeep ( not part of a shore excursion) and were in an accident. Two were killed and three hospitalized. The 6th person in their party had decided to take a cruise endorsed shore excursion. UPDATE: The incident was subsequently reported by Tampa media and discussed on a board focused on Cozumel. This what was said: There was a really bad accident on Thursday around 2:30 PM at the entrance to the San Gervasio ruins where a red and yellow Jeep Polar from Executive Car Rental collided and two people were killed. It appears that one vehicle, traveling at an undetermined speed was coming out of the ruins when it was hit by other other jeep which was reported to be travelling at 120 kilometers/hour (75 mph!) at the time of the crash. Because both jeeps were overloaded, some of the cruise passengers were hurled from the vehicles while others remained twisted in the wreckage. One 21 year old woman died at the scene and at least four were transported to nearby hospitals in grave condition and where one of them later died. The driver of the second car has been taken into custody. | Pax deaths onshore |
| 10.11.09 | Carnival Triumph | Travel Weekly reports the ship's inaugural cruise from New Orleans has been delayed by one day due to Tropical Storm Ida. The ship will operate a three-day cruise departing Nov. 11, instead of a four-day cruise departing Nov. 10. Passengers will get a 50% refund of their fare or can cancel for a full refund. | Delayed cruise |
| 10.11.09 | Fantasy | WHNT-TV (Mobile) reports the ship's inaugural cruise from Mobile has been delayed by one day due to Tropical Storm Ida. The ship's first cruise was supposed to depart Tuesday, but the cruise line announced that the cruise is being delayed until Wednesday. It will be shortened from six days to five days. Passengers can cancel and receive a full refund, or they can receive a prorated refund of the fare paid for the six-day cruise. The Alabama Cruise Terminal reports that that the Fantasy should arrive in port late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The Fantasy is replacing a smaller ship, the Holiday, which finished its last cruise Saturday. | Delayed cruise |
| 8.11.09 | Carnival Splendor | From a passenger: Departure from Long Beach left 7 hours late... problem of some sort re a fire door not working and had to be repaired. Next day, ship had to change direction back towards san diego to allow a coast guard hellicoptor to pick up a seriously ill passenger. The ship managed to speed up and no major late port arrivals took place. The captain kept us up to date on both situations and handled both situations in a professional manner. | Delayed departure |
| 8.11.09 | Carnival Paradise | From a passenger: While on Carnival Paradise Nov 6-9, 2009 from Long Beach to Ensenada and back, something serious happened. Early Sunday morning, 11/8, the announcement “ Operation Bright Start in E-22” came over the intercom. My girlfriend looked out to find a man and a women in the hallway talking, and the man saying that there had been a “terrible accident” We docked unscheduled that morning about 5:30 AM, for about 90 mintutes, in what one crew member said was San Clemente. After breakfast E-22 had been cleared of beds, and a workman was seen laying down new carpeting. The crew members were all tight-lipped. | Mystery |
| 21.10.09 | Ship unknown | WPRI-TV reports a couple was left them stranded in the Bahamas. The passengers knew they only had a few hours on the island when their ship dropped them off. They say the itinerary said the ship left at 5:00. They were back to the dock by 3:30, but the ship was gone. It was only then that they learned the departure time had changed from 5:00 to 2:00. Their son, who did make it on the boat, says an announcement was made early that morning, when Neila and Carlos were asleep. | Left stranded in port |
| 20.10.09 | Carnival Elation | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship suffered a loss of one azipod while transiting in San Diego Bay. The casualty was a result of a failure with the electronic control system. No further incident occured as a result of this casualty. | Loss of propulsion |
| 14.10.09 | Carnival Glory | The Tribune (Nassau) reports eleven tourists from a cruise ship were on a taxi cab tour of the Nassau's historic sites when their pleasant visit turned to terror as they viewed the 66 steps. Two masked men approached on foot. One threatened the group with a handgun while the other stole cash and personal items from the visitors at around 11am. It was the first robbery in the area this year according to Superintendent Elsworth Moss, and taxi drivers say it happened because there were no police officers securing the site as usual. A taxi driver told The Tribune: "I am shocked it happened because usually the Commissioner of Police has a police presence there." The taxi drivers are very upset the robbery took place because their concern is the damaging effect it will have after the group returned to the ship and complained about it. "We don't like the fact that it will have such a tremendous impact on tourism." Like many visitors to Nassau, the group had been picked up from the port at Prince Charles Wharf downtown for a taxi tour of Fort Charlotte, Fort Fincastle, the watertower and the Queen's Staircase when they were robbed. For more info see a followup story in The Tribune. | Robbery ashore |
| 30.9.09 | Carnival Legend |
USA Today reports the two ships collided in an incident that has left both vessels damaged. Carnival says the 2,124-passenger Carnival Legend had just untied from its berth at the popular Mexican resort town when it was caught by heavy winds and pushed into the 2,446-passenger Enchantment of the Seas. "Extremely strong winds pushed the vessel up against the side of Royal Caribbean’s Enchantment of the Seas," the line says in a statement to USA TODAY. "The (Royal Caribbean) ship was at dock when the incident occurred. The Carnival Legend sustained broken glass and other minor damage to some open deck areas." A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said the Enchantment suffered what appears to be minor damage to the stern of the ship and some railings. Spokespeople for both lines say they have received no reports of injuries on board their respective ships resulting from the incident, which occurred at about 6:15 pm central time. Both lines say the damage to the ships is not serious and the vessels will proceed with their current itineraries. The Enchantment of the Seas is on a five-night Caribbean cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. The Carnival Legend is on a seven-night Caribbean cruise out of Tampa. NOTE: Click here for two pictures of Enchantment of the Seas sent by a reader. | Collision |
| 27.9.09 | Carnival Splendor | From a passenger: Just came back from Carnival cruise on Splendor to Mexico Sept 20 to 27. While in Cabo san Lucas on Friday Sept 25, a storm came up and a person who was parasailing in the bay was thrown into some buildings when a sudden storm came up and the rope broke on the parasail.We were on the shore and heard that the person had been a passenger on the ship, and that the person had died of injuries, and another person with them was injured after dropping into the bay. Nothing was said by any personnel after we returned to the boat. Some people who witnessed it were talking about it, but there was no information from the cruise authorities. I have no idea if the person was on the Splendor or if it was a rumor. All the tenders were suspended for about an hour, and the ship moved toward Los Arcos and put her back to the wind when the fiercest winds were blowing. When the storm was over the ship moved back to her regular spot and the tenders resumed. | Pax in parasailing accident |
| 8.9.09 | Carnival Victory | Stabroek News reports six US passengers fwere detained by police in Antigua following an altercation with a taxi driver during the ship’s visit on Friday (September 4).The passengers were released today on bail pending a court hearing on Wednesday. The dispute arose when the passengers refused to pay the fare for a taxi tour because they felt they were being overcharged.The driver then took the group to a police station where a scuffle led to the alleged injury of two officers. The passengers face charges of malicious damage, assault and injuring the officers. | Pax arrested ashore |
| 4.9.09 | Carnival Triumph | The Chronicle Herald (Halifax) reports an Indonesian crewman faces charges after customs officers allegedly found images of child pornography on his computer. Hendri Dharmawan, 29, an employee on the Carnival Triumph, was arrested Tuesday while the ship was docked at Pier 22 on the Halifax waterfront. He was arraigned in Halifax provincial court Wednesday on a Customs Act charge of smuggling child pornography into the country. On Friday, investigators added a Criminal Code charge of possession of child pornography. UPDATE - October 9: The Chronical Herald reports the crewman is awaiting sentencing/ The newspaper article says: Officers with the Canada Border Services Agency conducted a routine search of Mr. Dharmawan as he and a couple of other crew members were going back on board the ship at Pier 22. After finding child pornography on Mr. Dharmawan’s iPhone, the border agents went to his living quarters on the ship and examined his laptop computer and an external hard drive. Altogether, officers found eight videos of child pornography on Mr. Dharmawan’s devices. The 135 minutes of footage depicted girls as young as eight and boys as young as 10 being abused. | Child pornography arrest |
| 3.9.09 | Sensation | WPTV West Pam Beach reports a 34-year old male pasenger who went overboard has been rescued overnight by a nearby Disney cruise vessel. A mayday emergency signal was issued at about 11:30 PM. last night, asking for help from any boat or ship that could help try and locate the missing passenger. The Disney Wonder located the man at about 12:40 AM. The U.S. Coast Guard says the rescue took place approximately 28 nautical milies (32.4 miles) off the Port St. Lucie shoreline. Both cruise vessels were on journeys between Port Canaveral and The Bahamas. It is unclear if the passenger was injured and required any immediate medical attention. It is also unknown how the man went off the Carnival ship. The Sun Sentinel subsequently reports the jumper could be heard arguing with a woman on the final night of the cruise. "He threatened to jump, and she said, 'Go ahead,' and he did," said a fellow passenger. "Then we heard the man screaming, 'Help! Help!'" The Coast Guard sent out a helicopter and two boats, and the Sensation launched its own search. But it's attempts made little headway. According to passengers, the crew launched a rescue boat, but its sailors forgot to untie it from the cruise ship; the rescue boat tipped, filled with water, and never joined the search. A second rescue boat never launched, despite complaints of passengers. The ship's search lights were weak and crew members aimed flashlights at the water. For over an hour he was screaming for help and passengers shouted at him to hold on. | Passenger overboard - rescued |
| 3.9.09 | Carnival Freedom | The St. Petersburg Times reports on a passenger and his family wgo were forced to sign a "ban for life" on Carnival ships because of small scrapeson a dresser in their cabin. The ban was lifted after the passenger, an executive of an online travel insurance business, described the incident on his company's website which led to inquiries from the newspaper. According to the article, the passenger was forced to sign a letter stating that he had violated ship rules, interfered with the safety and/or enjoyment of other passengers or caused harm to Carnival. The morning the passenger had left their cabin and were waiting to leave the ship, they were summoned by crew members who pointed out the scratches and suggested someone used the edge of the dresser to open a beer bottle left in the room. Back home, the passenger found photos dated on the first and third day of the cruise that showed his son next to the dresser, the scratches clearly visible, belying the cruise line's contention that they had caused the damage on the last day of the cruise. On his company's website the passenger wrote, "When you get in the room, treat it like a rental car — take a few photos first. It seems like you shouldn't need to, but our experience says otherwise." Also see here for more information. | Ban for life lifted |
| 26.8.09 | Ecstasy | WPTV (Florida) reports a couple with the grandchildren were involuntarily left in Cayman Islands on the second day of the cruise after the ship's physician refused their return from shore because of a health condition of the grandmother. A physician at a Cayman hospital said she'd have to spend up to a month in hospital; her physician at home wrote demanding her release because she was fine. The family lost what they paid for the cruise and had to pay their opwn way home from Cayman. | Family expelled from ship |
| 16.7.09 | Elation | News
6 in San Diego reports FBI agents are aboard the ship investigating
the apparent murder of a 55-year-old
woman.
The ship was on the last leg of the cruise Tuesday in Cabo San Lucas
when a domestic dispute broke out between a husband and wife, according
to the FBI. |
Murder (Domestic violence) |
| 21.6.09 | Carnival Legend |
You Tube has a video from a cruise about a month ago. It was called to my attention by the following email: A friend went on this cruise and told me about the water in her cabin, and in the cabins of several people she spoke with on the cruise. It was brown in color and smelled badly. Comments with the video include another passsenger who says they had the same problem in their cabin. | Unpalatable water |
| 18.6.09 | Carnival Corporation | Seatrade Insider reports Carnival Corp. chairman Micky Arison said that 20 of 23 Caribbean governments where the company operates ships have agreed not to ban calls due to concerns about swine flu. ‘Over-reaction in some locations is a problem,’ Arison said during today’s Carnival earnings call. He told analysts the company is trying to deal with the issue on a port by port, country by country basis. He said it’s a matter of educating destinations about the facts. Cruise ships have rigorous sanitation protocols and practices that include the immediate isolation of passengers or crew who exhibit flu-like symptoms. These measures minimize the chance swine flu could spread from ship to shore. NOTE: His comments are interesting in the context of Carnival's over-reaction in stopping all port calls to Mexico when swine flu first appeared (especially given that most of those ill were not in Mexico's ports). |
Corporate pressure on ports |
| 16.6.09 | Carnival Holiday | CNN reports a search is underway for a passenger (50 year old woman) who apparently disappeared from a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico. The ship, which sailed from Mobile, Alabama, was stopped about a third of the way to Cozumel, Mexico, and passengers were told to return to their cabins for a head count. A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said the count was initiated because a crew member had heard a loud splash near the vessel. The ship appeared to be circling in Gulf waters Tuesday. Passengers were told in an audio message Tuesday that the ship would proceed to Cozumel when the Coast Guard released it, but the ship's arrival to the Mexican city would be delayed. The passenger is believed to have fallen about 10:30 p.m. CT Monday, and boats were launched from the cruise ship to search nearby waters.The FBI said its violent crimes unit is investigating Vilborg's disappearance. FBI Agent Tim White said agents are looking at every possible angle. UPDATE: See follow-up article quoting woman's husband here. | Person overboard |
| 15.6.09 | Carnival Inspiration | Sun Coast News reports crewmembers from a pilot vessel rescued a 46 year old man clinging to a buoy at about 6:50 a.m., about one mile southeast of Mullet Key, in Fort Desoto, in St. Petersburg. He went overboard at 4AM when he slipped after climbing up on a railing to get a better view of the pilot boat. The ship was returning from a four-day cruise. | Person overboard - rescued |
| 2.6.09 | Carnival Destiny | Posted at Cruise Critic: I was attacked by fellow passenger on the Destiny! Just returned from the 5-28-09 sailing and on the 1st night I had walked up to get some pizza at about 3:30 AM for my wife and myself. While I was waiting fro the pizza and bread to bake I had drink at the back pool bar after about 10 - 15 min pizza was ready and I was returning to my room and I walked up on 3 young mid 20's drunk men 1 of which was urinating on the wall outside of my room. I will not go into many details here but lets just say they where not happy that someone challenged them on what they were doing and that I was going to call security on them. That is when I was Physically assaulted, they must of thought they could scare me off before security arrived, well they were wrong I was not going anywhere! After a few mins they realized maybe they bit off more that they could chew they ran off to their room which was great for me I knew just where they went. Security finally showed up went to both rooms took statements and pictures I did end up with a good shiner but the other guy ended getting removed from the ship on his very 1st morning plus at least a $300.00 fine for not stopping at a foreign port. | Pax on Pax assault |
| 25.5.09 | Carnival Fantasy | WWL News reports the Coast Guard is searching for an 18 year old man who fell overboard (some sources say he jumped) from a cruise ship Sunday at around 9:45 p.m., about 150 miles southwest of Tampa. The ship left port in New Orleans and was en-route to Key West when the incident occurred. A search-and-rescue mission was launched by the Coast Guard out of Miami, but the man has not been found. | Passenger overboard |
| 21.5.09 | Holiday | The ship missed its port call at Freeport (Bahamas) because of rough weather. Also, a passenger reports that on its return to Mobile the ship ran into a storm with high winds, causing the ship to roll heavily to one side which resulted in dishes and other stuff sliding off tables and furniture in staterooms. | Missed port |
| 17.5.09 | Carnival Paradise | The Sun Sentinel reports that on May 16, 2009 while underway from Freeport Bahamas to Baltimore Maryland, a fire started onboard the vessel in the battery room. The fire was extinguished and a re-flash watch was set. The Safety Officer reported that the area is clear of smoke and the temperature dropped down to acceptable values. The vessel representative notified the COTP by email expressing his concerns of the fire. He also stated that the battery room supported non essential safety equipment onboard the vessel such as internet services. The vessel docked at South Locust Point terminal with no further incident occurring and they refilled all 35 fire extinguishers used during the fire. | Fire |
| 14.5.09 | Carnival Victory | Safety at Sea International Newsletter reports concerns over swine flu have impeded disembarkation in Barbados Wednesday, but the cruise line disputed a report that the ship had been quarantined. Barbados Port CEO Everton Walters said the ship had been quarantined and the cruise port had been closed. Carnival said a female crew member exhibiting flu-like symptoms was recently placed in isolation and upon the ship’s arrival in Barbados this morning, this information was provided to local authorities. Carnival said, “In response to the information, local authorities in Barbados are requiring that all guests disembarking the vessel there be given a screening questionnaire. The process is somewhat delaying debarkation. The ship will extend its port call in Barbados until 1930 to provide additional time in port.” The female crew member was quarantined shortly after the ship left Roseau, Dominica. See Jamaica Observer and The Dominican. | Swine flu |
| 12.5.09 | Carnival Splendor | The Daily Mail reports an email identifying passengers who opted out of a pre-paid tip to staff was found pinned to a wall in crew quarters by a passenger on a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship. The company claims this is not standard procedure. | Non-tippers identified |
| 10.4.09 | Carnival Valor | From a passenger: I just returned
from the 7-day cruise April 5-12, 2009. On the morning of April 10th,
we were supposed to be docking at Progresso. At about the time we
should have been docking, the Captain made an announcement that we were
not going Progresso because of excessive winds (30+ kn). He told
us that the long channel they had to navigate through would not be safe
due to the winds. He went on to say that the safety of the vessel
and the passengers is most important and it wasn't worth the risk.
We were also told that we would now be spending 2 days at sea
instead of the scheduled 1 day. Although disappointing, it was
nice to actually hear the Captain convey the news versus the cruise
director. We were then told that Carnival was going to give each
passenger an on-board credit of $25. Ten minutes later, we were
told that the credit would only be $20 per person.
About an hour later, the Captain made another announcement regarding
his decision to skip Progresso. He reiterated his safety concerns
and happily informed us that we would be having an at-sea day and then
we would spend Saturday, April 11th at Key West. Eventually, a
letter magically appeared in our stateroom telling us that there would
not be any credits since we were now going to visit Key West and they
had to pay dock fees, etc. |
Itinerary change |
| 21.3.09 | Carnival Legend | The Sun Sentinel reports the subject vessel's smoke and fire system on Deck B-A-1 was in fault and not operating properly. It was determined that the fault lied with the Bridge Monitoring Panel which was replaced. Following the repair, the system was restored to fully operational. This system is not Coast Guard approved. | System failure |
| 21.3.09 | Carnival Splendor | A passenger writes that he and his wife were among 106 passengers refused boarding on January 31 for the 51 day circumnavigation of South America departing from Fort Lauderdale because they did not have visas for landing in Brazil. The passengers say neither Carnival or their travel agent told them about the need for a visa, even though they asked multiple times. Carnival says the travel agent is the passenger's representative, that they notified the travel agent, and that the passenger could have booked directly with Carnival instead. In any case, Carnival has refused to refund the passenger's fare even though they weren't allowed to board the cruise and the passenger is pursuing the matter in every way they can. The moral of the story: check out visa requirements whenever you travel outside your country -- the information is normally available on the web from each country's department of foreign affairs (or equivalent). Another passenger writes: The cruise went from bad to really, really bad. Most passengers caught the "cold" going around. If you were on the cruise for the three legs, you could get it three times. The dinning room refused to put gel dispensers outside the dining room. Many of the passengers asked for it. The crew was sick, the nurses were sick. They ran out of milk in cartons in Chile and put out uncovered pitchers of milk, sitting in ice. People were coughing and sneezing while in line for food. We went only to the dining room near the end of the cruise. Don't even ask about the disaster that was immigration in Long Beach. Carnival acted as if they had never been on a cruise before. This was my 8th cruise with Carnival, never, never again. From the way they treated the Visa people, to the way they handled complaints, to immigration, they were uncaring and incompetent. Thank goodness, the waiters, and stewards were really good. The captain was absent from most past cruisers cocktail parties. And another says: The ship ran out of medication,and we were were told to buy our own at ports. Only everything was in other languages therefore it was very difficult to do. | Visa problems --- Illness |
| 5.3.09 | Carnival Splendor | Cruise Critic reports a 63 year old male passenger was reported missing by his wife while the ship was off the coast of Chile as part of an 18-day South America voyage. The guest’s wife notified shipboard personnel at 9:30 a.m. this morning after she found a note that suggested a planned suicide. The missing guest was last seen at approximately 4:30 a.m. The ship’s command immediately began a vessel-wide search for the individual and returned the vessel back to the area where the guest was last seen. All appropriate authorities were notified. The Carnival Splendor departed Santiago (Valparaiso), Chile, March 3 on an 18-day South America cruise that ends in San Francisco March 21. | Passenger overboard? |
| 21.2.09 |
Ecstasy | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship, while underway to the cruise terminal berth in Galveston, had a fire alarm sound in the passageway of the main deck on the aft starboard side near guest cabin M217. The fire was extinguished by the ship's sprinkler system. All guests in the vicinity of the fire were evacuated to their muster stations. The area was inspected and two laundry bags set in the passageway outside of cabin M217 were found burned and melted. Five guests and two crewmembers suffered minor smoke inhalation, and were cleared by the ship's doctor. Clean up was conducted and normal operations resumed. Although not fully proved, the cause of the fire was most likely the two laundry bags getting hot while inadvertently resting against the hot part of the passageway lighting fixture. The fixtures are to be replaced with a new design during the vessel's next yard period. | Fire |
| 13.2.09 |
Ecstasy | From Cruise
Critic: At 2:30am I got a wake
up call that I did not request....I woke up to the fire alarms going
off. I got up and immediatatley smelled smoke, I heard yelling in the
hall. I opened my cabin door which was E189 on the Empress Deck and
there was a lady in her undies yelling that the ship was on fire and
for us to evacuatate. I got dressed, grabbed my purse, sail and sign
card and my life jacket. There
was NO crew members anywhere to be seen! No one telling us if the fire
was up or down, foward or aft. All I knew was that the Deck was hazy
with smoke and that the smell was horrible. I ended up following others
up to the Atlantic Deck to our muster station. Still no crew. It was
more then 15 minutes after arriving at the Starlight that the first
crew member showed up. She just told us basicly to shut up and sit
down. An elderly lady was injured during the movement and another had
an asthma attack due to all the smoke. I called Carnival and spoke with a sup. I
was told that it was a small fire (how small I dont know, it did cause
quite a bit of smoke and several cabins on that deck were not available
to their occupants for at least 3 hours and at least one passenger had
to be moved - I was in line behind her at the pursers desk - and one
couple in line to disembark were not allowed back into their cabin
right away and thier carpet was soaking wet). Carnival is stating that
they are trying to keep it quiet. I suppose it would be bad plubicity.
So I suppose that is why there are not any reports about it. Finally the crew started showing up with
medical help. I do not know for sure who or what started the fire, but
I was told that some guy set towels afire in his cabin. I did see
someone (a male) being arrested before debarkation and being led away
in hand cuffs off the ship by Customs agents. |
Fire |
| 6.2.09 |
Carnival Cruise Lines | WPTV
reports a passenger was robbed on a Carnival cruise. She had locked
up her wedding ring, her engagement ring and other gold pieces in her
stateroom safe so they could go to Atlantis (Bahamas) for the day. When
she returned, she couldn't open the safe, and she called security who
opened it with a master key. She saw her jewelry box and thought
nothing of it...until she got home and says four thousand dollars in
jewelry was gone. The passenger wrote to Carnival several times, to
which they responded saying their employees are honest, courteous and
professional. Carnival Cruise Lines told WPTV there is little they can
do because the passenger didn't realize the jewelry was missing until
she got home. NOTE: The cruise
industry reported to the FBI 128 robberies between April 1, 2007 and
April 30, 2008. |
Robbery onboard (Alleged) |
| 12.8.09 | Fantasy | The Sun Sentinel reports, at approximately 2100, the ship was entering Lower Mississippi River in the vicinity of South West Pass Sea Buoy, when it experienced an equipment failure in it's steering system. No damage, injuries or pollution resulted from this incident. | Loss of steering |
| 19.1.09 |
Ecstasy | Posters at Cruise
Critic report that ship is having
propulsion problems -- one person says the ship had been operating on
half power since Frinday. It arrived late at Galveston today and there
is speculation the problem may influence the itinerary on the cruise
departing today. |
Propulsion problems |
| 16.1.09 |
Paradise | An elderly couple (aged 90 and 79) were reported missing,
and cruise officials say they likely went overboard before the ship
docked in Long Beach. Carnival says the couple's cabin door was double
locked from the inside with a "do not disturb" sign on the
handle. The couple's personal belongings remained inside the cabin and
the door leading from the cabin to the balcony was unlocked. |
Passengers overboard |
| 15.1.09 |
Carnival Conquest | The Southeast
Texas Record reports a lawsuit has been filed alleging a
13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted during a cruise last summer.
The girl was aboard the ship the afternoon of June 24 when a male
employee - a waiter at the ship's Lido Deck Buffet
- approached the teen as she went toward her cabin and made an
inappropriate pass at her, court papers say. "During the encounter in
the hallway, the Carnival employee made inappropriate and sexually
suggestive comments to the minor, grabbed her arm, and forcibly
attempted to pull her into an
elevator," the original petition says. The plaintiffs argue the waiter
also tried to kiss the girl's face and neck. |
Sexual assault of minor |
| 3.1.09 |
Holiday | From a passenger: The ship's arrival and debarkation at Mobile (after a five night
cruise) was delayed due to dense fog, preventing the pilot vessel from
dropping off the pilot until 11AM. The ship finally arrived in
port at 2:45 PM. Passengers were given food/restaurant seating at
regular lunch time and Sign & Sail cards re-activated until
arrival. Debarkation went very quickly after arrival. |
Delayed debarkation / embarkation |
| 1.1.09 |
Sensation | The United States Coast Guard received a report that an employee fell overboard approximately 20 miles off the coast of Vero Beach. Friends saw the 26 year old man from California fall around 82 feet below into the water at about 12:50AM, threw him a life ring and notified the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has launched a helicopter unit to search for the man. The ship's docking in Port Canaveral was delayed until 9:30AM while it participated in the search. Carnival said in a statement that the man, a singer with a band that had performed on the top deck, was not on duty at the time and that six other crew members saw him fall. He was reportedly trying to take a picture when he went overboard. | Crew overboard |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2008 |
Incident |
| 23.12.08 |
Carnival Miracle | From a passenger: I just returned from an 8-day cruise to the Western Caribbean (Dec. 15 to 23). We found out the morning of the cruise that due to "mechanical difficulties", Panama and Costa Rica were off the itinerary, replaced with Costa Maya, Cozumel and Roatan (Belize remained from the original itinerary, but on a different date). Two days into the cruise, I personally met with the Captain and two of his senior officers. Also attending the meeting was a guy who had collected 250 email addresses from disgruntled passengers. The meeting lasted for about 1 1/2 hours. The Captain told us that two days prior to returning to Ft. Lauderdale (our cruise left there on Dec. 15), they had problems with the thrust bearing on one of the two main azipods, which limited their top speed to 18 knots. This is the same problem which apparently affected the Carnival Legend when it was doing the Panama run (the Miracle took over this itinerary after the Legend was no longer able to do it). Due to the limited top speed, the ship simply would not be able to get to Panama in time. Both ships are expected to have the problem repaired when they go into dry dock in a couple of months (late February). The new itinerary was over 1600NM shorter than the originally scheduled cruise, but no refund of the fuel surcharge was offered. A second incident occurred on Monday afternoon, December 22. We were informed over the PA that a passenger was gravely ill, and so the ship was going to return early to Fort Lauderdale - ETA midnight instead of 7:00 the next morning. To our amazement, our "damaged" ship made 21 knots NO PROBLEM all the way back to Fort Lauderdale. | Itinerary change -- Mechanical problems |
| 18.12.08 |
Ecstasy | Thick fog in Galveston delayed the arrival of the ship. The
Galveston-Texas City Pilots Association, whose members guide vessels to
and from area ports, suspended services about 1 p.m. Wednesday because
of low visibility. They did not resume services until the fog began
lifting about 3 p.m. Thursday. Ecstasy, which typically docks about 7
a.m., was expected tie up about 4:30 p.m. Thursday and was not expected
to board new passengers until about 9:30 p.m.; it was expected to sail
around about midnight (rather than typically early evening). |
Fog delay |
| 6.12.08 |
Inspiration | FROM A PASSENGER: We left the pier a little delayed perhaps
30 minutes @ approx 4:30 instead of the scheduled time of 4:00.
Standing in the Atrium after the 1st seating dinner approx 8:30 the
ship went dark (pitch black), seemingly losing all power. At
first we thought it was some planned event. but as it continued
we knew this was not the case. People stuck in between floors in
the main glass elevators. After about 30 seconds emergency
lighting came on and flickered off & on for another couple of
minutes or so. Everyone was calm, almost in shock as if we
couldn't believe this was happening. Finally the lights came on
and we were back to normal. I understand the casino had problems
as all machines lost power and when reset balances were lost, Stores
were closed immediately with use of yellow tape blocking openings I
guess to protect against theft. About
a hour passed when the captain made an official announcement that
basically said that the ship engineers had diagnosed the problem, it
was corrected and all was under control. |
Power loss |
| 4.12.08 |
Carnival Freedom | Cruising
Talk reports that the ship apparently left Grand Cayman on time but
due to reports of something or someone falling overboard, the captain
returned to the island and instigated a search of the area. Subsequent
enquiries and a full head count revealed that what had been seen going
over the side was in fact an inflatable toy monkey that had been on
over ten cruises (according to its owner). The cruise has continued
without further incident. |
Inflatable animal overboard |
| 22.11.08 |
Imagination | A reader at Cruise
Critic posts: Yay! Just home
from the 4 night imagination cruise this week to key west and cozumel.
Had a minor crash that left a huge dent and needing some paint touch up
on the front side of the ship. Couldn't see it much in Cozumel but saw
it clearly as possible when de-embarking today. Cruise director tania
said everything was ok, no major damage to vessel (Of course they will
say that if the ship runs good and no issues mechanically)... but look
at the outside! I'm sure the new white paint will hide it good tho -- Click Here for pics |
Collision with pier |
| 21.11.08 |
Carnival Splendor | From a passenger: Just got back from the special 4 day
sailing on Carnivals new SPLENDOR. Awesome ship, horrible engineering.
Ship is WAY TOO TOP HEAVY!! Ship rolls WAY TOO MUCH!!! Carnival
is going to have to re-think having this ship on the west coasts
Pacific Ocean, as it is usually rough. Encountered 40 knot wind and
rough seas, and ship rolling had me rolling out of bed. High
winds made captain cancel call on GRAND TURK and substituted
NASSAU in lieu. No compensation offered. |
Changed itinerary |
| 14.11.08 |
Carnival Miracle | The ship's cruises scheduled for February 25, March 5, and
March 13 have been cancelled because the ship will enter drydock.
Repairs are reportedly releated to propulsion problems reported during
the summer (see July 7 below). |
Cancelation for dry dock |
| 7.11.08 |
Carnival Victory |
The Antiguan
Sun reports two guests were robbed. They reportedly took a taxi
tour to Long Bay Beach. At about 4:20 p.m., just after they finished
swimming and were preparing to return to the taxi, the man who they
described as a Rastafarian allegedly demanded money from them and
threatened to shoot them if they did not yield to his demand. The
guests reportedly started to run to their waiting taxi and the male
guests reportedly jumped through the driver’s window while screaming
that he was being robbed. This did not deter the man as he allegedly
followed them to the taxi and again demanded that they give him all
their money or he was going to shoot them. He kept on making his
demands although the driver tried talking to him. At this time, the
tourists had no choice but to empty their pockets and give him the
money they had in their possessions. After collecting the money, the
alleged robber escaped through some nearby bushes. He was later
arrested. |
Robbery ashore |
| 6.11.08 |
Carnival Legend | 7
News in Belize reports that thirteen passengers were injured (none
critically) when their shore excursion tour van had a collision with
another vehicle (in which five people were injured). An infant in the
other vehicle is in critical condition with head injuries (see The
Reporter) |
Pax injured onshore |
| 28.10.08 |
Carnival Liberty | The company has cancelled its program of summer 2009 sailings from Dover. Instead, the ship will stay in Miami sailing to the Caribbean instead of re-positioning to Europe next summer as originally scheduled. The decision was based on "current market conditions, continued economic uncertainty and high air costs to Europe which impact US visitors wishing to cruise in Europe," a statement said. | Cancelation of 2009 program |
| 27.10.08 |
Fantasy | A poster at Cruise
Addicts writes at 9:51PM: Hi I
am on carnival fantasy the ship broke down in miss. River. Severe list.
We are drifting. Chairs falling over. Ship is turn we back toward New
Orleans . Sorry I type bad am on my iphone. The anchor is now out and
all outside lights on toward the river. He reports at 12:05AM
that tugs arrived to assist the ship. The ship had just left New
Orleans for a Western Caribbean cruise. UPDATE: Carnival reports there was a
minor technical glitch a few hours after the Carnival Fantasy's
departure as the ship was sailing down the Mississippi River. The
problem was quickly investigated and fixed. The ship resumed sailing
and will arrive in Progreso on Wednesday as scheduled. |
Dead in the water |
| 15.10.08 |
Carnival Valor |
Skipped its port call at Roatan due to
riots/unrest. Over the last few months there has been a steady
escalation of civil unrest by inhabitants of Roatan due to major
increases in electricity charges. In the last week, at least two cruise
ships have diverted scheduled port visits as a direct result of the
civil unrest currently making travel potentially unsafe. The UK
Foreign Office has the unrest listed in their travel aware section.
The US dept of State has no mentions of the problems. However, as per
instruction from the UK Foreign Office, it is adviseable to avoid all
large groups of people if visiting Roatan and do not be surprised if
you are diverted to another port, such as Progresso, if Roatan is on
your itinerary until the civil unrest ceases being a potential danger
towards visitors. |
Skipped port |
| 7.10.08 |
Fantasy | A passenger writes: Today
we got evacuated from the
cabin and made to go to the Lido Deck while they put out either a fire
in the crew area or something started by a welder. This ship is not
ready to be on the sea y'all. Really. We had to stay up there for about
four hours. At least that was better than the ones that were ashore in
Cozumel and could not reboard for that time. Fun fun fun. Another Passenger posted the following from
a letter sent to pax after the incident: Our crew was performing a maintenance
function on one of the lower decks. The work involved the cutting of a
large pipe and during this procedure, residue within the pipe became
overheated. This created a significant amount of smoke which then
traveled to areas on several higher decks. There was no fire associated
with this incident and the crew quickly controlled the source of the
smoke. As a safety
precaution, we advised all guests to report to the open deck areas and
we temporarily limited access to the ship via the gangway. We then made
a full assessment of the incident to be sure that there was no safety
concerns. After a complete evaluation, we confirmed that this situation
was under control and there were no safety issues. Guests were then
advised that they no longer needed to remain on the open decks and
gangway access was re-opened. |
?Fire? |
| 2.10.08 | Carnival Destiny | The Sun Sentinel reports at approximately 1218 local time, while alongside in Port of Miami, vessel was conducting a test of the emergency generator. The emergency generator failed to perform, resulting in a "black-out" of the vessel. Classification society attended vessel, issuing a condition of class. | Generator failure |
| 2.10.08 |
Carnival Destiny | From a passenger: We have just disembarked from a Carnival
cruise with a very poor taste in our mouths. On the first night of the
cruise, at 11pm, we went to the pool deck to get some air. While we
were out there, we noticed several incredibly drunk people hobbling
around the deck. We saw that a net had been placed on top of the
swimming pool and assumed that we were not allowed to swim at night. We
then saw one of the drunk men make his way over to the swimming pool
and take off his clothes while his friends hung around behind him. We
were about to say that he shouldn't be swimming because of the net, but
he jumped in. My thought was, "he will land in the net and get out." It
wasn't until we realized that we had not heard a splash that we
panicked! The pool was empty and all that was covering it was a flimsy
net. He had fallen to the bottom of
the pool and he was laying unconcious in a pool of blood. There
were not even any signs. The pool was brightly lit and looked
inviting apart from the net. I was sober and I had no idea that it was
empty! We all started frantically looking for someone in charge so that
we could get help. I went to the bartender to let him know what had
happened, he nonchalantly picked up the phone and started dialing some
number. It wasn't until about 10
minutes later that we heard an announcement calling staff to the pool
deck. The staff on the curise are more interested in
getting the guests to spend as much money as possible than ensuring
their safety. I will never take another cruise and if you do, please be
careful. |
Serious and preventable
injury |
| 24.9.08 |
Carnival Glory | A passenger died during a cave tubing excursion in Belize.
The apparent cause of death is drowning. According to interviews
conducted by Channel 5 Belize, the Caves Branch River in Belize was
running higher than usual, causing the same tour to be canceled just a
few days earlier and other tours, such as those run by Jaguar Paw
Jungle Resort, to be canceled today; however, Bel-Cruise -- Carnival's
shore excursion provider -- chose to run its cave tubing excursion,
with over 300 cruise ship passengers participating. According to a
description by the 52 year old woman's husband, toward the end of the
tour, strong currents pushed the couple toward the cave walls where
they were sucked beneath the water. The husband was rescued, but his
wife could not be reached in time. Carnival has suspended all future
sales of the excursion at this time and an investigation into the
accident is underway. See Cruise Critic
for more information. UPDATE:
WFTV
subsequently reported that another passenger had complained to
Carnival two years earlier that te shore excursion was unsafe after she
found herself in raging rapids and pinned under water as tubes piled on
top of each other. All the while, she said the two guides responsible
for a group of almost 100 tourists were nowhere in sight. "It was up to
my fellow passengers to rescue me," she said. SEE
ALSO September 18. |
Death on shore excursion |
| 15.9.08 |
Carnival Liberty | The Herald
Telegram in Saint Maarten reports the ship will
make a previously unscheduled port call there on September 24. The ship
was originally scheduled to stop in San Juan, PR on the 24th. The best
guess is that San Juan will be visited September 25th when it was
scheduled to stop at Turks and Caicos where the port facilities
suffered hurricane damage. |
Changed itinerary |
| 7.9.08 |
Carnival Victory | The ship set sail yesterday from New York on a seven-night
cruise to New England and Canada has skipped today's port call in
Boston to avoid the remnants of Hanna. |
Skipped port call |
| 3.10.08 |
Carnival Miracle | Cruising
Talk reports that it appears there is a confrontational problem
aboard Carnival Miracle. Due to the storms in the Caribbean, the ship
has had her itinerary changed 4 times. The latest change will be a call
to Newport Rhode Island on Friday this week. There are a few very vocal
passengers who have apparently almost taken the reception area by siege
demanding full refunds etc for ruined cruises. This behaviour has not
gone down well with other passengers or the crew. The most vocal of the
passengers have allegedly reduced their auto-gratuities to zero. Time
will tell if this turns into another QM2 type mutiny. The ship departed
from New York City on a cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. |
?Passenger mutiny? |
| 18.8.08 | Carnival Victory | The Sun Sentinel reports the ship had an equipment failure of the number 3 aft thruster. The vessel has 3 forward and 3 aft thrusters with 6 in all. Vessel is currently located at Berth 2 of Pier 88 in Manhattan. The crew intends to get underway with a tug alongside at 1700 local on Aug 18th, 2008. Cruiselink claims there are no safety issues, and the ship can get underway without the number 3 aft thruster. | System failure |
| 16.8.08 |
Ecstasy | Passengers report the ship went to Progresso (which is
closer to Galveston) today instead of Cozumel because of propulsion
problems. |
Propulsion problems |
| 1.8.08 |
Fantasy | Carnival has announced that the cruise scheduled to end Monday (August 4) will disembark/embark passengers at Mobile instead of New Orleans because of uncertainty around the Missisippi River following the opil spil two weeks ago. UPDATE August 6: Carnival announced that all sailings through August will leave from Mobile, citing fears that lingering delays from a Mississippi River oil spill would throw off sailing schedules from New Orleans, the normal port. Guests currently on the ship and those scheduled to board for sailings Saturday and Aug. 14 will be bused to Mobile and back to New Orleans for free. For the four sailings after that, only guests flying to New Orleans will get free transportation to and from Mobile. Other passengers will be told to drive to Mobile. | De/Embarkation port change |
| 30.7.08 |
Fantasy | The ship, scheduled to return passengers to
New Orleans from a five-day trip to Mexico will
instead bring travelers to Mobile. Uncertainty about whether the
Mississippi River
would remain open to marine traffic spurred Carnival to change its
plans to arrive in New Orleans. |
De/Embarkation port change |
| 23.7.08 |
Fantasy | Carnival is exploring contingency plans after an early
morning
accident between a tanker and a
barge closed a 47-mile stretch of the nation's major waterway,
including the Port of New Orleans. The
closure is likely to go on for days while remediation teams rush to
clean the heavy slick of tar that is drifting southward. The Fantasy is
scheduled to arrive/depart from New Orleans July 26. UPDATE: The current voyage of the
Carnival Fantasy will end in Mobile, Ala., instead of its regular
homeport of New Orleans. Disembarking guests will be provided
transportation back to the Port of New Orleans or the New Orleans
airport. The next voyage will also depart from Mobile. Carnival
will provide motorcoach transportation from New Orleans' Erato Street
cruise terminal to Mobile. |
Waterway closure |
| 137.08 |
Carnival Victory | From a passenger: I was just on a five-night Canada Cruise
(July 12-17, 2008). On Sunday night, July 13th we were at the 8:30 show
in the Caribbean Lounge. There were some "explosive" special
effects throughout the show. At the end...at least I THINK it was
the end...a spark ignited one of the speakers in the stage floor. It
was smoking! After a few seconds a crew memeber came out from
back-stage with a fire extinguisher and put it out. It continued to
smoke even more. Evenutally, the lounge was cleared out. The
10:30 show was delayed and the Midnight Comedy show was re-located due
to the "fire". |
Fire |
| 7.7.08 |
Carnival Miracle |
It has been reported that the ship is running slower than
normal due to propulsion problems. Tortola has been dropped as a port
of call and replaced with Grand Turk. The itinerary change will
reportedly remain in place until the end of the year at least. |
Propulsion problems |
| 19.6.08 |
Carnival Victory |
CBS
in Miami reports a woman alleges she was sexually assaulted on
board the ship on February 4, 2008. The married mother of three
said she was in one of the ship's nightclubs when a man offered to buy
her a drink. She declined the offer and said she was looking for her
friend. A short time later, the man returned and said he saw her friend
in another area of the nightclub. When the two walked to the other
area, the section was closed and the man forced the woman into a room
where he sexually assaulted her. The victim notified Carnival security
who investigated the incident, along with the FBI. The suspect, who was
a passenger, was identified in a photo line-up. The lawsuit alleges the
sexual assault might have been prevented if there had been adequate
security on the cruise ship. |
Sexual Assault |
| 21.5.08 |
Carnival Conquest |
On
the afternoon of May 21st, 2008, a crew member was seen arrested at the
Bobsled Cafe in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He was taken away by about 20
police officers for purchasing cocaine. Later reports found that the
crew member claimed to have been looking for an ATM machine and got
upset with a local Jamaican for following him to one. A local Jamaican
security guard apparently snuck drugs in his pocket and called police
to get revenge being arrogant and voilent with the guard. The
crew
member had no idea that anything was in his pocket. He was
put in
jail overnight and bailed the next morning for $1000.00 USD (on his
24th birthday). He was permanently dismissed from Carnival Cruise
Lines. |
Crew member Arrested - Cocaine |
| 22.4.08 |
Carnival Victory |
A 44 year old man was reported missing by his wife. It is believed he fell overboard 40 miles northeast of Cozumel. A rescue crew from Clearwater's (Florida) Coast Guard Station are helping in the search. While the FBI says there was no foul play, family members disagree saying that man was not suicidal. He was apparently last seen in the ship's casino. | Person missing |
| 14.4.08 |
Carnival Conquest |
KHOU in Houston reports a Houston man needed 20 stitches after a bloody brawl aboard the ship. According to the news report, the Chapman family say they were having a good time in the cruise ship’s nightclub when a passenger started beating three members of the family with a metal baton. “He was just watching us, leaning by the bar by himself,” Brenda Chapman said. A Carnival spokesperson said the man was removed from the ship in Jamaica as a result. They confirmed the altercation happened and said the FBI is handling the investigation. Krystal Chapman said she wanted to fly home when they got to Jamaica but the family had to stay onboard the ship until Sunday, a full 7 days after the fight. | Pax on Pax altercation |
| 4.1.08 |
Inspiration |
The ship appears to be having propulsion problems that are
affecting port calls. Those interested my wish to check Cruise
Critic. |
Propulsion problems |
| 31.3.08 |
Ecstasy |
The ship returned to Galveston approximately 6 hours late.
The reason given by Carnival was propulsion problems. Disembarkation
and embarkation were both delayed. |
Propulsion problems |
| 29.3.08 | Inspiration | The Sun Sentinel reports a clogged deck drain existed in the 2nd deck incinerator room onboard a cruise ship. There was a notable amount of wastage in bulkhead at deck level allowing greywater to seep into overhead insulation above portside transformers. Once the insulation was soaked, it began to drip through a seam over transformers; 'A' bank, No. 3, therefore, causing the system to short. The cruise ship lost propulsion with a momentarily loss of the starboard main engine. | Propulsion problems |
| 19.3.08 |
Carnival Conquest | The port call at Montego Bay was cancelled -- the Captain
announced it was because of a medical emergency. The next scheduled
destination is Grand Cayman. |
Skipped port call |
| 12.3.08 |
Carnival Victory | The Daily Times (Knoxville) reports on a 12 year old girl who was allegedly raped by a 23-year-old male passenger and left drunk, alone and semiconscious in a hallway at 1:30 a.m. on a cruise that began November 25, 2007.The girl had disappeared and was found on a search of the ship. According to the girl's grandmother, a 14-year-old girl on the ship was approached by the same 23-year-old male passenger and offered alcohol the day before the incident involving her granddaughter occurred. In that incident, the male passenger allegedly threatened to throw the 14-year-old girl's boyfriend overboard after the girl refused the man's offer to join him for drinks. | Rape of Minor (Pax on Pax) |
| 1.3.08 |
Carnival Freedom | The ship left Miami for a seven day cruise to the western
Caribbean but was forced to retrun to port at 3:15 AM (next day) for a
medical emergency. It is unkown how the delay will impact the itinerary
which includes Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Ocho Rios. |
Returen to port |
| 28.2.08 |
Celebration | A fugitive wanted by the Atlanta
Police
Department on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault was
arrested by U.S. Marshals just before the ship entered international
waters. Derron Williams, 29, was taken into
custody aboard the ship at 7 p.m. as the ship was steaming for
Freeport, Bahamas. After
marshals learned that Williams had flown to Jacksonville and
boarded the ship, the Coast Guard ordered the ship to stop
before reaching international waters, where federal agents boarded. |
Passenger arrested |
| 24.2.08 |
Carnival Liberty | The ship's arrival in Port Everglades was delayed by more
than six hours because of a medical emergency requiring a diversion to
Grand Cayman for a 15 year old passenger. Instead of arriving in port
between 5:30 and 6:00 AM, it arrived after 11:30 AM. The ship was on an
8 day cruise of the western Caribbean. |
Delayed arrival & departure |
| 17.2.08 |
Holiday | According to WKRG
in Mobile, a Carnival spokesperson said the ship returned briefly
of a medical emergency. Holiday left Mobile yesterday afternoon on a
5-day cruise to Mexico. The
ship turned around 1:30AM because of the medical
emergency. Carnival says the the ship was evacuated while the passenger
was taken
off. Once things were cleared, the remaining passengers got back on and
headed to Mexico. The port call at Progresso was cancelled; the ship
will stop in Cozumel. |
Strange return to port |
| 1.2.08 |
Carnival Glory | NBC6
in Miami and Coast
Guard News report that a 46 year old Indian crew member failed to
show up for work at 6:30 AM and is presumed missing at sea. The crew
searched the ship and reviewed security tapes before notifying the
Coast Guard around 12:30 PM. The COast Guard search was unsuccessful. The ship was en
route to Nassau, the last stop on a seven day cruise embarking at Port
Canaveral and that included Belize City and Cozumel. |
Person missing |
| 21.1.08 |
Inspiration and Imagination | Both ships were prevented from making their call at Grand
Cayman Island because of weather conditions. The
ships had a day at sea and continued on to their next port of call. |
Canceled port call (Weather) |
| 3.1.08 |
Carnival Liberty and Imagination | Both ships were prevented from making their call at Ocho
Rios because of rough seas associated with a weather cold front. The
ships had a day at sea and continued on to their next port of call. See
Jamaica
Observer for the story. |
Canceled port call (Weather) |
| 1.1.08 |
Ecstasy | Port call at Progresso canceled because of high winds.
Passengers were compensated with an onboard credit of $25 (roughly
equivalent to port fees associated with the port call). |
Canceled port call (Weather) |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2007 |
Incident |
| 12.10.07 |
Ecstasy & Carnival Conquest |
Thick fog closed the Port of Galveston, wreaking havoc with
each ship's schedule. Conquest was supposed to sail at 5PM on Sunday
but didn't leave until Monday at 2PM. Ecstasy arrived 7 hours late on
Monday and may be "stuck" in port overnight. |
Fog delays |
| 1.12.07 |
Fantasy | A
77 year old man from Hattiesburg, MS was discovered missing shortly
after the ship docked at
New
Orleans at 4AM at the end of a 5 day cruise to Cozumel and
Progresso.The man's room, which included a private balcony, was
reported by the cruise line to have been locked
from the inside and all of his belongings were left in his cabin. He
had last been seen the previous evening at around 7PM when the ship was
28 miles from shore. The Coast Guard was notified at 10AM and a search
undertaken of coastal waters. UPDATE:
The Hattiesburg
American
reports the search was called off after a suicide note indicating the
man was in poor health was found in his room. |
Person missing |
| 21.11.07 |
Carnival Valor | The St.
Thomas Source reports that passengers from the ship were on an
open-air safari vehicle invovled in an accident in which 29 people were
injured and sent to hospital. One person was airlifted to Miami;
another was under observation when the article was written. 15 of the
injured were released from hospital by 8PM. According to the article,
at about 3PM a utility truck was returning from
a job when its brakes
started to malfunction. The truck
hit the safari bus -- loaded with 22 passengers from the cruise ship --
from the back. The truck tipped over on its side, crushing
a red pickup truck and hitting a smaller white vehicle. Our thoughts go
out to those who were injured. |
Accident Onshore |
| 17.11.07 |
Carnival Victory | A
passenger has written to say that a crew member (a member of the
entertainment staff) fell overboard this
morning around 2:45AM. The ship reversed direction and he was rescued
alive. He was taken to hospital when the ship returned
to Miami, but he is not seriously injured (dehydration and
hypothermia). The ship was on its way back to Miami from a seven day
cruise of the Eastern Caribbean. This incident has also been
picked up
on Cruise
Critic. |
Fall overboard -- Rescued |
| 14.11.07 | Carnival Freedom | There was a fire in the linen room on deck-B. While there was smoke, and many towels and bath mats had combusted, the fire was quickly contained and there were no injuries. | Fire |
| 12.11.07 |
Carnival Liberty | Two separate passengers reported that the ship apparently
had propulsion problems off the
coast Puerto Rico -- as one person said, the
ship is "parked in the ocean between Florida & San Juan" and
that it appears unlikely they will arrive in San Juan at 5PM as
scheduled." The ship did make it to San Juan,
about an hour or so late. If additiuonal details are received about the
problem it will be posted. The 8-day Eastern Caribbean cruise began
November 10 in Fort
Lauderdale. |
Engine problems |
| 25.10.07 |
Ecstasy | The ship's departure from Pregreso was delayed because of
weather and as a result its return to Galveston was 5 hours late
-- 9 PM instead of 4PM. Embarkation of the following 4 night
cruise was also delayed. That ruise will
substitute the port call at Cozumel with a stop at Progreso;
passerngers will receive a $100 onboard credit. |
Delayed arrival / departure |
| 17.9.07 |
Elation | A San Diego grocer filed suit against a fellow passenger
following an incident where the plaintiff was allegedly pushed down a
flight of stairs several hours after sailing from San Diego. The
defendant was reported to have been confined to his room for the
remainder of the five-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera from San Diego. |
Pax on pax assault |
| 26.8.07 |
Carnival Liberty | A poster at Cruise
Critic describes her "cruise from hell" on the eight day cruise
ending today which embarked/disembarked from Fort Lauderdale. She
says there was a large group of
700-800 who over ran the ship and dominated
most of the public areas either by design or intimidation by their
behavior. My family never was able to use the Victoria lounge, the
disco, the teen disco, the arcade, a large portion
of the promenade deck. Carnival
allowed this group to have private access to the Victoria
Lounge every night, therefore denying use of this area to all other
passengers. The other
areas mentioned were off limits to the other passengers on
this trip because the behavior of the individuals who occupied it was
so terrifying that all other passengers avoided these areas. My teen
age daughters were so fearful of what went on this ship that after
dinner they spend it in their cabin watching movies. Some of the behaviors that I witnessed firsthand: drug sales; lying in wait in hall ways and
on
elevators and intimidating other passengers who wanted to use these
areas; running, shoving and
pushing fellow passengers on the promenade deck,
and on the stair case in the lobby (I was shoved down the stairs by a
group who were running down the spiral staircase -- After I fell they
turned back and laughed); standing
on furniture, placing chairs in front of doors in the teen disco and
“locking” other youngsters in; on
2 separate evenings, a full blown riot on the promenade deck,
involving at least 40-50 individuals who were fighting throwing
furniture, punches, filthy language and breaking a bottle to use a
weapon -- the entire security
staff was called, bar tenders left their stations, officers arrived to
break up the fight.; running
and screaming in the corridors at all hours of the night; and a group
of 10-20 individuals doing
laundry all night all while smoking and drinking, and laughing yelling
so loud I could hear every word in my bed. The staff of the Liberty was either unable
or unwilling to enforce any
limitations on the individuals in these groups. I spoke to a high
ranking crew member who informed me that these passengers paid for
their cruise and there was nothing they could do. NOTE: Group cruises are occasionally a
problem -- there was one on Carnival including swingers and one on Royal Caribbean including bears that got considerable attention last year. |
Cruise from Hell |
| 25.8.07 |
Celebration | The Coast Guard evacuated the terminal at Jaxport Saturday afternoon at about 12:45 PM because of a bomb scare. A bomb-sniffing dog came across something suspicious and a bomb squad was brough to the scene to investigate. During that time, no one was being allowed to board and people already on the ship were not allowed off. Shortly after 6PM, the problem wasidentified (the dogs had singled out some bags later found to contain some type of heart medication. The ship had been scheduled to depart at 4PM, heading to Key West and Nassau, Bahamas for a five-day cruise. A statement from Carnival said the cruise was expected to leave at 10 p.m. and passengers were given a $15 ship credit for their trouble. | Bomb scare |
| 23.8.07 |
Sensation | A passenger on the four day cruise ending today writes that there was a group onboard and many of the lounges/discos were closed at night for the private party. The ship looked like someone used it as their own personal garbage can (half eaten apples thrown in the stairwell, drinking glasses). I watched one woman argue (VERY loudly) with a bartender that since someone spilled her drink, HE should give her a free drink. He ended up giving it to her just to get her to shut up. We couldn't walk up the stairs with our children without these passengers CHASING each other down them at top speed, running through the halls, knocking on cabin doors. And then to top it off, someone defecated in the CHILDREN'S pool and all who saw it swear it was an ADULT who did it. | Unruly group |
| 12.8.07 |
Carnival Pride | The ship was delayed for two hours on Sunday after a "suspicious" boat was spotted near the ship. Crew members reported a 15- to 18-foot-long metal skiff loitering near the front end of the Carnival Pride at 11:30 a.m. Witnesses said the skiff had three men and one woman aboard, and was towing a small, bright orange inflatable dingy. One of the people aboard reportedly dove into the water near the pier's pilings and was observed by a witness pulling himself back into the boat. The vessel left the area before authorities arrived. The Port Operations Dive Group searched the pier and cruise ship hull but found nothing suspicious. The cruise ship departed at 6 p.m. Sunday. | Security |
| 4.8.07 |
Carnival Glory | Passengers on the seven day cruise ending today at Port Canaveral indicate the ship was forced to return to Port Canaveral, less than six hours after departure, to med-evac a 16-year-old passenger who had been injured diving headfirst into one of the pools. A passenger also wrote that during the day at sea on the way back (3rd of August) the ship came awfully close to Cuba- so close that you could make out the shoreline in the distance and they sent out 3 boats to patrol the border. Also on the way back the ship appeared to be sailing at reduced speed and there was shaking and it was very rough despite the seas being calm. The ship skipped Nassau (the last port of call -- August 3). | Missed port -- ?Engine problems? |
| 2.8.07 |
Carnival Victory | The ship struck a pier overhang while docking on the west side of Manhattan, closing down 12th Avenue near 56th Street and causing backups on the Henry Hudson Parkway. There were no reported injuries. The ship was completing a 4-day round-trip cruise to Saint John, New Brunswick and was supposed to disembark passengers at 8 a.m. It was unclear which pier the ship was actually docking at when the accident occured. | Struck pier |
| 5.7.07 |
Carnival Pride | A 56-year-old man went missing from the Mexican Riviera cruise, July 1-8 (port calls at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas). He was apparently last seen by his cabin mate at 1AM on July 4. His body was found off Puerto Vallarta on July 10. The FBI was notified and is investigating. The incident was made public July 16 after family members contacted Cruise Bruise. Carnival Cruise Lines says it is not normal practice for it to disclose such events to media unless specifically asked by a media source. | Missing |
| 2.7.07 |
Carnival Liberty | The Coast Guard was alerted around 11:45 p.m. that a 29 year old man, appearing intoxicated, had fallen overboard. The ship was 50 miles off the coast of Boca Raton, Florida. A helicopter and rescue boats were sent out and a Coast Guard boat pulled the man from the water alive around 12:30 a.m. Subsequent reports say the man had been drinking with his three buddies since the ship had left Fort Lauderdale at about 4 PM. The group left the casino area after 11 PM. to go outside, where the man climbed into a lifeboat -- "He took the ax and started to chop at the ropes." The ship's assistant chief of security came out to get him to stop. He started climbing toward the man and told him to get down. "Then he jumped into the water." He was rescued within an hour. |
Jumped overboard
-- Rescued alive |
| 1.7.07 |
Ecstasy | An 18-year-old man died early Sunday after he jumped into the Gulf of Mexico. The had sailed out of Galveston for a five-day round-trip cruise to Cozumel, Mexico amd om day 2 "an 18-year-old male passenger was seen jumping overboard from one of the ships upper decks" about 7:35 a.m. Officials initiated a search and notified the U.S. Coast Guard. The passenger was recovered by the crew about a half-hour later and brought on board, where he was pronounced dead. He has not been identified. The ship is en route to Cozumel and is expected to arrive Monday morning. It is scheduled to return to Galveston on Thursday. | Jump overboard |
| 28.6.07 |
Fascination | A 16 year old male was med-evaced when the ship was 120 mile
off Key West. He had lost his pinky finger when he tried to stop
an elevator door from closing with his right hand but when the door
closed and he pulled his hand from the door his pinky finger was
severed. |
Pax injury |
| 23.6.07 |
Carnival Valor | A
passenger apparently fell overboard and was rescued alive.
According
to passenger accounts, sometime around 19:30 ET there were a couple of
blasts from the ships horn. "Around
19:50 I noticed the ship leaning to one side and people were asking
why. I walked up to the 10th deck and was asked by a crew member to go
to the other side of the ship. People were gathering on that deck and
there were at least 20 crew members with radios. I asked what was going
on and someone said they thought it was a man overboard. I went and got
my husband and we went to the 11th deck just as the cruise director
announced there was a passenger overboard and we were in search and
rescue mode. She also said the coast guard was en route. We also saw a
freight liner in the distance with a search light. The ship had
turned
around and was almost stopped. From what we observed, around 9:00 pm,
the Valor spotted the passenger and sent a life boat from the ship to
retrieve him/her. We saw the person swim toward the boat, a
preserver
being thrown to him/her and then the person was pulled on board the
lifeboat. About 5 minutes later the announcement was made that the
passenger was rescued by the Valor staff." Some observed
the man to have been intoxicated. |
Fall overboard -- Rescued |
| 20.6.07 |
Imagination |
A crew member went missing on this five day from Miami to Cayman Islands and Jamaica. The 57 year old was last seen on June 19; he didn't show up for work today. An onboard search was undertaken, but he wasn't found. Because the man is an Italian national, the cruise ship was not required to notify US authorities of the disappearance. | Missing |
| 15.6.07 |
Carnival Valor | From a passenger: I just got back from sailing on the Carnival Valor. The cruise set out on June 10th. On Friday, June 15th we were in Costa Maya, Mexico. We found out later that night we were making an emergency stop in Cozomel. A 4 year old girl had a near drowning in Costa Maya and progressively got worse. The boat stopped and a smaller boat came to pick her up on a stretcher. I just want to remind parents to keep a closer eye on their kids while on vacations. | Reminder to parents |
| 13.6.07 |
Carnival Conquest | The Jamaica Observer reports that two men held up 17 tourists from the ship who were visiting the Lethe Estate as part of a shore excursion. "Police say that approximately 11:15 am, the visitors were on a tour of the property when they were pounced upon by the gunmen who proceeded to rob them of their valuables. No one was, however, physically harmed during the incident. Hours later, the police - who were assisted by citizens in a search of the area for the armed men - said they recovered handbags, credit cards and other items believed to be discarded by the bandits in the bushes." | Robbery onshore |
| 3.6.07 |
Carnival Liberty | A group of passengers who had just disembarked and were
waiting to board a bus to the airport were slammed into by a Greyhound
bus that lurched toward them, hitting a concrete post first. Six
people were transported to hospital with injuries that were not life
threatening. See
the Sun -Sentinel for more details, and here
too. |
Accident onshore |
| 24.5.07 |
Ecstasy | Disembarkation was delayed and the cruise terminal at
Galveston evacuated after a sniffer dog located a suspicious package
during a routine sweep of the terminal at about 8:30 AM. The
package, addressed to Carnival Cruise Lines, turned out to contain a
printer -- chemicals in the printer apparently alerted the dogs.
The package was destroyed and things returned to normal by about 11:00
AM. |
Bomb scare |
| 21.4.07 |
Carnival Glory | A passenger on the 14 - 21 April cruise writes that there was an outbreak of illness of unknown size -- In my family alone five us came down sick. This happened within hours of the first person getting sick ... I tried to find out info and was offered nothing but a "politician's answers." They would say things such as rough seas, etc. We all had to fill out CDC forms and were quarantined to our cabin the rest of the trip. We also came across about 6 others that had this same experience. The passenger also writes: It also bothered me that the female dancers came out with nothing but a GO-string going up their backsides. We were so offended that we got up an left the show. The really crazy thing is that during "Camp Carnival" that particular night, they were going to take our children to this show. We felt this was very inappropriate on the ships behalf considering we had 7 and 9 year old boys, and and 7 year old girls. We obviously chose to pick our children up early that night. | In
Poor Taste? |
| 20.4.07 |
Paradise | The ship's departure from Long Beach was delayed because the
company had received an anonymous bomb threat at the reservation desk
in Colorado Springs, CO. The US Coast Guard was notified at 2:20
PM and a full sweep of the ship and reinspection of passenger luggage
was undertaken. Nothing was found and the ship departed at about
6PM. |
Bomb threat |
| 3.4.07 |
Imagination | From a passenger: I just returned from a trip that was supposed to include a stop at the Cayman Islands, but almost halfway there we had to return to near the Florida Keys to drop off a 'seriously ill' passenger with the Coast Guard. As a result, no Cayman Island port of call was possible on April 02. (We were able to see Ocho Rios, Jamaica as planned on April 3.) A secondary hardship of this misadventure was that we seemed to be sailing at top speed causing extremely strong winds on the upper decks. These winds did not abate until we reached Ocho Rios and returned to our normal time schedule. I never realized how dicey was a ship's itinerary. It is certainly something to consider, risking one of your precious vacations from work on a cruise ship that may trap you at sea for a week with cafeteria quality food in a cabin that is way too small and really very little to do. The few things I did enjoy (trivia contest and dance groups) were over in 30 minutes, or less - almost as soon as they began. My wife made the best of it - she is far less grumpy and more forgiving than I - but I suspect if she takes another Cruise vacation, it will either be solo or with her next husband. | Interesting commentary |
| 30.3.07 |
Carnival Glory | The Baltimore
Sun reports that Naval Academy midshipmen aboard the 10 - 17 March
cruise demonstrated behaviour that was misguided/immature, but not
criminal. According to a passenger, "eight to 10 male midshipmen
groped women, offered to buy alcohol for teenagers and displayed "lewd"
behavior while wearing bikini swim trunks and cowboy boots." The
newspaper includes the following quote: "I was 'felt up' by
one of the very drunk men and I was given the misfortune of watching
them grab and disrespect every woman they could get close to as well as
seeing them offer the underage [15- and 17-year-old] girls at our table
alcohol ... I cannot tell you strongly enough how EMBARRASSED these
"gentlemen" made me feel to be an American. I can only imagine what the
foreigners on our ship and in port thought of us." |
Sexual misconduct |
| 29.3.07 |
Sensation | Departures was delayed several hours after the US Coast
Guard received an anonymous phone call about a bomb on board.
Passengers and crew were evacuated during a two hour search of
the ship. The call was determined to be a hoax. |
Bomb Threat |
| 16.3.07 |
Carnival Glory | A
35 year old man was rescued approximately eight hours after jumping or
falling overboard from the ship when it was 30 miles east of Fort
Lauderdale. A witness said that the man, who was intoxicated, ran
through a window and then fell 60 feet into the ocean -- it is not
clear whether the window was open at the time. The ship was en
route
to Nassau and will arrive slightly behind schedule. |
Person Overboard -- Rescued Alive |
| 4.3.07 |
Carnival Miracle | From a passenger on the 7
day sailing (25 Feb - 4 Mar): We
had a wonderful cruise for the first four days, but the night of
Wednesday Feb. 28th brought gale force winds and high seas as we passed
Costa Maya on our way to Belize. On Thursday the winds diminished
enough to allow passengers to partake in excursions, but the Turneffe
Atoll snorkel I was scheduled for had to be redirected to a more
protected location because of the rough seas. The next morning
the ship was unable to dock at Costa Maya due to rough seas -- I later
learned that the same thing had happened the week before.. As the
ship made its way back to the US along the Mexican coastline and passed
outside of Cozumel the winds and seas began to diminish. |
Missed port |
| 2.3.07 |
Carnival Valor | A passenger getting off yesterday in St. Maarten never
returned to the ship and wasn't seen until after a newspaper article
appeared on March 7. The 50-year-old woman
had last been seen by her mother after they arrived in Phillipsburg and
there was fear that something had happened. As it turns out,
she'd simply missed the boat. |
Missing ashore? |
| 1.3.07 |
Celebration |
Embarkation was delayed about an hour after a disembarking
passenger had found onboard and turned in at the Purser's Desk 2 rounds
of .22 caliber ammunition.Coast Guard and Border Patrol inspectors
insured that X-ray machines and metal detectors were oparting properlyt
and conducted an expanded security inspection of the vessal. |
Security |
| 22.2.07 |
Carnival Liberty | Three muggers attempting to rob a dozen seniors on a tour
bus (a privately arranged tour) in Limon (Costa Rica) were
foiled. A man, about 70 years of age, put one suspect into a head
lock and broke his clavicle -- he died of asphixiation; the other two
men armed with a knife and a gun fled after the other senior citizens
began defending themselves. In December, a passenger was shot
(not critically) in a robbery attempt while on a walk along a boardwalk
in a Limon city park. |
Pax Foil Robbery |
| 10.2.07 |
Fantasy | A barge struck the ship on the Mississippi River near New
Orleans, leaving a 30 foot gash (about 5 feet above the waterline) in
its hull and forcing cancellation of the five day cruise that
followed. There were no injuries and no reports of
pollution. Passengers on the cancelled cruise received a full
refund and a 25% discount on a future cruise of 3, 4, or 5 days.
(See New
Orleans Times-Picayune) |
Collision -- Cancelation |
| 4.2.07 |
Carnival Pride |
Reports from the ship state the vessel is experiencing
unspecified mechanical problems and has reduced her speed from 20 to 10
knots, delaying her arrival in Long Beach by one full day. The
cruise scheduled to begin today will operate a modified 6 day schedule
(cancelling Puerto Vallarta) and will leave from San Pedro instead of
Long Beach, but return to Long Beach. Passengers opting to sail
received a 15% refund and a $50 shipboard credit. |
Mechanical problems - Delayed arrival & departure |
| 30.1.07 |
Carnival Valor | Two
American tourists (brothers aged 23 and 26) arrested in Belize City
with 70 grams of cocaine before reboarding the ship on January 23rd
plead guilty to charges of drug trafficking and paid fines of $10,000
each. The two had been busted at 4:30 PM at the Tourist
Village.
Based on information they had received, police approached the brothers
and told them a search would be conducted on them. While being
escorted to the terminal, 4 bags containing cocaine fell from one
brother's pants. He was found holding another 3 bags and the other
brother was six bags. |
Drug Bust |
| 14.1.07 |
Carnival Destiny |
From a passenger: Woke up to the Captain’s 5AM announcement
of a bomb threat. Crew did search of entire ship, while breakfast
started at 6 AM for the passengers. Some crew members downplayed
incident, while others were visibly nervous. Docking into San
Juan was delayed, then passengers were held onboard until 10 AM, some
missing flights, others starting excursions late. Handled
smoothly except the part of holding passengers on a ship with the
potential “bomb”. The Destiny cruises the Eastern
Caribbean from San Juan as the embarkation/debarkation point.
|
Bomb threat / Delayed arrival |
| 3.1.07 |
Fantasy | An 18 year old male was rescued by a Coast Guard Helicoptor
while the ship was 250 miles west of Clearwater Beach (Florida).
The teenager suffered head trauma when he fell from the ship's mast to
the deck and landed on his head. He was last reported in stable
condition. [Med Evacs are not normally reported, however this
case relates to an injury suffered onboard.] |
Med Evaced Injury |
| 2.1.07 |
Carnival Legend | Passengers were notified this afternoon that their 8-day
cruise scheduled to leave tomorrow from Fort Lauderdale will depart a
day late because "The ship was forced to make a significant route
deviation in order to facilitate a special medical emergency
evacuation" -- the deviation was apparently between Martinique and Fort Lauderdale. The ship will
drop Belize City from its itinerary;
passengers will receive a 15% refund and a 20% discount on a future 3
to 8 day cruise departing prior to December 15, 2008. |
Delayed Arrival / Departure |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2006 |
Incident |
| 28.12.06 |
Carnival Valor |
A 55-year-old woman died after getting "in difficulty" while
snorkeling on an shore excursion at Grand Cayman. According to
the tour operator (as reported by Cay
Compass News Online), "Somebody swum away from the boat and got a
little too far, and they got tired before they got back to the boat." |
Pax death on excursion |
| 15.11.06 |
Carnival Liberty |
It wasannounced to day that the cruise scheduled to depart
November 19th from Port Everglades will now depart on November 21 in
order to allow the company to throughly clean/sanitize the ship
following the current cruise where many passengers reported ill.
The new itinerary will be a four day cruise to Key West and
Cozumel. Passengers choosing to take the new itinerary will
receive a 50% refund on this cruise and a 50% discount on a future
cruise. Passengers can also choose to cancel the cruise and
receive a full refund which will be processed within two weeks. |
Itinerary Change |
| 10.11.06 |
Ecstasy |
From a passenger: Departed on a five day cruise from Galveston. Early next morning the announcement came that we were diverting to Progresso, Mexico instead of continuing to Cozumel because of "propulsion problems". This upset us more as time went on and when we found out that this has been an ongoing problem with the ship and has happened at least 3 times in recent months. It made for a disappointing cruise. | Engine Problems / Itinerary change |
| 6.11.06 |
Elation |
Four passengers were injured when a welded piece of the
gangway gave way around 12:30 while passengers were embarking at Port
Canaveral for a 5
day cruise to Turks and Caicos. Safety ropes kept the gangway
from falling more than a foot, but the jolt was enought to throw four
people sprwling onto the gangway. Three were treated and released
from hospital. None of the injured proceeded with the cruise. |
Gangway Slips / Injuries |
| 4.11.06 |
Carnival Conquest |
A 42 year old man fell/jumped from his balcony at
approximately
11:00 PM. The ship
did search and rescue and then search and recovery for 4 hours and then
halted operations at 3:30 AM. Coast Guard helicoptors and several
vessels (including oil rig barges) aided in the search and were later
joined by a Coast
Guard cutter -- they continued the search witout success. The
ship resumed its course to Galveston, likely to arrive 3 or 4 hours
late. |
Passenger overboard |
| 20.10.06 |
Carnival Valor |
The ship made an uscheduled stop at Cozumel to let off a passenger who had a medical ermergency. It was on its return from Costa Maya to Miami. on this seven day cruise, due back in Miami on Sunday. The delay created by the stop was minor and will easily be made up. | Diversion for Medical Emergency |
| 19.10.06 |
Inspiration |
The five day cruise ending today had some issues around a group of 450 alternative lifestyle passengers (swingers). There is debate about how disruptive the group was ... rather than detail the issues here, go to Cruise Critic if you'd like more information (from different perspectives). | Onboard disruptive behaviour |
| 4.10.06 |
Imagination |
From a passenger: While in line to board (on Sept 30), passengers were informed of a propulsion problem that would prevent the ship from reaching maximum speed ... therefore an itinerary change was - 1 day in Nassau and 3 days in Freeport. The resulting "five day cruise to Cayman and Jamaica" was horrible considering Freeport had 2 major hotels closed due to prev. storm damage, and Carnivals only offer was 100$ onboard credit per pass.- cement factory was the view from the ship which stayed in port for most of the cruise. | Itinerary change |
| 30.9.06 |
Carnival Conquest |
From Cruise Critic: Around 3:00 PM we heard an announcement ... and then all of a sudden made a 90 degree turn on a dime. It was pretty scary, I called the pursers desk and they said that ... someone or something had fallen off the ship. I went out on our balcony to see what was going on and no one really knew. By this time, everyone on the ship was now hanging over the right side ... Come to find out later - (all speculation here) there was a young lady on 11 having an argument with her boyfriend. She was either sitting on the rail, or standing near the rail and was either pushed, fell over, or jumped off the backof the boat to her death. She missed the water and hit the balcony on level 6 landing on her back ... Speculation was that she jumped [but] no one really knows exactly what happened ... Click here for an account from Events Page readers and the Associated Press. | Passenger Death |
| 28.9.06 |
Ecstasy |
Upon embarkation, passengers were given a letter stating
that due to a problem with the propulsion system, the ship could not
attain maximum cruising speed, and would be docking in Progreso
rather than Cozumel. The four-day Western Caribbean cruise
embarked from Galveston. |
Itinerary change |
| 11.9.06 |
Imagination |
A 35 year old woman was reported missing when the ship docked in Miami after a four-day cruise to Key West and Mexico. The woman was reportedly least seen by relatives in the early morning hours of Saturday (10 Sept), several hours after leaving Calica. | Pax Missing |
| 29.8.06 |
Sensation | At
approximately 2:20 AM, a crew member was picked up by a female taxi
driver to see his friend in Nassau. The taxi driver stopped for another
male, who gun-pointed the crew member and demanded everything from his
pockets. The crew member gave up his cell phone, digital camera,
and
$60.00 cash to the suspct, who then asked the crew for more. The
crew
member fought the armed man in the taxi and escaped through the side
window where he ran back to Bay Street. The crew member claims he
cheated death and was lucky to get out of a situation like
this. He
went to the local Bahamian police the next cruise to investigate, and
the police claimed this was a regular set up in Nassau. The crew
member had a quick recovery but won't forget the experience. |
Crew member robbed in Nassau |
| 25.8.06 |
Celebration |
After its accident August 15, the itinerary for the August
17 departure was altered (Freeport canceled) because the ship was
operating at reduced speeds. The August 21 cruise was canceled so
the ship could be repaired. Repairs took longer than anticipated
and the cruise scheduled to begin August 26 was shortened 3 days and
will embark August 28. |
Cancelations |
| 18.8.06 |
Celebration |
One of the ship's propellers struck bottom while approaching
the dock at Nassau spilling an estimated 200 liters of lubricating oil
and affecting the operation of the engine. The Nassau call was
cancelled and the ship is en route back to its homeport, Jacksonville. |
Environmental |
| 27.7.06 |
Carnival Pride |
From a reader: Carnival
Pride is here in Vancouver today (!). It normally only cruises
Mexico, and it took me forever to figure out why it’s here. Someone
posted saying there’s a tropical storm headed for the Mexican Riviera,
so the sailing was forced to come to Canada instead (possibly due to
the Jones Act?) Someone has posted on Cruisecritic in a ‘live
from the Pride 7/26) thread, but it keeps getting lost. Most
people thought it was some kind of joke. No info is on Carnival’s
site about the matter, so I am guessing they were told when they
boarded the ship. |
Itinerary change |
| 23.7.06- 30.7.06 |
Carnival Destiny |
A passenger reports that the ship departed San Juan one day
late (because of mechanical probelms) and that Aruba was skipped as a
port of call. |
Mechanical Problems - Itinerary change |
| 21.6.06 |
Imagination |
CBS
in Miami reports that a crew member was reported missing after not
reporting for duty Tuesday afternoon. The ship was enroute from
Miami
to Grand Cayman on a five-day cruise. A search was conducted but
without results. |
Crew Member Missing |
| 17.6.06 |
Inspiration |
An apparent onshore labour dispute in Cozumel delayed
tendering operations for about two hours and caused some shore
excursions to be shortened or cancelled. |
Delayed tendering |
| 27.5.06 |
Carnival Legend |
A 35 year old male passenger jumped overboard in front of his wife and two young sons (5 and 3), apparently during an argument over onboard spending (gambling and alcohol). The ship was 650 miles offshore after leaving Tortola on its return to New York. A 12 hour search was undertaken without results. The May 28 cruise departed late (3 AM) because of the ship's late arrival. Embarking passengers received a $50 onboard credit. | Passenger Overboard |
| 20.5.06 |
Inspiration |
An 82-year old man who was traveling by himself went missing
and, based on a note found, is presumed to have committed suicide. |
Suicide |
| 2.4.06 |
Sensation Fantasy |
Because of continuing problems with the Sensation's
propulsion, it has been reported that the two ships will switch
itineraries on April 6. Both operate out of Port Canaveral. |
Ship Switch |
| 1.4.06 |
Holiday |
The ship returned to Mobile from its first cruise since the
lease to FEMA and like the Sensation passengers complained about the
ship not being up to standards. Hot water was inconsistent,
repairs and maintenance were still being done while passengers were
onboard (e.g., hot tubs were out of service and being welded with
children nearby), and toilets were not working properly -- As stated by
MSN-NBC, "...crew members work to prepare the ship for another five day
cruise, a cruise so many others ... wish they had not taken. "I don't
want that ship to leave today with
another group of two thousand victims". See here for more info. |
Maintenance problems |
| 28.3.06 |
Sensation |
The ship will have to shorten its current trip to the Bahamas, missing a stop at Grand Turk, because of a problem with the ship's propulsion system. The Sensation is not able to travel fast enough to reach Grand Turk, and instead will stop at Freeport. The same will be the case on the next cruise. |
Itinerary change (Propulsion) |
| 24.3.06 |
Imagination |
The ship returned to Key West two hours after leaving
because of a medical issue. The ship then changed its next port
of call from Calica (Mexico) to the Bahamas. |
Itinerary change |
| 23.3.06 |
Sensation |
Coast Guard inspectors
detained the ship at Port Canaveral
until the captain and crew could fix violations related to the ship's
fire-control systems. The ship was supposed to set sail at 4 p.m.
on a four-day voyage to the Bahamas, but will be delayed until late in
the evening. Inspectors found deficiencies in fire-safety
systems, specifically
some fire screen doors, fire station valves - which are like a
fire hydrant - and watertight doors. Repairs were made and the
ship finally left more than 6 hours late. There were apparently
problems on the cruise, and 8 passengers were forcibly evicted from
ship when in the Bahamas -- details can be found here
and here. |
Detained in Port -- Safety
Violations |
| 22.3.06 |
Carnival Liberty |
There was a complete power failure that lasted approximately
1 hours (10 - 11PM) and it was another hour or so before everything
appeared "back to normal". Passengers report on this at Cruise
Critic. |
Power failure |
| 19.3.06 |
Carnival Destiny |
According to a message at Cruise Critic, the ship was supposed to dock at 7 AM today in San Juan but was slowed because of a propulsion problem (a propeller had been damaged). It finally docked at 4PM; passengers were still disembarking at 1 AM. Many had waited for hours for Carnival to find them hotel rooms because the delayed arrival meant missed flights. Embarking passengers were still boarding at 2 AM. The following cruise (19-26 March) was apparently still plagued with propulsion problems. One passenger writes: "We arrived at all ports late and left all early. For instance we were supposed to leave Aruba at 10PM but left before 7PM. Cut down time on all our shore excursions. No on the ship would confirm anything. They knocked $25/pp off everyone's bill and gave out free drinks for 2 hours toward the end of the trip. Very disappointed." | Propulsion problems |
| 11.3.06 |
Imagination |
Messages from two passengers indicate the ship never made it
to the Port of Calica "due to weather" (i.e., high winds). "We just sat
at sea and waved to Calica/Playa del Carmen from the upper deck."
The only compensation given was a $25/person credit. The only
port call on the four night cruise was a half day at Key West. |
Missed port |
| 11.3.06 |
Ecstasy |
The ship housing Katrina refugees broke loose from its moorings in New Orleans and spun out into the Mississippi River, and narrowly avoided hitting a pair of Military Sea Lift Command ships moored nearby. The Ecstasy, with quick help from a river pilot and three tugs, came to rest about 300 feet from the Algiers riverbank, just downriver from Algiers Point. The episode began about 5:35 a.m. when a large metal bollard holding some tie-down lines at the old wharf broke off, starting a chain reaction of line breaks. | Near catastrophe |
| 10.1.06 |
Carnival Legend |
It was reported that a 65 year old man died while part of a
snorkeling shore excursion at Shark Bay Alley in Belize. The man,
part of a group of nine toruists, experienced difficulties in the water
and was rushed to the Caye Caulker Village Clinic where he was
pronounced dead, apparently from a heart attack. This is the
third such case in as many months: in November a 68 year old man from
the Norwegian
Dream disappeared while snokeling in the same area -- his body
was never found; in December a woman from the Caribbean Princess
who was participating in a snorkeling expedition in Sint Maarten was
found dead underwater -- it is unknown whether she had a heart attack
or an accident underwater. |
Death on Shore Excursion (Snorkeling) |
| 1-8.1.06 |
Carnival Conquest and Victory |
From a passenger: Carnival Conquest's departure was delayed for over 4 hours due to fog in Galveston. In Grand Cayman, we met up with passengers from Carnival Victory, who were told after they boarded their ship that they were not allowed to go to Cozumel. They were infuriated when they found out that Conquest was allowed to go. |
Delay -- Missed port |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2005 |
Incident |
| 26.12.05 |
Imagination | From a passenger, 12/24/2005 sailing w/, stops in Cayman and Ocho Rios: Upon awakening Monday morning, December 26, we were off the coast of Grand Cayman. Our captain told us it was to rough to anchor at our spot on the island and that we are being turned away. But the ship did offload a sick child and to pick up several passengers who missed the boat in Miami. A tender came out to our vessel to accomplish this. This small tender did not roll or bob in the lake like waters surrounding our vessel(maybe the sea had an occasional one foot chop at most). We could see three other vessels were at anchor including the Carnival Inspiration(?) and had offloaded their passengers on tenders. We weren't offered anything to make up for this; i don't buy their excuse for not stopping ... there has to be another reason. | Missed Port |
| 14.11.05 |
Fascination |
From a passenger: Delayed in Key West due to technical difficulties. As a result, cancelled Mexico Calica port and went to Nassau Bahamas instead. My group already booked to go to Nassau on same ship for the next three day cruise that week. Others reported that they lived in Nassau Bahamas and were very angry that they were going there. No compensation given. | Itinerary change |
| 21-24.10.05 |
Fascination |
The ship was delayed returning to Miami for two days as a
result of Hurrican Wilma. The ship experienced very rough seas
while "waiting" at sea and on Monday "tipped severely, injuring several
passengers. Some passengers who needed medical attention had
difficulty communicating with foreign workers." (Des Moines
Register) A passenger onboard reports that there was considerable
damage to the shops and displays given the severe wave action and that the zero deck was ankle deep in water. The cruise director
came on the intercom after the list and announced that they had made a
maneuver. |
Severe List |
| 17.10.05 |
Paradise |
Disembarkation was delayed 6 hours until the ship was cleared by the FBI which was investigating a woman's death during the cruise (sometime Saturday, reportedly on R deck around room 145). Many assumed it was drug-related since there was evidence of drug use on board, but this is just conjecture. According to news reports, "authorities do not believe foul play was involved." The cruise, running 14 - 17 October, was the Xingolati Groove Cruise of the Pacific. Embarkation of the next cruise was also delayed. The death was later ruled to be caused by “the toxic effects of methadone,” | Death on Board --- Delays |
| 11.8.05 |
Carnival Glory |
A 30-year-old muscian was found deceased in his cabin.
There were no signs of foul play and the death is presumed to be from
natural causes. See the report in Florida
Today. |
Death onboard |
| 6-11.8.05 |
Imagination |
The cruise boarded 6 hours late because a medical emergency
on the prior cruise caused a late return to Miami. The ship was
further delayed (another 5+ hours) the next day after a 20-year old
woman jumped overboard at 5AM -- she was subsequently found by another
ship around noon and flown (alive) to Miami. Because of the
delays, Ocho Rios
was dropped from the itinerary; passengers were given a $40 onboard
credit. |
Delay -- Missed Port -- Passenger Overboard |
| 3.8.05 |
Carnival Legend |
FROM A PASSENGER: Around 10PM we looked out of our balcony,
on the starboard side on deck 7, and saw heavy, heavy smoke coming
from the lower levels towards the front of the ship. Although I
did never actually see flames, there were extremely bright flickering
lights coming from the same place. Within minutes, there was an
announcement for everyone to proceed to the upper, open decks.
The late show had to be evacuated ... and people who's room was in that
area said their rooms and hallways were filled with thick white
smoke. The Cruise Director announced "there was a problem in the
engine room and that something had overheated". Later it was an
"oily substance". All I can tell you for sure was that
it was heavy smoke. People had their life jackets on, very
unsettling. This lasted over an hour. No real explanation and of
course no compensation. |
?Fire? Lots of smoke |
| 16-21.7.05 |
Ecstasy |
Like many other ships, Ecstasy changed its itinterary to
avoid the hazardous weather. However, passengers on the 5-day
July 16 cruise had a "cruise to nowhere" and report Carnival refused to
refund port charges paid by passengers. A person posting at
Cruise Critic however referes to receiving a certificate for 50% off a
future cruise. |
No Refund of port charges |
| 13.7.05 |
Carnival Legend |
From a passenger just back: Just out of Tortola, heading for NYC on Wed July 13. 5:10 pm, "computer glitch" causes hard left turn, that combined with a strong wind offf the starboard side, results in a 14 degree list causing injuries and damage. We were on port side, on balcony, and felt like the ship was going to turn over; pool water, and debris streamed past our window. Crew members said they had NEVER experienced a list of that degree. | Unexpected List |
| 24.6.05 |
Elation |
The Houston
Chronicle reports that a 40-year old woman travelling with her
husband and three teenaged children went missing off the Caribbean
coast
of Mexico at 11 AM. The ship
conducted a full search where she was presumed to have gone overboard
but was not successful in finding her. Though not
explicitly stated, news
reports imply she committed suicide. Unrelated is that the
ship lost power and was adrift for an hour around mid-day on Saturday
(June 25). |
?Suicide? Loss of Power |
| 14.6.05 |
Carnival Glory Carnival Victory |
Carnival was fined $65,000 and its ships were turned away
from St. Thomas and San Juan because the company had not provided the
US Coast Guard with documents listing names of passengers and crew.
along with the ship's last five ports of call, per security
requirements. Both ships were delayed 4 hours until required
documents could be provided and reviewed. Carnival blames the
problem on a computer glitch that has since been repaired. |
Noncompliance with security requirements |
| 7 - 14.6.05 |
Carnival Spirit |
Passengers were told at 6 AM the first morning after embarkation that the ship had engine problems and would be missing three points on the itinerary: Prince William Sound. College Fjord, and Sitka; its stop in Ketchikan was cut short. As one passenger wrote, "We were very upset about missing the glacier viewing and Sitka. We will never be able to take this trip again, we saved for over 2 years and will not be able to come back to Alaska, their gesture of a $50.00 credit is a insult to our intelligence." Another passenger posted the following at Cruise Critic and clarified the nature of the problem: The ship starboard side propeller hit an iceberg or ice on the northbound trip which departed Vancouver. The damage was bad enough that it bent one of the propellers. Because of this damage, the ship could not use the engine and therefore could not reach the required speed to visit the missed ports. Also the damaged propeller caused a large amount of vibration which was noticeable when we attended dinner the second night. When we arrived in Juneau, Carnival had divers waiting to correct the problem. | Propulsion problems --- Missed ports |
| 5 - 12.6.05 |
Carnival Valor |
Reported by a passenger:
On June 7, the ship encountered
mechanical problems which brought it to a complete stop between Nassau
and St Thomas. Then on June 9, after leaving St Maarten, we went back
to St Thomas and docked at approx 1:30am on June 10
to deliver a heart attack patient to a waiting ambulance. This delay
caused us to sail back to Miami north of the Bahamas rather than south
of the islands to make
up for lost time. This caused a slightly rough ride in the Atlantic
both ways. Of the 3,300 guests on board, there were 550 children, and they were running loose, falling at the pools, and there was at least one case of defecation in a pool. Kids running down the halls at midnight, yelling. Darting through the shopping areas almost tripping older guests. Just a zoo because of the kids on board. |
Propulsion and other problems |
| 10.6.05 |
Holiday |
The ship's return to Mobile is delayed more than one day,
until
Sunday, because of Tropical Storm Arlene. The ship will arrive at
Sunady at 4PM rather than Saturday morning. The next voyage,
which was to have been a five-day cruise is now converted to a four day
cruise to Cozumel. |
Weather delays |
| 7.6.05 |
Carnival Spirit |
5 longshoremen were arrested after they blocked a busful of
cruise passengers in Whittier, Alaska. The union accuses Carnival
of violating US law by using foreign workers to load and unload luggage
from Carnival ships." One week later it was announced that
Carnival agreed to use American workers on future visits to
Whittier, per Federal regulations. Click here,
here,
and here
for media coverage. |
Labour Dispute |
| 23.5.05 |
Carnival Destiny |
The ship lost power and propulsion at 7AM -- it was dead in
the water for 8 hours and without electricty and air conditioning for
about two hours. The engines were finally operational at 3 PM and
the ship headed to St. Lucia, skipping Aruba as a port of call.
See here
for detailed description. |
Loss of Power and Propulsion Problems |
| 23.5.05 |
Carnival Legend | Several passengers report the ship altered course to rescue
a man on a small vessel who became ill while traveling alone from
Florida to Portugal. The man was transferred to hospital in San
Juan the next day. No further details are known. |
Rescue at Sea |
| 16.5.05 |
Carnival Destiny |
Two elderly passengers (aged 67 and 71) disappeared Thursday May 12th between 8:30 PM and 4 AM while the ship was going from Barbados to Aruba. Their couple's belongings were found in a pile on one of the decks, but this was consistent with what they did every night. The FBI investigated but the case was closed. The couple is presumed to have died at sea, but of unknown cause. It remains a mystery for the couple's family. See here for more info. | Missing at Sea |
| 14.5.05 |
Carnival Valor |
From a passenger: In the Washington Dining Room at the 8:30 seating, after dinner during the dining staff entertainment, a supposedly drunken woman hopped on top of one of the pedestals that are used to hold trays and danced to the music, swaying. She fell off and landed on top of a round table and everyone commented on how amazing it was that not even a glass was broken. At that time, there were moans from a woman who had been unnoticed but was laying under the table, having been hit by the woman who fell. The woman suffered a broken neck and has since had surgery. (The husband of the woman who was hit has posted multiple times on Cruisemates.com begging for anyone who may have video or pictures of the incident.) | Injury -- Request for
witnesses |
| 25.4.05 |
Carnival Victory |
First
Coast News in Jacksonville, FL reported a Massachusetts couple were
bitten by bed bugs while on a cruise in March -- they woke in the
middle of the night to find "40, 50, 60 bugs just crawling all over the
top half of the bed" and that their bathrobe was covered with the adult
bugs. Carnival Cruise Line acknowledged the bed bug infestation
and says a previous guest brought them onboard. |
Bed Bugs |
| 14.4.05 |
Carnival Valor |
There were multiple reports that a passenger jumped from the bow of the ship at about 3AM, reportedly after losing $10,000 at the casino. Crew observed the man going overboard and he was rescued about 45 minutes after the initial "man overboard" alert. There was an ambulance on the pier when the ship arrived at St. Maarten; his party was apparently not allowed to remain on the ship. | Passenger overboard |
| 11-16.4.05 |
Imagination |
From a passenger: "There was loss of propulsion on the first night of our cruise. The ship lost half of the propulsion system. Captain cancelled both ports: Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Instead we went to Cozumel Mexico. They gave us a $100 onboard credit and 25 percent off our next cruise. | Propulsion problems |
| 10.4.05 |
Paradise |
Though airlifts from cruise ships are not uncommon, it is
unusual that three passengers would be airlifted the same day.
That was the case in San Diego. A 78-year-old man who fell and broke his hip and a 64-year-old woman with a tear in her esophagus (reportedly after walking through a glass door at an onboard shop) were airlifted Saturday night from Oosterdam; the following morning a 55-year-old woman suffering "severe internal pain" was airlifted from the Paradise. These are reminders not to travel without adequate health insurance that will cover such emergencies. |
Airlift ill pax |
| 8.4.05 |
Carnival Cruise Line | Carnival in a regulatory filing made yesterday said it has
meritorious defense against a lawsuit claiming it failed to pay overtime to as many as 15,000 cruise ship
workers. The suit was filed on
behalf of a half-dozen waiters, cabin attendants and kitchen employees
on various Carnival ships. It contends that they worked more than 70
hours a week and were not paid overtime as specified in an employment
agreement. See South
Florida Sun-Sentinel. |
Labour issues |
| 17.3.05 |
Inspiration |
According
to a report filed with Cozumel's National Marine Park office, at 15:30
hours the Inspiration passed within a meter and a half (60") of a group
of 12 divers who were exploring the bottom of reef
Paraíso. According to the reports of dive masters
with Aqua Safari, the force of the
propellers raised sediment so that it was impossible to see the palm of
your
hand. This situation produced panic among the divers who feared for
their lives and risked
being sucked up into the enormous propellers. The incident is
being investigated. The ship's departure was delayed three
hours. (Put more simply, the dive shop explained the situation as
follows: The basic theme is the
Inspiration fell asleep and went broadside to the wind as the front
came in. It came close to broadsiding the Grand Princess at dock, GOT INTO the national park, and
put my divers into the waring blender. It is amazing no one was killed.) |
Environmental Public Hazard |
| 12.3.05 |
Ecstasy |
The ship will depart late after
its arrival is delayed by continuing engine problems. from the
previous cruise. According to the Houston Chronicle: Carnival hopes a problem the ship's engines can be fixed at the dock today by technicians flown in to do the job, but if the problem persists, passengers who choose to sail anyway face the possibility of a slow "cruise to nowhere" in the Gulf of Mexico instead of scheduled visits to the Mexican ports and beaches of Cozumel and Playa del Carmen. "If we don't get the problem fixed at the dock, It's a two-port, one-port or no-port possibility for the cruise," Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz said. |
Engine problems continue |
| 9.3.05 |
Ecstasy |
Ecstasy headed toward Mexico but the itinerary was uncertain. It was expected to arrive at Progreso, Mexico Thursday where the faulty part would be replaced but weather conditions prevented it from docking. It is now a "cruise to nowhere." Following a protest by 500 passengers on Wednesday afternoon with chants of "No Progresso, take us home." Passengers were subsequently compensated with $40 per person credit to their shipboard accounts to cover meal expenses on Monday prior to boarding when the ship was late arriving in Galveston, a 50% refund of their cruise fare and a 25% discount on a future three- to eight-day Carnival cruise. | Engine problems |
| 7.3.05 |
Ecstasy |
The ship's return to Galveston was delayed 14 or more hours
because of a malfunction of the propulsion system on its return from a
trip to Mexico. It was expected to dock no earlier than 10 PM
rather than the 8 AM scheduled disembarkation. The departure of
the following cruise was delayed until 3 AM on Tuesday morning. |
Engine problems |
| 19 - 26.2.05 |
Carnival Glory |
From a passenger: I was on the Carnival Glory on its 2/19 cruise to what was to be the Eastern Caribbean. When in Nassau, 2/20 the Cruise Director announced the ship had 'Engine Problems' and we couldn't make it to the Virgin Islands. So we spent the next 6 days off the coast of Florida. |
Engine problems / Canceled port calls |
| 6.2.05 |
Carnival Valor |
A SOBER REMINDER FOR THOSE TEMPTED -- From
a passenger: This one should go under "should of known better" or "Just plain stupid" A young honeymoon couple was escorted off the ship (they were on our tender) with officials from the ship. They had brought drugs on and the husband had some sort of overdose incident. They left them in Belize, not sure if they were handed over to the Belize authorities or just left to their own devices. |
Say "No" to Drugs |
| 12.1.05 |
Holiday |
Carnival Cruise
Lines
announced that the
|
Missed ports |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2004 |
Incident |
| 30.12.04 |
Holiday |
Cruise to Cozumel changed to a 4-night "cruise to nowhere"
because mechanical problems made it impossible for the ship to make it
to Cozumel and back. Passengers given a choice to cancel if the wanted. COMPENSATION: $100 on onboard account OR cancel and full refund |
Propulsion problems |
| 25/26.12.04 |
Carnival Miracle | From a passenger: We pitched over violently to one side,
shattering 10's of thousands of dollars in kitchen ware, booze,
etc. Tossed stuff all over the cabins. Had tugboats pull us
to a temporary dock since we were coming back into Tampa and couldn't
hold our own against the winds. From what I heard, we drifted
onto sand and that caused us to pitch to one side. Didn't see
anything in the news about it. |
Weather |
| 6 - 11.12.04 |
Celebration | Received from a reader: Our first stop to Grand Cayman was cancelled because, apparently, a crew member was struck by a forklift and broke his back (per the captain). The ship was re-routed to Cozumel (nearest port) where the injured person was disembarked. Our first port was then changed to Playa del Carmen. The crew member is now in Miami in critical condition. |
Crew injured |
| 5.12.04 |
Carnival Pride | A 37-year old woman disappeared from the ship late Saturday
evening while 30 miles off the Mexican coast. A search proved
unsuccessful. There is question regarding whether there foul play
was involved. See
here for more info. |
Person overboard |
| 25.11.04 |
Celebration | A 54-year-old man was reported missing, possibly at sea,
after the ship arriving home from a five day cruise to the Bahamas. |
Person overboard |
| 18.11.04 |
Carnival Conquest | Posters at Cruise Critic have reported a 60-year-old German
man committed suicide by throwing himself overboard and into the water
when the ship was in port at Georgetown, Cayman Islands. |
Suicide |
| 13.11.04 |
Holiday |
The ship lost engine power and collided with some pilings along the Mobile River before dawn. As the ship made a turn to head back to its berth at the new cruise terminal, its starboard engine and bow thruster died. Despite being assisted by a tugboat, it collided bow-on with pilings. It eventually regained power and slipped into its berth. | Collision |
| 22.8.04 |
Holiday |
The ship rescued five people, including a 10-year-old boy, after their fishing boat burned and capsized off the coast of Cancún. A search ensued after ship employees reported hearing someone yell from the water. | Rescue |
| 11 - 19.8.04 |
Carnival Legend |
The 8-day cruise from NYC to the Caribbean took a detour to
Bermuda and passengers spent three days in port while repairs were made
to an electrical component in the Azipod propulsion system.
Passengers returned to NYC from Bermuda. |
Propulsion problems Ports skipped |
| 4.8.04 |
Carnival Miracle |
The Baltimore Sun carried a story that Carnival had been forced to bump passengers on cruises leaving from Baltimore because the cruises were overbooked. Hundreds of passengers have had their cruise cancelled. See story in Baltimore Sun (August 4, 2004) | Overbooking |
| 31.7.04 |
Carnival Miracle |
At
4 AM, just hours before docking in NYC, an announcement came over the
public address system saying, "This is the Captain speaking. All
crew members abandon ship." This was followed a few minutes later
by a message from a female saying all was well and the previous message
was a mistake. The Captain followed a bit later apologizing with
the explanation that teenagers had gotten hold of the public address
system. |
Hoax |
| 26.7.04 |
Carnival Legend |
There was a medical emergency on the prior cruise, requiring the ship to stop in Bermuda on its way back to NYC and causing it to arrive late in NYC. The cruise beginning today will sail approximately 8 hours later than planned, departing at midnight rather than 4 PM. | Delayed departure |
| 23.7.04 |
Fascination |
A passenger is suspected to have fallen overbaord -- he was
last seen at 3:30 AM, was reported missing at 7:00 AM, and did not
disembark at the end of the cruise in Miami. The story is on-line
at: NBC
6 - Miami and at the Sun
Sentinel |
Man Overboard |
| 7.7.04 |
Jubilee |
A
passenger onboard has reported that there are major engine
problems on the current 5 day cruise from Jacksonville and that ports
of call have been cancelled/changed. They were to go to Key West
and Nassau and
instead went to Freeport today and are in Nassau tomorrow -- both are
shortened
port stays. |
Engine Problems |
| 7.6.04 |
Carnival Destiny |
A
passenger reported that "the
ship broke down while cruising from St.Thomas to Dominica. We were
delayed
3.5 hours. Also, while docked at St.Thomas there was a fire in one of
trash incinerators. Passengers were delayed 45 minutes to board. There
was no cause given as to why the fire started." |
Propulsion problems |
| 5.6.04 |
Carnival Miracle |
It
was announced that the August
28, 2004 sailing would be cancelled for maintenance on the seal on the
slewing bearing, a component of the steering drive in the podded
propulsion
unit. Carnival says it has made a temporary fix that will suffice
for now. |
Cancellation |
| 18.5.04 |
Carnival Sensation |
Four
foreign seamen fell about 100 feet during a lifeboat
drill when a winch failed while the
ship was docked in Cozumel, Mexico, according to lawsuits filed
May 25 in Miami. The crew members alledgedly suffered broken
legs, hips and spines when the lifeboat smashed into the water. |
Crew injured |
| 13.5.04 |
Carnival Victory |
Passengers
were delayed in disembarking the ship when it
arrived at Grand Cayman and was searched for a bomb. None was found.
The threat was traced to a passenger who was allegedly
inebriated. She was taken into custody by authorities in the Cayman
Islands and was eventually sent back to the US. |
Delay |
| 30.3.04 |
Carnival Glory |
Due
to
dredging operations in Key West, Forida the itinerary will substitute
Costa Maya, Mexico for Key West in May through October. |
Rescheduling |
| 18.3.04 |
Holiday |
The
ship
arrived in New Orleans 12 hours late as a result of
a "technical malfunction." Passengers on the
cruise beginning today were advised not to arrive at the terminal any
earlier than 8PM. All guests were expected to be onboard by 10PM. |
Technical malfunction |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2003 |
Incident |
| 8.9.03 |
Celebration |
Because
of continuing propulsion problems, the itinerary on
this 5 day cruise has been changed to make only one port call in Mexico
rather than two. |
Engine problems |
| 4.9.03 |
Celebration |
Because
of a malfunction in one of the two propulsion
systems, the ship will arrive in Galveston 12 hours later than
scheduled. The following 4-day cruise will depart a day late and
instead of the planned 4-day cruise to Cozumel will be a 3-day trip
without any stops. |
Engine problems |
| 29.7.03 |
Carnival Conquest |
A
25 year old man was charged with raping a 16 year old
female fellow passenger the night before the ship docked at New Orleans
on Sunday, July 27. |
Sexual Assault (Pax on Pax) |
| 11.5.03 |
Carnival Conquest |
A
35 year old man fell from a 10th floor balcony between
midnight and 1 AM. Initial searches for
him were unsuccessful, but the body was found the morning of May 14th. |
Passenger overboard |
| 6.5.03 |
Holiday |
The ship
left port almost 24
hours late after security breaches: an off-duty policeman reported he
had a gun in his luggage (which hadn't been noticed by security), four
bullets were found in the ship's passageway, and another passenger had
left ammunition in his bag. The Coast Guard ordered the ship to
remain at the pier while passengers, crew, and baggage were rechecked.
The ship, scheduled to leave Monday finally departed Tuesday at
4:00 PM. |
Security Breach and Delay |
| 12/13.4.03 |
Celebration |
A
31 year old man accidentally fell overboard in the Gulf of
Mexico (8 hours after leaving Galveston) and was resuced 17 hours later
by a passing cargo vessel. |
Passenger overboard |
| April.03 |
Carnival Legend |
15 year old girl raped by other passenger. Details
here. |
Rape |
| 9.3.03 |
Carnival Conquest |
The US Coast Guard plans to board the CARNIVAL CONQUEST to investigate a sharp roll made by the ship that sent passengers running for life vests, and glass crashing to decks. Many passengers believe the ship tilted abruptly from one side to the other early on the morning to avoid colliding with another vessel. Seven passengers reported to a newspaper in New Orleans that they saw the lights of another vessel silhouetted in thick fog less than 200 yards from the CONQUEST. Carnival Cruise Lines blamed the sudden list on a strong gust of wind that broadsided the ship as it turned into the shipping channel bound for Gulfport, Miss. (Source: Maritime Matters, March 16, 2003) | Near miss collision OR unexpected list |
| 10.2.03 |
Carnival Victory |
Ship
experienced
a 5 degree tilt when a stabilizer malfunctioned. No injuries. |
Unexpected list (tilt) |
| 7.2.03 |
Carnival Legend |
A
24 year old native of Indonesia was charged with sexual
battery after a 28 year old woman identified him as the man who entered
her cabin while she was sleeping around 5 AM on Thursday and raped her.
Police said he used a master key to unlawfully enter the room.
The perpetrator was detained and held by Carnival onboard
security personnel until the ship reached Fort Lauderdale. |
Rape |
| 27 - 30.1.03 |
Ecstasy |
An
older disabled man reportedly jumped to his death from
the top of the atrium into the lobby area of the ship. (Contributed by
two readers of this page who were on that cruise.) |
Suicide |
| 26.1.03 |
Elation |
A 35 year old woman went missing following a fight with her
husband. She was noticed missing the next morning by her husband
when he woke in the morning. |
?Suicide? |
| 14.1.03 |
Ecstasy |
The
company reported an accidental discharge of 60 gallons
of grey water while anchored at Avalon Bay (Catalina Island,
California), approximately one-half mile from land. |
Environmental |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2002 |
Incident |
| 30.11.02 |
Holiday |
This
4 day cruise was first changed to a 2 day
cruise-to-nowhere that was to embark 30 November. It was then
cancelled because the ship remained grounded at Playa del Carmen on
November 29th. December 2nd cruise is
expected to leave on schedule. |
Cancellation |
| 26.11.02 |
Holiday |
The
ship became lodged on a
sandy bottom of the Caribbean Sea, a quarter mile off the coast of
Playa del Carmen. There were no injuries or damage. The
ship was freed on November 29th. |
Grounded |
| 27.10.02 |
Elation |
Cruise
cancelled because of problems with the propulsion
system that limited the ship's speed (Cabo San Lucas skipped on October
20th cruise). Sent to drydock in San Francisco and expected to
return to service for next scheduled cruise. |
Problems with propulsion system |
| August.02 |
Inspiration |
Strikes barge in Mississippi
River -- undamaged and continues on |
Collission |
| 22.7.02 |
Carnival
Destiny |
A
55-year old man found hanging in a shower stall -- an
apparent suicide. Not reported as to crew or pax. (Reported in St. Thomas
Source, 7/22/2002) |
Suicide |
| 30.6.02 | Inspiration |
Problem with propulsion system develops on final leg of cruise; reduced speed and late arrival (3 hours) in New Orleans. | Propulsion system |
| 27.6.02 | Celebration |
Cruise canceled for repairs. | Cancellation |
| 24.6.02 | Celebration |
Technical problem with propulsion system; stop in Playa del Carmen canceled and stop in Cozumel shortened. | Propulsion system |
| 24.5.02 | Carnival Destiny | Technical malfunction caused ship to lose power for a couple of hours. Port call at Aruba replaced by stop in St. Lucia. | Power failure |
| 3.5.02 | Carnival Spirit |
Cruise canceled for repairs. | Cancellation |
| Apr.02 |
Ecstasy, Fantasy, Imagination, Paradise, Sensation, Tropicale | Carnival Corporation pled guilty to numerous occasions from
1996 through 2001 that it discharged oily waste into the sea from their
bilges by improperly using pollution prevention equipment. In
addition, the company falsified the Oil Record Books in order to
conceal its practices. The plea agreement only focusses on
Carnival Cruise Line (and dismisses any future charges against other
Carnival Corp. subsidiaries), however it only applies to the Southern
District of Florida. Other
federal jurisdictions may pursue independent investigation and
prosecution. FINE = $18 million ($9
million fine and $9 million in court-ordered community service to
fund environmental projects in South Florida) |
Environmental Fine |
| 28.4.02 | Carnival Spirit |
Cruise cut short due to air conditioning problems -- 12 day cruise shortened to 9 days. | A/C problems |
| 14.3.02 | Jubilee |
Sailing canceled due to mechanical difficulties. | Cancellation |
| 13.3.02 |
Fantasy |
A
Picasso etching ("Petite Infante Accroupie et Courtisan") valued at
$12,000 was cut from its frame in the early hours of the morning.
It was displayed in front of the casino. |
Robbery |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
Significant Events, 2001 and earlier |
Incident |
| 14.1.01 |
Sensation |
A 19 year old man climbed over a railing and threatened to
kill himself after an argument with his girlfriend. After his
girlfriend pleaded with him to climb to safety, he complied, but
slipped and fell into Hillsborough Bay (Tampa). He did not
survive. |
Accidental death |
| 24.9.00 |
Carnival Victory |
The ship collided with a pier
(her stern brushed the end of the opposite pier and crushed a portion
of concrete platform) as it was leaving New York. |
Collision with pier |
| 25.8.00 |
Elation |
Two cruises cancelled (Oct 29
and Nov 5) in order to perform preventative maintenance on the ship's
Azipod propulsion systems. |
Cancellation |
| 18.8.00 |
Holiday | A 33 year old female passenger
went overboard and missing when ship was near Los Angeles. |
Passenger overboard |
| 31.7.00 |
Elation | A 42 year old male passenger
went overboard and missing when the ship was off the coast of Mexico. |
Passenger
overboard |
| 19.7.00 |
Paradise |
Two additional cruises were
cancelled, after a cruise was halted as it left Miami because of
problems with the propulsion system. |
Propulsion porblems - Cancellaton |
| 23.5.00 |
Carnival Destiny |
The ship arrived in Boston a day
late because of propulsion problems and its following cruise cancelled
after repairs couldn't be made in a resonable time. |
Engine problems / cancellation |
| 12.1.00 |
Celebration |
Fire broke out in the auxilliary
generator while the ship was sailing 100 miules north-west of Montego
Bay, knocking out air conditioning and toilets. The fire was
quickly extinguished and there were no injuries. The ship sailed
to Montego Bay and passengers were flown home. |
Fire |
| 3.1.00 |
Paradise |
Passengers on the millennium
cruise held a protest on the dockside ain Nassau after their itinery
was changed from Tortola and the Eastern Caribbean to Bahamas and
Mexico because of propulsion problems. |
Propulsion problems |
| 22.10.99 |
Tropicale |
The ship's sewage system clogged
up, forcing the company to offer passengers the option of flying home
from Cozumel (with a full refund and free airfare) or staying onboard
and receiving a 75% refund. |
Toilet problems |
| 19.9.99 |
Tropicale | An engine room fire left the
ship adrift for two days in the Gulf of Mexico. Power was
restored and the ship was escorted back to Tampa. Passengers
complained about sewage backups and lack of water for showers and sinks. |
Fire |
| 5.7.99 |
Carnival Destiny | The cruise ship and Coast Guard ended its search for a 22 year old man who disappeared at sea after leaving the ship's nightclub. The ship was between San Juan and Miami. For more information see here. |
Passenger
overboard |
| 16.2.99 |
Carnival Destiny |
Technicians restored partial
power after the ship had drifted for 27 hours off the coast of Turks
and Caicos. Power to two electric propulsion motors was lost at
1:40 AM, leaving the ship adrift. The power loss did not affect
showers, lighting, or air conditioning. |
Power loss - Adrift |
| 20.7.98 |
Ecstasy |
Fire disables the ship, which is adrift and without power for hours. The NTSB eventually ruled the fire had been set off by a spark from a welder in the main laundry setting off lint in the ventilation system. See: Fire on Board the Liberian Passenger Ship Ecstasy Miami, Florida - July 20, 1998, NTSB Report Number: MAR-01-01 | Fire |
| 9.1.98 |
Fantasy | A 35 year old man fell over the aft railing from the
outdoor restaurant and lost at sea. Witness accounts conflict
as to whether he was standing or sitting on a table when he lost his
balance and fell over the railing. |
Passenger overboard |
| 28.6.97 |
Jubilee |
The ship reportedly made a
sudden turn to avoid a collision with a fleet of fishing boats, waking
passengers in the early morning hours. The ship was 25 miles off
the coast of San Diego. |
Near collision |
| 21.11.96 |
Sensation |
A power faiulure lasted several
hours and caused a change in itinerary -- the ship skipped St. Thomas
and went to St. Croix instead of St. Maarten. |
Power failure |
| Feb.96 |
Tropicale |
Stuck on sandbar will attempting
to leave Tampa. The ship was pulled free by tugboats, but will
miss a port call at Grand Cayman. |
Grounded |
| Mar.96 |
Celebration | A 23 year old male fell overboard, as the ship was steaming away from San Juan, as he was urinating over the side of the ship. He survived by swimming to shore. | Accidental
fall |
| 18.6.95 |
Celebration |
The ship drifted for 2 days with
overflowing toilets and no running waterafter a fire in the control
room knocked out power. No one was injured and passengers were
transferred to the Ecstasy for return to Miami. |
Disabling Fire |
| 10.2.89 |
Celebration |
In good weather, the ship rammed
the Captain San Luis, a 352 foot Cuban bulk carrier, about 25 miles off
the NE coast of Cuba. The Cuban vessel was cut in two, killing
the Captain and two crew members; there were 13 survivors. |
Collision |